STATE NEWS 



411 



The foresters are happy over the heavy 

 fall of rain and snow of the past two 

 months, as they say it means the saving of a 

 great deal of money to the forest service 

 department in the matter of preparations for, 

 and the actual fighting of, forest fires. It 

 cost much money to fight fires last year 

 many of which were caused by the dry sea- 

 son of the early part of the year. 



Kentucky 



J. W. Newman, Commissioner of Agricul- 

 ture of Kentucky, says of the tract of land 

 purchased by the State near Louisville: "I 

 am going to make of it a forest with a 

 game preserve inside. This fall I shall plant 

 twenty-five acres of the ground in commer- 

 cial timber, used for manufacturing pur- 

 poses, and each year, during State Fair 

 week, visitors to the fair will be taken 

 through the forestry and told the value of 

 the different trees, just when they were 

 planted, how long it took them to grow, 

 and what they are used for principally from 

 a commercial standpoint. I mean to stock 

 the forestry with game of every kind, native 

 to Kentucky. It will be used as a breeding 

 place for game which will be distributed 

 throughout the State." 



Vermont 



State Forester A. F. Hawes, of Vermont, 

 in discussing forest fire protection with the 

 fire wardens recently advised every town to 

 keep a supply of long handled shovels, pails 

 and sacks in several places where the war- 

 dens know where they are since oftentimes a 

 man comes to fight a fire with no equipment 

 with which to work. Handpumps attached 

 to pails where water is convenient and can 

 be brought by men are the most efficient fire 

 fighter and it would pay every town accord- 

 ing to Mr. Hawes to lay in a supply of two 

 or three such pumps. 



A good deal of waste expense is caused 

 because the wardens delegate the fire fight- 

 ing to others and do not keep account of 

 the men's time. The State Forester urged 

 prompt reports in cases of fires and more 

 accurate statements as to cause. The most 

 difficult report to get in is that of the cause 

 of fires. The State department also urged 

 that when wardens did not like to prosecute 

 a man who might well be prosecuted under 

 the statute the matter be referred to the 

 department as a few prosecutions of the sort 

 would do more than anything else to prevent 

 careless fires in future. 



Colorado 



In February of 1909, in response to a 

 request of the President of the United 

 States and the U. S. Forester in Chief, the 

 Governor appointed a Conservation Com- 

 mission of 36 members which was organized 



the month following with the Hon. F. C. 

 Gowdy of Denver as chairman and Mr. 

 W. G. M. Stone as secretary. Work began 

 at once. Several meetings were held in con- 

 nection with interesting programs during its 

 life. 



At the annual meeting, in 1910, the same 

 officers were re-elected, and two or three 

 meetings held during the year. At the sec- 

 ond annual session, Col. Kenneth L. Fahne- 

 stock was elected president instead of Mr. 

 Gowdy, who declined to take the presidency 

 the third term. Before the newly-elected 

 president got around to appoint his com- 

 mittees and organize his forces, he was 

 taken sick and after an extended illness 

 passed away, and for fourteen months the 

 commission has lain absolutely dormant. 



Whether it will rise from its sleep to 

 new life and energy will not appear till 

 after the State election in November, when 

 the first vice-president, ex-Governor Adams, 

 will order a call for a meeting. Till then 

 it will sleep on disturbed by no sound po- 

 litical or economic that may threaten the 

 natural resources of the State. 



Some of the members desire its awaken- 

 ing; others care not a "sou" if it never 

 wakens, and there are those who think it 

 would be better if it were to shed its com- 

 mission chrysalis and rise on the wings of 

 a free and independent "organization." Six 

 months must elapse before any one can 

 know. 



From appearances, conservation in Colo- 

 rado, among the politicians and individuals 

 desiring to get hold of the forest reserves 

 and other resources of the State, is not at 

 a premium. The people themselves, if at 

 the helm, would doubtless have it otherwise. 



Indiana 



Tree experts in the employ of the Board 

 of Park Commissioners of Indianapolis as- 

 sert that widespread interest has been 

 aroused in Indianapolis this spring over the 

 care, protection and preservation of shade 

 trees and shrubbery. Through the efforts 

 of the forestry department of the Park 

 Board in sounding an alarm, and statistics 

 gathered from all parts of the city showing 

 that thousands of valuable shade trees are 

 dying annually from the blight and ravages 

 of the San Jose scale and other plant-de- 

 stroying insects, property owners have united 

 in a concerted movement to save the trees 

 by the methods adopted and recommended 

 by the Park Board. 



Pennsylvania 



Important reforestation work is being 

 done by the State Forestry Commission's 

 nurseries this spring, and it is expected that 

 when the shipment of seedlings is com- 

 pleted, that over 2,000,000 young trees will 

 have been sent out. The majority of the 



