78 FORESTS, WOODS, AND TREES 
sheds which supply potable waters can be secured only 
under direct ownership by the public or private interest 
which is vitally concerned. The obvious fact has also been 
found to be true that woodland rather than farm land or 
pasture affords the most effective safeguard against discolora- 
tion of water by eroded soil particles and against con- 
tamination by the germs of contagious diseases. It is 
interesting to note that on lands owned by water supply 
corporations, both public and private, intensive and very 
interesting sylvicultural measures have proven practical, 
because the project of forest production is free of any debit 
for the value of the land, that value being charged against 
the primary purpose for which the land is owned, namely, 
water production. As with lands needed for purposes of 
recreation, public acquisition of lands actually required to 
protect waters used for domestic purposes is desirable. In 
every case, however, the cause of sound democratic govern- 
ment demands that the necessity for the purchases be 
accurately determined and clearly understood by the body 
politic.” 
The aggregate amount of land in the water catchment 
areas all over this country is immense. Parry, in 1903, 
estimated the total area of the gathering grounds in Great 
Britain and Ireland from which supplies are collected for 
waterworks purposes to be almost 576,000 acres, irre- 
spective of the watersheds contributing to rivers from 
which supplies are taken by pumping. These gathering 
grounds are either owned already, or should be purchased 
compulsorily by the corporations deriving their water 
supplies from them. Probably 100,000 to 200,000 acres 
could be afforested to the great advantage of the State. 
I need not enter here into the arguments for establishing a 
timber reserve in the country. These arguments have 
convinced all who have studied the subject, whether 
foresters, landowners, officials, or economists. The main 
difficulty of afforestation on a large scale in England lies in 
the necessity for the acquisition of the land by some 
corporation or State authority, who would be bound to 
