No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 323 



purposes ; there are, however, considerable areas in these 

 reservations that could be used for timber growing. Portions 

 of the Middlesex Fells and the Blue Hills reservations might 

 be so utilized without any reduction in their value as parks ; 

 on the contrary, their park features would be enhanced. 

 The same mig-ht be said of Mount Wachusett, Mount Tom 

 and Greylock reservations, the Province Lands on the Cape, 

 and the land surrounding the Clinton reservoir. The land 

 about this reservoir is already being planted by the Metro- 

 politan Water and Sewerage Board. The forest in the 

 Mount Wachusett reservation is also being improved by the 

 commission which has that reservation in charge. It is to 

 be hoped that all of the boards and commissions having State 

 lands under their charge will follow these good examples, 

 and make the lands that the State owns as productive of 

 forest supplies as is consistent with the purposes for which 

 they were acquired. 



But the lands mentioned are small in area, and the State 

 might well follow the precedent established by several other 

 States, and acquire lands for the purpose of growing timber 

 on them. New York has a forest reserve of 1,436,000 acres, 

 and Pennsylvania has acquired 572,000 acres for forest pur- 

 poses. New Jersey, Connecticut and other States have also 

 adopted reservation policies. 



Lands for forest reservations can very often be acquired 

 at a small cost. A few years ago Connecticut bought 900 

 acres, at an average cost of only $1.64 per acre ; in Massa- 

 chusetts they could be had for $5 and under. There are large 

 areas of overgrown, stony, abandoned pastiu-es, cut-over 

 lands that have been burned repeatedly, scrub oak lands and 

 the like, that are in such conditions that an individual owner 

 cannot afford to improve them. The State can afford to 

 bring these lands into productivity for the common weal. 

 AVhen once well stocked, the sale of mature timber should 

 not only provide for the maintenance of such reservations, 

 but should return a net revenue into the treasury of the State. 

 Some of the European governments obtain as much as $4 

 net per annum from each acre in the State forest. 



In addition to their use for timber production, such res- 

 ervations furnish recreation grounds for the people. This 



