CANADIAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. gl 



Forester at Washington, and others, for the purpose of adapting old world 

 ideas to American conditions,, with the result that, as is now the case in 

 Canada, practical forestry early resolved itself into, not artificial reproduc- 

 tion as in Germany, but into a method of protection for an abundant and 

 widespread forest cover. Land in the north readily came up to spruce 

 and balsam, and in the south to white pine and hard woods. Abandoned 

 farms, planted by nature, could be bought at a less price than seedlings 

 could be raised alone. Cheap stumpage everywhere was for sale; cost of 

 labor was many times that abroad; the price of lumber was comparatively 

 low; tops and branches were of no value for fuel. It was found that cut- 

 ting had been done by the early settlers according to rough forestry meth- 

 ods, unwittingly, when they cut only large trees for saw logs. Experiments 

 in thinning showed the character of stand it was safe to leave capable of 

 resisting wind throw, of the tenacity of root hold in soils, of the promised 

 growth of American species, of the diseases to be combatted, and of the 

 difficulties of overcoming long ingrained prejudice and custom of opera- 

 tors, anoi other such practical problems. Later, through the agency of 

 such good work and the advent of expensive pulp mills, large owners were 

 led to take thought for the future supply of their mills to hire foresters and 

 cut conservatively. The movement became well thought of and wide- 

 spread, except in the case of the small owner, who could not afford to hold 

 his land, and the portable mill, which moved about stripping everything. 

 But no cure had been found for the many small and large fires, which 

 yearly increased in number and severity with the increased cutting, and in 

 dry seasons shrouded the state in gloomy pall and filled the papers with 

 protests. These did more permanent injury to forestry and the future of 

 the State than all other sources combined. Slowly the public awoke to the 

 fact, emphasized by the timberland owners, of the State's duty and interest 

 to furnish fire protection to wild lands equally with real and personal 

 estate, that the timber land owner had a right to demand such protection in 

 return for taxes paid; also that the first fundamental forestry practice 

 lay in the preservation of timber land for a long term of years, which, if 

 not done, all other endeavors would prove unavailing. So gradually strin- 

 gent laws were enacted, covering brush burning, sparks from smoke stacks, 

 lighting camp fires, etc., with heavy penalties for all infringements at- 

 tached. But due to the State having no central organization to enforce 

 these laws, few arrests were made and little accomplished, owners not wish- 

 ing to prosecute small offenders for the fear of retaliation in kind. 



Finally, during the last Legislature a new law was passed, perfecting a 

 central organization, codifying all existing laws, and furnishing funds for 

 their carrying out and enforcement. A Commission of three was appointed 

 by the Governor to serve without pay, except for travel. ' These Com- 

 missioners were empowered to select a State Forester at a fixed salary, and 

 establish him with an assistant at the State Capitol. The State Forester in 

 turn was empowered to appoint one deputy in each town or unincorporated 

 place in the State, to the number of about 230. These deputies were made 

 responsible for the handling of fires within their territory, under the gen- 

 eral direction of the State Forester, and to receive pay while in active 

 service. They were given police powers at all times to make arrests with- 

 out warrant, and could impress the services of any citizen, or conscribe 



