AFFORESTATION OF CATCHMENT AREAS 77 



Newark (New Jersey) has adopted the policy of buying 

 its water catchment area, with remarkable results, according 

 to the engineer, Mr. 11. Sherrerd. Of the total area of the 

 watershed — 64 square miles — Newark City now owns 43 

 square miles, and the population on the watershed has been 

 reduced from 35 or 40 per square mile to 16 per square 

 mile. Other measures taken have been demolition of 

 houses, locking lavatories of trains in transit through the 

 watershed, and patrol inspection. The bacteria per cubic 

 cm. of water diminished from 1100 in 1902 to 690 in 

 1910 and 510 in 1915. The number of typhoid cases 

 also decreased rapidly. In 1900, when 93 per cent of 

 the watershed was privately owned, there were 130 cases 

 of typhoid per 100,000 inhabitants. In 1905, when 80 

 per cent of the watershed was privately owned, the typhoid 

 cases sank to 80 per 100,000. In 1910, with 56 per 

 cent private ownership, the typhoid rate was 52 per 

 100,000 ; and in 1915, with 35 per cent private owner- 

 ship, the typhoid rate was only 28 per 100,000. The 

 example of Newark in obtaining ownership of its water 

 catchment area is likely to lead to similar action by other 

 towns in the United States. Mr Sherrerd says : " The ulti- 

 mate object of the city of Newark is not only to protect 

 the consumers of water, but also to convert this part of 

 New Jersey into a great municipal park." 



In this connection it will be of interest to quote a very 

 careful statement, made in Journal of Forestry, December 

 1917, p. 958, by Mr. Philip T. Coolidge, on the protection 

 of water supplies in the United States. 



" The acquisition of forest lands to protect water supplies 

 is not clearly exemplified in any particular State, although 

 the need of such protection is one of the arguments most 

 frequently urged as a reason for public ownership. It is a 

 fact that both municipal water supply corporations and 

 municipalities themselves have generally found that actual 

 ownership rather than regulation is necessary to prevent 

 contamination of water supplies used for domestic purposes. 

 It has been found that satisfactory policing of the water- 



