78 FOEESTS, 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 



