416 USEFUL BIRDS. 
it can be absolutely protected at all seasons. Large for- 
est reservations have already been acquired by the United 
States government and by several States. In January, 
1906, New York had reserved nearly a million and a half 
acres, and Pennsylvania had purchased, or contracted for, 
seven hundred and fifty thousand acres. Connecticut, New 
Jersey, and other States have adopted reservation policies; 
and, as Alfred Akerman, late State Forester of Massachu- 
setts, well says, this Commonwealth ought to extend its 
policy of park reservation to include genuine State forests. 
There are about three million acres in Massachusetts that 
are of little value except for forestry. Under rational forest 
management we might, in time, grow most of the lumber 
used here, instead of buying it in the north, west, and south. 
This land is the natural stronghold of the Ruffed Grouse, 
the red deer, and many other game mammals and birds. A 
goodly portion of it should be devoted to the preservation 
of the forests and the game.! 
Some of the great ponds of the State should be set. off 
as reservations for water-fowl; marshes and sandy shores 
should be taken as refuges for sea fowl and shore birds ; 
and islands should be reserved as breeding places for sea 
birds. Undoubtedly the profits from the forest reserves 
would, in time, pay the cost of maintaining the entire system. 
Prussia owns six million acres of forest land, from which 
the government derives a net annual revenue of $9,000,000 ; 
and France receives a net yearly income of $1.91 per acre 
from its large government forest. 
While this policy is being inaugurated, other legislation 
is imperative. Laws must be enacted, whenever it becomes 
necessary, protecting certain birds at all times for a series 
of years, and those laws must be enforced with a strong hand. 
Spring shooting destroys the naturally selected breeding stock 
which has survived the dangers of fall and winter; it should 
be absolutely prohibited. More and more stringent regula- 
1 A large part of the forested land of the State will probably always remain 
in the hands of private owners or corporations. Farmers on adjoining farms may 
band together, and, by posting notices on their lands, they may protect the game of 
considerable tracts. Farmers in some towns are now trying this plan. Wealthy 
owners of large tracts have a still better opportunity to work for the public good. 
