FOREST RESERVATIONS. 191 
replanting within a certain period it is done by the government. 
It is the very general settled policy of the provincial governments 
to keep in forest about the same area that is now devoted to 
this purpose, and since the water powers in the valleys are 
dependent for the regularity of their supply upon the forests that 
are upon the mountain sides, the government reasons that the 
exercise of some supervision in this matter is necessary for the 
well being of all. Where forests are owned by municipalities. 
the municipal authorities can generally hire their own superin- 
tendent, but in some provinces the government generally man- 
ages to have laws passed that will make it most convenient for 
municipalities to employ the government superintendent. Inthe 
case of municipal forests the governments generally allow the 
cutting of only the increase each year. If this matter was leit 
entirely to the will of the people they would frequently sacrifice 
the future for present gains. This supervision may be likened 
very much to that which is exercised in this state in preventing 
cities and towns from acquiring an indebtedness beyond a certain 
percentage of their taxable valuation. However, in case there is 
a pressing need for some public improvement, as for instance a 
schoolhouse, the government may allow extra cuttings for this 
special purpose, but in after years the annual cuttings must be 
lessened until the capital growing stock of wood on the land is 
made good. 
Forest Reservations and National Parks. Many of the 
forest reservations in this country are in need of immediate 
attention. Much of the virgin timber on them has passed its 
prime and is decaying, and the constant liability to forest fires 
makes the young growth very unsafe. The increased demand for 
timber and the high price for the same has encouraged lumber- 
men in trying to have the timber on such reservations thrown 
onto the market. When cut in the ordinary manner there is 
practically nothing leit, and the end of the tree growth is reached. 
If this were to be managed in a proper way the mature trees 
would be cut as soon as there was a demand for lumber, and 
those trees should be left which are still growing thriftily. In 
some cases there is talk of utilizing some of these reservations as 
national parks, and in America too often the park idea means 
simply a piece of land from which nothing is removed. The 
best plan for managing these large tracts of timber would proba- 
