The private owner of forest lands does not care to pro- 

 duce these immaterial blessings, as there is no money im 

 their production ; thus he is apt to neglect them entirely. 

 The people as the owner of woodlands, on the other hand, 

 may combine the material and immaterial production of the 

 forest, with a view of deriving the greatest direct and indi- 

 rect advantage from their forestry possessions. 



As we want forestry for the people, we had perhaps bet- 

 ter practice it through the people. The state of Kentucky 

 can, I judge, easily acquire a tract of say 200,000 acres as a 

 starter and a nucleus for a state forest-reserve. If necessary 

 ^probably it will be necessary in order to make the reserve 

 a compact body — the state might use her right of eminent 

 domain and condemn such tracts, as are most desirable 

 for a reserve. The expense to be incurred for purchases, 

 surveys, lawyers' fees, roads, buildings and salaries should 

 be defrayed from a public loan. The bonds forming the 

 loan, backed as they will be by realty-assets, can certainly 

 be issued at a low rate of interest. I dare to predict, that 

 the reserve properly selected and placed under proper man- 

 agement, will be able to pay the interest from the beginning 

 out of its own gross returns. The staff of forestry 

 officers must be entirely non-palitical, so as to avoid changes 

 of personnel, which are no where more disastrous than in a 

 forest administration. Hence some connection of the service 

 with non-political bodies, f . i. the State University, the Board 

 of Trade, the Women's Clubs, the Forestry Association (if 

 there is any to be) seems extremely advisable. 



In order to do justice to the counties, over which the 

 reserve extends, and in order to avoid county antagonism 

 against a step taken on behalf of the whole people, it will be 

 necessary for the state as a forest owner not to shun the 

 payment of the usual county taxes. 



_, « Ed ti Kentucky can already boast of a unique 

 institution devoted to forestry : it is 

 the forestry-school at Berea, in charge of my friend Prof. S. C. 

 Mason. At Cornell and Yale, scientific forestry is taught by 

 experts of national fame, and at my own forest-school, at 

 Biltmore, N. C, I try to raise forestry superintendents by 

 the dozen. Thus we are sure to be well supplied with highly 

 educated foresters. But, unless they are trained at Berea, 



