FOREST POLICY. 



a large quantity of rags and straw (120,000 tons). 39 mills produce 

 $4,200,000 of paper products. 



6. Forestry movement: Recent, but energetic propaganda, 

 influenced by John P. Brown (of Connersville). 



State forest association. 



7. Laws : Fire laws since 1818. A unique forest reservation 

 law (of 1899) encourages private reserves. Such reserves (which 

 must not exceed in acreage an eighth of a tract individually owned, 

 trees per acre) are assessed at $1 per acre only, whilst the aver- 

 age assessed value of farm land, in 1898, was $20. In 1901 there 

 existed 284 private reserves, covering 5,312 acres. Law of 1901 

 creates a Board of Forestry, consisting of five members, one of 

 them drawing a salary (W. H. Freeman). Its duties are: — 



(i) Collection of statistics. 



(2) Forestry education. 



(3) Formulation of plans for private and State forest re- 

 serves. Insufficient appropriations. 



8. Reservations: 2,000 acres of State forest reserves are 

 set aside by law of 1903, as a demonstration forest and for nur- 

 sery purposes. 



9. Irrigation: None. 



FORESTRY CONDITIONS OF IOWA: 



1. Area: Area of woodlands is 7,000 square miles, equal 

 to 13% of area of State. Settlement has reduced the woodland 

 area by So%. Planted forests said to aggregate 120,000 acres. 



2. Physiography: Level or undulating land, extending 

 from the Missouri to the Mississippi. 



3. Distribution: Broad bottom lands of the Mississippi 

 bore, and still bear splendid hardwoods, the best in the south- 

 eastern section. In the western prairie section the streams are 

 skirted with hardwood groves from one-half to 4 miles wide. Of 

 the northeastern flora there occur in the hardwood bottoms: 

 shag bark and bitternut hickory; burr, red, black and white 

 oaks; green ash, hard and soft maple, box elder, basswood, white 



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