CHIEF FIRE WARDEN. 129 



manual labor. AnotRer io,ooo,oocf acres will have the same fate 

 unless the people of Minnesota recogjiize the necessity of taking 

 immediate action. The hygienic and aesthetic drawbacks of defor- 

 estation have been shown the people sufficiently; the influence of 

 vanishing forests on water supply, navigation and local climate is 

 generally known. But the fact that the practice of forestry is just 

 as necessary on poor soil as the practice of agriculture on good 

 soil, has not sufficiently impressed the public mind yet. 



Minnesota's law relative to state forests. 



All land which the state of Minnesota now owns, land of agri- 

 cultural quality as well as non-agricultural land, is not meant to be 

 kept for state purposes; state land is to be disposed of, as soon as 

 an opportunity for sale offers itself. While such a course, without 

 a doubt, in the case of soil fit for farming, is highly commendable 

 — in the case of nonagricultural soil fit for tree growth only, it is 

 with no less doubt objectionable; nonagricultural land in Minne- 

 sota, in the hands of private individuals, is doomed to become 

 and to lie barren, whilst it could produce, in the conservative hands 

 of the people, a sustained yield and a rising annual revenue. 



The explanation of the fact, that forestry practiced by the people 

 is sure to be remunerative, whilst private individuals do not be- 

 lieve in it, lies in the following points: 



1. Forestry is a clumsy investment, not allowing of quick- 

 minded speculation, of sudden gains, of steady, even annual re- 

 turns. The values created are, to a large extent, prospective 

 values, which do not allow of ready sale. 



2. The returns are not apt to be higher than 6 per cent on the 

 capital. They cannot be much increased, owing to natural limita- 

 tions, by the owner's ingenuity. 



3. The investments are suffering from preposterous taxation, 

 left at the mercy of short-sighted county officials. 



4. The forest is constantly endangered by fires; on small and 

 scattering holdings this danger is particularly great. The more 

 compact and the larger the area under forest, the easier is forest 

 protection. 



5. The beneficial effect of the forest upon water-regulation, 

 climate, public health, public sport and recreation is a return from 

 the forest, that does not flow into the pockets of an individual 

 owner, whilst for the people these blessings offered by the forest 

 are worth many a dollar. 



