12 PREFACE. 



The action of the Legislature in authorizing the publication of these volumes 

 is amply justified by the high esteem with which they are regarded by the 

 people, and the urgent, widespread demand for extra editions. Requests for 

 copies, in great number, are received from people outside the State and from 

 libraries in Europe. The Imperial Library of Japan has sought earnestly to 

 secure a full set of these books, and far-off Australia has been more than once 

 represented in the applications received from scientific men engaged in the study 

 of fish culture, the problems of forest preservation and of water storage, and the 

 work of game protection. 



The contributed articles on forests, fish and game are written by men who are 

 acknowledged authorities on the subjects treated by them, and these pages, 

 together with the beautiful colored illustrations, have an educational value that 

 cannot be computed in dollars and cents. 



For the articles courteously written expressly for this volume the Commission 

 desires to make suitable acknowledgment to Mr. Madison Grant, Secretary of 

 the New York Zoological Society; Dr. F. E. L. Beal, of the United States 

 Biological Survey, Washington, D. C. ; Hon. A. J. Northrup, of Syracuse N. Y ; 

 Dr. Frederick C. Paulmier, Zoologist in the Division of Science, New York State 

 Museum, and Major J. H. Durham, U S. A., Cape Vincent, N. Y. These 

 papers, together with those furnished by officials of the Commission, contain 

 valuable information as to forestry, tree planting, birds, wild fowl, fish, game, 

 and the culture of shellfish, which the people of our State cannot find elsewhere 

 conveniently. Furthermore, these articles will be read with deep interest by 

 scientific and professional men, although they may be already familiar with the 

 subjects treated. 



Particular attention is called to the valuable report on forest conditions 

 existing on Townships 5, 6, and 41, in Hamilton County, N Y., as this great 

 tract of 75,000 acres, covered with a virgin forest, belongs to the State and forms 

 a part of the Adirondack Park. The field work, which forms the basis of this 

 special report, was done in cooperation with the United States Forest Service, 

 Washington, D. C. , through an arrangement made by the Commission with 

 Mr. Gifford Pinchot, Forester, the head of the Government forestry bureau. 

 Under this arrangement the General Government furnished, free of expense, the 

 services of an expert corps of foresters, while the State of New York defrayed 

 the cost of camp maintenance, guides, helpers, and other expenses. Although 

 this report, as made by the United States official in charge of the work, is 

 designated a "Working Plan," it was distinctly understood by both parties that, 



