Conservation Commission. 9 



Referring again to the work of forest fire protection, it may be 

 properly stated that the increased efficiency was in a large part 

 due to the installation during the year of sixteen new observation 

 stations, making thirty-six in all, as follows : Ampersand, Frank- 

 lin county ; Arab, St. Lawrence ; Bald, Lewis ; Black, Washington ; 

 Blue, Hamilton ; Boreas, Essex ; Catamount, St. Lawrence ; Crane, 

 Warren; Dunn Brook, Hamilton; Kempshall, Hamilton; 

 Makomis, Essex; Ohmer, Saratoga; Owl's Head, Hamilton; 

 Vanderwhacker, Essex; Wakely, Hamilton; Woodhull, Herkimer. 

 Several additional mountain stations are contemplated for 1912. 

 Telephone lines were built to connect the various stations, and the 

 Commission is pleased to report the hearty coooperation of land- 

 owners and others in connection with this work. The Commission 

 has the free use of over 100 miles of private telephone lines. 



The number of fire patrolmen was increased in 1911 from 

 forty-eight to sixty-four, leaving an average area for each to pro- 

 tect of about 100,000 acres as against an average of 120,000 

 acres in the previous year. The districts in many cases are still 

 too large. 



The forest product showed a falling off, as shown by the follow- 

 ing figures for the lumber, pulpwood and round wood output re- 

 ported for the three years: 1910, 927,933,291 feet; 1909, 1,091,- 

 164,710 feet; 1908, 1,226,754,305 feet. 



The annual removal of 1,000,000,000 feet of wood material from 

 the State forests cannot go on indefinitely, without reforestation 

 on a scale which shall enable the growth to at least balance the 

 cutting of trees. There has been a falling off of 300,000,000 feet 

 the last three years, or 25 per cent. It is estimated that the forest 

 area containing merchantable timber is 6,000,000 acres, or 

 9,380 square miles, including the large area of State lands upon 

 which there is no cutting. The timber cut reported in 1910, if 

 reduced to boards one inch thick, would cover 22,956 acres, or 

 thirty-six square miles. The increase in stumpage prices and the 

 advent of the portable mill are to-day producing an extraordinary 

 amount of forest products. 



The State nurseries now contain nearly 16,000,000 growing 

 trees. During the year the 'State supplied at cost to private land- 

 owners 1,774,000 trees, besides carrying on its own reforesting 



