110 Thikd Anistual Repoiit of the 



immediate removal was imperative, because the material was 

 rapidly decaying. Various questions of a legal nature were sub- 

 mitted to the Attorney-General and he decided that the State, 

 under the law, could sell dead and down timber. The superin- 

 tendent of prisons advertised the material, received bids and 

 awarded contracts. The estimate showed that there were ap- 

 proximately seventeen thousand cords of dead softwood timber; 

 about four thousand cords were estimated to be nonmerch ant able 

 at the time of the examination, and at least three thousand cords 

 more would deteriorate to such an extent that they ivould not be 

 salable after the present year. The remainder, approximately ten 

 thousand cords, it was believed could be profitably removed. This 

 material the Superintendent of Prisons sold, and it is now being 

 marketed by the purchasers under the inspection of their forester. 



The removal of this material will not only produce a large net 

 revenue to the State, but, at the same time, will remove a large 

 quantity of debris which would always be a source of fire danger 

 and imperil the remaining forest growth. 



There were inserted in the contract various provisions in regard 

 to the lumbering of these lands, which will be of interest to others 

 in preparing similar agreements: 



First. The party of the second part covenants and agrees 

 to purchase all the merchantable dead timber as hereinafter 

 provided and to remove the same from the premises herein 

 described, except such timber heretofore cut on the herein- 

 after described property and sold to A. W. Baker under con- 

 tract dated the 23rd day of January, 1913, reference being 

 bad thereto for greater particularity. 



Second. The timber to be removed as described in the 

 foregoing paragraph is to be taken only from the land within 

 the following descriptions: 



" Lands situate on the south side or slope of Ellenburg 

 Mountain, the north boundary of said land being a cer- 

 tain blazed line following generally the course of the sum- 

 mit or top of said mountain and extending south to the 

 limits of the State land, all located in the town of Ellen- 

 burg. Clinton county, N. Y." 



