FORESTRY. 
It takes 30 years to grow a tree and 30 minutes to cut it down and destroy it. 
THE ADIRONDACK PROBLEM. 
The following editorial, which recently 
appeared in The Independent, clearly and 
forcibly presents the conditions of forestry 
problems in the State of New York, accent- 
uating the position that forestry and sport 
do not necessarily exclude each other, but 
can and should go together as they do in the 
forests of France and Germany. 
From the report of the Forest Commis- 
sion of 1903, it appears that nearly 800,000 
acres of Adirondack lands are held by 
about 60 owners, or by clubs, for game pre- 
serves. These holdings vary from 300 to 
79,000 acres in a single block. They do 
not prevent so much the acquiring of homes 
in these mountainous regions, which are 
hardly intended for homes, but they curtail 
the public use of the forest. Professor Fer- 
now, who advocated, in his “Economics of 
Forestry,” the occupancy by private owners, 
and even the creation of a class of landed 
proprietors, as the only method in sight for 
immediately protecting the forest from de- 
vastating fires and from timber thieves, 
now says that he must modify his judgment 
to this extent, that any such occupancy 
tends to create a class of those who do not 
care for the public weal, but for private 
pleasure, to the exclusion of the people. 
He thinks that gradually, and perhaps im- 
perceptibly, an aristocratic spirit will be de- 
veloped inimical to democratic institutions. 
In the third place, Dr. Fernow finds that 
the attitude of the State toward its own 
holdings is changed. At first the reserva-— 
tion of Adirondack lands in the hands of 
the State was based on economic questions 
of timber supply and water protection, but 
it is now perverted into the idea of estab- 
lishing a great pleasure ground. He thinks 
this to be the present attitude of our legis- 
lators, shown in their recent action concern- 
ing the work of Cornell university. 
“While there is no objection to having 
such a large area devoted to pleasure, if 
accessible to all the people, and used in a 
proper way, it is not necessary, and it is 
economically unsound, to exclude the man- 
agement of these forests from economic 
ends.” 
The position of the Professor is that of 
honest democracy. He has advocated large 
forest holdings in private hands, and saw 
no objection to corporations controlling the 
timber supply; but he deprecates these vast 
holdings for mere pleasure. He holds it to 
be the first object of the State to have the 
great forest region as a source of revenue, 
including the preservation of water supply: 
and whatever secondary benefits may be 
derived thereby to the State. To withdraw 
the Adirondacks from the productive in- 
dustries he denounces as un-American. 
That 60 owners, whether private individ- 
uals or clubs, should hold 800,000 acres out 
of the reach of the people is an innovation 
that can not be denounced in too strong 
terms. It is certain to create in this coun- 
try a vulgar edition of English landlord- 
ism, and it is a catching spirit. Sooner or 
later, it must breed the same sort of an- 
tagonism which exists between the tenants 
and poachers: of Ireland and their landlords. 
There will be trespassing; and there will be 
a growing sentiment of lawlessness, be- 
cause law will be on the side of the aristo- 
crats. The clash will involve more or less 
of brutality and assassination, the shooting 
of game wardens, and, finally, of landlords 
themselves. Indeed, this antagonism is al- 
ready observable and has threatened life 
as in the old Barnburner days. 
It was hoped that the establishment of a 
State College of Forestry, in connection 
with Cornell university, and the placing of 
the Adirondacks largely in its control, 
would solve the problem, which had long 
been a serious one to the State. It is to 
be regretted that a misunderstanding has 
arisen and the State withdrawn its ap- 
propriation for this college. That this col- 
lege moved on lines antagonistic to the 
popular welfare does not seem to be 
proven. Governor Hill, in 1890, said to 
the Legislature that he believed “the Adi- 
rondack forest might be made a source of 
great revenue to the State, rather than an 
expense and a burden.” Governor Flower, 
in 1892, said that “eventually the State pre- 
serve ought to pay the expense of its main- 
tenance, by the judicious sale of timber 
and the leasing of small parcels of land, to 
individuals, for the establishment of small 
homes, under proper regulations.” He 
added, in 1894: 
“Following the ideas and suggestions 
which have been promulgated by forestry 
experts, we intend that our forest shall 
not only protect our water supply, and 
thereby our agricultural and commercial 
interests, and furnish summer homes and 
sanitariums for the people, but that they 
shall, at the same time, yield a revenue 
which shall pay the cost of maintenance 
and a handsome sum besides.” 
Governor Black was of the same mind. 
He thought that the time would come when 
