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FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jan. 29, 1885- 



TEE ADIRONDACK FORESTS. 

 npHE Forestry Commission appointed last year to report 

 -*- on the best measures for the preservation of the Adiron- 

 dack forests, has done its work and submitted a report to 

 the Legislature. This report is no less conspicuous for its 

 tact and conciliatory spirit than for the amount of solid in- 

 formation it contains and the practical nature of its sugges- 

 tions. There is a very strong feeling that State ownership 

 of the forests is essential to strict conservancy and economic 

 administration, and this feeling is well grounded on the ex- 

 perience of European countries; but it has been seen, in the 

 first place, that the proposal that the State should acquire 

 the whole Adirondack forest area by law of eminent domain 

 was met by such determined opposition on the part of 

 private owners, that to have persisted in it would have been 

 to have lost all by aiming at too much; and, in the second 

 place, it is very questionable whether the State would have 

 been benefitted by the immediate possession of more land 

 than it is in a position to place under systematic, conservancy. 

 The State holds already more than three-quarters of a million 

 acres of land in the Adirondack wilderness, the bulk of 

 which is already not merely denuded of its forests, but has 

 been subjected to so many fires that very little of it is in a 

 condition to restock itself; and the proper restoration of this 

 area will tax all the State's resources for some years to 

 come. 



The Commission, well advised in this matter, has not only 

 discounted all opposition from private owners in anticipa- 

 tion, by recommending that, the State should not seek to ac- 

 quire any lands in the wilderness save such as may be sur- 

 rendered voluntarily and at low price; but has ably aimed 

 at securing the cordial co-operation of the whole body of pri- 

 vate land owners by recommending that their lands be placed 

 on an equal footing with the State lands in every respect, 

 even in the matter of taxation, and that owners be given 

 more protection from trespass and its attendant fires than 

 now exists under the law. 



These preliminary recommendations are well calculated not 

 merely to avert opposition, but to secure the cordial co-oper- 

 ation of all those whose determined hostility to previous leg- 

 islation was sufficient to destroy its practical usefulness. An 

 especially popular measure among land owners in the wil- 

 derness, is that embodied in the recommendation that State 

 lands be placed on an equality with private lauds in the 

 matter of taxation. Hitherto State, lands have been held free 

 from taxation, they have contributed nothing to local assess- 

 ments, and in those townships in which State lands consti- 

 tute a considerable proportion of the area, the whole burden 

 of taxation falls on the private holdings. This system, so 

 manifestly unfair in its operation, is the cause of the bitter 

 jealousy with which private land owners regard the acquisi- 

 tion by the State of lands in the same township with them, 

 The Legislature can hardly fail to give effect to this recom- 

 mendation, and by doing so will transform the most deter- 

 mined opponents of all forest legislation for the Adirondacks 

 into friendly critics of any bill having the preservation of 

 the forest character of the region for its object. 



It is now generally well understood that forests are not to 

 be maintained in good order by excluding the axe, but that 

 the great economic aim of forest administration is to raise 

 the productive yield of the forests to the highest capacity of 

 the soil. If private owners do not operate their own forests 

 to advantage the loss is theirs. The Commissioners recom- 

 mend no restriction on timber operations, satisfied that mis- 

 managed lauds will sooner or later fall into the hands of the 

 State by voluntary surrender. 



The destruction resulting from fires, and the necessity of 

 determined legislation for their suppression, is strongly em- 

 phasized; the preservation and restoration of the denuded 

 area of the State forests is earnestly recommended, and for 

 this purpose a forest commission with abundant power is 

 deemed essential. A series of bills has been prepared and 

 submitted to the Legislature, and there is reasonable hope 

 that the committees appointed to consider their provisions, 

 will embody the best features of each in a bill which will 

 be acceptable to the members of both Houses, and to the 

 people at large. 



Senator Low is already before the House with a little bill 

 of his own, he evidently thinks highly of the labors of the 

 Commission, for he proposes to appoint another honorary 

 commission for three years with a wide range of duties. He 

 would have done better to have submitted his bill to be 

 boiled down with the series submitted by the Commission. 

 There is no more work for honorary commissions to perform ; 

 the question of the desirability of State conservancy of its own 

 forests and wastes, has been investigated carefully, and 

 answered affirmatively and decidedly. There remains now 

 nothing but to organize a forest department, with power 

 and means to give effect to the recommendations. We want 

 a paid commissioner with a competent staff of deputies, and 

 if care be taken in their selection, they may safely be left to 

 the responsibility of the duties imposed on them. 



Senator Low's provision for the formation of professor- 

 ships and classes of forestry at Cornell University is a good 

 one. Forestry is a profession requiring special training, 

 and it is desirable that the future forest staff of this country 

 should be native born and its efficiency secured by home 

 training. Men of liberal education and special training are 

 wanted for the junior as well as for the senior grades. No 

 greater mistake can be made than to organize the forest 

 department as a one-horse machine, A more or less able 



commissioner, with a staff of ill-paid incompetents to give 

 effect to his instructions, will surely result in failure and 

 disappointment. 



xl practical knowledge of forestry is in the highest degree 

 desirable in a chief commissioner, but a deficiency on this 

 head may be compensated for by administrative ability— for 

 his deputies, who have to give practical effect to their in- 

 structions in the field, professional experience is essential. 



NON-RESIDENTS IN NEW JERSEY. 

 r PHERE are in New Jersey two game societies, which 

 -*~ claim the right to levy a tax on non-resident sportsmen. 

 One of these, the "West Jersey Game Protective Society, or- 

 ganized in 1873, claims this right only in respect to six 

 counties; and holds that no non-resident can go shooting in 

 those counties without a certificate of membership granted 

 by its officers. The New Jersey Game and Fish Protective 

 Society, formed in 1878 contends that its jurisdiction extends 

 over the entire State, and that non-residents equipped with 

 its license are at liberty to seek their game wherever it is to 

 be found, even in the six counties over which the other soci- 

 ety holds sway. 



Some time ago a man named Welsh, who bore a certifi- 

 cate from the New Jersey Society, was arrested for gunning 

 in Salem county without a certificate from the West Jersey 

 Society. The former organization professed a desire to 

 make a test case at that time, but owing to some defect in 

 the legal rigmarole the thing fell through. Another case of 

 similar character is now dragging its slow length through 

 the New Jersey courts. Last October, C. B. Jones, of Phil- 

 adelphia, a member of the New Jersey Society, was arrested 

 in Burlington by officers of the West Jersey Society, and on 

 the charge of gunning without the license from the latter, 

 was fined $50. The New Jersey Society's counsel imme- 

 diately filed appeal bonds, and the matter came before Judge 

 Reed, in the Cumberland county courts, at Bridgeton, re- 

 cently. That official last week rendered his decision that 

 under the charter of the West Jersey, that society had 

 jurisdiction over the territory covered by the six counties of 

 Camden, Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland, Cape May and 

 Atlantic. The New Jersey Game and Fish Protective 

 Society have carried the case to the Supreme Court, where 

 it will shortly be argued. 



The extraordinary nature of this New Jersey non-resident 

 legislation has been adverted to in our columns. It is a 

 great pity that, instead of a dispute between two rival soci- 

 eties to see which has the right to exact tribute from the 

 visiting sportsman, this case is not one to test the constitu- 

 tionality of the whole proceeding. The object of the societies 

 is unquestionably a good one; but the means taken to secure 

 that object we believe to be most questionable. 



It is possibly true that an individual, arrested by the 

 officers of either society on the ground that he had no license 

 from them, could, if he brought suit for illegal arrest, win 

 his case and demonstrate that, under existing New Jersey 

 statutes, neither one society nor the other had any authority 

 to molest him so long as he were not violating such pro- 

 visions of the game law as apply to residents and non-resi- 

 dents alike. The point involved is not of the constitution- 

 ality of non-resident game laws. One consideration is 

 whether these societies actually possess, by any twist of the 

 text of the present law, the authority to levy taxes on non- 

 residents; and another consideration is whether, if the 

 statutes do delegate this authority, they be not unconstitu- 

 tional and absurd. 



profitable to give men the very poorest machines possible 

 with which to defend their lives. The demaud was for 

 better rifles and for a better class of men to use them. From 

 the other direction came the civilian arm, trimmed of much 

 of its nonsensical features, and then when a number of 

 changes had been made on either side it was found that a 

 really satisfactory military arm— such a one, too, as properly 

 trained soldiers could use— was nothing more than a sporting 

 target rifle, and that the rifle chosen by men in an any-rifle 

 match was really, in its essential feature of barrel, ammuni- 

 tion and sights, just such a rifle as could with safety be put 

 in the hands of a soldier of the present day. 



The old names exist while the old differences have been 

 swept away. The limit of weight is after all the most im- 

 portant item in making up a rule for modern rifle practice, 

 a military service rifle must be one which can be carried by 

 an ordinary man. In its manipulation he must be educated 

 up, rather than have the arm simplified down to a point 

 where its use as a weapon of accuracy is largely impaired. 

 A very light trigger pull might safely be allowed in military 

 arms, provided it is surrounded by proper guards, as in cer- 

 tain recent improved models. Other changes will suggest 

 themselves which might safely be introduced into military 

 arms, but they will come gradually, and Jany definition of 

 this class of arms must be a very elastic one, if it is not to 

 become antiquated in a very short space of time. 



Venison Fed to Dogs.— Some (a great many) men are 

 dog poor. They have more dogs than they can feed. Some 

 (a great many) communities are dog poor. They have more 

 dogs than they can feed. But the dogs must eat. Some- 

 times they eat mutton. In the Adirondacks in winter they 

 eat venison. The packs of hounds which are kept for deer 

 driving in summer, are set loose to drive deer in winter for 

 their own consumption. Can the State of New York afford 

 to furnish venison for the support of hounds? 



Adirondack Deer Hounding.— The hounding of deer 

 in the Adirondacks ought to be forbidden by law. This is 

 the conclusion arrived at by those who have seen how the 

 so-called sport is conducted. We have a printed petition 

 blank which will be sent to those who will secure signatures 

 to it; and every individual who is interested in the subject 

 is earnestly invited to give the movement his practical aid. 

 The blank will be sent on receipt of an addressed envelope. 



Individual Effort. — The intention of the game dealers 

 to extend the season for the sale of game has been fully ven- 

 tilated in this journal. Why? So that every individual in 

 me Sutlc wUo liao any concern in the matter (and every oili- 

 zen ought to have) may be prompted to exert his own 

 individual influence to thwart the schemes of the pot-hunters 

 and snarers. A word to your representative at Albany will 

 go far to win the battle. 



RIFLE DEFINITIONS. 



I^HE question of Title definitions outlined in the letter of 

 - James Duane in our rifle columns, is an interesting one. 

 Ao-ain and again there are misunderstandings at the ranges, 

 and long wrangles over the question of what is a military 

 rifle, and again of what is a sporting weapon. The line 

 between these two classes of arms is a constantly wavering 

 one, and within the ten years of modern rifle shooting in 

 this country has been almost completely swept away. The 

 tendency has been to make the definition of a military rifle 

 broader and broader, and bring that class of weapon nearer 

 and nearer the any-rifle class. This simply shows that the 

 attempt to make it appear on paper that a military rifle should 

 be something rougher and coarser than other arms of 

 accuracy is a false one, and that no set of rules may be so 

 drawn as to give a fixed and clear distinction between the 

 two groups of arms. 



The trouble has been in the past that there has been a 

 rivalry between the military men and the civilians in a shoot- 

 ing way. One class insisted upon having a weapon which 

 could be employed as a spade handle, as a pick and pry for 

 all kinds of rough work, and incidentally a shooting 

 weapon. This was the military arm of the past. The 

 civilian shooting rifle was a complicated affair with many 

 useless details, upon which great stress was laid by the 

 owners, but which were removed when their true worthless 

 character was made known. The two sets of arms were 

 then separated by a wide gap. 



It was comparatively an easy thing then to make defini. 

 tions and distinguish one class from another; but gradually 

 the two sets of arms drew together. The military magnates 

 were compelled to acknowledge that they were far behind 

 the age of outside science in the sort of arms that were kept 



in 



Minnesota Venison.— It should not be forgotten that a 

 oreat deal of the venison that the New York dealers com- 

 plain cannot be sold is received from Minnesota. It is 

 shipped from that State in violation of law. Minnesota 

 needs an organized State game warden system to provide for 

 the seizure of contraband goods and the punishment of the 

 shippers. 



Pie Philosophy. — The American Association for the 

 Protection of Pie and Pie Eaters, finding that the pastry 

 supply is diminishing, has unanimously resolved to remedy 

 the evil by increasing the allowance of pie for each member. 

 By making away with two pieces, where only one piece was 

 eaten before, the society hopes to save the pie. 



The Chicago Game Market is reported to be the port to 

 which great quantities of Minnesota, venison are shipped. 

 The meat is sent in locked chests, one key being had by the 

 shipper and the other by the consignee. Like other forms 

 of contraband goods traffic, the illicit venison business is 

 sharply managed. _ 



Needed Just Now— An association with membership 

 embracing every county in the State, an association to defend 

 the game law against the attacks of selfish and greedy com- 

 binations. In default of such a society it is the duty of in- 

 dividuals to do each his share. 



Adirondack Venison.— It should not be forgotten that a 

 part of the venison that the dealers complain cannot be sold 

 comes from the Adirondacks, where it has been killed by 

 hounding and crusting in th e close season. 



^ Peg.— If any one fails to understand the axiom that an 

 open season for selling venison means an open season for 

 killing deer, let him read the first paragraph in the first com- 

 munication on deer hounding, page 8. 



Opposed to Deer Hounding.— The Adirondack guides 

 would gladly see deer hounding abolished. They will see 

 to it that if such a law is passed the dogs will be kept out. 



The Whttnev Armory, at New Haven, was partially 

 destroyed by fire last week. The loss is said to have been 



$75,000. 



A Big Difference— Between killing deer to hounds on 

 the bauds of soldiers. It was discovered that it was not | a runway and killing deer to hounds from a boat m a lake. 



