JOINT conference! ^-i^rM-xriy, UNIVERSITY' OF OF THOSE INTERESTED IN THE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES OF MICHIGAN HELD UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN COMMISSION REPRESENTATIVE HALL, CAPITOL, LANSING, MICHIGAN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 1912. LANSING, MICHIGAN WYNKOOP HALLENBECK CRAWFORD CO., STATE PRINTERS 1912 JOINT CONFERENC^>&'^'^,o^^.'^^\.^ X OF THOSE INTERESTED IN THE N^ M CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES OF MICHIGAN HELD UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN COMMISSION REPRESENTATIVE HALL, CAPITOL, LANSING, MICHIGAN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 1912. LANSING, MICHIGAN WYNKOOr HALLENBECK CRAWFORD CO., STATE PRINTERS 1912 ^(^\C" Ajt^"^ PUBLIC DOMAIN COMMISSION AND IMMIGRATION COMMISSION. Junius E. Bbal Aim Arbor Regent of the University of Michigan. Alfred J. Doherty Clare Member of the State Board of Agriculture. Oramel B. Fuller Ford River Auditor General. William Kelly Vulcan Member Board of Control, College of Mines. Frederick C. Martindale Detroit Secretary of State and Chairman Public Domain Commission. Huntley Russell Grand Rapids Commissioner of the State Land Office. A. C. Carton Lansing Sec. Public Domain Commission and Com'r of Immigration. Marcus Schaaf Roscommon State Forestry Warden. W. A. Mulhern Lansing Supervisor of Trespass. 320927 COPY OF REPORT ADOPTED BY THE PUBLIC DOMAIN COMMIS- SION AT THEIR MEETING APRIL 10, 1912. To the Public Domain Commission : Gentlemen — For some time past there seems to have been a difiference of opinion as to a general policy that should be adopted for the handling of State lands, the settlement of the good agricultural lands, the re- forestation of lands that are not agricultural lauds and the protection of our growing timber from fire, together with the preservation of game life in this State. We have in Michigan at the present time a Commissioner of the State Land Office, a Public Domain Commission composed of six members, three of whom are the ministerial officers of the State, and the other three representing Michigan's three leading educational institutions. We have a State Game, Fish and Forestry Warden, whose duty it is to protect the game and fish of this State, and the forests from their greatest enemy — fire. In addition to the above we have three great semi-official development bureaus that are looking to the development of the good agricultural lands within their territory. They are the Northeastern Michigan De- velopment Bureau, commencing with Saginaw county and running to the Straits of Mackinac, and from the center of the State on the west to Lake Huron on the east ; the Western Michigan Development Bureau, whose territory commences with Kent county on the south and extends to the Straits of Mackinac on the north, and from Lake Michigan on the west to the center of the Lower Peninsula on the east; the Upper Peninsula Development Bureau, whose territory is all that part of Michigan north of the Straits of Mackinac, almost an empire in itself. To be added to these are several local development associations, all working along the same or similar lines. One of the organizations that is interested in general reforestation and especially the reforestation of the cut-over lands of this State, is the Michigan Forestry Association. The associations that are organized largely for the protection from fire are the Northern Forest Protective Association, which covers the Upper Peninsula, of Michigan, and pays especial attention to the prevention of starting and spreading of fire; the Hardwood Protective Association, which extends across the State in the upper part of the Lower Peninsula, together with some smaller organizations over the State, all trying to solve the forest fire problem. It would be almost impossible for me to enumerate the great number of organizations that are looking to the protection of game life in this commonwealth, all of whom agree that one of the greatest destructive agencies to game life is fire. I am satisfied that the differences of opinion in regard to a general policy That will work out for the benefit of all, is largely imaginary; and I think if we could all get together in a conference and talk over the whole situation pro and con, that we would be surprised to find how nearly we all are of the same opinion. I think the whole matter would resolve itself into a proposition whereby we all might work for the set- tlement of the good agricultural lands, the utilization of the non-agri- cultural lands for forestry purposes, protection of growing timber from fire, and for the propagation and protection of game life in this State. I would therefore recommend that the Public Domain Commission call a meeting of the representatives of all these associations and kindred associations to meet in the city of Lansing some time in June, for the pui*])ose of exchanging ideas and to formulate a general policy that we can work out together. While I believe that the Public Domain Connnission has done more to establish a satisfactory juilicy regarding the handling of public lands than any other organization, and that we have accomplished much with the small appropriation that has been available for our use; at the same time I think that we should not only accept the advice of those who are interested along the same line that w^e are, whenever such advice would seem to be for the betterment of conditions in Michigan, but we should seek the opinion of all men who have made this proposition a study in the years gone by. With the fifty-three forest reserves that have been set aside by the Public Domain Commission, I can see no reason wh}' the largest of these cannot be used for drill grounds for our National Guard, and the smaller reserves used later on as summer schools for forestry students from the colleges and high schools of this State, as well as for camping grounds where boys and girls can be taken from the cities to spend a few weeks during the summer, studying nature and enjoying the out-of-door life. In addition to the above I can see no reason why all of these reserves should not be turned into game preserves as soon as they can be properly protected from fire. In the fifty-three reserves, situated in fifty-three counties, we have approximatel}' 2.^0,000 acres of land — which is equal to a strip of land two miles wide and two hundred eighteen miles long, or as far as from the city of Lansing, the Capitol of Michigan, to the city of Chicago. If on these tracts of land fire could be kei)t out, and a home made for the game of this State where they could rear their young unmolested by fire or the hunter, I am satisfied that it would do much to increase the game supply of the State. It could be done without any additional expense, as all our men who are engaged in the protection of the reserves from fire could be deputized as game wardens. I am convinced that the greatest good to the State in the future will come from all these kindred organizations pulling together, instead of ])ulliug apart. Co-operation is what always wins; and I can see no reason why these organizations that are working along the same lines should not co-operate with the Public Domain Commission in working out some general policy for the good of the State. A. C. CARTON, Secretar}' Public Domain Commission. The report was received, adopted and ordered spread at large upon the minutes of the meeting. The date fixed for holding this meeting was June 12, 1912, commenc- ing at 10 a. m., and the secretary was instructed to issue invitations to all parties interested in the above subjects, to be present and participate in the discussions. The meeting to be held in Representative Hall, Capitol Building, Lansing, Michigan. PROGRA^r. WEDNESDAY JUNE 12, 1912 TEN o'clock a. M. Music Band, Michigan Agricultural College Invocation Rev. Fr. Brancheau, Rector St. Mary's Church, Lansing Address of Chairman , Hon. Frederick C. Martindale Address Hon. Chase S. Osborn, Governor Atldress, Forestry Prof. J. Fred Baker, Michigan Agricultural College What the Federation has done to assist Mrs. R. H. Ashbaugh, Detroit, in developing Public Sentiment and Detroit Federation of Women's Clubs Interest Forestry and Game S. M. Higgins, Negaunee, Forester Cleveland Cliffs Co. Snapshots of National, State and Local Work Mrs. Benjamin F. Williston, Detroit, State Federation of Women's Clubs Business Viewpoint of Forestry Hon. Junius E. Beal, Ann Arbor, Member Public Domain Com. A general discussion of the Question of Forestry is invited WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON TWO o'clock Horticultural Possibilities of Western Michigan George E. Rowe, Grand Rapids Commission and its Policies Hon. William Kelly, Vulcan, Member Public Domain Com. Needed Legislation to Conserve Wild Game and Bird Life Hon. William R. Oates, State Game, Fish and Forestry Warden Forest Fires and Forest Protection Thomas B. Wyman, Munising, Northern Forest Protective Association Forest Fire Protection, From the Railroad Standpoint C. W. Luce, East Tawas, Supt.D. &M. R. R. Address J. J. Hubbell, Manistee, Chief Engineer, Manistee & NE. R. R. Community Development Douglas Malloch, Chicago, Associate Editor, American Lumberman The Future of Land Investments in North- j,cj ern Michigan O. F. Barnes, Northeastern Michigan Development Bureau Conservation of Wild Game and Bird Life. Hon. L. Whitney Watkins, Manchester 10 WEDNESDAY EVENING 7:80 O'CLOCK What the Forest Scouts Avill do for Michigan. J. H. McGillivray, (Jscoda, Michigan Forest Scouts What the Development of the Power in our Streams will do for the Conser- vation of Coal and AVood and for Agri- culture H. H. Crowell, Grand Kapids Northeastern Michigan and its Future John Carter, St. Helen Forestiy From the Viewpoint of the Lum- ber Manufacturer Leonard Bronson, Chicago, Mgr. Natn'l Ass'n of Lumber Manufact- urers Geological Survey and Game Conservation Alexander G. Ruthven, Head Curator, Museum University of Michigan Conservation of Bird Life Jefferson Butler, Detroit, Pres. Audubon Society State Game Refuges Frank H. Shearer, Bay City A general invitation is extended to all to participate in the discussion of all topics presented^ Joint Conference of those interested in the Conservation and Develop- ment of the Natural Resources of Michigan, held under the auspices of the Public Domain Commission, in Representative Hall, Lansing, Michi- gan, Wednesday, June 12, 1912. The first session of the Conference was called to order by Hon. Fred- erick C. Martindale, chairman of the I*ublic Domain Commission. Invocation, Rev. Fr. Brancheau, Rector St. Mary's Church, Lansing. Telegrams and letters were read from the following: Hon. Charles W. Garfield, Grand Rapids; Prof. Filibert Roth, Ann Arbor; Mr. John H. Bissell, Detroit; Hon. W. B. Mershon, Saginaw; Hon. Chase S. Os- born, Lansing; Mrs. R. H. Ashbaugh, Detroit; Mr. J. J. Hubbell, ^lan- istee; Hon. L. Whitney Watkins, Manchester; Mr. Frank H. Shearer, Bay City; Mr. Thornton A. Green, Ontonagon, and othere, regretting their inability to be present. ADDKESS OF CHAIRMAN, HON. FREDERICK C. MARTINDALE, SECRETARY OF STATE. Ladies and Gentlemen — Ever since the organization of the Public Domain Commission their best efforts have been directed along the line of providing for Michigan a sane and workable conservation policy; one that would build up Avithout tearing down; one that would restore to Michigan at least a portion of the forests that have been removed, and one that would be broad enough to take in the development of the good agricultural lands of this State and the development of the indestruct- ible resources that must take the place of the products of our forests, if the same are to be protected and their use limited. We have in Michigan today fifty-three forest reserves that have been set aside by the Public Domain Commission, all of which should be protected from fire and reforested. The largest of these could be used for drill grounds for our National Guards and the smaller reserves as summer schools for forestry students from tlie high schools and colleges of the State. Those bordering upon lakes and streams would make splendid camping grounds where boys and girls from the cities could be taken to s])end a few weeks in the summer studying nature and enjoying the out-of-door life. The use of these reserves for the purposes above enumerated would not injure them in any way as game refuges, where game and bird life could be protected and propagated. In addition to the above, we should keep in mind the fact that Michi- gan is an agricultural state with millions of acres of good agricultural lands yet unfilled, which can be made to provide homes for thousands of our people and to produce food for our ever. increasing population. This angle of the proposition must not be lost sight of, for the develop- ment of the good agricultural lands in this State is a part of the great conservation problem. If we believe in the true idea of conservation, we believe that the things that are placed here for the use of man should be used for the purposes for which they are best fitted, and if we have lands that are more adapted to the growing of farm crops than to any other purpose, that is the use to which they should be put. If the destructible natural resources of this State are to be protected and their use limited, then the indestructible natural resources must be developed to take their place among other absolute necessities of life, for the human family must have heat, power and light. Not alone is the Public Domain Commission interested in a general policy that will assist in solving these problems, but I take it that every citizen of this great commonwealth is interested in a general movement for the conservation and development of our natural resources and it indeed seems fitting at this time that the Public Domain Commission should call together in conference all those elements and forces which 12 have been working along ditferent lines but which must eventually lead to the same place. I. therefore, as Chairman of the Public Domain Com- mission, extend to you a hearty welcome to this conference and assure you that the Public Domain Commission expects to profit by your coun- sel and advice here today and are sure that the conclusions reached will be such as to be of untold value to the good old Wolverine State which we all love so well. FORESTRY. PROF, .T. FRED BAKER, MICHIGAN AGRICULTUR^iL COLLEGE. The subject of forestry, as assigned would have been, a decade ago, a limited topic. Today it is extremely comprehensive, embracing many technical branches of far-reaching industrial and commercial importance. But a few years ago, forestry was hailed in Michigan as in many other states, as a new thing to be defined before the people, and jet the most important branch of forestry, i. e., lumbering, was for a great many years the leading industry of the State. The forestry propaganda impressed different groups of persons with varying effect. We have had the sentimentalist with the cry of ''Woodsman, woodsman, spare that tree." Why spare it when it is in commercial stands and it will bring ami)le returns? If the tree is not in commercial stands, it is the problem (»f the landscape architect not the forester. In the early stages of the forest conservation propaganda, much was condemned that has since been recognized as necessary. Propagandists, unused to the sights of slashing as a result of logging, after viewing operations on a large scale, wrote and talked loudly of the terrible destruction of our forests, the wanton waste. Waste is a comparative term; what might be waste in New England might not be waste in Michigan and what might be waste in Michigan, might not be waste on the T*acific Coast. The great cpiestion is, will it pay; can the logger put the material on the market and make a fair profit on his activities? The lumberman carries on his operations to meet the demands of a present day market, not the market as it will be fifty years from now. Who is the best judge of logging waste, the walking boss or the magazine writer? Then the lumberman who is suspicious of anything ])hased forestry, fearing its development as meaning, perhaps, finally governmental con- trol, forms the second group. The third grouj) of men are those actively interested in some phase of timber utilization from the stump to the finished product. These men have viewed their different phases from a technical standpoint and are endeavoring to work out a policy of conservation not alone in the for- ests but all along the line, sustaining thereby, our Avood using industries. Many successful lumbermen have studied dee])ly the problem of hold- ing their standing timber and its protection from fire and tlie best use of their cut-over lands. Engineers have found better uses than formerly for old woods and old uses for new woods. They have produced the most 13 efficient machinery to get the best out of the raw material at hand. All these men have worked in their own sphere towards aiding in the great movement of conservation of one of our greatest natural resources— the forests. I appeal to you as citizens of the state, deeply interested in forest con- servation, first of all for a thorough systematic and scientific investiga- tion of the possibilities of the production of timber on a commercial scale on the public domain of the commonwealth. What will it cost to produce White Pine per thousand feet board measure, in the northern part of this State? What parts of the State can produce it best? Many questions must be asked, many questions answered before a correct basis can be obtained and progress made with safety. It has been said of the present day status of the movement, "Forestry is everywhere but in the woods." The statement is ti-ue, the people in general have thought much over the whole conservation problem. What is now wanted are facts as bases for actual procedure. Miss Lydia D. Holmes, of Bay City, was present and gave a very able address on, ''The Instruction of School Children in the fundamental Principles of Conservation." At the conclusion of the above she in- troduced the following resolution : Kesolved, That this Conference express to the Superintendent of Pub- lic Instruction, to the Presidents of the State Institutions of Learning, to the President of the State Teachers Association, the State Teachers Club, the School Masters' Club and to the State Superintendents' Asso- ciation, the wish that they and the organizations they represent, at their earliest convenience, earnestly consider the question of the advisability and the best methods of systematic conservation instruction in Michi- gan's public schools, with a view to some plan of regular systematic conservation instruction in the schools of the State. The foregoing resolution was supported by Hon. Junius E. Beal, of Ann Arbor, and was unanimously adopted by the Conference. FORESTRY AND GAME. S. M. HIGGINS^ NEGAUXEE^ FORESTER CLEVELAND CLIFFS CO. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen — This short paper is in no way intended to cover these subjects. All that is aimed at is to show some- thing of their relation and their probable future and possibilities in a part of this State. , In the Upper Peninsula there are approximately 10 million acres of land. At least nine million of this was originally covered with a good forest growth. It has been estimated that sixty-five per cent of this area is suitable for agriculture. It is safe to say that one-half the timber has been cut. The pine has disappeared; much of the land that was once covered with this timber is now a barren waste. Large areas of this have reverted to the State for non-payment of taxes. 14 The most common method of lumbering in that country now is to cut all the timber. After this is done the better agricultural soils are being taken up for farms. Forestry and game can never compete with agriculture but must give way to the poorer soils. The three and one-half million acres of non- agricultural land will i»robably revert to the State for non-payment of taxes after the timber is cut unless new policies come in. This is un- fortunate for the public. Instead of i)roducing a revenue this land will be an expense, as the cost of advertising it and the office expense in handling it must be borne by the State, This three and one-half million acres of land is strictly a forest soil and if it were not for fires the forest in time would renew itself over these cut over areas. It is on this territory that forestry should be undertaken by the people and it would be if it were profitable. The heavy taxes on timber land makes it impossible to hold them long without cutting the timber, and the timber having been cut, it is im- possible to hold them for a second crop. Even if the tax rate was favor- able the risk from fire would make them unattractive as an investment. Take for example this problem: Lands cost |2.00 per acre (the State has some for sale at this price), taxes are five cents per acre, interest is five per cent, taking it for granted the land has good natural regenera- tion of forest trees and the rotation is 75 years. At the end of this time the land has cost |77,G6 and the taxes |37,88, or |115.54 for the acre. This does not look like an attractive investment. Neither the fire risk nor care has been taken account of. An individual would not care to enter into such a long time investment, only the State or a corj)oration would consider it. Forestry investments will not show more than three per cent interest and this is not enough to induce much capital to invest. What is needed is some industry that can be carried on with the forestry investment. Some business depending on the forest and which will yield a livelihood while waiting for the timber crop. This can be found in game, fish and fur farms on these lauds. These three and one-half million of acres are suitable for numerous such farms. Most of the land carries much food for game. There are numerous small streams and unmeandered lakes that could supply fish and otfer good chances for muskrat and beaver quarters. This would bring a settled population on these lands where now not a soul is found. Instead of this there is the transient hunter and trapper who can never take a per- manent interest in the land. It is believed that all this would be possible if it were not for the restriction on the disi)osal of game from game farms and the prohibiting of having in possession fur bearing animals. The elk and the deer can be raised as easily in parts of the Upper Peninsula as reindeer can be in Iceland or short horns in Iowa. There is a movement among some of the states to encourage the propagation of game animals, but most of the states (and Michigan is one of them) while granting j)ermission to raise game deny the right to sell it on the market. It is not difficult to see what this leads to. It places one in exactly the same position ns if he were raising cattle without the right to sell them for beef. Game placed on the market that were raised in captivity ofould be marked to prevent game killed on uninclosed lands being marketed. 15 No one denies but that our game is rapidly disappearing. This is due naturally to two causes. Lands are rapidly being cut over and turned into farms or fires devastate them destroying the cover for game. There is one burned over district in the Upper Peninsula on what is the Fox River. This covers 100,000 acr^s. It was formerly the finest pine. Hardly a deer can be found on these plains, while formerly there must have been many. Game must give way before agriculture. By referring to the game laws of New Jersey you find there a law bearing the date of 1871 that does not read so much unlike our deer law of today. It allowed, how- ever, that the owners of tame deer could kill them at any time. Year by year these game laws of New Jersey became more strict, but the deer disappeared. Today Mr. Charles Brewster tells us that one man in Missouri raises more deer yearly than the hunters of New Jersey kill during that time. During summer spent in West Virginia in which I tramped each day through a countiy nine-tenths of which was forest, not a single deer was seen. Generations ago they were plentiful in this same forest. They had simply disappeared before the ever present woodsman with his gun, and West Virginia has not been without game laws. Why should not the raising of game, fish and fur be encouraged and particularly so in a country suited for such an enterprise? Here also no other enterprise will yield a reasonable return. As a people we encourage the introduction and development of a new fruit or grain, but we deny the right to the people to add to our small list of domesticated animals. Not only should private capital be en- couraged in this work, but the State should establish game refuges on forest land and game farms to stock the depleted forests. Some of the states have already undertaken this work. Michigan should not be behind. The conclusions then are: Forestry will naturally be confined to lands suitable only for forests. Here private forestry cannot pay under pres- ent conditions. These conditions are lack of protection against fire, laws taxing a single forest crop as many times as there are years in the rotation, and laws preventing the raising of animals and birds that are adapted to these lands, or when permitting them to be raised deny the light to use them to the best advantage. Without a population who have a permanent interest in this country it suffers from fires and brings no return, but becomes an expense. Game life gradually disappears before the increasing number of hunters. What is needed are laws whereby the State can raise game to take the place of that disappearing and laws giving the people the right to propagate and use the wild animals. SNAP SHOTS OF NATIONAL, S.TATE AND LOCAL WORK. MRS. BENJAMIN F. WILLISTON, DETROIT, STATE FEDERATION OF WOMEN-'S CLUBS. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen — All along it has been my desire to attend this conference, and to try and grasp all the knowledge on this wonderful subject that I conld retain, and carry back to my clnb, ''The Detroit Review," the utterances of the brilliant minds of Michi- gan and elsewhere, but on receiving a letter from your secretary, Mr. Carton, an invitation asking me to give the conference the benefit of my paper, or report, given before the Detroit Federation of Women's Clubs at their annual meeting A])ril last, why I almost had inertia, knowing that many revisions would have to be made to meet the requirements, as well as the thought of presenting it in such a public way. Conservation stands for keeping and jirotecting from loss or injury our natural resources, and a subject of wide and unlimited space, reach- ing from pole to pole and from rising to setting sun. Thus the motto of the Conservation Congress of these United States as well the National Irrigation Congress, "The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number for the Ix)ngest Time, and Science bids the Desert Drink," presents the tale, not of what I have to say, but what the work has to tell. In the uses of our natural resources, we know that by abuse some are almost reduced to extinction; for example, our forests, while the energy of water unused is absolutely lost, but Avhere water is trained to toil it neither increases or decreases the future supply. For centuries the head waters of our Great Lakes flow past our city (Where Life is Worth Living) on to the Great Niagara through summer sunshine and winter cold. A Mecca for travellers, who tarry awhile, spell bound at natures handiwork of falling water, on its way to sea, generating such a capacity of power that by Electric transmission, reaches out many-armed and returns westward again, even to our very door, seeking admission to revolve the wheels of industry and turn our nights into day. A local resource no longer but to garner her waters for ])ublic service. Men's wisdom has been exercised to conserve her beauty. Water jiower service saved the country, last year 33,000,000 tons of coal. In the great development of water power the public interests must be safe guarded, and no where can we look for a better example than the holdings of the Commonwealth Power Company of Michigan. Wlien one views the government map issued March 14:th, 1912, and to here learn what complete control the corporation has over these Northern trout streams, and knowing that on our statute books they are laws that anglers are willing to abide by, as regards the season of the year for fishing, the number of fish to be taken from the streams, as well as the size and prohibited sale. Something should be done to restrict them from developing the remaining 28,000 horse power on the Au Sable and 17 keep these streams clear for this clean sport and recreation grounds, so that our men can hie themselves away from business cares, Avhile those at home await the gift of the angler, "Michigan has her law," "The Corporation the Stream.'' The fishing grounds are as dear to the heart of the angler as the woods are to the heart of the hunter. Water power has its place but Ave are i)roue in this commercial age to lose sight of the beauty of our streams only when it is too late and may Ave hope that in adroit management, the beauty of those streams may be conserved for man's enjoyment as Avell as in the distribution and use of the power Avhich the corporation stands for. The Island Empire of Australia is to be congratulated on her owning her streams and lands on each side of her streams, ]n"ofiting by our mistakes and those of other countries, no pre-existing rights there. Very briefly let me state some of our great national movements. Wlrle national reports shoAv an expenditure of some |000,000.000 for irriga- tion, the outcome created by the Avater, the unit Avill be billions. Water is noAV available for 1.086.000 acres of land on Avhich are 1,400 families, and the gross value of the crops for 1911 Avasi |24,000,000. And by drain- age and other agencies, 6,200,000 acres are now under cultivation and in seven more years the acreage Avill be increased to 15,000,000. Mr. William E. Smythe of California, has made the statement and a good one, that Avhen rich men Avanted to build railroads Ave loaned millions of dollars and donated 200,000.000 acres of lands, and should not the poor man be helped to get a home and this could be done by establish- ing a Bureau of "Little Farms", California has her nation of Little Landers; To do this would need leadership, organization, and instruc- tion, and for eA^ery dollar spent on fleets and armies, ten dollars should be spent on building homes. ]Mr. Xeil Neilson of Australia, who traveled 10,000 miles to be ])resent at the National Irrigation Congress, Chicago, states on Irrigated Lands the government Avill build settlers houses and alloAv them ten years to pay for the work Avith interest at five per cent, and if they Avish it Avill grade the land, and further more Avill fence it. The unit of land is 50 acres of irrigated land and the government alloAvs him 150 acres on the outskirts of his land for feed for stock so that he Avill earn not only a living ui)on the land but earn a little better than a living u]>on it. Australia makes no stringent hnvs but keeps settlei'S there by self-interest alone. If a man does the pioneer- ing and })roducing Avork of the country make his life as comfortable as possible, as Ave do in cities and towns. The 25th resolution of the National Irrigation 1912, reads: Kealiz- ing that the greatest benefits of foreign immigration can be attained onl3' Avhen immigrants settle permanently on farms, Avhere they (piickly develop the spirit of citizenshij) and helj) render this a nation of homes. We commend co-operation among the various state iuunigration offices and the establishment of common agencies including expositions and other means of dittusing accurate information, to the end that immi- grants may be located on the soil under conditions a]>propriate to their habits and to the best development of the country as a Avhole. Michigan has done her share in helping to create the terrible flood con- ditions of the ]\Iississip])i, for this map shoAvs tliat ^lichigan lies in the Valley of the Mississippi. Our forests are gone and our swamps drained 3 18 and the tall grass and roots that were a natural protection and held in check the heavy rainfall and melting snows and Avith miles of drainage, all lielj) to increase the sudden rising of her turbulent streams. At the i)resent time the members of The Flood Commission of Pitts- burgh, under the leadership of Mr. George H. Maxwell, have hired a corps of engineers and have surveyed 19,000 square miles of the water- shed of the Alleghen}' and Monongahela rivers, surveyed 43 reservoir sites and they have selected 17 in which to conserve the flood waters and reduce the floods at Pittsburg and then put the water in the rivers wlicn most need for navigation and this can be done for |20,000,000. With this beginning will start what we may all hope for; a big irriga- tion project to store the Father of Waters and if stored would irrigate 10.000,000 acres. Floods, why they are like snoAV-drops in a river, here today and gone foreA'er. Colorado has conserved the flood Avaters of the Platte watershed Avith 15 reserA'oirs. covering 4,025 acres, capable of holding in check 3,012,000 cubic feet of Avater and a reservoir at Lake Antero 100 miles from Denver is as large as the last 15 altogether. In August and September the tributary streams of the Platte are dry. This conserved Avater is then used for the great potato crops of Greeley and to Avater the sugar beets in September. Chicago has spent |6G,000,000 to saA'e her people and the state •120.000,000 more, reversing her two rivers and taking .f20,000 cubic feet of fresh Avater per minute from Lake Michigan to safe guard her people, "Her Kiparian Eight," Pollution carries death, and in Ezekial XXXIV chapter. 18th to 31st A'erses, we find the words — Seemest it a small thing unto you to have drank of the deep Avaters, but ye must foul the residue Avith your feet, and as for my flock they eat that Avhich you have trodden and thej drink that Avhich you have fouled Avith your feet, until disease you have scattered abroad, and I Avill judge betAveen cattle and cattle, choose my shepherd for my people and make a covenant of peace, and send doAvn shoAvers of blessings, and deliver them out of the hands of those that serve themselves. For my flock of my ])astures are men. Does not this divine laAv make floAving AA'ater the property of all, as the birds of the air. One greater than man has willed that icebergs return to the sea from AA'hence they come, in a course all their oavu, and Ave knoAv that condi- tions of atmosphere and Avater tell of their nearness and giAC fore Avarning. Need I mention the "Titanic." Reject God's hiAvs and we sufl:"er. The bill presented by Hon. Kichard Austin of Tennessee, and noAV X>ending before the house for the appropriation of |200,000 to aid the National Conservation Exposition, said exposition to take place Sep- tember 1st to October 31st, 11)13, at Knoxville, Tenn., so ordered by the advisory board of the exj)osition at ^Vashing(<)n, Presideut-Gifl'ord Pin- chot. The exjjosition company has been organized and drafts have been made foi- a charter Avitli a cai)ital stock of fl.OOO.OOO by new capital stock, biiihlings Avill be erected at a cost of from |25,000 to |250,000, be- sides the beautiful ])ark and buildings of the Ai)]>alachian Exposition, valued at |l,O00,t)OO have been turned over to the National Conservation Exposition and these Avill form the nucleus around Avhicli the larger allair Avill be built. 19 The Southern States building is designed as a novel feature to show the resources and manufacturing industries of IG southern states under one roof. Plans have been made for the erection of an agricultural and land building, in which Avill be a relief map of the Southeast — built up of soils of the various states, showing mountains, timber regions, streams, with actual running water, the railroads, Atlantic and Gulf and cities. The plant crops will be exhibited besides annual crops, in living- groups with the double object of inculcating thrift and increasing the opportunity and demand for the highest intelligence on the farm. The production and reproduction of forests will be exhibited in such a way as will contrast the wasteful methods of nature with the scientific methods folloAved by the forester; the place of the wood lot upon the farm. The development and utilization of water power will be illustrated by (1) model dams, conduits, and water engines (2) by maps (3) electric devices, transmission of water power (4) and the water power for navi- gation. The mineral resources of the country, the coal to be illustrated under six divisions, the iron (3), while Petroleum, peat and natural gas will be illustrated as mineral fuels. Special attention Avill be given to the display of materials for construction available as substitutes for iron used especially in cities and towns. The greatest natural resource is man himself, consequently the de- velopment of health, the abolition of child labor, the reduction of infant mortality, the eradication of disease, tuberculosis, the hook worm and typhoid fever, the protection of milk and water supplies, the extermina- tion of the fly and mosquito, impure and adulterated foods and drugs is necessary. With education along lines of sanitation, domestic science, vocational training, rural school advancement, good roads, showing manner of construction and finished Avork and with the co-operation of the Audubon societies, fish and game commission, and other organiza- tions for the preservation of bird life and animal life, such an exposi- tion will, I hope be given wide publicity through the columns of the press nation wide. The 1500,000 which has passed the house for assuming Federal Con- trol of the Chesapeake and Albemarle Canal, if passed by the Sen- ate and signed by the President Avill be the first link and definite results of a Barge canal, sea level, from Boston to Key West, Florida, a recom- mended route surveyed by the State and Army Engineers of connecting 148 streams each navigable for 100 miles or more opening up great agricultural lands as Avell as protecting the lives of seamen, in an in- side passage and reduce marine insurance 75 i)er cent. From 1900 to 1909 there Avere 5,400 disasters, 2,200 lives lost and |40,500,000 of prop- erty destroyed on the Atlantic seaboard. Of the 660,000,000 of money Avhich the gOA^ernment collects annually, 70 per cent is spent today in past and future wars, and the secretary this year is asking 30 millions to increase the measures of war, and 12,000,000 for one war vessel Avhile only 1,000,000 is allowed for the agricultural department. The appropriations asked for this coming vear for forestrv divided under four heads (10,000.000) (Reclamation AA^ork, 10,000,000) and 20 24,000,000 for the State and Armv Engineers for building and maintain- ing flood waters, canals, reservoirs. One million dollars to establish a mnsenm on the conservation of Forests and Water Kesources in the Smithsonian Institution that in-, formation relating to these subjects be published and distributed, the same, as a means of educating the public as well as to furnish object lessons by illustrations of the disastrous results of non-conservation in foreign lands. Since the paragraph as regards the Forest Service in the Newland Bill, comes under this head of section 13, there is a chance to the supersti- tious. To carry on the work as chairman in our individual clubs is certainly worth while, but to assume the leadership in a city the size of Detroit, numbering- 50 clubs with a membershi]) of about 4,000, almost overpow- ered me, but the associations and leadership of our President Mrs. (leorge Caron from 1910 to 1912, inspires one to greater activities and to follow after the light as the wise men from the East followed the ''Star'' for a woman, or women who have sympathies large enough to enfold all women as sisters much better than gold, such leadership directs one to espouse the call and aim to do something for the uplift of humanity, for in work one finds the solution of problems. Miss Baldwin of Birmingham, the chairman elderly in years, but full of enthusiasm and helpful suggestions, on account of a very critical illness delated much of the work that would have been accomplished. In January many of our clubs received letters from our State Chair- man, Mrs. Mautner of Saginaw, and our president believing that it Avas a matter that should come before all of the clubs counselled with your speaker and asked me if I would undertake the Avork and complete the year, dating from Feb. 3rd. I am sure, gentlemen of the Public Domain Commission you all know the contents of the petitions sent to Governor Osborn as also Pi'esident John Palmer, State Board of Agriculture as Avell as the governor's friendly reply. Your return letters came just a little too late for a public hearing before the federation in my annual report, but in the name of the com- mittee I wish to thank you all for the general response and the message of enlightenment they contained, and my pleasure Avill be to read these letters before our club on resuming our work October next, and will no doubt have careful consideration by our federation president. Conservation is an interesting study, and our committee meetings are well attended at such time Ave take up various subjects for discus- sion. Believing it to be for the best interest of our Avork to have some one to Avhom one could report on the mutilation of trees, a special com- mittee of five Avas apjxiinted to Avhom (•oni])lainls could be made. ^frs. Eichelzer of the Home Study Club doing splendid Avork as chairman. Anyone leaving or entering Detroit cannot help but notice the great mutilation of the half mile of trees numbering about one hundred and fifty near the Nine Mile road out \A^oodward — trees — maple, oak and elm but look more like ])osts with short stubs ]>rojecting so bluntly are they cropped. The Michigan State Telephone Company did the ]>runing but the land oAvnei-s j>ave their consent. Scarcelv could a greater ex- 21 ample be forth coming of the wholesale slaughter. Sometimes we are prone to lay too much blame on corporations, in this case I think the land owners need instruction and education ; for when questioned it was their opinion they would be stronger than ever. The Telephone Company sealed the wounds, not scientifically' but effectively. This land has since been sold and real estate men are plotting out two sec- tions, Woodward Farms containing acre lots while the other is called "Little Farms.'' London, Canada has a new ordinance whereby — ''All trimming of trees must be done at the proper time of the ,vear and under proper scientific supervision. If at any time trimming is necessary for wires or electrical construction the city parks department will perform the operation, charging the company or coi*poration for the same." To champion a cause one must be ready to meet emergencies and per- haps in no other way could crying need for immediate action have been more amply demonstrated than by the stereoptican lecture given by Professor Alexander, on the Tussock Moth and other agencies destroy- ing our cit}' trees, before the Conservation Committee of the Twentieth Century Club, at a luncheon on March 7tli at which were present the Common Council and the Board of Estimates, besides the husbands of the members and friends interesting themselves in maintaining the natural beauty of which Detroit is so much noted. In a talk about the wild flowers the Professor cited the fact that teachers of botany in our public schools have hard times to find speci- mens for class work, for the great growth of the city has encroached on their native haunts, until they have melted away as snow wreaths before the genial breath of the vernal gales. While those in our parks and on our boulevards are protected by law and cannot be molested. Not willingly would we see our trees perish for the want of care nor the wild flowers meet utter destruction and de])rive our children of those sweet wood flowers we have loved so much. Not only the federation of Women's Clubs but many organizations, and individuals worked with I'rofessor Alexander to have the common council appropriate $25,000 to preserve our city trees and an appropriation of |500 for the safe guarding of wild flowers. In Proverbs it is stated where there is no vision the people perish, but happ3' is he who keepeth the law. The Common Council and the Board of Estimates saw the vision of a treeless city under existing con- ditions and grandly came to the rescue with .|20,000 appropriation to wage war on the Tussock Moth and other agencies destroying our city trees. The same paper that conveyed the joyful news of the appropriation also conveyed the sorrowful tidings, the death of Mr. Harry J. Hunter our City Forester, a man of national and state wide reputation. The appropriation long denied, now coming at such a time surely such crosses are hard to meet ; for with his great knowledge of conditions, how judiciously Avould he have carried on the work. From time to time within the last twenty years new suburban plots have been laid out, taking much well wooded farm land, consequently many alleys contain trees that are better than hundreds in our parks and on boulevards. After the appropriation was granted I wrote our 22 Park Commissioner calling his attention to virgin elms and oaks in the alley between West Betlume Avenne and Pallister Street, bounded by Woodward and Third, hoping they could have some attention for the city possesses the equipment and the taxpayers through the Board of Estimates granted the money ; this is his reply : May 8, 1912. Mrs. B. F. Williston, 124 W. Bethune Ave., City. Dear Madam: In reply to your favor of May 4, would say that under a ruling of the coi*poration counsel, this department has no jurisdiction over trees growing in alleys. This is a matter for the property owners adjoining where the tree is located. The money appropriated is only for trees along the public streets. We would gladly attend to the trees in the alleys if they were under our control, but of course we are controlled b}- the law. Very truh^ yours, M. P. HURLBUT^ Commissioner. On receiving this letter "I abided for a time" at the "City Hall" corporation counsel office, while Michigan laAv was consulted and ex- pounded ; but it was too much for me and I came home with this ruling of the Supreme Court. An alley is not a highway, in the proper sense of the term, but is no more than a way subject to modified supervision, and liable to be used for drainage, and other urban services, under municipal regulations, but intended for the conveniences of adjacent property and not for general travel or passage, like streets. Paul vs. Detroit, 32 Mich. 111. While article 31, Park and Boulevard fund reads: Trees along our public streets; I am sure the Board of Estimates granted the |20,000 to preserve our citj' trees just as our petitions stated. It is not for me to question the ruling of the supreme court, but I do know alleys in Detroit are made common thoroughfares by more than one kind of business. Is the Tussock Moth to be left to find a breeding place in our alleys and destroy the shade for our less prosperous citi- zens? Oh to consider the grandeur of these lonely trees; That wrestle singly with the gale. Lift up admiring eyes to Thee; But more majestic far they stand. When side by side their ranks they form To wave on high their plumes of green, And fight their battles with the storm. Two other organizations are doing good work, the Garden Club and the National Plant, Flower and Fruit Guild. The Garden Club while yet in its infancy, T believe in time will be a 23 national moivement towards practical exchange of ideas, while The National Plant, Flower and Fruit Guild seek out the poor and needy and supply them with surplus vegetables and fruits largely raised in the suburbs, as well as the plants and cut flowers spared from many gardens and large social functions. Three thousand persons are listed on the Guild record and thus the good work goes on. God give us men; a time like this demands Great hearts, strong minds, true faitli and ready hands; Men whom the lust of office does not kill; Men whom the spoils of office does not buy; Men who possess opinions and a will ; Men who have honor ; men who will not lie ; Men who can stand before a demagogue And brave his treacherous flatteries without winking; Tall men, sun-crowned, Avho live above the fog; In public duty and in private thinking. —Holland. BUSINESS VIEWPOINT OF FOKESTRY. HON. JUNIUS E. BEAL^ ANN ARBOR, MEMBER PUBLIC DOMAIN COMMISSION. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : We are coming to the fuller realization of the close relation between natural resources and business. We are just beginning to understand how our resources make the foundation of all business. James J. Hill, the greatest financier of the northwest declares that our natural re- sources are the capital on which our business is done. The test of good business is to produce an annual return or dividend without impairing the capital. If a manager of a corporation like a bank pretends to pay dividends out of earnings, but takes it out of the capital stock, thereby lessening it each year, as soon as he is caught at it he is liable to prosecution. Everybody agrees to this, for he is con- sidered a dangerous man thus to juggle with the property of others. By the nature of things, some resources cannot be used without ex- hausting them. They are such things as copper, coal, iron, salt and gas. The man exploiting these must have larger dividends to get his capital returned — a portion each year — besides the interest on his investment. Timber has been unconsciously classed with the above utilities because it was so plentiful, so cheap, so easy to obtain, apparently so limitless. However as the timber line recedes, we are just beginning to realize that at the rate we have been going there is an end to it and that not far distant. The next step is to distinguish between minerals and timber. We are able to note that timber may be a crop that may be harvested. There- fore it may be grown again. It is a cake that you may both eat and have ! What a wonderful provision of nature ! It is strange that England, which we have copied mainly, should be 24 backward in reforestation, for she is still depeudino- on other countries to supply her timber. She has not waked up to her rapidly approaching dire need for lumber. This difficulty is perhaps owing to a national characteristic hardened into those laws which make for her sacred pre- cedents. The old Englisli axiom that "a man's home is his castle" meant that he was Lord over the land he owned, and could do whatever he Manted to on that land, even to the verge of creating a nuisance which might harm the value of the ])roperty of a neighbor. That pervades still in our laws in this country, and is a dominant factor. It could be main- tained when there were fewer peoj)le and more unoccupied land, for then, if a neighbor did not like it he could move. The taking up of all the land, the increase of pojiulation crowding us together, constrains us to regard with more care the rights of others. We are getting to be more nearly our brother's keei)er. New laws are creeping in to restrain our former open-air liberties. Public health and public safety put health boai-ds, police and militia over our right to do what we wish on our own laud. The laws of eminent domain become wider in application. Along with that trend comes the discovery that the public lands are the property of all the people. The old notion was that they belonged to the man who got there first with the power to exploit them. But now the ijressure of the times is squeezing out the grabber and putting su- preme that idea of Conservation, which means to use the natural re- sources sanely, without wasting, without destroying, but with a view of maintaining production for the -future. ^^'e can see now that Michigan made a mistake in selling her timber lands outright, but it was the mistake of the times. Canada has a better way of simply selling the timber, the minerals or the gas, but keeping the land. She gets just as much now for it, and will have a valuable asset for all time. Minnesota also was wiser in keeping her minerals and is millions of dollars ahead. But Michigan is very fortunate in getting back many thousands of acres of what will eventually be her richest permanent resource. The timber having been removed, the land has returned to the State, and it should not be sold again unless it is good agricultural laud. Where we see farms which have been twice abandoned we may well judge that they should be reserved for trees, for it is wrong for the State again to allow these pitiful failures. The cardinal ])rincii>al of forestry is to put all land to its most profit- able use. She can afford to be just, for there are so many thousands of acres of waste lands unfit for any profitable agriculture that she has an outlook of years before she can take care of what is conceded to be hers alone. She is needed so badly that all are coming to welcome her. Now comes the hard headed business man who asks, "Will it pay?" and we must show him that it icill pay. If you look out over the world to find a nation the least swayed by sentiment, looking carefully into propositions, studying every angle, digging deei)ly into investigations, and thoroughly satisfying themselves of its practicability before adojiting anytliiug new. you will at last come t() the German, lie is not easily fooled in expenditures of money. Let us see, therefore, what he is doing in Forestry. Fortunately he has been at it a long time, so we can get an accurate ^uage of results through the years. His work ranges 150 years. 25 While Michigan has one-tenth of an acre per inhabitant set aside for forestry, German}' has three-fifths of an acre per citizen devoted to it. Her forestry is carried on with scientific accuracy and she is showing that the forest output can be increased, and at the same time the profits are larger. Every German State administers its own forests. When they began they were compelled to start just as we are, from conditions showing mismanagement, or no management. Their first object was to get a continuous crop by not cutting more than would grow. By that process the growth has immensely increased; consequently the amount cut has gone up by leaps and bounds. For instance in 1830, the growth was 20 cubic feet per acre; in 1865, 21 feet; 1890, 52 cubic feet, and in 1901, 05 cubic feet. This shows that under Prussian control the annual rate of production has increased over 300 per cent. To illustrate how the quality has also improved, the saw timber has gone from 19 per cent to 51 per cent. If this were being done in the United States, instead of using three times as much as we grow, we would be keeping up with the consump- tion. But this is not half the story, for the financial end of it is the gauge of success along the line of my subject as showing the business side. While the net income from an acre in 1850 was 28 cents, and 72 cents in 1805, in 1901 it was |2.50. This is ten times the figure of 60 years ago. As lumber raises in value we can see how this will go forward even more rapidlj- after the forests of Russia and Austria are no longer available to draw upon. We may then contemplate a great up- lift in timber values, not only there, but over the world. Saxony is spending .f3.000 per acre on her 430,000 acres of State forests, and obtains a net revenue of .$5.30 per acre which gives her $2,299,000 — a very substantial business investment which well answers the question of will it pay? She gets 93 cubic feet per acre, mainly spruce, which att'ords fine saw timber. This saw timber increased from 26% in 1830 to 66% in 1904, thus beating the Prussian forestry. Moreover, there is another German state which can beat even this remarkable record. It is Wurtemburg, where f2.05 is spent on each acre, and |6.00 made as a net profit. This helps their State treasury by its net revenue of over three millions of dollars. An interesting feature of this is that results are intensive, for where the most money is spent, the rule holds that the best results are obtained. In France where the state spends annually 95 cents an acre, they clear a profit of |1.75 per acre, aggregating- |4,437,000 a year income. This is a tidy addition to its national treasury, and a tribute to the busi- ness side of the problem. France was driven to it by her great de- struction of lands by floods and winds, whole districts being devastated. On the coast the shifting sand dunes have been stopped from swallowing u]» the vineyards, 275,000 acres having been i)lanted to forests. The business end of this as handled by the State has brought it about that the State has received |120,000 more than it all cost, besides having property worth |10,000,000, which has cost her nothing. Land worth 14.00 an acre a few years ago is now giving her an annual net return of $3.00 per acre. France and Germany together have about the same population as the United States. While they spend |11,000,000 and get back a net 26 130,000.000 a year, we speud |1,400,000 aud get back less than a million. Even Anstria makes |o,000,000 a year from her State forests, having^ started forestry in response to the opposition which arose against selling her State lands. Hnngary is doing advanced work b}^ distributing free millions of seedlings and |)aying bounties for reforesting private waste lands. In Sweden they are adding largely to their forests by buying at an average of |5.30 per acre. When we hear of Germany having to buy great tracts for reforestation at |25.00 per acre it makes us feel that our Michigan tax lands may prove a blessing in disguise. One does not look to Russia for much of progress in this field, but she can point to |21,000,000 as a net income from her for-ests. She does not allow private forests to be cleared except by returning the trees to the land or an equal plantation. She gives free advice to private owners as well as seedlings and working plans. An Imperial Bank loans money on forests where the Government gives scientific management. Even India has gotten out from the British axoim of "a man's castle" and has established the right to intervene for the general welfare ta protect and develop the forests. She is acquiring a revenue of |3,000,00O from her woods. MUNICIPAL FORESTRY. There is another field about to open up in this country Avhich atfords an opportunity for a business proposition. It is for our cities to acquire forest lands. If it is a good thing for Nations to go into forestry on a large scale it is advisable for our cities to go into it. Primarily they should start 'getting lands to protect their water supplies, as that is becoming a harder problem every year for our municipalities. A fine combination may be made of protecting the water sources and having to make a profit for the city. Let me giv^e some illustrations of the trend abroad. For instance in Baden out of 1,561: communities of that State, 1,530 have their own forests. These are handled by scientific foresters. They give employment to the people, wood to the poor, and an income to the town. The city of Baden, having 16,000 peo])le and a forest of 10,000 acres spends |33,b00 a year on it and gets back flOO.OOO. That is a net profit of fO.OO an acre. Heidelberg has a newer forest beautifully parked and made ornamental to a great degree. Still, as ncAV as it is, they get a balance of |2.00 an, acre on the right side. One little town in Baden of 1,600 people and a forest of 1,500 acres^ has a net income of |21,000, paying all their taxes, giving them fire wood and establishing electric light aud water plants, and schools. These instances are given not as intending to claim that we can get these wonderful results in our towns in the immediate future, but they point the way for us. AVe should begin to plan for many of the Avaste lands nenv our towns, not only to safe-guard their water supplies, but to start ui)on a source of wealth and income for them to help to meet the rapidly growing tax rates. What others have done, we can do. Many citizens wonder how their municipalities are ever going to pay their indebtedness. We must plan an income producer and an expan- sion of assets by growing some municipal forests. Suppose it does take sixty years to accomplish that. Sixty years are as nothing in the life of a city. No one can tell what the ]n-ice of Inmber may be at that time. The most of onr saw mills are tompeting- so hard that they find it difficnlt to make profits now. While it is true that the Inmber dealer makes good money, and the man who bnys timber to hold finds it ad- vancing rapidly, the Inmberman and mill owner wish oftentimes that they could shut up their camps and mills. Many are bonded so heayily they cannot stop because the interest keeps up. When this situation changes there will be rapid advances in lumber and ten dollars a thou- sand feet on the stump Avill not look so large a price. This will make the State and municipal forests good inyestments, besides converting unsightly waste places into beautiful resting places for the people. It Avill not be a successful business proposition alone, but educative, useful and of lasting beauty. It is marvellous opportunity coming to us. May Ave be equal to the demand and give to grand old Michigan her largest benefits for the future which will so soon be the present. HORTICULTURAL POSSIBILITIES OF AYESTERN MICHIGAN. :MR. GEORGE E. ROWE, GRAND RAPIDS. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : The State contains over .30,000,000 acres of tillable land. 20,000,000 acres are now in farms. 12,000,000 acres are under the plow. One-third of 1,000,000 acres is planted to fruits of dift'erent kinds. Under present methods the fruits cultivated in Michigan produce about 2.5% of what they should produce. From one-third of 1,000,000 acres we take approximately |10,000,000 worth of fruit, but we should take |10,000,000. There are over 2,000,000 acres of good number one fruit land in the State. If one-third of 1,000,000 acres should produce 40,000,000, 1,000,000 acres would produce 120,000.000, and 2,000,000 would produce 240,000,000 or twenty-four times our present out-put. The science of horticulture is a ncAV science. That is, we had been treating it as a science for only a very short time. It cannot be de- veloped as rapidly as most of the other sciences. We have to wait for the seasons. We have to wait for the plants to grow. Sometimes for sev- eral years, to gather just a little information that in many of the other sciences could be obtained in a laboratory in a few minutes. But if Ave Avould plant only our best number one fruit land and take reasonably good care of our fruit according to the best tried and tested methods, the fruit lauds of Michigan would give us a larger annual in- come than has ever been obtained in a single year from our great forests or our Avonderful mines, and Avould continue year after year to grow in efficiency and value. There are certain fundamental things that are essential to success in any business or profession. There is no business or profession that does 28 not have its hazards, imcertaiuties and failures. The miner, the lumber- man, the banker, the manufacturer, the merchant, the doctor, the lawj'er and even the clergy are all up against it sometimes, and there is alwavs recorded a large number of failures. lOverv class of farming has its successes and its failures, but a careful study of all professions and business enterprises show a smaller number of failures among the fruit growers than can be found among any other class. The things most essential to the fruit grower's success are the j^roper soil, climate, market and a certain knowledge. SOIL. The only sure way to determine the value of soil for any particular fruit is by field trial because so many factors enter into the make-tii> of a good fruit soil, that it is easy to make mistakes, and yet all good fruit soils have many points in common, and there is hardly any soil by which under favorable conditions will be found adapted to some classes of fruit. For instance, the pear prefers a rather heavy clay soil, the peach and cherry quite often an open and porous soil, straw^berry and blackberry will often do well on soil too sandy for other fruits. The currant and gooseberry prefers a clay loam, but will adapt them- selves to almost any location, and in the case of apples and many other tree fruits, the sub-soil is generally of more importance than the surface soil. Loose loam or an open clay soil which is made up largely of clay and small shells on such laud as we generally find a vigorous growth of maple, hemlock and white oak is one of the best all around soils for all classes of fruit. Sandy and gravely loam underlaid wdtli a good open clay sub-soil is almost ideal for any of the smaller fruits and grapes, and one of the highest classes of soils for peaches, pears, plums and a] (pies. It is the easiest kind of soil to handle and can be easily culti- vated after rain without becoming lumpy or sticky and it easily forms a dust blanket which helps to conserve the moisture. Soil of this character is found in abundance all over Michigan, per- haps in larger areas throughout the western counties of the State al- though quite large tracts are found in all of the counties of the Lower Peninsula, and certain ])ortions of the L^pper Peninsula. It has been recognized by horticulturists from the earliest settlement of the State that Michigan had large quantities of the very best soil for fruit culture. Sutticieut })lantings have been made covering the well knoAvn fruit sec- tions of the State to prove the value of the soil for the growing of the very best varieties of both tree and small fruits. This matter of soil has been so thoroughly tested out that the careful observer may today select orchards sites and soils for the growing of sniiill fruits very easily and with but slight chances of making mistakes. CLI.MATK. The natural climatic conditions of Michigan furnish more safeguards to the fruit grower than can be found in any other section of the United States. True it is that occasionally we have trees frozen in the winter and fruit buds injured in spring, but these hazards come in one way or another wherever fruit is grown, and the records of thirty years show 29 that our injuries from cold winters or frosty springs had been less than the natural hazards that are found in connection with the most of the other industries of the country, and with modern methods of culture and safeguards, they can be, in a large measure, eliminated. The climate of Michigan presents no great extremes of heat or cold. The prevailing winds are from the northwest and serve to mitigate the extreme heat of summer, Avhile the influences exerted by the Great Lakes and elevation serve to modify the temperature in winter. These conditions are the indirect cause of the slowly advancing and receding seasons. The average j)arcipitation during the months of April, May, June. July, August and Se]ttember is ])ractically three inches. These advantages of protection both in winter and summer with an abundance of rain-fall furnish ideal conditions for the growing and harvesting of fruit, while at the same time one has the advantage of living in one of the most delightful and without question, the healthiest place in Ajnerica. MARKETS. Michigan is the most centrally located fruit State in the Union com- manding the markets east, west, north and south. Our transportation facilities are far superior to those found in any other fruit growing- section. I do not need to detail the thousands of miles of railroad and interurban lines in the ^>tate or numerate the scores of vessels plying on our Great Lakes always ready to carry the farmer's produce by rapid transit to the great consuming centers, but it suflSces to say that there is no State in the Union that can place their fruit in the great consum- ing centers more quickly or cheaper than it can be done from Michigan. Much has been done to advance the cause of Horticulture in Michigan. The late T. T. Lyon did a splendid Avork along various Horticultural lines and a distinctive work in planting and determining the varieties of apples that would do the best in the state. Paul Rose in his work with cherries has done a marvelous work for the State, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars by proving by actually growing the best cherries that are grown in the world. Horace Sessions has proved to us that the life of the peach tree when properly cared for is almost equal to the life of a man. One part of his orchard over thirty years old is still bearing successive crops of magnificent fruit. The work of the late R. M. Kellogg has not yet been sufficiently appreciated but he did a fundamental, painstaking work, and proved to us beyond no question of doubt that blood will tell in trees and plants as well as in the human race. Mr. Bailey has been most painstaking in his work. He has con- tributed to our Horticultural literature and gathered for us information and data that is most valuable. Luther Burbank, that marvellous gentle- men, the Avizard of Horticulture by selection and hyberdizing has given us an insight into the possibilities of greatly improving even the best fruits that Ave are growing today. The State Horticultural Society has gathered together from year to year, the ablest groAvers of the land, and told of the successes and failures, profited by each othei'S experience and contributed liberally, not only to the literature of Horticulture, but the Society Avork has been a source of inspiration in every community Avhere they have held their meetings. The Experiment Station has done 30 a splendid work in testing out new varieties and methods. The Farmer's Institutes have been a help in bringing together those inter- ested in growing fruit and discussing the live Horticultural topics. The local Horticultural Society have been a source of inspiration, and have been a help to the local communities in which they have been organized. All of this is good work, but it is all along the old lines. It is now time for progression, the grower needs to be shown and helped to do on his own farm, or at least in his own community. The dairy interests of the State were out-of-date and lacked progression under the old methods of simply writing and talking about dairying, but when a few progres- sive men got their heads together and pressed the matter and saw what was being done in other states, and the dairy and food department was organized and got busy, they sent men out into the various communities and helped them to organize co-operative creameries. They showed them how to test their milk and cream and how to determine whether a cow was paying for her board or not. With this direct help from the State the dairy interest took on larger proportions. Farmers saw where they were losing money and the dairy interest of the State began to grow by leaps and bounds. A splendid beginning, although there is much needed work yet along this line, and the one thing that is most needed to develop the Horticultural interests of this State properly is a department so organized and so financed that it can make itself practically helpful in the development of Michigan Horticulture, by going directly into the communities and showing them how to do, as well as what to do. COMMISSION AND ITS POLICIES. HON. WILLIAM KELLEY, VULCAN. MEMBER OF PUBLIC DOMAIN COMMISSION. Mr. (jlhairman. Ladies and (jrentlemen : The Public Domain Commission is open to the criticism, and I believe Las been criticised because it is not composed in large part of men who have been identified with the cause of forestry in the State of Michigan. Its functions are, however, not confined entirely to that subject, but embrace the larger one of the proper management, disposition, or con- trol of the public lands of the State. If it was composed of specialists, it would be in danger of illustrating the adage that too many cooks spoil the broth. Its selection is based rather on the general principle that a board of directors should be men of standing, business ability, and a knowledge of the general conditions to be met, who would call in technical assistants to advise them, or to take charge of such parts of the management as require special fitness. In constituting the Com- mission the somcAvhat general, and 1 consider most unfortunate suspi- cion of the appointive power, has been avoided by the prescribed selec- tion of three of the State officers ex-officio, and three members, one each selected from their own number by the regents and boards of the three leading educational institutions of the State. While this has resulted well, it mav fairlv be regretted that there is nothing in the constitution 31 of the board to invite specifically the iufliieuce that inheres to the gov- ernorship, bnt it may generally be assumed that such a board would be ready at all times to cooperate with the chief executive in any plans for the welfare of the State. It is especially fortunate that the Auditor General and the Commissioner of the State Land Office are members of this Commission, for it has helped to bring their two offices into closer touch and to facilitate the transfer of State lands from the Auditor General to the Land Department Avhere they become available for for- estry purposes, or can be offered for sale, as the Commission may direct. At the first meeting of the Commission that I attended, I learned that not only were three members State officers but that all the members except myself had previously been State senators. It was natural to wonder whether the past and present affiliations of these men would lead to any political activities as members of the Commission. After an association of three years, I am glad to be able to say that the only way in which their political experience has been evidenced is in their efforts to secure the best interests of the State and its citizens. There has been no intimation of any desire to secure any personal or party advantage. As to their probity and character, I desire to take this public oppor- tunity to congratulate the people of the State of Michigan upon the men to whom have been committed the great interests in their charge. The greatest destructive agency of the forest interests of the State is fire. From its first meeting the Commission has realized the importance of exerting every effort to prevent and limit the devastation caused by forest fires. Unfortunately, the laws are not sufficiently clear as to the responsibility in this field. An officer entitled the State Game, Fish, and Forestry Warden is primarily charged with the prevention and control of forest fires. He is empowered to employ deputies and has at his command a fund of $10,000.00 a year Avhich may be used for this purpose. The law under which the Public Domain Commission is con- stituted specifies -that in all matters pertaining to forest fires the State Game, Fish and Forestry Warden shall be under the supervision of the Commission. As this officer is appointed by the Governor and has other duties to perform, his relationship to the Commission is not sufficiently definite, and may even be entirely disregarded by him. Either the Com- mission should have the appointment of a fire warden or it should be relieved of all responsibility for forest fires. The Commission was authorized to appoint a Supervisor of Trespass. Its first selection was Mr. Muushaw who has been succeeded by Mr. Mulhern when the former was appointed Assistant Land Commissioner. These men under the direct supervision of the Commission of the State Land Office have prosecuted their Avork with such efficiency that during the first eighteen months nearly 16,000.00 was added to the State Treas- ury from fines. As a further result of their activity, this source of revenue has been materially decreased. When the Commission was organized it took over from the Michigan Forestry Commission which it superseded two tracts of forest reserves aggregating about 40,000 acres. One of these, the Higgins Lake reserve, is partly in the southern part of Crawford and the northern part of Eos- common counties. The other, the Houghton Lake reserve, is in the south- ern part of Roscommon countv. A nurserv had been established on the 32 northern reserve and reforestation had been begnn. It became evident very soon that the services of a trained forester was required to take charge of tliis work, and ^Iv. Marcus Schaaf who had taken his techni- cal training at liiltmore and had had practical experience in the northern part of the State was selected. Mr. Schaaf is the Forester of the Connnission. although his title under the law is Forestry Warden, unfortunately a duplication of ])art of the title of another officer. The forester has not only had charge of the work on the forest reserves, but has examined other lands, prepared preliminary plans for the establish- ment of forest reserves in other parts of the State, and reported upon ])roposals for exchanging lands. Under certain conditions laid down by the rommission, his services may be engaged by others in the State, for advice in forestry matters. The work on the forest reserves in Crawford and Roscommon counties has consisted in extending and working the fire lines, conducting the nursery and reforesting. The buildings on both reserves have required repairs and a new and substantial custodian's and headquarters build- ing has been erected on the Higgins Lake reserve. The appropriations available have not permitted the work of reforestation to proceed on a scale adequate to its importance. It seems almost pitiful that with the funds in hand it has been possible to reforest only 120 acres a year. With the organization at hand, every additional dollar appropriated would go directly to increasing the prospective value of these two re- serves, or the preparing of other reserves for like purposes. Since plant- ing began eight years ago between 800 and 900 acres have been success- fully reforested — such an acreage should be planted every year. The existing reserves have been sources of revenue on a small scale from the sale of dead and down timber, of nui'sery stock, and of marsh hay. Over |1,000.00 was received from these sources during the first eighteen months, but this income under the law is turned into the State Treasury and is not available for disbursements by the Commission. The purpose which in the main justifies the undertaking of forestry operations is ultimate connnercial profit. A forest is a crop which takes many years to cnme to maturity. It is only large corporations with promise of activities over extended periods, or States and muni- cipalities which can engage in this work. The experience of foreign countries justifies the exjjectation that with the ])roper consideration of the differences of climate and soil and prospective changes in building materials, forestry operations in this country may be prosecuted with ultimate profit. It is, therefore, highly desirable that from the com- mencement the account books of a forestry operation should show both receipts and exi)enditures from year to year. From the very start in Michigan there have been financial recei])ts which are worth gathering, and which will increase and eventually overbalance the expenditures, if the timber now growing on the State lands can be protected and im- proved. The Conmiission, under the law which called it into being Avas charged with selecting from the lands owned by the State at least 200,000 acres for forestry purposes. The land now under reservation aggregates something over 2^^0,000 acres. Several considerations in- fluenced the Commission in niakinu' the selection. First: The land 33 should be uou-agricultiiral land. This really is not an exact term, for in the course of time improved methods may permit the use for annual crops of lauds not now profitable. It would be j^enerally considered un- reasonable, however, to take for forestry purjioses what could now profit- ably support agriculture. Second: The laud should be in large fairly contiguous tracts, except in counties where only a small acreage Avas in the hands of the State and there small parcels were set aside which might eventually be used for illustrating wood lot management. It is one of the most unfortuuate conditions of forestry in this State that government subdivisions are so small and that the ownershij) is so scattered. Economical protection against fire is jjossible only with large or combined holdings. Third : It Avould be manifestly unfair to select inordinately large areas in certain few counties. The organization of local government requires that the lands withdraAvn from active par- ticipation in public affairs should not be excessive. Power has been given to the Commission to exchange lands not con- tiguous to the reserve lands for lands included in the reserve limits. This is likely to be a slow process and funds might properly be pro- vided to buy such interior lands when they are in the market. Other states are spending large sums in the purchase of lands for forestry pur- poses, and Michigan as yet has not provided money to properly care for the lands she has. Preliminary plans have been made for the care and improvement qf the Lake Superior State Forest in Luce county, of the Fife Lake State Forest in Grand Traverse county, and of the Forest of Lakes State Forest in Grand Traverse county and Kalkaska county. When funds are in hand for beginning work on these reserves, plans will be made for improving other reserves. The law requires that lands not set aside for forestry purposes shall be sold. The method of sale has been changed. Formerly sales were made only by application at Lansing. Now they are carefully appraised by Land Office agents, advertised and sold at public auction at the re- spective county seats. This method has resulted in increasing sales very largely by calling the attention of people to the lands that can be bought in their neighborhood and results in bringing these lands into active use and adding them to the tax roll. From time to time the valua- tion of the lands for sale has been advanced, and now the minimum price for the poor lands is |2.UU per acre. Whether this minimum should be still further increased is an open question. Cogent arguments can be presented upon both sides. The Connnission has thought it desirable for the present not to prevent the sale of these lands not wanted for forestry purposes by placing what might be a i)rohibitive price on them. The Commission has observed with regret that in certain instances lands of poor quality have been platted and lots sold much above their value for any reasonable purpose. The prevention of such practices is outside the province of the Commission, but it has included in the forest reserve land such lots of this category as have come into the hands of the State through the non-payment of taxes in order to prevent their being re-sold and used again for speculative purposes. During the last five years in several parts of the State societies have been organized for the purpo.se of developing the resources of the neigh- 5 34 boring districts agriculturally and otherwise. These efforts seem to be directed intelligently to increase the wealth of the State and the welfare of its citizens and have had the sympathy and co-operation as far as possible of the Commission. Numerous enquiries have been received in regard to lands available for purchase throughout the State and the opportunity for settlers. At the last regular session, the Legislature authorized the Commission to .emplo.y a Commissioner of Immigration. Hon. A. 0. Carton, who has been the secretary of the Commission from its organization, was given the additional title. He has been able to open a way for the farmers of the State to make known their wants in the way of farm labor to the United States Immigration Department, which connection we hope will be of great advantage to all parties. The recent publication of a pam- phlet ou the Wood Using Industries of Michigan is another splendid re- sult of his activities. The Public Domain Commission is by law obliged to make reservation of all mineral rights in the sale of lands. Several tentative enquiries have been made and a definite request for an option for the exploration and lease of State lands in Montmorency county for the production of petroleum and gas is under consideration. The State Geologist and the Attorney General have been assisting the Commission in this matter. Public sentiment with reference to forestry matters has made notable advances during the last few years, but there is still a large proportion of the citizens of the State who fail to realize its importance. It has not seemed to the Public Domain Commission that it is charged with the duty of organizing a propaganda to stimulate public sentiment on this question. This is a field of service which is open to the forest advo- cates throughout the State, and which is worthy of vigorous cultivation. The Public Domain Commission will be found ready as far as their power permits to cooperate in such work and to forward to the best of their ability the development of the forest resources of the State of Michigan. NEEDED LEGISLATION TO CONSERVE WILD GAME AND BIRD LIFE. HON. WILLIAM R. OATES, STATK GAME, FISH AND FORESTRY WARDEN. Mr. Cliairman, I^adies and Gentlemen: Early in its history Micliigan recognized the importance of enacting restrictive legishition against the killing of wild birds and animals. Protective measures to guard our game resources have received the con- sideration of succeeding legislatures since 1859 and each session has been marked by some advanced step, either closing or limitiug the season on fcrtaiii species of game or regulating in a nu)re stringent way the taking, killing or shipment of game. During recent years the sportsmen of the State have shown a keener interest and have manifested a more cordial spirit of co-operation in the work of the Game and Fish Department. They not only recognize 35 the value of preserving our wild life but are cognizant of the difficulties Avhich beset the limited patrol force at our command. In consequence the pot-hunter, game hog and dynamiter (they are all in the same class) who wantonly destroy game or fish very seldom secure immunity from the punishment which he richly deserves. It has always been my opinion that tlie work of the Department will be much more resultful if we can edu- cate the people to conform to the laws rather than punish them after the law has Ibeen violated. The inauguration of the Boy Forest Scout move- ment is an attempt to educate the boys and girls to realize the value of birds, encourage their study, as well as to enlist their interest and as- sistance in the suppression of forest fires. The game and fish laws, like other laws, must have a healthy public sentiment back of them if the enforcement is to be efl'ective. The true sportsmen of Michigan are help- ing us to create that sentiment. I also think that most of them are heartily in accord with the plans and purposes of this conference which is to discuss and carry out as far as possible a more eftective conservation policy in reference to our natural resources. I am glad of the opportunity here presented to dis- cuss a certain phase of conservation which to date has had very little consideration in Michigan. Good results have been obtained in con- serving our forests, water-power, mineral and other resources. The necessity of scientifically propagating game and commercial fish fry has also been recognized and the activities of both the federal and State authorities have been most effective along this line. Legislation has been enacted which has shown our alertness in conserving these re- sources, yet very little if any attention has been devoted to conserving our birds and game animals. I am hopeful that the united action of this conference will result in something being done to conserve our wild life. While practical and scientific conservation is a recent development in our country, yet in Michigan game conservation, from the standpoint of the State, received little or no consideration. In view of the interest shown by our people in conserving the natural resources which I have mentioned it seems almost paradoxical that game conservation should be ignored. It cannot be said that the sportsmen expect the supply of deer, ruffed grouse, quail and other game to continue un- diminished if no practical or scientific methods are employed for their conservation. It is a conservative estimate that 23,000 hunters were in the woods during the last deer hunting season. It is safe to say that 12,000 deer were slaughtered not counting the number which was de- stroyed by wolves. If I may be permitted the digression, it might be of interest for me to point out at this time that nearly 80% of the deer killed last season were does and fawns. This is the result of the change in the law which provides that the deer season shall open on October 15th and I hope the mistake will be rectified by the next legislature. The timber area is being slowly and surely depleted and the time to conserve our wild life is before it becomes too late, not when it becomes necessary to restock our covers and refuges with imported game. While the necessity of game propagation is of the highest importance, yet the conservation of our bird life is far more so. This is a matter which, should particularly demand the attention of those engaged in agricul- tural pursuits. In view of the earnestness and force which has char- 36 acterized the discussion of this matter by ornithologists and others, it ■svould be a reflection on the farmer to say that he misapprehends the value of the insect eating birds. The service rendered by birds as crop and tree protectors and destroyers of vermin is well known by everyone Avho has given the matter any attention. Aside from the aesthetic value of birds, their beautiful plumage, their song, the mystery of their move- ments, the joy and happiness that they afford us the value of their life work "creating, 'as Dr. Kabus says,' the balance wheel between insect life and vegetation." Their great economic value to the farmer alone should be a convincing inducement for their active co-operation in in- augurating a most careful and complete system of conservation. The noted zoologist. Professor Surface has said in his opinion the world would not be inhabited by man in ten years if insects Avere per- mitted to increase unchecked. The United States Bureau of Entomology has shown us the widespread devastation caused by certain insects. Dr. Shiner estimates an annual damage to crops of the Mississippi valley, by the chinck bug as high as one hundred million dollars. Dr. Linter estimates the annual loss to farmers caused by cut worms as one hun- dred million dollars and Mr. Forbush maintains that insect pests an- nually destroy agricultural i)roducts in the country to the value of eight hundred million dollars. He estimates that single yellow throated warbler Avill consume ten thousand aphids or tree lice in a day, and scarlet tanagers have been seen to eat forty-five gipsy moths a minute for eighteen minutes at a time. The United States Biological Survey examined the crops of thirty-five thousand birds and the result of their investigations are startling. Thirty grasshoppers and two hundred fifty caterpillars were found in the crops of cuckoos. In the crop of a night- hawk were found sixty grasshoppers and in another five hundred mos- quitoes. Thirty-eight cut worms were found in the crop of a black bird and sevent}^ canker worms were found in the crop of a cedar bird. Though a so-called game bird, we are reliably informed that the quail is one of the most valuable assistants to the farmer. It is assumed by some that it feeds on seeds rather than insects. As a matter of fact it feeds on chinch bugs, cotton worms, army worms, potato beetles, striped cucumber beetles, grasshoppers and many other insects and the seeds that they eat are largely those of the harmful Aveed such as the rag Aveed and the like. I believe it will pay the farmer to pro])agate quail. It may be of some interest to note in this connection that at the last special session of the legislature an act Avas passed prohibiting the taking of these birds until 1914, It is not i)ossib]e in the limited time at my disposal to show by actual figures the value of the many insectivorous birds of Michigan, but to those seeking information on their habits, I Avould conunend the most instructive bulletins of Professor BarroAVS. For economical reasons alone, enough has been said to Avarrant an a])i)eal to the farmers of the State, to aid in securing legislation to multijjly and ])roi»agate the in- sectivorous birds by State authority. If there Avere no birds there Avould be no crops either of fruit or grain. This alone should insure the active co-operation of the farmer with the Avork of this De])artment in pro- tecting and conserving the birds of the State. As succinctly and con- vincingly stated by the United States Senate Committee on game pro- tection "but for the Aegetatiou the insects Avould perish and but for the 37 insects the birds would perish and but for tlie birds the vegetation would be utterly destroyed by the unchecked increase of insect destroyers." There are, however, higher and better reasons for the preservation of our birds vastly more powerful than any which have been named — reasons which appeal to every man and woman who have a love for the true and beautiful no matter whether they live on the farm or in the city. As eloquently stated by a writer in one of our magazines "How the soul in everyone of us is ever longing for the beautiful Avhich is the truth, and where better shall this longing lead us than to friendship and communion Avith the birds that nature has endowed with such adorn- ments and sweet voices that they almost seem winged messengers from the portals of heaven. What lessons of love and parental care do they bring to us? How our affections are softened, our ideals purified, our aspirations raised and our whole lives exalted by study and communing with them. No one but a real bird lover and student can even faintly comprehend." While the ]jeople generally have not given much attention to this matter, yet it would be unfair to pass this phase of the subject without paying a tribute of our appreciation to some of Michigan's bird lovers like Mr. Henry Ford, of Detroit, Governor Osborn, Mr. W. B. Mershon, Mr. Jefferson Butler and other splendid sportsmen who have devoted so much time and work to bird preservation. Mr. Ford's bird refuges near Detroit are not only a noble evidence of his love for the beautiful, but a concrete example of what the State could do in a practical way to preserve its bird life. Governor Osborn's life long study, interest and activity in the preservation of bird life is well known and I am assured of his cordial co-operation and kindly approval of legislation which will more effectively preserve our wild life. The State's sportsman's association under the energetic leadership of Mr. Mershon has been largely responsible for the interest that does exist in this matter among the sportsmen of the State today and his kindly aid in the movement we have recently organized in enlisting the services of the boys in prevent- ing forest fires and protecting our birds, and providing at his own ex- pense medal rewards is worthy of high commendation. Before proi)Osing plans to extend the scope of our work and making such plans effective, it might be pertinent if I should outline briefly some of the work the Game, Fish and Forestry Department is engaged in at the present time and to show by comparison with some of the most important of our sister states Avhat Michigan is doing in a pro- tective and regulative way to preserve our rapidly diminishing animal and bird life. In this connection it may be interesting to estimate in a general way the value of our game, and fish resources, the extent of the territory which we patrol, the actual work accomplished and the funds jjrovided by law for warden service. It may also be well to remember at the outset that Michigan makes no legislative appropriation to protect its game and fish resources. The fund to pay for such protection and warden expense is derived from the sale of deer hunting licenses. The amount received from this source during the last year was |2(),()I0.50 as against |28,532.o0 for the year previous. A less number of non- resident licenses were issued last year because the new law prohibited residents of foreign states from shipping outside the State the deer which they killed. In consequence non-resident deer hunters went to 38 other states where they could ship the deer which they secured. This Department received during the last year |9,918.00 from the sale of commercial fishing licenses, all of which, however, is practically utilized for expenses of commercial fishing and boat patrol of the Great Lakes within the jurisdiction of this State. Here are some estimates on the value of commercial fishing in Michigan waters which may be worthy of consideration. Value of lands, boats and nets used in commercial fishing $2 ,500 ,000 00 Number of men employed, 4,000, to which are paid salaries amounting to. 800,000 00 Number miles gill nets used 7 ,000 Number of pounds of fish taken in 1911, 34,000,000 value $2 ,058 ,660 00 The following estimate on the value of our game may be interesting: Deer killed in 1911, 12,000, the value of which was $67 ,500 00 150,000 hunters of small game killed to the value of 300 ,000 00 Value of fur-bearing animals killed in 1911 1 ,275 ,000 00 Value of non-resident fishermen and hunters to Michigan 1 ,000 ,000 00 Aside from the value of our song and insectiverous birds which is so great that it cannot be estimated, it will be observed that the yearly value of fish, game and fur-bearing animals aggregates |7,24G,1GO.OO. That thirty-nine thousand dollars was expended for warden services per annum, which amount is not derived from appropriation or i)roperty tax but by those who avail themselves of the sport afforded or who are engaged in the commercial fishing business. That this is the total amount provided for the services and expenses of twenty-nine deputies whose business it is to patrol 2,200 miles of lake coast, nearly 10,000 inland lakes, 15,000 miles of streams besides the natural haunts and territory inhabited by game, the extent of which cannot be estimated. From July first, 1911 to June first, 1912, the eleven months of my in- cumbency 112,154.32 in fines were collected and turned over to the State : f 1,619.24 from the sale of confiscated property ; and fish and game to the value of $4,230 has been seized and sent to charitable and other public institutions of the State. While we regret to report so many arrests and convictions, yet a comparative statement of the eleven months of the previous year with the last eleven months reveals the following facts : July 1, 1910 July 1, 1911 July 1, 1911 June 1, 1912 Nimiber of complaints investigated 1 ,324 1 ,594 Number of cases begun 755 886 Number convicted 665 759 Number acquitted 24 29 Number dismissed 14 20 Number pending 52 78 Amount of fines and costs $10 ,673 33 $12 ,154 02 Arrests for violations game laws 409 538 Arrests for violations fish laws 346 348 Sales reported 313 379 Proceeds of sales 1 ,&41 82 1 ,619 24 39 Funds appropriated or obtained by hunter's license in the following- states : California, hunting licenses, fiscal year ending June 30th, 1910 $126 ,734 35 Colorado, 1910, resident hunting licenses $33 ,684 00 Non-resident hunting licenses 810 00 Total 34 ,494 00 Idaho, 1910, resident licenses $35 ,688 00 Non-resident licenses 81 00 Non-resident big game licenses 607 00 Total 37 ,106 30 Iowa, 1910, resident hunting licenses S107 ,377 00 Non-resident hunting licenses 500 00 Total 107 ,877 00 Louisiana, hunting licenses for 1909 84 ,898 73 Missouri, 1909, county resident licenses $81 ,443 00 State resident licenses 15 ,320 00 Non-resident licenses 1 ,475 00 Total 98 ,238 00 New Jersey, 1910, resident licenses $57 ,731 50 Non-resident 5 ,990 00 Total 63 ,721 50. Last legislature appropriated $40,000.00 for game preserves. North Dakota, 1910, resident licenses $26 ,542 00 Non-resident hunting licenses 2 ,425 00 Total 28 ,967 00 Wisconsin, 1909-1910, resident licenses $103 ,701 60 Non-resident deer hunting 6 ,700 00 Non-resident Small game hunting 4 ,160 00 Total 114 ,561 60 Ohio — Amount annually appropriated and expended for game and fish protection 44 ,000 00 Illinois — Amount annually received and expended for game protection 149 ,380 00 Minnesota, Amount appropriated $35 ,000 00 Resident licenses 24 ,530 00 Non-resident licenses 7 ,038 00 Other sources 16 ,496 00 Total 83 ,064 00 Pennsylvania, Amount appropriated $20 ,100 00 Hunting licenses 24 ,000 00 Total 44 ,100 00 Appropriated by last legislature for game preserves $15,000 00 40 • It is of particular interest to comi)are our statement with the report oC the (lame and Fish Department of Wisconsin for the last year be- cause of the many similar conditions in the administration of game and ^ish nuitters which confront both states. WISCONSIN MICHIGAN Total number of arrests made 953 886 Total number convicted 772 759 Total number acquitted and cases dismissed 69 49 Number of cases pending 32 78 Amount of fines and costs $20 ,989 32 $12 ,154 02 Receipts from confiscations 5 ,367 61 1 ,619 24 It will be observed that the administrative work accomplished is prac- tically the same as in Michigan and the amount of fines imposed in excess of the amount returned to this State by our Department, yet the expense of warden service is almost four times as much as is annually incurred in Michigan. While it may be said that these facts and figures may be more ])roperly incorporated in the Department's annual (and they will be elaborated on in such report) yet it is essential in my estimation that we wiio are interested in a practical conserva- tion ])olicy should know the character of the work now being done by the game and fish ])epartment, the funds which are expended for pro- tection, the territory i)atrolled and the number of wardens employed so that we can thoroughly understand the recommendations which I expect to make here today and the legislation needed to make it effective. The information above submitted must I believe show that the limited fmids at our disposal requires that the character of our work must nec- essarily be exclusively protected and I do not hesitate to say that we have not enough men or money to accomplish Avith efficiency the i)rotec- tive results which the value of our great g;nue resources demand. It is a penny wise and ])ound fooli.sh jiolicy which does not })rovide the best sort of protection for an asset so valuable. It is better busine.ss sense to provide some practical methods for preserving the sadly de- pleted and remaining game life now than to be compelled later to im- port game birds ami aninuils at a great cost for the protection of our ci-oi)s and trees and to provide sport for the recreation of our citizens. Many of the states have been comi)elled to do this very thing and keenly legret that they did not i)reserve the game when they had it. I have just observed in the last annual rei)ort of the Bird Connuissioner of I{h<)de Island that he was having great diiliculty in purchasing game to restock the game covers of that State. The failure to do something prac- tical now to j)reserve our game will not t>nly soon be regretted but it is not a scpiare deal to future generations to continue the ]>resent ])olicy. We should not gorge ourselves now and starve in the future. Maybe our indifference is due to the fact that om* peojjle have been too busy lo give the situation much thought or to forsee its finally disastrous effects, but bef()re it is too late and in order that something j)ractical ;iud effective be done to i)reserve our wild life, I propose now with all the earnestness at my command and with a sincere hope that I may Slave the cordial and active co-operation of this conference and the 5>eoi)le of the State that game refuges and bird sanctuaries be established lin Michigan under State authority, that the funds to be used for that 41 purpose be obtained from the sale of resident hunters licenses and that the next legislature be asked to pass such a law. I am of the opinion that certain portions of the State lands may be adapted and can be utilized for this purpose. I am also advised that certain public spirited citizens of this iState are ready to dedicate valuable preserves to the State for this purpose. Many of the states have passed laws providing for the establishment of farms for the propagation of game and there are not a half dozen states in the Union that have not passed the resi- dent hunter's license law. The funds derived from such a measure will not only insure better protection and provide a means for propagating our game, but as shown by the investigations of the federal authorities in Pennsylvania, it will cripple the illegal traffic in game because it provides for a closer supervision of individual hunters. The success which has been achieved in the establishment of game presences has I believe passed the experimental stage, but this subject will be presented to you later by a gentleman Avhose observations are based on a personal knowledge of the actual value of this work in the different states. The proposed hunter's license law for I'ennsylvania contains many good features which might be favorably considered by the friends of such a measure in this State. As I have before pointed out I believe it is our bounden duty to insure better protection for the wild life of our forest, streams, and woodlands and to use every legitimate means to prevent further depletion by adopt- ing some practical method of propagation such as I have suggested. I venture the assertion that no true sportsman or lover of nature will ob- ject to the pajnieut of a dollar for this purpose. FOREST FIRES AXU FOREST PROTECTION. THOMAS B. WYMAN^ MUNISING, NORTHERN FOREST PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATIO'N. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen of this Conference: No keener pleasure has been mine for many a day than that experi- enced when I learned that this Conference was to be held. National Conventions and Conferences in which several States de- liberated have been held but they have treated the subjects with which we are concerned in an abstract way only; while this Conference, nuide up of representatives of Michigan's ovni paths of advancement, can dis- cuss with particularity and with earnestness those means and methods by which we can advance our State's and hence our own welfare. Our problems, however similar, are not precisely like those of our neighboring states; our means of solution vary; legal phases and phases of constitutionality may i)ossibly alter or even prohibit desirable plans. A Michigan Conference, however, should consider all contributing points to the end that the road to accomplishment may be clearly blazed to all our citizens who are interested with us in the proper and permanent de- velopment of our many valuable assets. Let us not permit this Conference to result in a mere exchange of Ideas ! Let us not pass important subjects without full discussion ! Let 42 us unite in working out our problems in a spirit which will impress our neighbors with the fact that we are in earnest and that we are endeavor- ing to bring about a consistent advancement in things, heretofore care- lessly handled, of material importance to every resident of our common- wealth. Secretary Carton has given me the subject ^'Forest Fires and Forest Protection," and I ask you to note that the sequence of the subject is in true forest fire form — forest fires and then forest protection— or, after fires occur we begin to look for a preventive remedy. Forest fires have prevailed in this State so long, and yearly, that they have come to be thought of as a menace for which there is no remedy. But this position is not tenable and is an expression of the individual's personal irresponsibility. Forest fires occupy' the same position in rela- tion to the safet}' of the forest as do burning buildings to the safety of the town. But in the latter instance organization, properly financed, is maintained at all times to respond to the first alarm. Equipment, costly and eflflcient, is provided and fire drills and practices are constant in order that a high degree of efiicieucy may be developed. In our forests, however, there is a notable and pitiable lack of organi- zation. Forest distances are immense, means of communication and transportation limited, and efficient equipment not to be had. Our city business blocks are constructed as sources of revenue to the owners, and the protection of such buildings is ]n"ovided for from the general tax budget contributed to by the entire community. There is no such community contribution for the protection of our burnable forests, which like city buildings are managed for profit. Operations increase the available fire food in the nature of tops and branches. You say these tops and branches should be piled and burned and this surplus food thus taken care of. This is true, with limitations. Valuable species, with small amount of waste wood per tree, can be piled and burned and a profit yet obtained; but species of low value and huge tops, as for instance our hemlock, often cannot be handled in this way with the possibility of even meagre net returns. The burden of burning slash is a serious burden, and one which the operator can ill afford to stand until the increase of the value of the wood product obtained by him Avill offset the expense. I am an advocate of the destruction of slash when it places a serious risk upon remaining forests; but there are other ways to gain this end while reducing the risk instead of increasing it. Forest fires are caused by carelessness; occasionally, but rarely, by intent. The awakening of and the building u]) of a strong sentiment against wanton destruction is, without (juestion, the greatest power toward fire prevention. Every man can see and can hear; therefore there is a way to get his attention and his interest. Advertising — Ptiblicitj^ of our cause — personal ex])loitation and edu- cation will yield the greatest returns. At the same time sufficient patrol should be given to discover and quench any fires which might possibly occur. The clearing of lands by settlers is the source of many — in fact tlio greatest percentage of — forest fires. Settlers, however, are reasonable and when properly approached seldom repeat dangerous practices. Railroads cause many fires, but there is no excuse whatever for damage 43 from this source, since there is invariably a section crew within easy reach which could and would render service if properly instructed. The railroads obtain their financial life from the patronage of the public and it is not unreasonable to demand that safety to public interest be re- turned for this i^atronage. Sportsmen and hunters careless with matches and camp fires, often damage the forest, but explanation and suggestion rather than con- demnation Avill enlist their cooperation. Purpose burning must be discouraged by process of law and the offender made to suffer, but purpose burning is so rare in our Upper Peninsula that few need fear apprehension. The organization with which I am connected, the Northern Forest Protective Association, is accomplishing its aims through the two agents above named^ — publicity and patrol, and is basing its work upon the belief that our people desire the maintainance of our wonderful forests and forest resources, and that the damage heretofore done has been occasioned by thoughtlessness rather than design. We have confidence in the intelligence of every man who loves the woods, and he who is a patron of the woods loves them or he would not be there. With this confidence in his intelligence we shall continue to place our arguments before him, believing that in the end complete un- derstanding and complete harmony of purpose will prevail. FOREST FIRE PROTECTION, FROM THE RAILROAD STAND- POINT. C. W. LUCE_, ExVST TAWAS^ SUPT. D. & M. R. R. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : A factor vital in the discussion and solution of reforestation problems is the elimination of all elements conducive to the starting of the forest fire and the application of every means possible tending its prevention. The annual decrease in the quantity of Michigan's standing timber is apparent, and the outlook unless immediate action, individual and con- certed, is taken is discouraging. One of the chief causes of this de- crease is the forest fire, and its prevalence and devastation during recent years illustrates its possibilities. The railroad is one agency able to perform certain work tending to a putting out of fire already started before it has got beyond control and to an elimination of its causes. The actual institution of certain measures of late shows the railroad's willingness to do what it can in this regard. In its inception the Detroit & Mackinac Railway was constructed along the Huron shores to take its part in caring for the forest products of north eastern Michigan. It has witnessed a gradual diminishing of the timber that was once so abundant. In this discourse it is the writers purpose to confine himself to what this road has done, first to prevent the starting of fire and second to 44 overcome fire oiu-e started. Over iiio.st of its line, its track lies upon a right of way one hundred feet in width. This right of way is cleared of all brush and substantial undergroAvth and presents nothing possible of ignition and fire-carrying (jualities other than grass and ground growth. Realizing, however, that fire once started in any ground growth suffi- ciently dry may run and set fire to adjoining or nearby timber, the road some years ago adopted and put into execution a plan whereby such fire might be checked. It plowed two or three furrows, where possible, along and next to the fence on either side of the right of Avay. In nearly every instance this plan has been found effective and fire starting from locomotives or other causes has died Avithin the right of way. Another means of ])revention results from work required of the sec- tion men. In the spring of each year these men burn over the right of way within their sections, and all combustible matter is destroyed. During such burning a continual watch is maintained in order that it may not s])read to adjoining ])ro])erty. In no instance have these fires escaped without the limits of the railroad property. In this connection it may be remarked that positive instructions issue to the section men that during continued dry weather no fires shall be set upon the right of way and that old ties and other rubbish shall not be burned. Another method whereby fires are prevented lies in a special fire fight- ing a])i)aratus with which some locomotives are equipped. This con- sists of a hose attached to the injector on the engine. Instructions to conductors and engineers are enforced to the effect that the operatives of trains so equijjped shall stop and extinguish all fires on the right of way, and all fire off' the right of way within reach of the hose. It is nmde the duty of the engineers and conductors of trains not so equii)ped, where it is not possible for them to put out the fire, to communicate with the office of the General Superintendent at the first telegraph sta- tion, and to notify such office of any fire on or near the right of way. The operatives of engines not so equipped, must also notify the con- ductor and engineer in charge of the first train they meet or pass which does cari-y the fire fighting a])i)aratus, and the latter must, as soon as possible thereafter, ask for orders to go to the fire. Further it is re- quired that the engineer and conductor, of a train first discovering fire, notify the first section foreman they meet, without regard as to upon whose section the fire may be, to go to the fire. They shall also notify oilier section crews in the vicinity of the fire to the same effect, provid- ing in their judgment the conditions warrant it. When the men in charge of trains so stoi)i)ing to fight fires, are unable to put them out, the superiors shall inunediately rejjort such fact to the office of the General Superintendent. Dependent upon the conditions, large crews of emj)loyes may be then sent out and assembled at the place of the fire, and efforts made to check and kill the burning. In numerous instances fires as above suggested, not only ui)on the rail- road company's property, but also u])on adjoining land have been ex- tinguished by the train men and men employed on the section which, had they been allowed io run, would have resulted in inestimable damage. Admittedly fires do originate at times directly from a locomotive, but 45 it has been the writer's experience that fires of more frequent occurrence and of greater magnitude find their origin in the clearing of hmd, in the actions of campers and tramps, and in other causes. To illustrate, on the 14th day of October, 1008, the day preceding the great fire that swept over and devastated large portions of the counties in Northeastern Michigan, the writer was riding over one of the branch lines and noticed a fire a half mile distant from the track kindled by a farmer for the purpose of clearing land. He remarked to the fireman of the engine in which he was riding that if the farmer who had set the fire did not take some action to prevent its running, night wou*ld see much of the surrounding country burned over. Later in the day he saw the truth of this remark evidenced — the same fire, now beyond con- trol, had spread over several hundred acres of second growth timber, and had entirely wiped it out. Upon the questions involving fires originating in the vicinity of a rail- road, that agency must needs say a word generally in the defensive. Eailroads are commonly adjudged the primary cause of many fires for which they are in no wise responsible — sufficient merely that a locomo- -^ive has passed thru the locality where fire is burning. Were the same or similar precautions that are adopted and put into effect by Kailroad Companies, and were similar action in connection with a fire once started, taken by others, there ^^■ould be less destruction of property by fire than has been the case in the past, and the years to come would witness a far smaller annual loss. Coal is the fuel used almost universally in the operation of locomo- tives, and so long as its use is necessitated it cannot be assured that they will be run without occasionally setting fire. Without detailing the mechanism, suffice to say that an engine must have a draught in order to obtain the energy required to propel it. The fires that are set are directly resultant upon those parts of the engine which make that draught possible. The writer has been questioned as to whether or not a locomotive, properly equipped with modern a])pliances, could throw out a spark or cinder from its stack of a size sufficient to set a fire. He has answered that if all of the conditions were just right, it might. Large sums of money are annually expended by the Michigan rail- roads in an endeavor to prevent fires and to minimize the damage that has heretofore resulted. Locomotives are equipped with the most modern and most approved appliances known to the engineering world to eliminate the fire setting causes. All engines now carry a spark arrester thru which all smoke and sparks and cinders must pass before reaching the outer air. Frequent periodical inspections of these spark arresters are had and every effort is made to keep them in good condition and to repair or renew them when necessary. Inspections are made also at other times, as when it comes to the knowledge of the road that fires are burning in the vicinity of the track. At such times all engines passing the point of the fire within several hours prior to its discovery are thoroughly examined be- fore proceeding on another trip. If any defects are found, they are remedied immediately. It is manifest that the Railroads of this State are exerting every pos- sible effort tending to a prevention of fires which may start from loco- 46 motives, and, as before stated, if similar efforts were made and similar precautions were taken by individuals and corporations other than rail- roads, fires would be fewer and the consequent damage would be greatly minimized. Outside of, but touching the subject allotted him, the writer would wish to take opportunity of giving brief expression to certain thoughts on the question of reforestation. Unless further and more drastic measures, necessary to the success of Avhat has already been accomplished, are taken in the prevention of forest fires, the money expended in such work will have been practically thrown away. Michigan has a State Game, Fish and Fire Warden, empowered to appoint deputies. The number he may appoint is nothing when com- pared with the number that should be engaged in the work, to make it of any practical benefit in looking after fires in the northern Michigan. Even one man to a county could not perform the duties that should be incumbent upon him in the way of preventing and fighting fires. To l>reserve the present existing forests, and to make reforestation projects feasible, opposition to the expenditures of large sums of money to pre- vent fires must not be suggested. The best methods to be employed to preserve our present forests and to make reforestation worth while may be expensive but they are practi- cable and assure the desired result. A fire break of not less than four rods in width should be cleared around every section or fractional part of a section and should be plowed and kept clear of any inflammable matter. During dry Aveather a sufficiently large body of men should be employed to properly patrol these sections. A law should be enacted and enforced prohibiting trespassing on State lands for any purpose whatever. The present existing laws should be amended so as to give to the wardens i)ower to press all men in the vicinity into service to assist in putting out fires, a refusal to act on the part of any one so called upon to be a criminal oftense. In conclusion, the Avriter would wish to strongly urge the great im- portance of immediate, concerted action. He would suggest some means of organization that would take measures to prevent the setting of fires and to extinguish fires once started. He would have all persons in in- interest, parties to such an organization. He would see the question agitated, and would recommend the employing of many persons for that if for no other purpose. Unless some action is taken the same annual fires and consequent loss may be anticipated. By request Mr. Charles E. Brewster, Game Law Expert, United States Department of AgTiculture, Washington, D. C, was in attendance at the Conference and delivered an address on ,; OF THE V ^COLLEGE OF FEDERAL AND STATE GAME REFUGES. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : I desire to confess in advance that I am miprepared to discuss this important feature of the conservation of one of our most valuable natural assets in a manner commensurate with its real importance. I Avas in attendance upon the Federal court at Marquette when I received a wire from Washington directing me to arrange to attend this meeting, and later a letter from your secretarj', Mr, Carton, requesting me to ad- dress you upon the subject of game refuges; and so with little prepara- tion I am here and will discuss briefly some of the features that present themselves to me along the line of the conservation of our wild life. It is only within comparatively recent years that the people of this country have awakened to the danger incident to the wasteful methods pursued in the destruction of our game and fish, among the most valu- able of our natural resources, and of the importance, for the benefit of both present and future generations, of their conservation by the enact- ment of wise laws properly and judiciously enforced. The result has been the organization of departments in the various states solelj' for the enforcement of the game, fish and forestry' laws in their respective states, the enactment into law of provisions regulating the manner and time of taking fish and game and the number each person may kill, and regulations relating to shipment, possession and use. The export of game and the sale of our rapidly disappearing upland game, and, in many instances, all game, is now prohibited in nearly every State in the Union. You will be interested to know that man}' of these features of game conservation originated in Michigan. The first salaried State game warden in any State was our present senior United States Senator, Hon. Wm. Alden Smith, and the first resi- dent hunting-license law was our present deer-hunting license law en- acted in 1895. It is axiomatic that an}- law not sustained by public sentiment is likely to become a dead letter upon the statute books. This is especially true of the game and fish laws of a State. Our forefathers, under condi- tions entirely unlike those of the present day, had so long accustomed themselves to consider game and fish their own natural heritage, that any attempt to regulate their hunting or fishing was resented as an un- warranted abridgment of their personal rights ; and even to this day it is easy to find among our good citizens men who cannot understand how or why game killed l)y them is not their personal and individual prop- erty, subject to such disposition as they may elect. The importance to the State of the preservation of its game, fish and forests is now fully recognized by all thoughtful and public spirited citizens, and in our own great State, where those blessings have been so bountifully bestowed by nature, no better illustration of the awful wastefulness of our people in its dissipation can be found. Our forests are gone, our larger game animals have entirely disappeared, and our game birds have become almost exterminated. We have, like other states, locked the stable onlv after the horse was gone. Probablv the 48 last nesting of the passenger pigeon occurred in this State; it has now entirely (lisai»])eared from the face of the earth. Tlie lordly moose, the spendid elk. and that magnificent game bird, the pinnated gronse, have been entirely destroyed in onr State, Avhile the beantifnl bobwhite cpiail and onr rntfed gronse have become so few in nnmbers as to make their entire disap]iearance in the near fntnre extremely probable. And onr present law relating to the killing of deer, if continned npon the statnte books, Avill insnre the speedy disappearance of these magnificent game animals. The senseless destrnction of onr food fishes is abont in line with that of onr game, and had it not been for the miited efforts of onr own State commission and that of the Federal Bnrean of Fisheries in the artificial propagation of billions of fishes to be i^lanted in the waters of onr great nnsalted seas, these waters wonld be as devoid of fish life as is the Great Salt Lake of Utah. Michigan, in common with her sister states, has been extremely im- provident in the handling of her game and fish. Dnring all the years previons to the admission of this territory to statehood and for a nnniber of years immediately following, little Avas done in the Avay of the enact- ment of game laws, and practically nothing was done previonsly to 1887 in the enforcement of the few laws relating to either game or fish. The legislature of that year provided for a warden service and this service has been steadil}- increasing in efficiency until today the Michigan De- partment of Game, Fish and Forestry, under the supervision and con- trol of Warden Gates, ranks second to none in this country, LEGISLATION. During the past few years methods of killing game have ra])idly im- proved, and entirely different measures are needed to regulate the killing from those that were deemed necessary during the earlier days. Seasons have been shortened and bag limits i)rovided; the use of dogs in the hunting of deer and of traps in the taking of game birds has been pro- hibited ; certain kinds of guns and other devices have been barred in the taking of waterfowl. These and many other methods have been adopted to restrict the killing of our game. I find, U])on examination of the statutes of our own State, among the novel methods adopted in the past along this line, that in 1897 a section was written into tlie general game law^ foi'bidding the hunting of squirrels with ferrets; and at the last ses- sion of our legislature it was made unlawful to hunt rabbits with "guinea-pigs." But, taken as a whole, our game laws are in a fairly satisfactory con- dition, and with the cutting down of the deer-hunting season to twenty days and reducing the bag limit to one deer, or if left at two to make it unlawful to kill any excej)! bucks Avith horns, thus i)rotecting does and fawns all the year, these laAvs Avould need little additional change for a number of years. Michigan Avas the first State in the Union to ado])t a resident hunting- license hiAV. It applied, hoAvever, only to the killing of deer. Other states Avere quick to adopt this method for regulating killing as well as providing a source of revenue for the su|>port of the de]>artment charged Avitli the enforcement of game hiAVS, and in every case they made it cover all protected game; but Ave have made no change other than to tAvice 49 increase the cost of this license to the resident deer hunter. That this method has worked entirely satisfactorily is evidenced by the fact that, while 35 states have enacted into a law a resident hunting-license fea- ture, no State except West Virginia has abandoned it, and its repeal there was purely a political matter. States with far less game than has our own have raised sufficient funds for the entire support of the game and fish warden department by the imposition of a general fl.OO resident hunting license, exacting from $10 to |50 from nonresidents for a like privilege. Illinois last vear paid into the State treasury more than |200,000; Wisconsin, 1127,390; Iowa, |91,326 ; Missouri,\f70,974 ; Indiana, .|5G,67G; while in the state of New Jersey the receipts totaled |()7,730. It is entirely safe to say that more than |1,000,000 were paid last year in the United States for hunting-licenses alone. The Michigan AVarden I)e])artment needs additional funds for carry- ing on the important work of looking after the game, tish, and public forests of this great State. It is especially fitting that the men who en- joy the sports afield should pay for the protection given our game and game fish, and there are so many things to be urged in favor of a resi- dent hunting-license law and little or nothing that can be consistently said in opposition to it, that it really seems incredible that Michigan has permitted itself to fall back into the rear rank of game conservationists along this line. During the past five years I have visited most of the states of the Union and have noted carefull}' the systems employed and methods adojited and carried out for the protection of game and fish and the en- forcement of the laws relating thereto, and I am frank to say that in no State have they a better system, in no State have they a better State warden, in no State have they a better or more intelligent class of offi- cers, and in no State do they accomplish more by the expenditure of the same amount of money than in this very State of Michigan. But with 2,000 miles of coast line, thousands of lakes and streams to protect, our vast expanse of wild country in which to look after the wild life therein, our rapidly increasing population, and the added yearly interest taken in hunting and fishing as a health-giving recreation, the warden depart- ment should be given not less than |100,000 a year for its support. The enactment of a general resident hunting-license law Avould furnish a sum greatly in excess of this amount. GAME REFUGES. But I was expected to talk on the subject of game refuges, and I seem to have taken a shot at every other matter connected Avith game con- servation, and I am reminded of the earlier days when game preservation was in its infancy in Michigan and when the attorneys defending a per- son charged with a violation of the game or fish laws invariably and carefully refrained from discussing the merits of the case itself, but devoted their entire time to trying the game warden impugning his motives and striving in a general Avay to discredit him. With most of the jurors drawn to try these cases, and in many instances the attor- neys themselves known to be persistent violators of these laws, it was a sort of "hang together or hang separate'' proposition, and acquittals under these conditions were not infrequent. 7 50 With the rapid (lisa])pearance of both our game and nongame birds, it has been found advisable to provide for them refuges, — tracts where they may rest, breed, and raise their young and be secure from molesta- tion b}' man. The General Government now has fifty-six of these reser- vations where by Executive proclamation it is made unlawful to hunt, pursue, kill, or molest in any manner the wild animals and birds found therein. Several of the States have taken up the question and have themselves established State game refuges for the protection all the year of the wild life within the boundaries established. The State of Pennsylvania has been quick to discover the advantages to be gained by pursuing this policy and in 1905 the legislature of that State provided for the setting apart by the Game Commission of certain State lands for deer and upland bird preserves, subject to such regulations as might be provided by said commission. Two years later the legislature enacted into law another bill authorizing the Game Commission, with the ap- proval of the Commissioner of Forestr}^ to set apart any unused lands of the State as game reservations, provided a jjerpetual closed season for all game animals or birds therein ; such lands set apart not to exceed nine miles in circumference or to be located within 25 miles of each other; to be surrounded by a well-defined fire-line, or cleared strip of land, and by at least one wire, with notices posted in conspicuous i^laces calling attention to the fact of the land within the wire having been set apart as a game reservation or haven of refuge into which wild birds and animals could retreat and be safe at all times, and made it unlawful to molest, drive, or kill any such wild animal or bird within such enclosures, or to carry any firearms or take any dog within such game refuges. This act was again amended in 1911, removing the re- strictions as to the distance apart these refuges should be located, as well as the size of same, providing, however, that in no instance should the refuge established contain in excess of one-half of the tract of public land upon which such refuge is established. The purpose of this pro- vision is obviously to provide for absolute security within the sanctuary or refuge to the animals within its boundaries, that they may breed and raise their young without fear of molestation. It was reasoned that, as they multiplied, they would gradually spread out to the adjoining iauds where, in the hunting season and restricted only by the general laws regulating the time and manner of hunting, they might be law- fully pursued and killed by the citizen-sportsmen of the commonwealth; for, as you know, gentlemen, the hunting or killing of any wild animal or bird by any foreign-born, unnaturalized person is absolutely forbidden by the laws of Pennsylvania. In fact, it is made unlawful for any such alien to either own or have in possession at an}' time, or any circum- stances, any fowlingpiece or rifle within the State. And notwithstanding a bitter contest in the courts of the State, brought by a subject of Italy and actively supported by the Italian representative in this country, the supreme court of the State has declared the act constitutional. (See Commonwealth v. Papsone, Mar. 20, 1911.) The results obtained have far exceeded even the optimistic hopes of the game commissioners themselves, and from reports received from hunters, as well as from the official reports of the game protectors, one of which is assigned to look after each preserve, more deer and other game were actually killed on the lands immediately surrounding these 51 game refuges last season than had been killed on the entire tracts pre- viously to the establishment of these sanctuaries. So I believe, gentlemen, we are entirely safe in assuming that the policy of establishing these game refuges on State lands and under State control has passed the experimental stage and that its wisdom and suc- cess for the purposes intended have been fully proved. Michigan has millions of acres of State lands, and in many of the counties much of this land is unsuited for agricultural purposes. On these lands within the memory of most of you gentlemen, deer, bear, squirrels, wild turkeys, pinnated and ruffed grouse, quail, and in their respective seasons the migratory game birds Avere found in great abund- ance. Many of these have entirely disappeared and all have become greatly reduced in numbers. Would it not be wise to enact laws for the setting apart of at least a portion of these lands as breeding and resting places for the remnant of this valuable asset of our people? Other states, awakening to the importance and value of the game to a State, have established these sanctuaries and are now obtaining by purchase wherever possible, deer, quail, and pheasants to replace the native game senselessly destroyed in the earlier days of statehood when their im- portance was unthought of. New Jersey has within the past two years obtained by purchase 10,000 bobwhite quails for liberation within her boundaries; and Pennsylvania has within the past year purchased from the Cleveland Cliffs Company, of Grand Island, Michigan, several car- loads of white-tailed or Virginia deer for liberation in their game refuges, and is now arranging for more of them. Let's wake up, go before the legislature early in the coming session and secure the repeal of the senseless provision in our present laws per- mitting the shooting of waterfowl and shore-birds in the spring, and the enactment into law of a provision for a general resident hunting-license and the establishment of State game refuges on the wild and unoccupied lands of the State in various parts of the State. Do this, and the per- petuation of at least the remnant of our game will be assured. Do this, and the few remaining states north of the Mason and Dixon line will enact similar restrictions on the killing of game in the spring. Do this, and we shall deserve the approbation and approval of every true lover of our wild life wherever found. Do this, and Michigan will again take her place proudly at the head of the line of practical game conservation- ists of this great big country of ours, — a country still rich in all that goes to make a country great, and with a citizenship second to none on earth. 52 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. DOUGLAS MALLOCH^ CHICAGO. ASSOCIATE EDITOR^ AMERICAN LUMBERMAN. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and CJentlemen : This conference undoubtedly has for its chief purpose tlie conservation of the resources of the State, with special reference to the administra- tion of the public domain. It is not the desire to depart radically from that line of thought. The term ''conservation" is of such wide applica- tion that it may well embrace, not only the conservation of the State's physical resources, but the conservation of the life, happiness and pros- perity of the commonwealth and, specifically, the communities Avhich make it up. Public thought in this State, therefore, ma,y well concern itself with the development and the conservation of the smaller com- munity, its conservation in the face of the present tendency toward con- gestion of population in the larger cities. An abstract of the census pub- lished a few days ago shows that the growth of population during the last decade has been heavy, which is well for the nation. However, it shows that the growth of population has been three times gi'eater in the cities than it has been in the country, which is not well for the nation. In this great rush of population to the cities may be found some of the causes for some of the ills we suffer. To a large extent the country pro- duces our necessities, the city our luxuries; and when a large part of the population is devoted to the production or the enjoyment of the one there will naturally follow a decrease in the production and an increase in the cost of the other. We are at present immersed in the maelstrom of a great political cam- paign. At such a time the public mind is inclined to attribute all our troubles to a legislative policy or a political condition, to Wall Street or to Washington, or to some other spot supposed to be the center of our legislative or financial universe. When the cost of living increases, when money ceases to circulate, when some other economic condition arises, we are likely to look afar for some vague cause for events, when the trouble may be close at home. The people of Michigan who have economic problems perhaps need not look far for a reason. In the building in which I labor there is a doctor on the third floor and a barber on the ninth floor. The other day I went into the barber shop and found the doctor getting a shave. The doctor and the barber agreed that the doctor business and the barber business Avere bad. but they Avere unable to agree upon a cause. The barber thought that the trusts were to blame for it. The doctor thought antitrust agitation was to blame. And so they argued and argued, without either of them getting at the real cause. Now, I can tell you wliat Avas the matter so far as the doctor business and the barber business were concerned — Christian Science and safety razors. If Ave desire the Avealth of Michigan conserved, its resources developed and its ])ros])erity increased, Ave must look to Michigan for the remedy and not to Washington or Princeton or Oyster Bay. There is a new 53 school of medicine which cures all disease by massaging and manipula- ting the vertebrae. We must apply that treatment to Michigan, seek for the backbone of Michigan's wealth and wellbeing, and endeavor to stiffen it by a little agitation. Michigan is not merely a State. It is an empire. Michigan is the most independent of states; that is, it is independent in its wealth. It is independent because of the variety of its resources. You could build a fence around the State of Michigan tomorrow and the people of Michi- gan could go on living for a cycle of centuries without outside assist- ance. We could clothe and feed and house ourselves with the products of our fields and forests. We could surround ourselves with the utensils of living and adorn ourselves with the ornaments of luxury from our mines. We could heat our houses in winter with subterranean fuel. We could even build the fence with our own lumber. We have only, there- fore, to develop and conserve our resources to insure the entity and per- petuity of the State. And, even in the matter of politics, we are not dependent upon Washington, Wall Street or the West, since our home production is suflScient for all our practical needs. If you can be induced, therefore, to consider Michigan and Michigan prosperity as a Michigan atfair, jou can be asked to search the anatomy of Michigan for the backbone to which reference has been made. It lies in the rural district and the small community. This is said with due re- spect to the automobile industry of Flint, Lansing and Detroit. I do not know which of these three cities leads in that respect. I presume that it is whichever one of the three that manufactures the repairs. It is said also with due respect to the lumber industrj' of Saginaw Bay, the beet sugar of an}' region, the mines of Houghton or the summer resorts of Traverse Bay. The people of Michigan should be shown the value and the necessity of spending their money at home, in the conversion of wild lands into farms, in patronage of the local merchant, in the building of homes and the abolition of landlords, in the creation of means of quick local trans- portation, in everything that makes Michigan a better place in which to live. They should be shown that money invested in orange groves in Alaska or wheat lands in Timbuctoo, even though they return the dividends of the glittering prospectus, will do little to increase the value of Michigan lands of present ownership. One good thing about investing your money here at home is the fact that before you invest you can investigate. The only thing that a man ought to buy without looking into it first is a shotgun. In any such measure as we can, those here present should endeavor to demonstrate to the people of Michigan that the place to do their buy- ing is within the State. We do not want to waste our time, however, demonstrating that the other investment may be bad, but rather should we lend our encouragement to the men and women who are attempting to show that in climate, soil and nearness to market Michigan lands have no superior; and we should urge, as we shall be able to prove, that there is no commodity we desire to buy that we can not buy better here at home in Michigan than anywhere else. The preaching that counts is affirmative preaching. The people will learn to invest their money in Michigan as life in Michigan is made 54 larger and better. We should ourselves preacb, and encourage the press of the State to advocate, the settlement of Michigan lands, the building up of Michigan communities. The money we spend will build something somewhere; where, will depend upon Avhether we spend the monej' in some other State or here. Let us enlist in and encourage the local board of trade, chamber of commerce and development bureau. Let us see that legislation in Michigan is friendly to the building and loan association, as I presume it is, and surrounds it with safeguards that will make it appeal to the people. Let the State be not parsimonious as a State, or the public as a taxpayer, in the building of good roads^in order that communication among the people may be easy. Let us give the greatest possible support to the local newspaper, since its general circulation in- spires home pride and induces home building and home buying. Weeds are not ordinarily considered admirable. Yet there is one weed we may admire. Strange to say, it is the thistle. We should admire the thistle because it is always blowing about the neighborhood it lives in. As has been said, the trend of population now is toward the larger cities. The country's assurance of business stability and public and private morality is in the smaller ones. The hope of the country is in the country at large. The time is passing when if Mr. Morgan has a cold the spine of the whole country must shiver. The smaller centers are becoming the real power. The great centers are gaining in population and losing in influence. It is up to us to see that we gain in both ; and we shall best contribute to the general good of the whole people by looking after the particular unit we call home. When Spring has come The thing has come That's sure to come to me — The call of Spring That's all of Spring, Spring fever, don't you see? In weary toil. In drear}' toil. It whispers now and then : "Awake, away — Come break away To Michigan again. The care of life, The wear of life. Lie heavy on the heart, But yonder now They wander now A Fairyland apart. For over there The clover there Will deck the ways of men. And then T long, Again I long, For Michigan again. 55 The cherry tree, The fairy tree, Will soon be all ablush. The winging bird, The singing bird, Will warble in the hush. The flashing trout, The splashing trout, Is waiting in the fen — I wish again To fish again In Michigan again ! It is hoped these things that have been said will not seem too much of a departure from the purpose of this meeting, which is meant to em- brace any thought intended for the good of the State. I would have been glad to have discussed conservation of our forests and their protection against fire, a subject in which many of us are specifically interested. It is a particularh^ fitting topic for a meeting such as this, under the patronage of the governor of the State and the auspices of its Public Domain Commission, for conservation remains a duty for the State, since the State has done little to make it practically possible for the individual. Anything that has been said has been said through a loyal interest in Michigan. THE FUTURE OF LAND INVESTMENTS IN NORTHERN MICHI- GAN. HON. 0. F. BARNES, ROSCOMMON, NORTHEASTERN MICHIGAN DEVELOPMENT BUREAU. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : When the region we know as the United States was first settled by white men it was a virgin land. It had never been held in individual ownership, and, except in rare instances, had never been cultivated. The colonists, believing that the supply of land was inexhaustible and that thej' need not be hampered in their methods by any jjractices of soil conservation, proceeded to appropriate it and to till it unrestrained by laws except such as they themselves might pass. After the Revolution and the adustment of the territorial claims of several states, the land outside the original thirteen colonies became public domain. When Louisiana, Florida, and parts of Mexico were added the extent of this public domain was tremendously increased. Acts to encourage the sale and settlement of the public domain were among the first passed by Congress and were continually added to when- ever any congressional genius could invent a new and plausible scheme for alienating the title from the government. Millions of acres Avere turned over to the states as school and swamp land, vast tracts were 56 donated to railroads and other corporations. Farms and tracts of land were given i)racticall.v free to anyone willing to comply with the very mild reiiuirements of the homestead law, the soldier's claim law, the tree culture law, the desert land act, the timber and stone act, and numerous other jniblic land acts, Statesmen and students as well as the people con- sidered the supply of land to be inexhaustible and that farms could be had from the public domain for centuries to come. At the same time a flood of immigration, composed largely of the agricultural classes at- tracted by free land, was flowing into the country, the settlement of the newer communities was rapid, agriculture flourished above all other industries, and our exports were mostly products of the soil. Until within the memory of most of us a large part of the United i^tates was still public domain. Gradually conditions changed; the public domain of the middle west was all taken up ; the territory farther west was found to be composed largely of arid land suitable for culti- vation only when irrigated; the flood of home seekers, checked by this discovery, turned to the cities for employment ; manufacturing, favored by legislation, increased and attracted labor from the farm; immigra- tion changed its character and, instead of farmers from Germany, Scandinavia, and Britan, consisted largely of laborers from the Medi- terranean countries and Hebrews from the cities of eastern Europe; prices of agricultural products advanced and exports of these products diminished. Suddenly, as it were, the country has Avaked up to find that our industrial development has ])rogressed at a faster rate than our agricultural develoj)ment, that the consumption of food products has l)ractically caught up with the production of food products and must .soon exceed it, that the high prices for these products have come to stay, and that the cry "liack to the farm" must be obeyed by hundreds of thousands or we will soon be buying food })roducts abroad. James J. Hill, the builder of the Great Northern railroad system, in public ad- dresses delivered in 1909, numy times declared, and students of statis- tics everywhere, agreed with him, that if the present rate of increase in both poi)ulation and agricultural production continued, we would be im- porting food products in eight years and by the middle of the century we would have to have three hundred million additional acres under cul- tivation to feed and clothe and otherwise care for our population at that future time. Three hundred million acres would be nine states the size of Michigan. Where is the land to which the immigrant, the farm laborer, the tenant farmer, and the farmer's son can go and ac(piire a home and provide food for the nation? Is it upon the abandoned farms of the east? Their fertility, never great, was exhausted long years ago by continued culti- vation and improper farming, and it would require years of time and millions of cai)ital to again make them productive. They will make suunuer homes for the Avealthy and game pi'eserves for the S])ortsman but not food i)roducers for the nation. Is it the great central states such as Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, and Illinois? Their imi)roved land is worth |1.50.t)0 to f20().()() per acre and unimproved land but little less, and both classes of land are passing into the ownership of men who hold them as investments and two-fifths of the farms are worked by tenant farmers. There is little oi)i)ortunity in those states for the man of modest means. Is it the far west? Once the land of opportunity, the 57 far west has ceased to be so for the average home seeker. More than nine-tenths of its public domain is arid and suitable only for grazing, and practically all that is capable of being cultivated without irrigation has been taken up. As for irrigated lands, they are high in price and best devoted to specialized forms of agriculture with which the general farmer is unacquainted. If all the lands capable of being irrigated were now under cultivation they would provide for but two years increase in our population. In the west also the great blocks of non-government lands such as the Indian reservations, the old Spanish grants, the great grain farms of the Dakotas, and California, have gone the way of the public domain. The home seekers forced the government and the govern- ment forced the Indians, and hunting grounds became farms. As for the privately owned blocks of land, their agriculture was highly specialized and such agriculture is rarely long lived. The continued production of one kind of crop, the continued cultivation of the soil in one way, in- evitably impoverished the soil. Yields fell until they became almost un- profitable. Then the home seeker, practicing general farming and crop rotation, keeping live stock, and personally working his land, stepped in and was able to make the property so much more productive that he forced its subdivision and sale. There is a deficit in food production impending. There is a great movement "Back to the farm." There is a veritable land hunger all over the country. There is also dearth of land suitable for general farming and available to the average home seeker with which to satisfy it ; and thousands of home seekers whose lives have been passed in the middle west and whose education has been in general farming have turned to the fruit orchards of the west and celery and onion beds and truck farms of the south. Tens of thousands of others have annually gone to western Canada, giving u\) their American citizenship in order to acquire homes. In the northern })art of lower Michigan there are fuUy five million acres of vacant, productive land. This land is practically a part of the great central agricultural section and at the very threshold of the dis- trict where the pressure on the land is greatest; in the very health re- sort and sporting ground of thirty millions of people; where trans- portation systems are already in existence; in close proximity to the markets of tens of millions; with a present population of progressive, native born citizens; whose laws, customs, and social life is that of the great central states; where the home seeker will not have to change his agricultural education to conform to that of some distant community ; and where fertile land can be bought at prices within the reach of everyone. Why has that section not been settled? Why are lands to be had there at a less price than in any other productive section of our nation ? For many years Michigan was practically locked against the home seeker. Her vacant lands were largely in the lumber section of the State where the lumber interests dominated all others. There land was priced and sold for its timber value alone, regardless of its agricultural possibilities. Only in the lumber camp or saw mill could the laborer find employment. The farmers had valuable timber on their land which made lumbering more profitable for them than farming. Woodsmen and mill-men located home-steads for their timber regardless of their farming value. The lumberman discouraged the settlement of the 58 country because it would endanger his property, the standing timber, to fire, and would increase his taxes foT building highways and establishing and maintaining schools. He, therefore, withheld his lands from settle- ment and encouraged the idea that all lands in the lumber districts were unsuited for agriculture. The results obtained by many homesteaders of the class I have mentioned tended to confirm the reports of the lum- berman, for when those farmers needed money they generally preferred to obtain it by working in the camp rather than by working the soil, and would leave the plough or cultivator at any time for a job in the woods. When the lumber camp moved away these men often followed leaving an abandoned homestead. At the same time there were still public lands to be located in many parts of the country ; and so for years the stream of homeseekers passed on to the west or the southwest and were not only uninvited to but were actually repulsed from northern Michigan. In recent years, however, the lumber interests have declined and ceased to dominate. The lumberman, no longer concerned about his timber, has become anxious to encourage the settlement of his cut-over lands. The original settlers, deprived of the lumber industry as the chief source of livelihood, have turned to their farms, generally originally located for timber, and have found, to their surprise, the raising of live stock, clover seed, potatoes, and vegetables, more profitable than lumbering ever was. The hunger for farms has led new farmers with modern methods of farming into all sections and their wonderful success has dispelled any lingering idea that the soil of the lumber districts is generally unsuited for proper agriculture. Kepresentatives of the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture, appointed to make a soil survey of this part of Michigan, after years of investigation, have found out and published the fact that the soils of the upper part of the Lower Peninsula are for the most part similar in their character and formation to those of some of the most advanced farming counties of southern Michigan and capable of as equally high development. The people of the north, no longer re- strained by the needs of the lumber industry, and having personal knowl- edge and experience of actual soil conditions in their midst, and recog- nizing the great advantage of organization and cooperation, have estab- lished bureaus supported mainly by the counties and devoted to setting forth actual conditions today. These bureaus, though but a short time in existence, by the displays they have made, by the claims they have proved, by the information they have circulated, by the local spirit they have created, have surprised the people of our State, have challenged the representatives of other communities and have called the attention of the entire country to the opportunities offered the home seeker. Sud- denly, as it were, the local authorities, the State, and the Nation have all discovered the wonderful agricultural possibilities of the former lum- ber country and are urging its complete settlement. A representative of the Department of Agriculture whose work is with the farmer and con- cerning the farmer, after more than two years investigation all over the territory to which I have referred, publicly made the statement that there was a place for, and that there ought to be, 100,01)0 additional fami- lies between Bay City and Mackinac; and that, if these vacant lands were out in the wilderness instead of right at home, there would be a 59 grand rush for them and their settlement would be immediate and com- plete. The prophesied rush has begun. Hundreds of settlers have come the past two years, hundreds more have bought land for investment or future settlement. Everywhere are new farms, new clearings, new buildings, new orchards, new highways, churches, and schools. The country has passed from a lumbering to a farming community. A high afficial of one of the transportation systems that traverses the entire length of the upper part of lower Michigan, a man in touch with this movement because of his position, declared in my hearing a feAv months ago that it matters little what more the development bureaus might do, the people have discovered this country and you could not keep them back even if you guarded the entire south boundary line of our State for that particular purpose. A lingering impression, born of former misrepresentation and of ab- solute ignorance of present conditions, still exists in some minds, that agricultural possibilities in north Michigan are confined to hardwood soils and are not shared with the cut over pine lands and plains lands. If that were true, there would be but little to say for the future of land investments in that country. Against that impression I urge the United States soil survey to which I have before alluded and which survey shows a wonderful similarity between the soils of much of the cut over pine country and those of some of the counties of southern Michigan I would call particular attention to the comments accompanymg some of those surveys in which the writers declare whole counties suitable for agricul- ture except the pine ridges. These writers express their surprise at the small difference between the hardwood soils and the soils of the pine plains as they call them; and they seek other causes than difference in soils for the presence of hardwood in one case and pine in the other. I would also urge the government bulletin entitled ^'Clover Seed Pro- duction on the Jack Pine Plains" in which it is sho^m that the average jields of clover seed on the plains lauds far exceeds those of Ohio and Indiana and a single crop often brings forty dollars and fifty dollars per acre. I have seen the clover seed crop from twenty acres bring the owner over $1,000,00. I have examined and assessed that particular field for six years and know the land is Jack Pine plains not differing from thousands of other acres in the township. I myself have been dis- appointed when mj" crop of seed from fourteen acres brought me only IG63.00; and the land was cut over pine land. Actual results of continuous proper farming on the sandy cut over pine and pine plains land will be more convincing than any theoretical argument as to their actual value. For six years I have been supervisor and government crop correspondent for the township of South Branch in Crawford county and as such it has been my dut}'^ to note actual re- sults. The township comprises three surveyed townships and contains 00,000 acres, all plains and cut over pine lands, except 000 acres — just one per cent — of hard wood land. Nine years ago when lumbering practically ceased and the settlers turned to their farms for a living 70% of all the land in the township was delinquent for taxes and had been for years. There was not a rod of good road in the townoship. Farming was little more than raising potatoes, hay, and forage crops; and these crops only for home consumption. Even todaj' there is not 60 a mill, an industrial, or a commercial institution in the township; but in the last six years the value of the real property of the township has increased 124% and the personal property 330%, according to the assess- ment roll. Ninety per cent of all taxes for the year 1911 were paid to the township treasurer and much of the balance has since been paid. There is not one acre of land held by the State Auditor General as de- linquent for taxes and past redemption. Nearly eight miles of gravelled road, mostly state reward road, three concrete bridges, and fully ten miles of ordinary road have been built. There is a cream separator in nearly every home and cream goes regularly to a neighboring creamery. The acreage devoted to crops has increased more than 300%. On my way to the railroad station I pass five new commercial apple orchards containing nearly 10,000 trees. Do not such results as these entitle a community to be classed as agricultural in spite of the fact that its soils are those of the i)ine plains and cut over pine lands? Not all the lands of the township referred to are agricultural or even suitable for stock grazing. There are approximately 6,000 of the 60,000 acres that ought never to be cultivated, though some of them are suitable for grazing, and this is true in a greater or lesser degree of all northern townships. The future of these lands is in state forestry. I have been for many years a student of forestry, a member of the national and state forestry associations, and I am anxious to cooperate in all practi- cal efforts for reforestation and conservation. The success of any ex- tensive plan for forestrj- reserve deijends upon the approval and sup- port of the people of the district where such work is to be carried on. Without it you cannot succeed. The plan outlined by secretary of state Martindale and supported by public domain secretary Carton for ob- taining that approval and support is an excellent one, and has my en- thusiastic support. At a meeting of the Northeastern Michigan Develop- ment Association held at Bay City two j^ears ago secretary Martindale advanced three propositicms ; first, the reappraisal at a higher valuation (»f all state lands; second, the withdrawal from market of all lands un- suited for argiculture and the placing of them in forest reserve; third, the State to pay local taxes upon forest reserve lands. The first and second of these recommendations have been in part carried out. Somewhat higher valuations have been placed upon all state lands and forest reserves have been created in most northern counties. Still higher valuations should be placed upon agricultural land, and withdrawals from market for forestry' purposes should extend to the scattered tracts unsuited for agriculture. No factor has better favored the land swindler and more retarded the sale of land, public and private, to actual settlers, than extreme low prices. Homeseeker and investor alike will not believe that lands offered at a fraction of the price they would be held at in other sections can be productive. Low prices of state lands whether agricultural or worthless necessarily affects the i)riarticularly poor field he pointed it out and said, 'Xook at that corn! I raise more on an acre of my land in Illinois than there is in that en- tire field." We had passed field after field of grain, potatoes, beans and clover, with never a comment from the farmer. He was viewing and judging everything through a cornfield! Finally I said "You come from central Illinois, I judge, where they raise 100 bushels of corn per acre?" "Yes," he answered triumphantly," from near Bloomington, and my crop last year was better than 100 bushels per acre." "And what is better," I added, "you received 50 cents per bushel for your crop." "More than that," he said: "It brought me 53 cents in the car." "Do you raise potatoes, beans and such crops?" was my next question. "No," was the answer, "potatoes raised in our country are of very poor quality; and as for beans, every State yields to Michigan." "How do you keep up the fertility of your soil under such cropping?" I then asked. "Some of my neighbors use commercial fertilizers, but most of us go back to clover every third or fourth year." "Do you raise your clover seed?" "Oh, no," he answered, "we buy northern grown seed if we can, and this year I paid |10.50 per bushel for my clover seed." "My friend," I said, "the country you have been condemning because it does not raise 100 bushels of corn to the acre, does raise the finest potatoes, and the yields are often 200 and even 300 bushels per acre, and we are selling them to you at 75 cents and |1.00 per bushel. At the station we just passed 24,000 bushels of what you admit are the best beans in the world have been marketed thus far this year, and at another station in the county 20,000 and at another 12,000 bushels, and we are selling them to you at a price that nets us above |2.00 per bushel ; and as for the clover seed you are buying to keep up your farms, I personally know that some of the lands you have especially condemned are pro- ducing from three to six bushels per acre, and we are selling it to at ^10.50 per bushel. Did it ever occur to you, my friend, that if every acre from Bloomington to ^lackinaw could raise 100 bushels of corn per acre you would not receive 53 cents, nor 40 cents, nor even 30 cents for your crop at Bloomington? On the other hand, if your clover seed, potatoes and beans were as good as ours and yielded equally well, we would not be getting |1.00 per bushel for our potatoes and flO.OO a bushel for our clover seed. It is fortunate for you people in Illinois as well as for ns in Michigan, that all lands are not equally adapted to the same crops." Another class who are sometimes heard condemning our country are those whose knowledge has been acquired through the windows of a railroad car. Railroads sneak in and out of a beautiful city through its meaner quarters and give no view of its beauties, and they do the same in farming communities. Railroads in the upper part of the Lower Peninsula preceded the settler and were located along the lines of least resistance, and they have aided to make them more desolate through fire and through lumber- ing operations through the country in immediate contact with them. What value, what truth would there be in a judgment passed on a beau- tiful city like Detroit, by one who had only seen it passing through on 64 the Grand Trunk or Michigan Central R. R., and who knew nothing and had seen nothing of its beantifnl river, of its streets and boulevards, of its parks and public buildings, its business blocks and beautiful homes? Equally valueless aud unfounded on facts is the judgment often passed on the newer agricultural districts of north Michigan by travellers from the car-window, who see nothing of the well-tilled fields, the comfort- able and commodious buildings, the roads and the schools, of prosperous growing communities that many times lie just beyond the streak of desolation that bounds the railroad. Another voice is sometimes heard in sweeping condemnation of north- ern Michigan, that of the Forestry enthusiast, whose zeal for his o^\ai good cause sometimes blinds him to everything but forestry. Very re- cently I have read the sweeping statement of one of these enthusiasts, that all the former lumber country was valueless for farming purposes, that the land shark and unscrupulous merchant now had full sway; but that soon the deluded settlers would be starved out and the land would be devoted to its only proper use, forestry. I have been for many 3'ears a student of forestry, a believer in its absolute necessity, a supporter of every proper effort to extend it in Michigan. I am one who does not consider any land too good for for- estry and I almost despair when it is suggested that worthless land alone be devoted to that purpose. I am, however, indignant when zeal for that cause leads anj- one to make extravagant statements that are not justified by facts and conditions, that unnecessarily injure other in- dustries and alienates the support of people whose good efforts are nec- essary to success, and injures and retards the cause of Forestry itself. That portions of the northern part of our State are not suited to farming and should be reforested, I have already admitted; that unscrupulous real estate men are offering such lands for sale as farming lands I know to be true, but I also know that such conditions prevail to a far greater extent in Oregon, in Florida and in Texas and in every new and developing country; and I further knoAv that the forces working for the true development of northern Michigan, such as the Development Bureaus and the Public Domain Commission, are fighting such practices. This meeting is a grand one ; it is called to consider questions every one of which is of sufficient importance to be the sole topic of this gather- ing, it cannot but result in furthering every cause presented. The great- est and most lasting benefit that Avill result, will, I believe, be the de- monstration that these great problems. Forestry in all its forms. Agri- cultural development of our newer communities. Game protection, the Conservation of bird life and the development and conservation of water power are not antagonistic to each other, but may all be worked out in their entirety and yet supplement and benefit each other. 65 WATERWAYS. MRS. HARRIETT M. SEABRIXG, MANISTEE. Mr. Giffoi'd Pinehot says: *'The people of the United States are on the verge of one of the great quiet decisions which determine national destinies." Crises happen in peace as well as war, and a peaceful crisis may be as vital and controlling as any that comes with national uprising and the clash of arms. Such a crisis, — uneventful and almost unperceived, — is upon us now, and unwittingly we are engaged in making the de- cision that is thus forced upon us. The question we are deciding with so little consciousness of what it involves is this: — What shall we do with our natural resources? — Upon the final answer that we shall make to it, hangs the success or the fail- ure of this nation in accomplishing its manifest destiny. Danger to a nation comes either from without or within. In the first great crisis of our histoiw, — the Revolution, — another people attempted from without to halt the march of our destiny by refusing to us liberty. With reasonable preparedness and prudence we need never fear another such attempt. If there be danger, it is not from an external source. In the second great crisis, — the Civil War, — a part of our own people strove for an end which would have checked the progress of development. Another such attempt has become forever impossible. If there be danger, it is not from a division of our people. In the third great crisis which has now come upon us unawares, our Avhole people, — un- consciously, and for lack of foresight, — seem to have united to deprive the nation of the great natural resources, without which it cannot en- dure. This is the pressing danger now, and it is not the least to which our national life has been exposed. A nation deprived of liberty may win it, a nation divided may reunite, but a nation whose natural re- sources are destroyed, must inevitably pay the penalty of poverty, degradation, and decay. The diversion of great acres of our public lands from the home-maker to the landlord, and the speculator; — the national neglect of great water-powers, — which might well relieve, being perennially renewed, — the drain upon our non-renewable coal ; — the disuse of the cheaper transportation of our waterways, — which involves but little demand . upon our non-renewable supplies of iron ore, — and the use of the rail instead, — these are other items in the huge bill of particulars of na- tional waste. What do we mean by our natural resources? Those resources inherent in the land, — found here when the country was discovered, — the founda- tion of our very existence as individuals, and as a nation. What — in brief — does Conservation mean? It means that the dura- tion of our mineral sujiplies shall be prolonged to the utmost limit; that the land shall be so used as to [preserve its fertility, and prevent soil erosion; that arid lands shall be reclaimed by irrigation, and the 9 66 swamp and overflow biiids"! b.v diainage that the waters shall be saved and controlled in ])urity and abundance for water supply. Irrigation, power and navigation ; that forests shall, — as may need require — be preserved untouched, for the regulation of water How, and protection of soil, or be scientifically cultivated for the production of wood and other crops; that the natural and historic wonders of our country be pro- tected, and made accessible; and finally — that all these Resources — together with birds, fish and game, be kept from private monopoly, and made subject to efficient public control. How can these objects be attained? Only through Education. What specific objects can the women of the nation do for Conserva- tion? The General Federation of Women's Clubs, The Daughters of the American Revolution, and the other organizations of women have begun admirably by the appointment of Conservation Committees. Giff'ord Pinchot says that the success of the Conservation movement in the end dei)ends on the understanding the women have of it; that the issue is a moral one, and that women are the first teachers of right and wrong. Women alone, can bring to the school children the idea of the wickedness of national waste and the value of public saving. Fe^' people realize what women have already done for Conservation, Some of the earliest efl:ective forest work that was done in the United States, — work which laid the lines that have been followed since,— Avas that of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, begun and carried through, — ^first of all^ — by the Avomen of IMiiladelphia. One of the bravest, most intelligent and most successful tights for Forestry ever made, was that of the AVomen of Minnesota for the Minne- sota National Forest. It was a superb success, and we have that Forest today. There has never been a tiner case of persistent agitation under discouragement, than the fight that the women of California have made to save the great grove of Calaveras big trees. As a result, the govera- ment has taken possession of the forest and Avill ])reserve it for all future generations. There is in this country no other movement — except, ])ossibly the edu- cational movement, — and that, after all, is only another })hase of the Convervation movement — so directly aimed to help the children,— so CfHiditioned upon the needs of the children, — so belonging to the children as the Conservation movement, and it is for this reason that it has the su])port of the Avomen of the nation. "The future life and health of the peoi)le, and the develo])nient and growth of the country depend absolutely upon its water supply, and if 'it is not conserved, disnuil results Avill follow." so states Dr. W. W. McGee, expert in soil and water of the Department of Agriculture. Water is by far the most important of the non-organic i)roducts of the Avorld, — more imjmrtant even than coal or iron, — more imi)ortant from the point of view of mankind, indeed, than all of the metals. Water is the basis of life. On the average, the plant-tissue of animals is three- fourths water, and of ])ei-('nnials, three-eighths. Animals, including hunum beings, are SO ])er cent water. The very bi-ain is four^fifths water, a significant fact to reflect upon. Not only are the organic tissues in very large measure com])osed of water, but for their pioduction is required many times their weight in Avater. According to Frlanger, the average man of 150 lbs., ingests each 67 year about 264 gallons of water, or 35 cubic feet, the weight of which is more than a ton. According to Stoddart, to produce a bushel of corn requires — through necessary evaporation from the soil and transpiration of the plants — from 10 to 20 tons of water. According to King, in Wisconsin, the amount of water required for evaporation and transpiration to produce one pound of dry matter for various crops, varies from 440 lbs. to 576 lbs., with an average for six kinds of crops of 446 lbs. To produce a ton of dry clover requires 576 tons of water. According to McGee, to produce a pound of beef requires directly and indirectly threnator ^>moot, of the public lauds committee. The enforced term of residence in a homestead would be reduced from five years to three, and a homesteader would be permitted to absent himself from his claim six mouths every year. Senator Borah, and others have declared — in the senate — ^that American citizens were being driven to Canada at the rate of 100,000 a year by our stringent land laws."' The foUoAving clipjjing is from the Chicago Kecord-Herald of March 12. 11(12. "The first colonist train of the season left here today with about 200 homeseekers for different parts of the Canadian northwest. The train was composed of more than (»0 freight cars and several pas- senger coaches. Railway representatives declare that the movement to Canada this year will be much greater than ever before.'' All this — Avhile we have lying idle almost 80.000,000 acres of land far superior in fertility to that of Canada. Furthermore — to quote from Mr. White's Report — these men and their families have mostly been taken from the farmers of the central and western states. They come to lands that may be tilled similarly to the lands they have worked for years, and they go to Canadian farms educated and graduated from a school — the teachings of which fit them in every way for their larger sphere of operations in Canada. Forty acres of reclaimed swamp are ample to support a family, and this area, or less, will eventually be the farm unit in swamp countries. The desire of the farmer to possess all the land within sight will pass away. Nothing in all the value of agriculture economics is more thoroughly settled than the i)rinciple of the small farm and intensive cultivation. A tract of 80,000,000 acres — divided into 10 acre farms — means 2,000,000 farms. If the average farmer's family has |?>50 a year ta s])end. the total annual purchasing price of all these would be nearly 1700.000,000. Swam]t land that will not make a gross return of |50 per acre annu- ally is very poor. With here and there an exception, sw^amp lands contain the best agricultural soil of the continent. They are the catch basin of all the silt, organic debris, and every other crop-spur that is swept from the lands above them. The Dutch created a kingdom by diking off the ocean and draining the land. Prof. Shaler stated that the reclaimed marsh lands of England. Scot- land and Ireland aggregated one-fifth of the present area devoted to farming, and that one-twentieth of all the agricultural lands of Europe was once too wet for cultivation. Great areas have been drained in the T'nited States, but in compari- son with the total reclaimable territory, they constitute but a small pro- portion. In drainage we are several centuries behind the times. The National Irrigation Congress at Chicago, in December, 1011. con- cerned itself mainly with the inauguration of a campaign to accomplish 75 the drainage of the United States' vast swamp area, — such a campaign as resulted in the creation of the United States Reclamation Service, and the awakening of the conntry to the possibilities of irrigation, which, in the last twenty years, have remade the far west. Of the unreclaimed 80,000,000 acres of swamp area — 4,400,000 acres are to be found in our own Michigan ; only five other states possess a larger area, — Florida, Louisiana, Mississii)pi, Arkansas and Minnesota. The largest drainage project ever undertaken in the United States under private auspices has been initiated in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. When completed it will throw on the market for cultivation nearly a million acres of the richest black muck soil to be found in the State. The lands affected by this huge drainage lie in the counties of Chip- pewa, Luce, and Schoolcraft, and today comprise the greatest swamp in Michigan. In draining this great ''dismal swamp" two natural river courses Avill be utilized — the Taquameuon, made famous by Longfellow's "Hiawatha," and the ^Nlanistique — given a ])lace in literature bv Stewart Edward White's "Blazed Trail." A half million of acres of land will be eventually gridironed by the Manistique and its lateral branches. Irrigation on a small scale, has been recently attempted in Michigan. Mr. Storrs of Muskegon, — irrigated three-quarters of an acre under glass, last fall, and is preparing to extend the system to embrace one and a half acres the coming- season. It requires 27,000 gallons of water to equal an inch of rainfall an acre, and as Mr. Storrs can pump 2,000 gallons an hour, he can equal a heavy rainfall by working his irrigation plant one day and night. If land can be successfully irrigated for flOO an acre, there will be thousands of acres irrigated in a very short time, — as irrigation would be absolutely sure of a good crop every year. Other and cheaper plans of irrigation may be developed, and may al- ready exist ; it is well worth the careful consideration and investigation of fruit and truck farmers, if the expenditure of a few hundred dollars may lead to the making of thousands. Of water power much has been heard recently ; not long ago of small interest to the public, it is now one of greatest interest to the user and promoter, and to connnunities. States,— even the Nation. All the world has awakened to the realization that water powers are of incalculable importance to the well-being of nmnkind, because they represent the future imperishable source of power f(n' industrial and domestic activi- ties. Among the many phases of the subject in which every one should be concerned, the most resourceful utilization of water-power may be ac- corded the first place; here — as everywhere in the industrial arts and activities — the ideal of mere achievement must be supplemented and guided by ideals of scientific economy — by principles of efiiciency. Three important factors must generally be made the best of — for any specific case — in order to secure the most resourceful utilization of a waterpower. These prime elements of the problem are : First, — The efficient and economical development of the available power resources. 76 Second, — Conservation of tiood-flow. Third. — Auxilliary power supplement. In 1008 — according to the U. S. Censns Bnreau there were developed in the United States 5,356,680 horse power from water. By primary horse-power is meant the amount which can be developed npon the basis of the flowage of the streams for a period of two weeks when the flow is the least. According to the table — if all the installa- tions in the U. S. were made to nse as much of the water as is available the lowest two weeks of the year, and allow all the rest to escape with- out use — there would be developed 36,906,200 horse power; that is — approximately seven times the amount now produced. The primary power — according to McGee, — ''exceeds our entire mechanical power now in use, and would drive every spindle, operate every mill, propel every train and boat, and light every city, town and village in the country.'' While this is true, — because of the limited distance that power can be economically transmitted, it cannot be concluded that power pro- duced by water can be more than partially substituted for power pro- duced in other ways. If wheels were put into the streams sufficient to use the water the highest six mouths of the year, there would be more than 66,449,300 horse-power developed. Leighton believes that if the flood waters were stored so that the streams were as fully utilized as practicable, it would be possible to develop in the U. 8.-200,000,000 horse-power. Others regard this estimate as too high, and say that 100,000,000 horse-power is nearer the truth. But even the smaller amount will furnish sufficient power from water to meet the needs of this nation for all purposes, when the population of the U. S. is 250,000,000. When a century or two hence the amount of coal has become much diminished, in quantity, and has become higher in price, none may esti- mate the importance to the nation of this water-power. Certain it is, that in the future, he who controls this 100,000,000 or 200,000,000 horse-power, controls the industries of the nation. Until very recently the development of water-power was slow, and the installations small. This was because it was necessary to use the power derived from water near its source; but with the rapid development of the transmission of energy through electricity, the radius of a water- power has steadily increased. At the present time, power in California is transmitted more than 200 miles, and in the case of the Central Colo- rado Power Compau}' — 300 miles. Where such long distance transmission is practiced, the rates that are charged are necessarily somewhat high. It is doubtful if power can be carried such distances as these in competition with power developed from cheap coal. If we suppose that the average of the present economic use of water were only 100 miles — a water-power — if sufficient to do this — could serve more than 31,400 square miles — or nearly the area of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. A radius of 200 miles would give an area of more than 125,000 square miles — or more than the states of Georgia and Wisconsin — or more than any one state in the union save California, Montana, and Texas. 77 A radius of 300 miles would give a subject territory of 270,000 square miles — or nearly one-tenth of the United States. The development of water-power is a factor of prime importance in obtaining leadership in the manufacturing industries of the world. There is no other large nation in a more favorable position as to avail- able water powers than the United States. This great source of energy — by its cheapness — is a factor of prime importance in the industrial competition in the world. For light, electricity developed by water is the ideal solution of the problem ; and not many years can elapse before light will be produced from water-power wherever such energy is available within reasonable distances. At the present time in the United States, 26,000.000. horse power is developed by coal. It is believed by Leighton. that 15,000,000 horse- power could be more economically developed by water, although he does not hold that the substitution to this extent can take place at once, nor that every unit of it will give an economic advantage. But he be- lieves that — under existing conditions — with the present price of coal, at a fair rate of interest upon the capitalization, this substitution on the average would give an economic advantage of $12 per annum per horse power, or |180,000,000 a year. But this is not the most important saving. Every time one horse power is developed by Avater which is now produced by coal, at least ten tons of coal are saved; and therefore, if the 15,000,000 horse power developed bv coal be produced by water, there will be saved each year 150,000,000 tons of coal in addition to the |1S0,000,000 gained by sub- stitution. This is about one-third of the output of the United States, and this alone will greatly lengthen its life. The term "White Coal'' for water-power is certainly appropriate. Switzerland is likely to be the first country to gain fully the enor- mous advantages which come from the utilization of "white coal.'' There the national government has been granted authority to control the water for power. In order that power from water be satisfactory and effective, the de- veloped streams should maintain a uniform flow. A very important factor in accomplishing this is the retaining of forests at the headwaters of the stream. But the maintenance of the forests is not sufficient to equalize stream flow. Hence it is necessary to supplement forests b^' reservoirs — at the head waters of the streams— which will hold and store the excess of storm waters until they can be utilized. The Niagara and the Deschutes are given as illustrations of nearly ideal conditions for water power furnished by nature itself. The maxi- mum floAv of the Niagara is about 35 per cent more than the minimum, as compared with ordinary streams, this is a wonderful approach to- ward uniformity. The Deschutes, Avith all of its numerous western branches rises in the lofty plateau and high mountains of the Cascade range, and has a drain- age area of nearly 9,000 square miles, it has a fall — from where it is large enough to be used for water power — to its mouth of over 3,000 feet. The waterpower sites of this stream are all within 100 miles of Portland. 78 Reservoii' systems have been established iu the arid regions — in the I'])])ei' ]\rississippi Yallev. and in the northeastern part of tlie I'nited States. It is therefore natural that in the western region — where water is so valuable, and where its nse is so necessary, not only for water power, but for irrigation — that extensive reservoir systems should have been constructed to save the storm waters. Many millions of dollars have been si)ent in the West for this purpose, both by i)rivate parties and by the government, primarily with reference to irrigation, and subordi- nately with reference to water ])owers. In order that reservoirs shall be effective, it is necessary that forests be ])reserved on the headquarters of the streams feeding them. Thus the maintenance of uniform flow, and the controlling of floods does not dc]»end upon forests alone, nor upon reservoirs alone; it can be success- fully solved only by their combination. The question of the value of v.'ater power is a complicated one, and no general statement can be made which a])i)lies to the country as a whole. The value of a power depends upon the cost of construction per horse power developed, distance to market, nature of the market, and many other factors. The XeAv York Water Power Commission estimates a saving over steam in the state of New York by the development of additional ])ower through reservoirs at |12 per annum. If upon the average we estimate this saving for the country as a Avhole, at one half of this — or fO per horse power per annum, (and this seems conservative) the w^ealth gained each year by the substitution is five times the number of horse power used. For the 5,000,000 horse power now developed, this would be a saving of |80,000,000 a year, which, if capitalized at five ])er cent, would re])resent a value of .'$(;i)0,000,000. If 15.000,000 additional horse ])0wer were substituted for steam power — and this is likely to be ]>ossib]e in the near future — this would result in an annual saving of |!»0,0(I0.()()(). which would give a five per cent income on |1,S00,000,000. These figures are presented to show that even on the most conservative basis — making all the assumptions as to the saving being a minimum — very large ex])enditures are justified in the develoi)ment of the reservoir system of the country, even for the purpose of water ])ower alone, without any ccuisideration of the other benefits Avhii-li may come from the development of storage reservoirs. The ])rofits from water ])ower have resulted in the rapid extension of hydro-electric installations. The census bureau estimates that during tiie years 1000 to 1905 the increase of electric power was 370 per cent — of which much the larger ]>art unquestionably has come from water. Other benefits from the develoi)ment of reservoirs are not less im- jmrtant than for ])owers. Some of these are the improvement of navi-- gallon, reduction of flood losses, decrease in denudation, and irrigation. Water jiowers should be controlled by the ])ublic; The North American Conservation ronference of 1009 — composed of conunissioners from the United States, IMexico, Canada and New Found- land agreed unanimously u])on the princi])les which should obtain as to the control <»f water-])owers. "We regard the monopoly of waters," — said the commissioners — 79 ^'aud especially the monopoly of water-power, as peculiarly tlireateuiiig. 'So rights to the use of water-powers in streams should hereafter be granted in perpetuity. "Each grant should be conditioned upon prompt development — con- tinued beneficial use — and the payment of proper compensation to the public for the rights enjoyed, and should be for a definite period only. Such a period should be no longer than is ro(]uired for reasonable safety of investment. The public authority should retain the right to readjust — at stated periods the compensation to the public, and to regulate the rates charged, to the end that undue profit and extortion may be pre- vented. "Where the construction of works to utilize water has been authorized by ])ublic authority, and such utilization is necessary for the public welfare, provision should be made for the ex])loitation of all privately owned lands and water rights required for such construction." The principle of public control of waters was more concisely expressed by the Fourth Lakes-to-the-Gulf Waterway Convention held at Xew Orleans, — in 1909, — to which convention there were over 500 accredited delegates, representing forty-six states of the Union, and including a majority of the governors, the President and Vice President of the United States, several members of the Cabinet, and a large number of senators and representatives. The representatives of the convention declared "that the waters be- long to the people, and maintain that this right of the people is in- herent, and indefensible, and while recognizing the necessity for ad- ministering this invaluable i)ossession of the people by state and federal agencies — each within its appropriate jurisdiction — we deny the right of nnmici]»alities, or of state and federal governments to alienate or convey water by perpetual franchises, or without just consideration in the interests of the people." The same declaration of principles was made by the First National Conservation Congress at Seattle, and the Seventeenth National Irriga- tion Congress at Spokane — both held in 1909. What is the fundamental principle upon which these declarations are based? Simply this; that a resource which originated from a wide area — but is available at a certain point— is the property of all the people concerned. Herbert Knox Smith — Connnissioner of Corporations — states that al- ready a large proportion of the water powers — especially the best and largest ones — are owned by a few corporations. He says that the Gen- eral Electric Company controls at least 2.")0,000 horse power, and partly controls 120.000 more; that the Westinghouse Company controls abso- lutely. — ISIMIOO horse power, and partly controls 100.000 additional; that eleven other companies control 875.000 horse power, making a total in the control of thirteen companies of 1.825,000 horse power, or more than one-third of the entire development of the United States. "The extent to which the control of such plants is passing into the bands of a few of the larger companies is also well illustrated in Cali- fornia, where four of the largest companies have a combined capital of |55.(lO().()0(). and operate 30 hydro-electric plants, and 18 steam plants. The largest of these companies supplies power to 2G individual lighting 80 companies, and 12 electric railway companies, in addition to a number of cities and towns where it has its own substations."' Gilford Pinchot says: ''There could be no better illustration of the eager, rapid miAvearied absorption by capital of the rights which belong to all the people than the water power trust. Perlia])S not yet formed, but in process of formation. This statement is true but not unchal- lenged. "We are met at every town by the indigant denial of the water power interests, they tell us that there is no community of interest among them, and yet they appear by their paid attorneys — year after year — at irrigation and other congresses, asking for help to remove the few re- maining obstacles to their perpetual and complete absorption of the re- maining water power. "They tell us it has no significance that there is hardly a bank in some sections of the country that is not an agency for water power capital, or that the General Electric Company is acquiring great groups of water power in various parts of the United States, and dominating the water power market in the region of each group — and whoever dominates power, dominates all industry. Have you ever seen a few drops of oil scattered on the water spreading until they formed a continuous film, which put an end at once to all surface agitation? The time for us to agitate this question is now— before the separate circles of centralized control spread into the uniform unbroken, nation-wide covering of a single gigantic trust." The waters in the streams belong to the nation and to the states ex- cept so far as they have parted control with them. Hence a franchise tax upon the companies that develop power belonging to the states is equitable and just. The public has the right to require that those who control water power resources shall develop them on a scale sufficient to meet the needs of the people. Without public control, water power sites may be acquired and held indefinitely without development — the purpose being to prevent the com- petition of others, or to gain monopoly for the district. An additional reason for public control is public safety. I need only to call your attention to the Johnstown and Austin disasters — which re- sulted from the breaking of dams too weak to hold back the waters at the time of a fiood. The United States Forest Service is granting water power concessions in the national forests under a series of elaborate i)rovisions, which com- prise the application of the principles advocated by the North Ameri- can Conservation Conference. It is apparent that since the movement for conservation began years ago, there has been an astonishing development of ])ublic sentiment in reference to the control of water i)Ower in the United States, and that the expression of public sentiment has resulted in i)utting into operation jn-inciples which have been advocated by the various conservation con- gresses and associations. Already Ave have in force the principle that water power develoi)ed by the government may be subject to a proper charge. We have the question raised as to Avhether water power de- veloped by private parties upon navigable streams in the United States may be subject to a franchise charge. 81 We have all the limitations recoimiiended by the North American Con- servation Conference imposed upon the development of water power in the national forests. Finally, the Secretary of the Interior has with- drawn from private entry all water power sites which still remain a part of the public domain, and recommends to Congress that these be permanently held by the United States so that they may be forever the property of the people. Mr. A. C. Carton — secretary of the Public Domain — states that there is developed — up to date — in Michigan approximately 221,000 H. P. — which is included in 6G2 developed powers using 1,580 water wheels of an average of 140 H. P. per wheel, which is 20 H. P. per wheel larger than the average installation in Maine — a prominent water power state. The use of this water power means a saving of upwards of two million tons of coal per year. If the other 300,000 H. P. used in Michigan — exclusive of railroad locomotives — were changed to water, the saving to the coal supply would be five and one-half million tons annually, the value of which, after deducting 20 per cent allowance for power not sus- ceptible to conversion to water power, would be a saving for which there is no draft to be charged to any natural resource — of 4,400,000 tons of coal, worth approximately |13,200,000.00. Computing the value of 44,000 H. P. water output, for which there now exists a demand that can be- supplied at the moderate price of |12 — the excess cost of steam over water power — we have the startling sum of $5,200,000.00 excess expense which the people of Michigan are annu- ally paying for the privilege of depleting the coal resources of the country. The available water supply of the State still undeveloped depends somewhat on the methods that obtain in coming years in utilizing it to its fullest extent. The best authorities hold that the storage reservoirs in the Lower Peninsula are — with few exceptions — unfeasible. If such were not the case it would be possible to greatly augment the volume of water power by a storage of water during the flood time, and using it when the flood is reduced, thereby maintaining an average much above that by which the capacity of the streams must now necessarily be gauged. The small streams will eventually be brought into use to the last horse power. A stream that will develop even 50 H. P. will be connected by a wire with a trunk line of some larger development, — or a half-dozen small streams may be harnessed together to make one power — by a simple running of wire. A careful estimate would place the still undeveloped power of the State somewhere around 400,000 H. P. At the present time the de- velopment is not up to demand, but the rate at which it is increasing would indicate that within ten years it Avill be possible to convert 75 per cent of the present steam powers of the State to water power, and that the power development would no doubt keep pace with the indus- trial needs. On the basis of the present conditions, and assuming that this estimate of available power is correct, the water power of this State will eventually save more than 12,000,000 tons of coal annually, the value of which would be in excess of 140,000,000.00, and a saving of the coal supplj' through the difference in cost of generating steam 11 82 power and water power would be about |1G,000,000.00 per rear in this State alone. One of the great difficulties in the wav of development of the water powers of the State is that of securing in the flowage right on an equit- able basis. In many cases these rights have been picked for a mere trifle, in other cases individual owners of possibly only a few acres — have at- tempted to extort exorbitant prices for these rights, and in some cases have succeeded. On the other hand, the possession of flowage rights of any power site held in fee simple, or under option, have put the holders in a position to prevent development by any other interests, and have thus forced the board of supervisors to grant permits to dam under terms far short of protecting the county. An illustration of the first proposition is Houghton county, where local business men, desirous of developing the power of Sturgeon River for general use in the county — where it is much needed — secured nine-tenths of the flowage rights, and were then held up by interests owning the other one-tenth, who demanded five-sixths of tlie whole for relinquishing their one-tenth. Naturally this put an end to all negotiations, with the result that the county is the sufferer. These conditions seem to indicate that equity would demand for water power companies the right of eminent domain, but a law to that effect having been passed in 1887 — and afterwards declared unconstitutional — and no change having been made in the new constitution — the legisla- ture is helpless to offer any relief for this situation, which, as much as anything else is retarding the development of water power in this State. Under the new proposition of transmitting electricity as high as 200 miles, it is not to be expected that local industrial development in re- mote counties will be to any great extent advanced by the development of their water power. The Eastern Michigan Power Company — operating on the Au Sable River — now has nearly 200 townshij) rights, and the right of way into such cities as Saginaw, Bay City, Owosso and Flint, with the eventual terminal at Detroit. Trunk lines of this company for transmission of electricity will indi- cate the highest standard of conductivity and insulation. Michigan will soon become the scene of the largest government experi- ment in the ownership and sale of waterpower. The secretary of war has indicated his willingness to begin negotiations for a lease with the Michigan-Lake Superior Power Comi)any at the ''Soo'' whereby that company will have the use of 40,000 horse-power. A lease has already been made with the Edison Soo Company. The leases Avill be for 30 years, and during their life the government may impose reasonable regu- lations upon the users of the ])Ower. It is understood, however, that no effort will be made by the govern- ment to fix the maximum price at which power may be sold by the com- pany. At Ann Arbor the Easfern Michigan Edison Company has begun the construction of a power ]>lant which will furnish light and power for Ann Arbor, Y])silanti, Saline, Wayne and Dearborn. "The Commonwealth IV)wer, Railway and Light Company has spent about two and a half million dollars in IMichigan last year, and will sj>end about as much more this year," — so said the President of the 83 Commonwealth Company in a recent interview. "Our greatest work was the building of the dam on the An Sable. This dam is now com- pleted, the machinery is all placed, and the plant is ready for operation • — generating about 12,000 horsepower." '"We have built our feed wires on steel towers, and over our own pri- vate right of way from the Au Sable, — by way of Saginaw and Flint — a distance of about 125 miles, and the coming year will extend this line through Owosso and Charlotte to Battle Creek — taking advantage of course, of some construction now in. This line will carry a current of 140,000 volts, and will be the only line with such capacity in the world." "When the Grand Rapids — Muskegon Line from Croton was built, it was the first in the world to carry a current of 100,000 volts, but there are now several of them in operation. The line from the Au Sable will establish a new high mark, and we haven't the slightest doubt of its success." "Last year we built new steam power plants at Kalamazoo, and in Grand Rapids, and our plans for the coming year include a new plant at Battle Creek — which, with steam plants at Jackson, Flint, Pontiac and Kalamazoo, will put us in pretty good shape in that territory." The policy which Michigan — in common with all other parts of the United States — has followed regarding water powers, has lieen that of granting them freely to any responsible applicant. No attempt has been made to secure for the public any regulation of charges for power, or indeed, to secure the public in any way. The question of the control of water powers is further complicated by their relation to the industrial development of the State, and its in- crease in wealth and population. The State, therefore, cannot adopt a policy which will check industrial development, even though it should promise great returns in the future. Municipalities themselves, have as yet given little attention to owner- ship and operation of water power plants. The city of Marquette is, however, an exception. Some years ago it es- tablished a power on Dead River for the purpose of lighting the city, and furnishing the power locally. While the earlier experiments of the company were not at all times encouraging, the confidence and i)er- sistency of the advocates of the plan have long been rewarded with com- plete success with the result that from this comparatively small plant the city — in 1908 received a net revenue of |29,287.58 and has succeeded in reducing the rate to private consumers far below the charge when the electricity was generated by steam. The total collections for light and power in 1908 were $55,107.19, — of which the city paid for its public lighting, stone crushing and other purposes for which it required power 110.582.11. For electric motors owned by private parties, a total of 365 actual horse power was used, the revenue for which was |4,590.53. An interesting development of the inquiry in the L^pper Peninsula re- sulted from the Victoria mine and stamp mill — which is operated by water power from the Ontonagon River. By an unusual type of equip- ment, the fall in the river at this point being quite strong, the water is conducted by a race about a quarter of a mile below the dam, — where it pours into a six-foot stand-pipe 350 feet deep, and by the siphon prin- ciple, is raised. The force of the descending water heats the air, causing compression. 84 and greatly augmeDting the power. Compressed air is used in the opera- tion of the mine, and the plan is admirably suited to the requirements of Victoria. The agitation for the deep water way canal between Saginaw Bay and Lake Michigan — embodying the deepening and widening of the Grand. Maple. Shiawassee and Saginaw Rivers — seems to be worthy of consideration in connection with the report of the undeveloped water power of the State. In considering this waterway for transportation, it is also planned to develop some 50,000 horse power, and make it available for transmission — which will bring in an annual revenue of 1600.000. It is estimated that by the construction of this waterway, 29.150 acres of swamp land will be reclaimed. The construction of the proposed water way will forever remove all danger to property along the proposed route, and throughout the entire water-shed thereof, from flood; a loss which — during the last five years — has averaged over one million dollars a jear. Michigan has contributed more than her share to the mills and manu- facturies of other states, and if the power in her streams can be utilized to increase her own manufacturing interest, the quicker the better such utilization becomes a settled fact. Now as to the development of our Internal Waterways. Hand in hand with the development of our natural resources must go the development of our great waterways and railroads, since they are the connecting links which make our resources available. Easy conveyance for men and commodities from one place to another tends to make a nation great, and prosperous, and powerful. For transportation is production. We have not actually finished the produc- tion of anything until we have placed it in the hands of the consumer. Failure to develop our internal waterways may mean loss to the United States of Supremacy on the American continent, and corres- ponding advance in Canada. Eternal vigilance is still a necessity, and we must give prompt attention to the opportunities for bringing the vast inland farm areas close to the sea board. Charles Sefton of Canada says that the Dominion owes its existence to its waterways; he said ''Canada has expended upon the improvement of the St. Lawrence channel, the St. Lawrence. Welland and Sault Ste. Marie canal for construction and maintenance, — $116,000,000 — about one-third of the Canadian National debt. You will thus have some idea of the importance which we attach to our waterways, and the strength of the determination that everything ])ossible shall be done to bring them to the highest degree of etticiency.'' The near approach of the completion of the Panama ( 'anal is a factor in the national importance of this subject. We hojie that the surplus products of Central and South America will find their way into the interior of the country by means of water transportation, and furnish a basis upon which we may build up — through the natural operations of reciprocity in trade — a market in those countries for machinery and other manufactured goods of this country. The largest inland cities of the United States are in two grand divi- sions — which might be called transportation groups; they are either on the Great Lakes, or on the Mississippi Kiver System. The Great Lakes 85 have never had a ship passage to the sea ; the Mississippi is a deep waterway from five to seven months in a year, and it has given passage to a war vessel for 1,200 miles. There is no reason why ships should not come up as far as Memphis. Not only do these inland cities lack an outlet to the sea, but the two waterway systems have not been given adequate connection with each other. The iron ore is on the Lakes, and the coal is on the river, and yet there is not a way in this a*|je of steel for the ore boat to get to the coal. Our wheat must go abroad — or at least to the Atlantic sea board — and yet the big lake vessels cannot keep on with it to either place. The far seeing DeWitt Clinton looked eastward in the early twenties, and even then wanted the government to build a canal from Lake Michi- gan to the Mississippi as a western extension to the Erie Canal. The iron ore comes from the upper lake region and stops midway of Lake Erie where it takes the cars for the overland trip to Pittsburg. The wheat keeps on to the end of the lake at Buft'alo, where it finds the Erie Canal and the railroads competing for the haul to New York. The wheat comes in big loads from Duluth, which is the natural "Funnel" to the hard wheat regions of Minnesota and the Dakotas. The territory containing the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley is really Amer- ica — the vast treasure-house continent. Here is the granary of the country — the alluvial cotton tracts to which Europe is beholden — the raw material of the age of steel, and the food of its enginery. And yet it is virtually a land-locked treasure- house. The lakes are the home of imprisoned fleets, and the railroads hold the key. The inland waterways of the Union comprise about 25,000 miles of navigable rivers. A nearly equal mileage of streams can be made navi- gable by the improvement of their channels, and the regulation of the flow of their waters. Further we have the five Great Lakes with a com- bined length of 1,410 miles, and 2,120 miles of operated canals. In ad- dition to these rivers, lakes and canals, there are 2,400 miles of sounds, bays, and bayous capable of being converted by means of connecting canals — aggregating less than 1,000 miles in length — into a continuous and safe inner route for the coastwise traffic of the xltlantic and Gulf. These combined waterways, rivers, canals, lakes and coastal channels, have an aggregate length of between 55,000 and 60,000 miles, and are better adapted to the needs of the people than those of any other coun- try. In extent, distribution, navigability and ease of use, they stand first; yet, as President Roosevelt explained in a message of February, 1908, to the Senate, the rivers of no other civilized country are so poorly developed, so little used, or play so small a part in the industrial life of the nation, as those of the United States. It is a fact that although the Federal Government has — ^in the last half century — spent more than a third of a billion dollars in waterway improvement, and although the demand for transportation has steadily increased, navigation on our rivers has not only not increased, but it has actually diminished. So for instance on the Mississippi, for which Congress — up to 1907 — made appropriations amounting to |208,484,720. A half century ago the traffic on this greatest of all natural highways upon the globe was without a rival in any country. The decline of 86 uiivigatiou ou the inland waterways is — as the "Inland Waterways Com- mission" reported — due to the imregulated railroad competition which l)revented or destroyed the development of water traffic. This was done by keeping- down the railroad-rates along the rivers, recouping themselves elsewhere. The railroad companies drove ont commerce by discriminating tariffs, by rebates, by adverse placement of tracks and structures, by acquiring Avater fronts and terminals, by acquisition or control of competing canals and vessels, and by many other means. So the railroads have secured throughout the 'country the control of the waterways, and prevent their use; and this, in spite of the fact that — at periods recurring with increasing frequency — the railroads are utterly unable to keep pace with production, or to meet the require- ments of transportation. In the Court of Commerce Act. Senator Burton of Ohio — the greatest authority in America on waterways — secured the incorporation of the following amendment : "Whenever a carrier by railroad shall — in competition with a water route or routes — reduce the rates on the carriage of any species of freight to or from competitive points, it shall not be permitted to in- crease such rates unless, after hearing by the Interstate Commission it shall be found that such proposed increase rests upon changed condi- tions other than the elimination of water competition." This bit of legislation — occupying six lines upon our statute books — promises to do more to rehabilitate our waterway commerce than the expenditure of a hundred million dollars upon our rivers and harbors imder the conditions which have prevailed in the United States. For example — it has been the unbridled railroad competition, and not the lack of a channel — which has driven commerce from the Mississippi River. The strict enforcement of this law will demonstrate the possibilities of waterway commerce in the United States under normal conditions of equal competition. A feature of European Avaterway control which the United States should adopt is the method of local and national participation in im- provements. This policy prevails particularly in France, Germany, and Austria. In France, interested localities are required to contribute at least one- half the total expenditure for the construction of new waterways. The government then gives to the contributing localities the privilege of levying tolls on the traffic over the new construction to reimburse them- selves for the funds — principal and interest — so advanced. As soon as the debt and interest are paid the right to collect tolls ceases and is not renewed. In Germany the cost of inland harbors is usually left to the muni- ci|»alities, corporations, and other interested parties, who also own the sheds, warehouses, and docks. For the construction of new works the jiiovinces and corporations are required to guarantee the cost of ad- ministration, working and maintenance, and also to guarantee the yearly three ]ier cent interest on about one-third of the estimated capi- tal, and one-half per cent to the sinking fund from the sixteenth year onward. 87 From a practical standpoint the g;reatest handicap under which American waterways operate is the hick of suitable terminals. It is reliably estimated that the terminals of the Illinois Central Kailroad at Chicago compare in value with all of its line to New Orleans. The Mississippi River is a typical instance of the lack of suitable waterway terminals and machinery for loading and unloading freight upon American waterways. Along this river — except at New Orleans — there are no terminal facilities. The river boats merely run their prows into the banks of the stream, throw out a gang plank, and the freight is loaded and unloaded by men, instead of by the rolling elec- trical cranes to be found in Europe — where the railroads are invariably located on terminals of waterwa.ys, permitting direct transfer between railroad and water lines. The docks in our largest cities are for the most part under the control of railroads which refuse to share their use with waterway companies. As ex-president Roosevelt recently said in a public speech at St. Louis —"Control your waterway terminals or the railroads will. This control is absolutely necessary for good service from the waterways." At the Conservation Conference at St. Paul, Mr. Roosevelt also de- clared that ''In nearly every river city from St. Paul to the Gulf, the water front is controlled by the railways. Nearly every artificial water- way in the T'nited States is — either directly or indirectly — under the same control. , "It goes without saying that (unless the people prevent it in advance) the railways will attempt to take control of our waterways as fast as they are improved and completed; nor would I blame them, if we — the people — are supine in the matter. We must see to it that adequate terminals are provided in every city and town on every improved water- way — terminals open under reasonable conditions — to the use of every citizen, and rigidly protected against monopoly; and we must compel the railways to cooperate with the water ways continuously, effectively, and under reasonable conditions. "Unless we do so the railway lines will refuse to deliver freight to the boat lines — either openly or by improving prohibitory conditions — and the waterways once improved will do comparatively little for the benefit of the people who pay the bill. ''Adequate terminals — properly controlled — and open through lines by rail and boat — are two absolutely essential conditions to the useful- ness of inland waterway development. I believe furthermore, that the railways should be prohibited from owning, controlling, or carrying any interest in the boat lines on our rivers, unless under the strictest regu- lation and control of the interstate commerce commission so that the shippers interests may be fully protested." A developed waterway' that is navigable is a rate regulator, which affects both the producer from the remotest section to the heart of the Nation. It has been estimated that it costs no more to develop tha average stream to a twelve foot channel, than to build a railway of the same mileage, but the improved stream in one year's time, can carry a hundred and twenty-six times as much freight as can be carried by rail, and at one-sixth the cost. Seventy-five per cent of the total freight commodities originating ofi 88 the traffic lines in the United States, consists of heavy raw materials, the staple prodnctions of the farms, forests, mines and live stock ranges of the interior. These are commodities wliere economy of transporta- tion is a prime essential to production. Tonnage in this country increases six times as fast as railway facili- ties increase. The first thrill of good times will be choked into depres- sion by railway paralysis — car shortage — congested terminals — lack of motive power — lack of trackage — and the old story of 1906-1907 — unless we provide some wa}' of carrying the trade of this wonderful continent. An incredible amount of perishable material — corn, cotton, and wheat — is destro3'ed every year in the south and west because the railways cannot handle it with dispatch. A proper waterway system would enable this low-class freight to be promptly carried and allow the rail- ways to handle high-class freights. The development of waterways is no untried experiment. The nations of western Europe have poured out billions for canals, canalyzed rivers, and deepened channels, until they have a mile of waterway for every twenty-three miles of land. Their products get into the world's trade at salt water with a freight charge less than one-tenth, perhaps, of that which our railway-served producers have to pay. This is one reason why we are making no more rapid progress in foreign commerce; and if we were to eliminate our foreign trade which gets to the sea by waterways our progress would turn into a decline. And not only Europe is show- ing us the way in such matters, but the South American competitors of our farmers are carrying deep water closer and closer to the farms. The Parana — in the Argentine wheat districts, has been deepened for a thousand miles, and on the La Plata — in the heart of the wheat dis- trict — Argentina is spending $15,000,000 on the harbor of Rosario. The South Dakota farmer — with his wheat-rate of $4.70 a ton to Chicago, will feel this when the pinch of hard times or over-production conies. The other progressive nations of the world regard the waterway as a sort of thumb to the finger of the railway — members that must work together. The}' do not allow the finger to cut off the thumb — as we have done. They say that water-competition does the railways good by taking the skim milk of the heavy tonnage and leaving the railways the cream. Railways which compete with waterways make more money than do the lines which have everything to carry. Our railway magnates are beginning to see this, and men like Hill, Harahan, and Finlay are strong advocates of waterways. If they would only make their traffic men treat the rivers as European rivers are treated by railways, it would help greatly. We have adopted the remarkable policy of leaving the streams unfit for commerce until commerce has developed on the unfit stream. This policy renders worthless some of the best material assets of the nation. Take coal for instance. The lignite beds of Montana and Dakota are the greatest coal measures in this coimtry. The technologi- cal branch of the Geological Survey has found that this coal — turned into producing gas — will furnish more power — two to one — than the best anthracite used in a steam engine. Our coal is being used up at a terrific rate. It is perfectly certain that these great low-grade coal- 89 measures will come into use — that great industrial communities will be founded upon them — and that a great commerce in coal must eventually spring up on the Missouri, if the west arm of the Mississippi cross is improved. Millions of tons of anthracite and bituminous coal are yearly shipped into this great northwest by rail, at ruinous rates. The products of the farms must pay ruinous rates to get to market. From Sioux City, Omaha, St. Joseph, and Kansas City many train-loads of meat products are shipped daily. There are 80,000 barrels of flour ready to go south on the Mississippi every day from Minneapolis. Neither this i'ommerce nor that of the Missouri will follow the rivers until the rivers are made fit for it. In proving a case for a national system of waterways, the Mississippi is exhibit A. It embraces a majorit}' of the projects for facilitating inland commerce. The San Joaquin, the Sacramento, the Columbian, the Atlantic and Gulf projects are all important, and must have as favorable consideration as the mid-continent rivers; but the Mississippi is the stream that covers the ground. Don't make the mistake of think- ing of it as a stream that runs from St. Paul to New Orleans — -merely. It and its tributaries are creation's skeletons for a continental high-way system — a great family of navigable rivers. And it connects with the Great Lakes system by the Chicago Drainage Canal. Whatever Mr. Darwin might say, there is a difference between the fittest and the flghtest. The railway's claim to superior merit is not proved just because they ruined the waterways. Our waterways must be made better than they ever were, for freight hauling the boats must be made bigger, deeper, more powerful than those of old, and neither the Mississippi nor an}- of its branches is deep •enough for such vessels. The slogan must be "Legal protection and deep water." The Ohio brings tidings of great joy to the waterways advocates — a ton carried 1,000 miles for 67 cents. Let the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and all those on their border take notice of the fact that between Pittsburg and New Orleans the rates for carriage of heavy commodities like coal and grain are so low, that if the same rates prevailed on the Missouri and Mississippi, the farmers w'ould get from 8 to 15 cents a bushel more for their wheat, and in proportion for all other products. It costs |1.70 to carry a ton of wheat from Eureka, South Dakota, to Chicago — 775 miles, and Eureka is only a type. It is 30 miles from the Missouri — with six feet of water in that river there is no reason to doubt that wheat could go to St. Louis or Chicago for the 70 cents. All up and down the rivers and lakes where water commerce has prevailed, the ton goes 1,000 miles for a dollar or less. On all the railways of the laud the average charge for same is |7.50. Let us see what we have accomplished along waterway lines in the last SO years. During all those years our legislators swore by the railways and ridiculed the waterways. The biennial rivers and harbors bill was something between a joke and a scandal, and yet the money we spent sneeringly, and believing it to be wasted, pays us the best of any of our •outlays. Deepening Boston Harbor was credited with adding three ■cents to the price of western wheat by admitting deeper ships. In 1907 more than 41,000,000 tons of freight were shipped through the "Soo" 90 canal, saviug the uatiou |250.000.000 in freights — if oue compares the ^^Soo" rates with railway rates on wheat for similar distances from points with no water competition. For 1911 the amount of freight passing through the "Soo" amounted to 90,000,000 tons. Mr. Hill savs that it will take five billion dollars to rehabilitate the waterways so as to enable them to carr}' the traffic of normal times, to say nothing of the normal increase of tonnage. The five billions will have to be provided bv the railwavs, say vou? why? It will come out of our pockets in the end. The bonds and stocks of the railroads are just as much public burdens as the bonds of the United States, and if we — by putting a billion or so into waterways — can take off the railways the burden of spending five billions, we as a tax paying and rate paying people shall be at least four billions ahead. There are other considerations. We are in the game of world politics with its Philippine possessions, Monroe doctrines, Anglo-Japanese alli- ances, and the like. War with Great Britain would be the most mon- strous crime of the ages; but who shall say that it is impossible. I would merely suggest that when the Georgian Bay ship canal is opened^ Great Britain will have the whole sea-board absolutely at her mercy by a i)erfectly easy naval invasion of the lakes from the St. Lawrence^ and could pulverize with gun fire such cities as Chicago, Buffalo, and Cleveland, without our being able to lift a hand or fire a gnu in our own defense. Commercial strategy and military strategy require the same move on our part. AVe should meet the 22 foot Canadian project with a 22 foot Mis- sissippi. James J. Hill has said again and again that 14 feet in the Mississippi are not enough: that 15 feet are essential, that 18 feet are twice as good as 15, and that there should be twenty. Some engineers and lake carriers are opposing the lakes to the Gulf Waterway on the ground that it will lower the lake level to the detri- ment of the lake traffic. This opinion is not concurred in by many hy- draulic engineers. There is passing through the ^Niagara River from the four upper Lakes — Suj)erior, Michigan, Huron and Erie — about 200,000 cubic feet of water per second. Those that oppose the ship canal say that the amount of water diverted from Lake Michigan at Chicago will be added to the amount passed through the Niagara Kiver, and will — in about five years lower the lake levels from six to eight inches. The engineers who dissent to this opinion say that there is in all about 200,000 cubic feet of surplus water i)er second to pass from the lake basins, and if any amount of it is diverted from Lake Michigan, it reduces the pressure on Huron and Erie, and therefore the quantity to pass through Niagara River, to the extent of the amount diverted at Chicago from Lake Michigan, (which will ultimately be 14,000 cubic feet per second) and therefore has no effect on lake levels. It is estimated by the Inland Waterways Commission that to develop adequately the inland waterways of this country will cost somewhere between 1500,000.000 and |80O.6oO.0OO. This amount seems large— very large — but it is to be noted that it is only one-tenth the amount which 91 Mr. Hill estimated will be required to develop the railroads so as to handle the traffic of the couutry. The situation in this country is in somewhat remarkable contrast with that in Europe. According to Herbert Knox Smith, the entire federal appropriations for the improvement of rivers and canals — ex- cluding harbors — to 1007 was .f250.000.000 ; and much of this money has been very unwisely expended. In recent years there has been developed a great system of inland waterways in an area of about 800.000 square miles in Austria, Hun- gary, Germany, Belgium. France. Holland, and Italy, which cost the governments of these countries not less than |1. 000,000,000 or $2,000,000,000 more than the maximum estimate for the necessary im- provements of the waterways of the United States. The advantages resulting from the development of the waterways may be recapitulated as follows: In the first place — the freight rates will be reduced for a large part of our traffic. If we suppose that there will develop on the rivers of this country a traffic at all comparable with that on the Rhine and the Danube, the reduction in freight rates— alone — would justify the neces- sary expenditure. In the second place — water development will relieve the congestion of the railroads and render it unnecssary to spend a vast sum of money to develop the railways sufficiently to handle the traffic of the countrv — estimated by James J. Hill at about |6,000,000,000. Third — the storage of storm waters in reservoirs would make the water of the streams less impure. The waters would be better both for domestic supply and for manufacturing. Many lines of manufacturing require pure water. This is illustrated b}' the paper industry. Often a large part of the cost of the water supply of a city is occasioned by great systems of filtering plants to separate the silt and mud. If the storm waters are held at the heads of the streams in reservoirs — so that there are no great floods — and the streams maintain an equal flow, the expense in connection with supplying cities with water from rivers will be lessened. Fourth — there will be an immense reduction in flood damages. By ''flood damages'' is meant the actual losses which occur along the streams to constructed property in cities, country homes, railroad bridges, etc. ; they have no relation to agriculture — the land itself. At the present time the flood damages of the country are enormous. Leighton, after a careful consideration of the facts, estimated them — in 1908— at |237,800,000. If one-fourth of this loss were prevented— as a result of completing the storage reservoirs and developing navigation - — it would be more than sufficient to pay for the entire improvement proposed for the next ten years. Fifth^ — ^if the storm Avaters were restrained in reservoirs, there would be great reduction in the denudation of the land. Sixth — an incidental result of the storing of the storm waters will be that large areas of land now flooded and made SAvamps or marshes, will be reclaimed. Seventh — The storing of the storm waters would greatly improve the Avater poAvers of large magnitude. Mr. McGee's estimate of the gains Avhich Avill result from the expen- 92 ditnre of |500.000,000 distributed through ten rears for the improve- ment of waterways is as foHows: An annual saving in transportation of 1250.000,000— an annual saving from tlood damages of |150,000.000. —an annual saving from forest fires of |25,000,000, — an annual benefit from cheapened power of $75,000,000 — an annual saving of soil erosion of 1500,000,000— a total of 11,000,000,000 per annum. The proposed ex- penditure is at the rate of sixty-two and a half cents per year per capita. The saving is at the rate of |12.50 per capita — or twenty times as much. . WHAT THE FOREST SCOUT WILL DO FOR MICHIGAN. BY J. H. MC GILLIVRAY, FIKLD SUPERVISOR^ MICHIGAN FOREST SCOUTS. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : Since the first saw -mill turned its wheels in what is now St. Clair county, Michigan, almost a century before the Revolutionary war gave us a nation with the responsibility for the keeping of the country's natural resources, approximately over two hundred billion feet of pine lumber have been manufactured by the saw-mills of this State. While the mills were cutting this vast amount, approximately three hundred billion feet of merchantable timber was destroyed by fire — about $400,- 000,000 worth. But even the enormous value of the grown timber de- stroyed by fire is insignificant when compared with the pro-age value of the saplings and seedlings destroyed with the older trees. The value of all timber destroyed by fire would run past any count- ing point in money we Americans have ever been called to use. Had we this value today in purchasing power, and the metals and jewels were in the market, we could fence this State of ours with copper pickets, erect on pillars of solid silver a canopy of gold over the City of Lansing, roof this great Capitol Building with golden shingles inlaid with precious stones and stud the dome with diamonds! Michigan's dissipation of her greatest natural increment of wealth, makes the Prodigal Son of the Scriptures seem a miser by comparison. Had our Federal Government in the past fifty years shown one-half the sense displayed by the European nations, we would have had benefit of much of the wealth that has gone up in smoke and still have much of our forest in the original or in substitute. The highest aim of a State or Nation should be to act as a trustee for posterity. How are we going to make an excuse for posterity's wealth we have wasted? Our oAvn government in its annual market reports prints with ap- parent pride what is in fact the shameful history of our wastefulness. Our first consideration is the prevention of forest fires. Since the advent of the saw-mill more lumber has been destroyed annually that has been sawn in the mills. No lumberman will contradict this asser- tion. Last year the loss in our own State in timber and readily esti- mated ])r()perty was nearly four millions of dollars! Recent holocausts at Metz, Oscoda and Au Sable, where great loss of life obtained, brought 1>3 with mournful vividness, the attention of the people of the State to the urgent need of better fire protection. When the suggestion of Governor Osborn to enlist the bovs of the public schools of the forest district as auxiliary fire wardens was put up to me as a deputy State Forest Warden, by State Forestry Warden William K. Gates, I must admit that the proposal indeed looked vi- sionary. I countered with other plans which appeared to me more prac- tical. I had only to talk to my first assembly of high school students to know that the plan was feasible. They understood and they said they could make good ; and I knew they could, for the judgment of youth is better than is ours, when youth really comprehends. We have been making strenuous efforts to get all the boys available in service for the school vacation time when they can best give atten- tion to forest protection. Eventually we will have upwards of five thou- sand boys enrolled. The Scouts already enlisted have been making good. Gne thing that disturbed me was what the old time hard-headed practical lumberman would think of the Scout plan, but I find that there is not one lumberman in Michigan but has endorsed this move- ment and the boys are being encouraged in every way. The Scouts are enlisted for the protection of frontier life and prop- erty, as well as reforestation, and each is given an authority badge which is decorative. Fifty years hence, under the shade of green pines, listening to the songs of the birds which our forests bring us, old men will look on these badges and recall with pride their first active service for the State. The Scouts are given a text-book which embraces methods of fighting forest fires, first aid to the injured and general out-of-doors hints. Sur- veying and timber estimating are explained so the boys may determine values of the timber they are protecting. The department of education has seconded the efforts of the forestry department and provision has been made whereby all the boys and girls of the State will have competitive rights in an annual story contest in which medals will be awarded, the text to pertain to the Scouts and their work. For proficiency in field work, scholarships in forestry schools will be given. What interests the boy and girl interests the parent. We are going to educate the people of Michigan to the importance of prevention of forest fires, as well as several other things. The Forest Scouts are going to minimize the fire loss from the start. Besides the Scouts, the present fire-fighting force of the State consists of the State Forestry Warden, ten deputies and the supervisors of organ- ized townships. Special Wardens are appointed in surveyed townships where there is no organization. When a Scout puts out a small fire or reports a fire to any of these Wardens, he is presented with an Honor Medal. When he performs an act of heroism or of conspicuous good judgment in behalf of the State, he is presented with a Gold Medal. The State assumes that a boy on the lookout for any meritorious service he can perform, is a boy better fitted for that particular service for which he is enlisted. The skeptic will say, "And what will these boys straightway do? You are simply encouraging them to go out in the woods and set fires, so 94 that they may win medals for putting them out !" Don't you believe it ! And I apologize to the boys in acknowledgment that the thought should ever have come into my own mind. I have gone among these boys, and I know them. I am speaking with absolute conviction when I say that there is not a normal boy in the schools of Michigan today who would stoop to secure a medal by such a method. I want to say to you that there is something about the school boy of today that is an acquisition of today — something the like of which we have never known before. It will prove an increment to the State of great moral and nmterial value. The boy of today will mark an epoch in this nation's history. There never has been a boy like him until the present time. This boy has been told by the newspapers and magazines of the evil and graft in the world. They have told him, mostly, the truth, and truth is always beneficial. The school boy of today doesn't have to grow u]) with high ideals of the world and of the men of prom- inence, only to grow cynical and discouraged when he finds, as did the boy who preceded him, that he has been deceived. Our boy is develop- ing with high ideals, but he expects to make the fight for their main- tenance himself. He knows what he is up against, and he is deter- mined to change it all I The fact that this boy is the Michigan Forest Scout is going to ac- complish much for Michigan. Five thousand Scouts make a good army of fire wardens. They are going to minimize the loss by fire, and with the splendid work of the forestry associations of both peninsulas, will in all probability make this season the first one in the history of the State in which the loss by fire will not exceed the cut of the mills! Any one can be an honorary Scout by performing such act as would entitle a Scout to a medal reward. This is that all may be Scouts in spirit. The active Scout age is from eight to eighteen years, inclusive. These are, in our judgment, the social massing limits. This is no Little Lord Fauntleroy stunt. It is business — big business — and the boys know it. I have talked with several thousand of these boys, and I talk business to them. My only moral side-light has been : ''Don't bluflf! A bluff is a no-good thing! It never yet got anyone any- thing at any time or place that would not immediately or eventually have come in better quality or greater quantity, without the bluff." There are in this audience practical lumbermen. You know every de- tail of the business from the forest tree to the market; from the stum]) to final use. Does the matter of reforestation look to you as something good, but at the same time as something of the far-away future? I wisli to take a gentle exce])tion to the statement of Mr. Baker that fifty years is required to grow white pine trees to operating size. On his own l)lantation at the Michigan Agricultural College grounds is a refutation of his estimate. If the statistics say fifty years, then I say statistics are at fault. You will find at the College plantation, trees in various stages of development. You will find one growth of several acres of white pine. It was planted fifteen years ago from three-year-old seedlings. Today you could cut merchantable timber from it. It is my honest conviction, and I have managed extensive operations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, Idaho and California, that 2S- log white pine timber, such as would be grown in twenty-five years from seedlings, would yield to the intelligent operator who fits his machinery 95 to the size of the timber, a better margin of profit than any other timber on the continent, except the old-growth white pine and the big western and sugar pine of California, taking it for granted that all stumpage was free to the operator. While the time is not very far distant when all our rich alluvial and <}Iay surface soils will be under general agriculture, when our gravelly loams will be devoted to the raising of fruits, there will always remain a large acreage in this State which will have a greater economic value for timber production than for any other purpose. Michigan Forest Scouts can reforest Michigan, and other states will soon adopt the Scout idea. Keep the fires out and five thousand Scouts planting trees for forty years, and merchantable white pine, Norway and cedar will stand again in good commercial size on practically all the available and fit land in the State. Lret me here insert the plea that all of these United States, all the provinces of our Canadian sister on the east and north, and Mexico too, on the south, work for a continent-wide agreement to be ratified by the states and provinces, and made by such national ratification into an international law : That a time be set several years ahead, after which slashings must be burned or cleared, and seedlings planted in place of those trees felled. No one state or province could enforce such a law singly, without approaching the market at a disadvantage with the others. Under an international agreement the market would adjust itself to the extra expense of operation and no hardship would be im- posed on the operator. I am not so sure about the consumer. Michigan Forest Scouts are going to protect our birds and our game land our fish, as well as our forests. They are going to augment the spirit of a new chivalry that is now appearing in Michigan. Mr, Baker has said that science and not sentiment is going to reforest this State. If it were not for sentiment there would be no science. Sentiment is the greatest thing in this world. If the truth be known, it is the basis of all science and all commercialism. Everything splendid, everything noble, everything good, everything beautiful that has been done with pen or brush or voice or hand, everything worth while here on earth has been born in sentiment, reared in sentiment, and has been remembered and reverenced in sentiment. This sentimental Scout, through healthy, normal out-of-door thoughts and exercise, will develop into a splendid man mentally, morally and physically; into a good citizen, a clean statesman. Michigan Forest Scouts, will, in a decade, prove the best asset the State of Michigan has ever commanded, except the Michigan Forest Girl — his inspiration — who will then, with her city cousins, be casting her ballot with the Scout for all that is good for Michigan in unselfish patriotic politics. 96 WHAT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE POWER IX OUR STREAMS WILL DO FOR THE CONSERVATION OF COAL AND WOOD AND FOR AGRICULTURE. H. H. CROWELL, GRAND RAPIDS. Mr. Cliairman, Ladies and GentlemeD : A few days ago voiir Honorable Secretary. Commissioner Carton, ex- tended to me an invitation to attend this Conference, suggesting that I give a twenty minute talk on — ''What the Development of the Power in our Streams will do for the Conservation of Coal and Wood and for Agriculture." I was pleased to accept his invitation and deem it an honor and a privilege to have this opjiortunity of addressing you. but the subject is so important an one that I could well wish for more time in prepara- tion or that the time allotted had been given to some speaker better equipped or more competent to discuss it. I will, with your pennis- sion, endeavor to be as practical as possible in what I may say. It is assumed for the moment that the development of water powers is of national interest in reference to the conservation of coal and wood and other sources of stored up work and that the development of our stream power is of State-wide interest to our agriculturalists, their de- pendents and beneficiaries. As I am not the seventh son of a seventh son and lack the gift of prophecy, I crave permission to slightly change the caption of the ad- dress by substituting "would" for "will'' and by inserting "may do'' before the words "for Agriculture," so that it may read, — "What the Development of the Power in our Streams would do for the Conserva- tion of our Coal and Wood and may do for Agriculture." The water powers of her streams are of vast commercial importance to the State of Michigan. Their conservation or development and the direct immediate results of such development industrially and agriculturally will be largely de- pendent upon methods and conditions, legislative action — whether re- pressive or guiding — and the assistance rendered by the public generally to those who assume the burden of raising the necessary capital and marshalling the great executive and technical ability required in con- serving the power of our streams to the utmost degree. Any action that is repressive or oppressive, or any action that arrests development or prevents the natural use of a resource does not make for its conservation. Of our resources there should be neither wasteful use nor total dis- use, which is the greatest waste of all. The stored up work obtainable from our resources such as coal, wood^ gas, oil and other natural fuels, may not be replenished if once used. Not so the forces of moving air or falling waters. Consequently, true conservation and commercial providency suggests that we do not now use our stores of coal, wood and other natural fuels 97 for power purposes, provided we can develop and substitute therefor another natural resource at equal or less cost of production. Water power resources undeveloped and unutilized are valueless, therefore true conservation of our water powers is to develop and use them in the highest possible degree in lieu of other natural resources which can never be replenished, and which are now being consumed at an excessive rate. SOME GENERAL DATA. Data regarding the consumption of coal for the past sevent}- years afford an interesting study. Coal was mined at the rate of 2,000,000 tons per year in 1840; 270,(100,000 tons were mined in 1900 and 501,596,000 tons in 1910. Consumption was doubled in the last decade. The value of the coal consimied in 1910, at an average price of |2.00 per ton, would exceed one billion of dollars, with millions of water horse power unutilized. Each continuous water horse power developed, on the basis of 5 lbs. of coal per H. P. hour, would save approximately 22 tons of coal per 3'ear. The net gain in this instance is something less than the value of the coal saved, this being partially offset by increased fixed charges on increased investment, an h^'dro-electric plant costing more to build per continuous horse power capacity than a steam plant. The people generally are becoming awakened to the commercial neces- sity for developing our water powers and the people of Michigan are not lagging behind. For the country from 1902 to 1907. approximately 1.000,000 water H. P. were developed for electric railway, lighting and power purposes and from 1907 to 1910 another million H. P. of water power was de- veloped for like use. The present total water ])ower development of the country amounts to about 6,000,000 H. P., of which practically one-half is hydro-electric, the energy therefrom being generally utilized for lighting, power and traction purposes. There remain perhaps 25,000,000 H. P. of water power still available for development imder reasonable commercial conditions. It would be safe to say, having in mind present commercial conditions and limitations, that the total water power which can be made available in this country with reasonable cost and with satisfactory return upon investment is not less than 30,000,000 H. P. It is estimated that we now use industrially about 25,000,000 H. P. in the country today, 19,000,000 H. P. being steam power, the balance of 6,000,000 H. P. being water power. You will note from the foregoing that 25% of the total power used is water power and that 20% of all the water power deemed commercially available is already developed, 10% hydro-electrically. As to the commercial value of a good water power stream, I would call your attention to one of the remarkable streams of New England, the Merrimac. Between Franklin, N. H., and Newburvport, Mass., a distance of 110 miles, the river falls 269 ft. 185 ft. of this fall is utilized with a total development of 60,000 wheel H. P. 13 98 This stream lias made Manchester, Lowell and Lawrence, with their population of nearly 275,000, among New England's most prosperous industrial cities. To what end shall the Avater i)ower of Michigan's streams be devel- oped? Before we answer, some material facts in reference to ^lichigau and her peo})le may be considered. SOME MICHIGAN DATA. ^ The State has a gross area of nearly 58,000 square miles; the popula- tion is more than 3,000,000 and the density is 50 to the mile as against 81 for the country. About one-half of the people live in cities of 2,500 or more and one-half of the State's population is classed as rural. Thirt.v-eight per cent of her people live in 2-1 cities and furnish more than G8% of the manufactured product of the State, which is valued at to exceed $700,000,000. Manufacturing is carried on in nearly 10,000 establishments, employing move than 350,000 people, the general workers earning an average of — men, |2.32 per day and women, |1.24 per day, Michigan is the sixth railroad state in the Union, with over 0,100 miles of steam track. Michigan is changing largely to an industrial state, and it is the seventh state in the Union in manufacturing, S.5% of the population being classed as factory wage earners. Referring to the power used by her 10,000 industrial establishments, reports show about 0,200 boilers installed in 3,000 steam plants, having a total capacity of 811,578 H. P. We know that the people of Michigan are vitally interested in the cost of power for manufacturing industries, for traction purposes and for public and private lighting. Any power development that will reduce the cost of power and hence cost of product to the manufacturer, whether located in city, village or country, will surely benefit the industries of the State as a whole. Any benefit to the industries of the State as a whole is reflected toward and reacts on the farmer, for busy factories and continuously employed urban populations mean good and ]>rofitable markets for the farmer's products. WATER POWER DEVELOIVMEXT. If it were possible to substitute our water i)ower for the 800,000 steam power noAv installed and the power was used on an average of U hours a day, G days a week, it would conserve for future use 5,700,000 tons of coal per year, at a value of perhaps |12,000,000, the net annual saving being the difference between coal value and excess capital costs. While it is not possible to substitute water power or hydro-electric power for this steam power, it is a well known fact that many rivers of Michigan could furnish thousands of horse power of water power as a substitute for a porti<^>n of the steam ])ower now being generated and so do Iheir share toward the conservation of coal and wood. The rivers of Michigan, — the Huron and Kalamazoo, the St. Joe and the Grand, the Muskegon, Manistee and lioardman, the An Sable, To- t>acco and Tittibawassee, the Chij)pewa and the Pine, all furnish many sites available for the develoi)ment of water ])ower. 99 Uufortimately, we may not depend on a regular flow of water in these treams on account of the variation in rainfall during different seasons if the year; therefore, not all of these rivers are good water power treams and not all of the water power sites are commercially practi- able. many of them being located in inaccessible places far from a lossible market and impossible of economical development. A study of these rivers and their water sheds has disclosed to us that he rivers of Michigan can furnish perhaps 200,000 horse power, the [tilization of which will be of marked and increasing value to our in- lustrial and social activities. While this is all very interesting and attractive, let us not deliber- tely deceive ourselves. \\'ater power is not always cheap power or even good power and it is ften more expensive to operate than an efficient steam plant. This may be due to relatively low head, expensive development, loss f head in flood-flow, lack of water at minimum flow or extreme vari- bility of flow requiring an excessive investment in auxiliary power. Difficulties due to variations of stream flow may at times be remedied y consolidating the energy developed at several sites, for the concentra- ion of a number of water powers of barely possible commercial con- ideration may make a profitable enterprise. Unless such powers are consolidated, industrial development is in- ured and the powers are not conserved to their greatest utilit}', nor is t possible to effect great economies in maintenance and operation, nor an water power be delivered to the ultimate consumer at least cost. (leuerally speaking-, up to 25 years ago, water powers Avere used locally nd their utilization was a local matter, pure and simple. A water power utilized at its site is of limited value. Distribute ts power over a wide area and you increase its value, likewise its use- ulness. The development of a water power today is of far greater interest to he general public than it was previous to the age of electric generation nd transmission. WATER POWER UTILIZED. Water poAver can now best be utilized commercially by developing he total fall of the stream at a few points, constructing a few power tations of relatively large size at the most favorable locations; trans- orm to electric energy for transmission over wide areas to the places vliere it can be used to the best advantage and thus entirely change the udustrial aspect. The aggregated industrial demand of a wide area may thus be served vith greatest economy by a large water power or the consolidation of everal water powers, electrically developed and administrated as a ingle unit. The wide area served brings relief through diversity of use, the auxil- aries required for extraordinary demands or peak loads are reduced in lumber and capacity and we have the least dollar of investment and lence the least cost per unit of service. In the last analysis, all sources of power available for a particular erritory should be brought under one administration, the power being listributed in many localities as required. 100 A comprehensive and adequate organization developing and conserv- ing a group of water powers, transmitting the energy developed there- from over wide areas, will be of special benefit to the small manufacturer and the small user of power in the small and scattered communities. Such consumers of power are relieved of the necessity of investing their limited capital in a local jiower plant and may use such released capital for the particular or ostensible purposes of their activity. This capital then becomes active commercial capital and not a passive in- vestment. This aid to small power users in the smaller communities makes for a general prosperity in said communities by furnishing home employ- ment ; tends to thicken up the population and by so doing, increases the immediate local demand for the necessaries of life, thus directly bene- fiting the contiguous farming community. AS COMPARED AVrPII STEAM POWER. It must be remembered that the necessary capital investment per H. P. capacity is greater for a water power plant than for a steam plant and that steam plants are far more economical than they were 20 yeai^s ago. Therefore, after development, it is generally necessary, in order to reap the benefits due to the saving of fuel, to operate a water power plant a certain definite minimum number of hours per year to overcome the increased capital costs due to the large investment. The total fuel cost of a steam plant generally increases as the number of H. P. hours produced increases. The operating cost per H. P. hour of a water power plant generally decreases as the number of H. P. hours produced by a given development increases. Therefore, the relative cost of steam and water power may be said to depend largely upon the total horse power hours output of either facility in relation to the nmximum demand thereon for any certain period or cycle of operation. Hydro-electric development of the stream generally means electric transmission and distribution over greater or less territory, depend- ing upon the market. The losses incurred in electric generation, transmission and distribu- tion, especially when the power must be transmitted a great distance, make it unwise to develop small, isolated, variable or unreliable water powers as single undertakings. Such powers must wait on circumstance. Eventually they could be developed to serve as feeders for what they are worth to some then existing system, their output being absorbed in the general operations. The demand for a continuous service generally requires that an hydro- electric development be backed up by an auxiliary steam plant of good design and efficiency. The installation of a large hydro-electric generating and distributing plant, together with its insurance power in the form of a steam auxil- iary to guarantee continuity of service means a heavy investment of capital to provide the necessary equipment in station and sub-stations, transmission lines, etc. 101 RELATIVE TO CAPITAL. Attention is here called to a peculiar feature of an hydro-electric undertaking and the public utility business. The investment of capital per dollar of gross annual revenue is relatively large. In many kinds of business the investment needs to be but one-third or one-quarter of the gross revenue ; that is, the capital ma}' be turned three, four or more times a year, while in an hydro-electric undertaking the capital invested will be from four to eight times the gross annual revenue ; that is, the capital cannot be turned but once in from four to eight years. This is a point too often overlooked by investors and the general public alike. Investors have in the past been attracted toward hydro-electric propo- sitions, many of them of doubtful value, because promotors have led them — to their cost — to believe that great profits must necessarily follow any water power development. The knowledge gained by past experi- ence should save us from man}- failures in the future. It is true a water power is economical of operation and the cost of hydro-electric energy (simple operating expenses only included) is com- paratively not great, but it should be clearly borne in mind that the fixed expenses, — interest, insurance, taxes, depreciation, etc., — are rela- tively large and in the final analysis "load factor" or average use of the plant capacity will determine its success or failure. PROFIT FROM OPERATION. An hydro-electric project will be profitable or unprofitable depending U])on the expense of development, the cost of maintenance and the de- mand and supply of product. Grouping of the administration of several small undertakings under one efficient management will tend to make the whole proposition profit- able. Hydro-electric undertakings have not as a class paid the investor ex- cessive profits. Securities issued to pay constructional costs are not yet placed in the highest class of investments by the investing public. This does not mean that such securities are all ^jrecarious or that the better class involve special risks not present in other industrial under- takings. The same rule applies here as in other industries. The hydro-electric induytry is no "get-rich-quick" concern, muckrakers to the contrary. Indeed, many hydro-electric developments require special consideration during the constructional and early periods of business development. Many fail to pay dividends or have to be reorganized during the first decade of their existence. I readily recall one development of 50,000 H. r. where the original investment was entirely lost before a profitable business had been established. The margin of profit in hydro-electric developments is at times so snuUl that it takes the highest order of business talent and acumen to conserve it. Success may be killed completely by repressive, oppressive or ill- advised legislation and in no industry will such unnecessary burdens fall more directlv on the ultimate consumer. 102 The oulv et'oiiomically sound idea in the developmeut of a water power and its utilization is to reach the ultimate consumer on such terms as will readily saturate the community and make for the greatest use of the facility. This, in ])lain terms, means the best service at the lowest price co)n- mensurate therewith. COMMliKCIAL .VSriOCTS. You will now readily understand (from what has been said) that through consolidation of several poor water powers we may get a power of some commercial value. Further, by combining the output from sev- eral water ])owers and distributing it over a wide area, with skillful and efficient administration and — very important — with adecpiate financing, we may ultimately secure a reasonable profit from o])erations. But this ]trofit from operations is predicated upon the marketing of the product, and to do this we must better existing conditions of power supply, and successfully compete with the next best substitute, which is always to be reckoned with. RELATIXc; TO LEGISLATION AXI) REGT'LATIOX. Water power is a natural monopoly. The law of stream flow must be complied with. We must adapt our business to meet it. Our rules and regulations and our laws must recognize natural conditions. Legisla- tion must be considerate and ])rotective. not oppressive, repressive oi ])reventive. The i)roblem of the develoi)ment of our water power has two sides, ('or})orate abuses and unfair methods are not to be countenanced, but correction of ]jast errors does not mean ill-advised or repressive legisla tion that would prevent the future development of the water powers of the State along rational and commercially provident lines. The electric transmission of water power over long distances and the serving of wide areas is a public service. This we may not controvert. A public service cor])oration is certainly susceptible of i>roper regu- lation, based on modein ideas and in accordance with our ])reseut neces sities. To my mind, we need not look with a]»])rehension nor need we view with alarm the necessary consolidation of water powers to enable them to compete with economic steam plants and so make them available and of value in our industrial life. Xor need we be unduly exercised over their consolidated management or the efficient administration of a comi>rehensive develo]»ment of several water ])Owers; — thesi' are necessary ])rocesses in order that the under taking may be financed and successfully o]»erated. It is a j)lain business projiosition that faces us. It is simply setting in motion the necessary machinery re(iuired in the conservation of the commercial water powers: that is, their develoinncnt and utilization. This State will be jtractising true conservation in the future as in the past if, instead of adding to the cost and difficulties of develo])ment, it gives legitimate assistance and hearty co-o]>eration to capital and initia 103 tive iu its efforts to bring; the actual water power resources into our commercial life. Adverse, inconsiderate or repressive legislation, hampering rules and regulations will increase the cost of development, and make it almost impossible to develop water powers now barely practical. This natur- ally increases the number of horse power required to be developed by steam, with of course, a corresponding destruction of coal, wood, oil or gas, which is the very reverse of conservation. Deterrent and repressive legislation in reference to water powers has in the past been invoked in other states by those not well informed, who, posing as the defenders of the people's rights, were working upon, theories far removed from commercial practise, which did not make fov* the real interests of the people. I look for the time, not far distant, Avhen the people will become in- formed and, awakening, will condemn those wiio put ol)stacles in the path of progress. To obstruct the initiative of men who can connnand the capital and ability to accomplish great undertakings and who have tlie faith and courage to undertake great enterprises is not to befriend the people. France, Germany, Austria, England and other foreign countries have developed water jjowers to a marked degree. Private concerns are given grants of franchises under government control and regulation, and are fostered in every legitimate waj'. They are thus encouraged to develoj* and produce electric power at minimum cost. In Austria, |24,000,000 of capital is now being expended on hydro-electric developments. The modern corporation, big in order that it may do big things, al- ways assailed and vilified by demagogues and self-seeking politicians, is developing the resources of the land and bringing millions to the user of those resources; it is establishing great enterprises in the wilderness, building hamlets in waste places, locating factories on sandy plains, furnishing home employment there at remunerative wages and certainly some of these things would never know life were our water jiowers never developed. AS TO REFORESTATION. Of necessity, those interested iu the development of wafer powers are also interested in the preservation of forests and the reforestation of noAv barren and denuded, non-agricultural lands; for the forest bears a close relation to the successful utilization and artificial storage of water for at least some Avater powers. Denuded lands that have become sun-baked and hard by exposure will rapidly discharge the rain-fall, carrying along great quantities of the land itself. — the silt filling up reservoirs and destroying the storage system itself. The need of tree planting is now, or soon will be, felt in many sec- tions of Michigan. There are large areas of land fit only for forest growth and they should be so utilized. In passing, it is estimated that the number of sound^ straight poles exceeding 20 ft. in length purchased by the telegraph, telephone anrf electric light and power companies for the year 1912 will probably ex- ceed 4,000.000 and such poles are becoming increasingly difficult to ob- tain. 104 Forest planting should be encouraged in every feasible wu.v and in the near future the true value of forest land and its rightful place among the permanent resources of the 8tate Avill be recognized. The large area which has been lumbered and fire-swept presents a difficult problem but the land in its present condition has a low-produc- ing value and forest planting would be profitable with adequate fire I»rotection. The reforestation of present denuded water sheds will protect the purity of the water, help to regulate the run-oft', reduce erosion and to a degree reduce the discharge of silt into reservoirs, thus benefiting our water j)owers. It is a well known fact that streams flowing through bare water sheds drain oft" the rain-fall rapidly in muddy torrents, with recurring floods, to be followed in time of drought by extreme scarcity of flow. Reforestation Avill thus serve a dual purpose, protect the water supply and ultimately bring a timber crop yielding good profits. AS TO AGRICULTURE. Assuming now the development of all our available water power and its electric transmission over wide areas; admitting its use as a con- servative of coal and wood and its great value to our State industries, — what will it then do for agriculture and the farmer directly? Tlie welfare of the farmer or the betterment of farm conditions is a matter of deep concern to those who will develop our water powers. Should the furnisher of our necessaries of life — the producer of our food stuffs — be obliged to do without modern conveniences, home lux- uries and labor saving devices because the nature of his business neces- sarily means a location in large, sparsely settled areas? Decidedly no. All conveniences, all labor saving devices and even city luxuries should be brought to him. No matter how isolated he may be, a way will be found to reach him; — a way is being found. We may be sure hydro-electric power Avill do its part in helping to de- velop to the utmost Michigan's agricultural interests, for every legiti- mate eft'ort will be made to encourage the use of electricity and electric power on the farm and by the farmer. The farm machinery, semi-portable, ]M)rtable. auxiliary and station- ary, will be driven by electric motors supplied from some long distance transmission line; grinders of food for cattle, meat choppers, elevators, Jiay hoists, ensilage cutters, farm grist mills, milk churns, cream sepa- rators, vacuum milking machines, i-efrigeration and other time and labor saving apparatus equipment will be ada])ted for electric drive and used on many a farm. The jtmiiping of water for sanitary, domestic and fire ]»urposes may be easily accomplished and, incidentally, the washing machine in the laundry may be p(»wer driven to eliminate some of the drudgery of the hou.sekeeper's life. Electric driven machinery around and about will help and assist in the heavier toil of the farmer and replace in part, if not in whole, the fai-m labor now increasingly difficult to secure or retain against the lure of the town. Wherever power machinery can be utilized in the work of the farm there will be found the electric motor to drive it. 105 Electric lighting Avill be substituted for the unhandy kerosene lamp and lantern and for the more dangerous isolated gasolene or acetylene lighting plants. More light, more cheerfulness at night, will be brought to the now iso- lated farm house and its outlying buildings, its present dark and lonely roads and lanes. Every Four-Corners or perhaps neighborly cross roads could well be illuminated at night by tapping a nearby electric transmission line, pro- vided conditions made for single voltage reduction, using a single line transformer. In the farmer's home will be found, so far as may be, any or all of the many cf)nvenient household devices that modern ingenuity has made available for use where an adequate supply of electricity can be had at a reasonable price. With power trucks replacing the ox-teams in South America, with rising 30,000 trucks now in use in this country, with the electric truck holding its own against the gasolene truck within a radius of 50 miles, may it be said that we have our heads in the clouds if we perchance see in our mind's eye a community-owned truck, charged with energy from some distant Avater power, doing the work of many teams in a dairy community, going from farm to farm collecting the milk and delivering the same to the milk depot in half the time and at half the expense; returning thence Avith its load of incoming freight and delivering the same to the farmers along the route; to be again used in harvesting. There is a large field for the development of irrigation systems for the improvement of farm lands now unprofitable on account of a lack of water in the summer season. There is decided irregularity of rain-fall in Michigan. 20 to 80 inches jter year in the northern ])art of the Southern Peninsula, 8(» to 40 inches south of 43^ of latitude and 30 to 40 inches in the Upper Peninsula. Again, the annual precipitation for the water year varies within wide limits. In the growing period, large demands are made upon ground waters and precipitation to supply crop requirements. The water consumption of growing crops has been tabulated as fol- lows: ^Vlieat, rye, oats, barley and buckwheat, 9 to 10 inches of water on the crop area to fully supply demands; Corn 12 inches Potatoes 41/2 inches Beans, peas and orchards 12 inches Clover 12 to 13 inches Forest 3 to 4 inches Wherever there is thin or sandy soil of small ability to hold ground water, wherever there is a minimum precipitation during the growing period — there may irrigation be practiced with good results. Irrigation water may be obtained from underground sources forced through pipes around and about the planted areas with an ordinary force pump driven by an electric motor during the hours of the day when the demand for lighting is not great and thus earning a very low rate 106 for this service. One foot of water per year would not cost to exceed fo.OO per acre under ordinary conditions. Generally speaking", every luiman activity using energy is a possible consumer of electric power and within its legitimate field, the hydro- electric plant waits its opportunity to serve. A LOOK BACKAVARD. When I look down the years from the day before Niagara was devel- oped until now, when I think of the small beginnings of commercial electricity and its almost universal use of today, when I compare the oO H. P. dynamo of yesterday with its 30,000 H. P. brother of today and the small motor which I carried from town to town with the 10.000 H. P. motor now practically assured, and when I remember the old time 15 ft. bob-tailed one-horse street car and compare it with the 50 ft. inter- urban of toda}' with its 500 H. P. of motors, and Avhen I try — as I do — to grasp the real meaning of transmission lines 250 miles long, I find it difficult to refrain from attempts at reading the future. A LOOK FORWARD. Judging from the past — and I kuow^ no better way — larger and more efficient developments, with greater volume of business, will serve to de- crease further the cost of electric power to the consumer from noAV on. Yet we can at present buy nine times the light for a dollar that we could twenty years ago, notwithstanding the increased cost of living. The hydro-electric development of tomorrow, speaking generally, must be a huge i)lant, or several large plants tied together electrically and operated one with the other — its radius of action far beyond the arti- ficial boundaries of mere political subdivisions. Large trunk line railroad systems may be beyond the inmiediate grasp, but not for long. Every sort of requirement will be met. This great development will serve tens of thousands of consumers and deliver its output over areas of thousands of square miles. Admittedl}', this picture is overdrawn for Michigan for unfortunately she does not possess any huge water powers; they are of rather moder- ate size. None the less, the sum total of her water power is something to con- jure with and should be carefully conserved. IX CONCLUSION. Hydro-electric ])<)wer at reasonable cost to the factory and at the farmer's door will conserve our coal and wood, make more productive the land of the farmer, lighten his labor, bring city conveniences to his home, make his life more worth living and so will greater ])rosperity abide with those who dwell among the hills and vales of Michigan. 107 XORTHEASTEKN MICHIGAN AND ITS FUTURE. BY JOHN CARTER. ST. HELEN, MICHIGAN. Mr. Cliairmaii, Ladies and (ieutlemeu : I am glad to be here tonight and if there is anything that I can sn ont of the experience I liave had in the work of tlie development ( Michigan, I shall be very happy indeed. I often wonder if we stopped to consider, what the development an the conservation of the resources of Michigan means. How many of i in this room tcniight have stopped to think that if the fifteen inillio acres of undeveloped land in Michigan Avere made to produce their fu quota of wealth of the nation and wealth of the i^tate, what that won] mean? It would mean about |loO.OOO,00() added to our State's wealt and our nation's wealth. Do we stop to think of that? I sometimes think that Ave are very much like the farmer who hii a very fertile field lying right up close to his barn, and it laid there xei after year and he did nothing with it. One day a neighbor said to hir "Why don't you cultivate that field and make it produce something': "Oh/' said the farmer, "I'd have to plow it, and drag it, and plant and cultivate it and then harvest it and its too much trouble." An that is the way we are in Michigan. Its too much trouble. This conservation talk Ave have taken up tonight is too sIoav by aboi fifty years. Of course, it is a good thing to take up noAV, but if it ha been taken up fifty years ago Iioav much greater Avould be the worth < Michigan. But it is a step we should take and I am glad to see thf the Public Domain Commission is taking- hold so vigorously. The oul regret that I have is that they have not more means to*^ work wit: Michigan is too parsimonious. Michigan has not placed the means t the disposal of this Commission that it should; I want to say that tl members of the Ptiblic Domain Commission are good loyal ruen, Avorl ing for the interests of the development of Michigan, but Michigan hi not placed sufficient means at their disposal to do the Avork. The con pany of Avhich I am president, expended last year $20,000 for publicit alone and |110,000 for development Avork. And here is the great Stai of Michigan, Avith these millions of acres of undeveloped land and mi lions of dollars worth of resources, only placing |lo,000 at the comman of the Public Domain Commission. Gentlemen, I pity you from tl bottom of my heart and I sincerely hope that Avhen vour next approprii tion is made it Avill be at least |50,000; and |100,obo could be spent 1 advantage in this cause. You Avill pardon me if in telling of the future of northern Michigai I glA-e a little of the history of the St. Helen's DeA'elopment Compan; as, by so doing, I can best illustrate and give force to my talk here tl night. It is ten years since I first came to Michigan. I came from the fertil fields of Illinois, where land is Avorth from |1.50 to |250 per acre, remember the time, however, Avhen 140 per acre was considered a goo j)rice for Illinois land. When laud AAent up to |65. men said it ha 108 'ached the limit. Then it reached |80 and then flOO. and when it ■ached $100 per acre it commenced to bound np in jumps of $15 to |25 iv acre, and now it is just a question of what a man asks for his land, r there is always someone ready and anxious to buy. When I came to Michigan I was astonished to lind I could buy land ; low as twenty-five cents per acre and although it was considered of > value at that time, I bought and kept on buying for my company until e had about 110,000 acres of land around ir^t. Helen. The bulk of our nd cost one dollar per acre. Men wanted to know Avhat we were going 1 do with it, what our plans were, and I told a few persons of the de- 'lopment work I had in mind, and they said it was a pretty good idea, It I saw that they did not think it would Avork out. We bought all the land around the town site of t?t. Helen, which at le time was the best lumber town between Bay City and Cheboygan id where millions of dollars worth of timber had been cut. Naturally in so large a tract of land we found diversified soils, Some these lands were the despised jack pine lands. People said nothing Duld grow on them. You might grow something on clay but you simply luld not groAv anything on those jack pine lands. But we started our 'velopment work on these self same despised jack pine lands and the w hundred acres of this land which we have today under cultivation ill produce as good cro])S as a man could ask for. We have under cultivation near St. Helen, 3,200 acres of land. We ive planted in the last five years, 15,000 fruit trees. We have one ttle ranch for beef — ^another for a dairy farm. We are growing clover, rn and all kinds of root crops, such as carrots, beets, turnips, etc. e have nearly 400 acres of alfalfa, 720 acres of beans, fifteen acres of rawberries and all varieties of vegetables grow exceedingly well. We •e starting a canning factory to take care of the strawberries and getables. We are growing our own ])ork and beans. With all of these versified crops it is expected that we should have had some failures, e do have them but we simply go ahead and strive to do better next lue. When I think of the capital that is going to other and less favorable :ites and territories, I wish more and more that there was more money r the I'ublic Domain Commission with which to carry on its work iney, and to save the country at the cost of your wives' relatives. [ want also to recognize the great change that has come over the pro- sion of forestry within the last fifteen or twenty years. Originally, this country, the propaganda for forest preservation was based chiefly on sentimeni ; and when the professional forester came into existence this country, he was influenced to a considerable extent by this senti- nt, and also by his knowledge of foreign forestry methods and his lorance of American conditions. But as he has studied American est conditions as compared with those abroad, a great change has cen place in his theories and his application of them. Forestry is a practical science and has to do not merel}' with the lain the operating policies Avhich he employs. He is as anxious for forest regeneration, for complete utilization as you are; and even more so. because it is his proi)erty that is at stake; his is the burden of investment, of management and of the absolute necessity of doing busi- ness at a ])rofit. Perhaps I should say right here that the realization of our theories and dreams depends upon higher prices for standing timber. Perhaps we must await the slow processes of time; perhaps we must wait until there is even less timber in this country before timber values Avill get to a point Avhere it would be possible for us to do Avhat we Avould do. Do not imagine for the moment that progress has not been made. The older ones among you can remember when if the lumberman secured five thousand feet to the acre from his Michigan forests, he was doing well. Now he often gets 15,000 to 20,000 feet ; and this result has been secured simply by the process of closer utilization made possible by higher prices. Yet the very people who are demanding better forest methods are demanding lower prices for lumber or at least objecting- to the higher prices. A jjrevious speaker said that in the matter of our forest resources we 112 could eat our cake and have it too. This is true from a century stand- point, but not as an immediate fact. It takes fifty or a hundred, or one-hundred and fifty 3'ears to grow a tree, according to the species and what you consider matured timber. In only a few isolated cases can timber be grown in this country. In some parts of New England the time has come Avhen the individual land owner can raise white pine. On the South Atlantic coast it is possible to grow loblolly pine because of the rapid growth of that species; and in some other sections and in some other woods the cost of tree groAving and the prices that can be realized from the trees are approaching each other. But most of our timber supply comes from forests that would cost two or three or ten times as much to be reproduced as now they can be purchased for. If the lumbermen be content with the most modest manufacturing profit and the people consent to the inevitable advance in values, the time will come much more quickly than otherwise Avhen reforestation will be practicable in this country. The people and the lumbermen must co-operate. Timber-groAving is largely a matter of investment, and the investment must not be taxed out of existence. It must not be destroyed by fire. The lumberman can do much and will do all that he can according to his lights, but the people who claim so large an interest in this natural and national re- source must do their share. Take the matter of fire. It displays an astonishing disregard of land boundaries and property titles. The fire Avhich starts in your neighbor's neglected slashings or wood lot does not halt or go out when it comes to your property line. In some states there is a co-operation betAAeen the people represented by their state government and the progressive timber oAvners. Such co- operation should exist everyAvhere so that the nameless and ignorant timber oAvner should be forced to keep step Avith his enlightened and progressiAe and public-spirited competitors in the business, and the people as a Avhole, Avhose interest in the maintenance and prosperity of the lumber business is so great, should bear their due share of the re- sponsibility and cost. If this conference is to amount to anything of value to ^Michigan, it should point the Avay to practical achievement in forestry as Avell as in horticulture, the maintenance of land fertility, the utilization of Avater poAver, etc. I have suggested some of the points in regard to Avhich the people and the lumbermen should co-operate. One of the most important things at the beginning, hoAvever, is a better understanding and the establishment of a sympathetic mutuality of interest Avithout which efficient co-opera- tion is difficult if not impossible. Therefore I ai»i)eal to you to put your- selves, so far as you can, in the lumberman's ]»lace, to realize his diffi- culties, to disabuse your minds of the idea that he is any dift'erent in his ideals of citizenship from you, and to realize that he is doing the best he can. There is ignorance sometimes, there is carelessness sometimes, sometimes the immediate dime looks larger than the distant dollar, for we are all more or less selfish and short-sighted; but, by and large, the lumberman is the practical forester; it is he that must api>ly theories and it is he that is putting theory into practice, Avith constantly increas- 113 ing benefits to the people. But the application of theory cannot be made unless the conditions surrounding it are right. Therefore I appeal to you, leaders of thought in Michigan, niolders of public opinion, to assist in establishing the proper relation between the people and the lumberman, in order that your joint interests may be protected and conserved, and that Michigan may continue to be the beautiful, fruitful and altogether desirable state that it now is. THE RELATION OF THE GEOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SUR- VEY TO THE CONSERVATION OF THE ANIMALS OF THE STATE. BY ALEXANDER G. RUTHVEX, CHIEF NATURALIST, ^MICHIGAN GEOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SURVEY. I am attending this meeting as a representative of the Geological and Biological Survey, and permit me to say at once that the survey is thoroughly in sympathy with the attempt to secure greater cooperation between the State departments and associations concerned with the natural resources of the State. The conservation of the wild animals of Michigan is the part of the general subject that particularly interests us at this time for we have long recognized that our work on the animals of the State is not as efficient as it would be if we could get the results into the hands of the other departments and associations interested in the subject, and Ave also believe that the animals cannot be intelligently preserved without a knowledge of our results. In other words to be intelligently selfish in this case we must be intelligently unselfish, and be willing to cooperate. For these reasons we have decided to suggest to this meeting a very definite and as we believe a very practical method of cooperation between the Survey and the departments and associations interested in the preservation of the Michigan fauna. It is apparently not generally known that the biological division of the survey has for the past seven years been engaged in a careful study of the animals of Michigan. The ground covered by this work may be judged when I say that enough information has now accumulated to permit us to give expert advice on such subjects as what species are found in particular parts of the State, what areas are best for preserves, which forms are harmful to the farmer and which beneficial or harmless, the local abundance and habits of the different animals, etc. This data is freely used by teachers and scientists, but it is not used by those who draft our game laws. Beyond question such information is needed. The farmers in particu- lar parts of the State know some of the obnoxious and beneficial animals, and the sportsmen know some of the game animals that need protection in their vicinity, but the knowledge of the best of these men is rather closely limited not only to the particular class of animals in which they are interested but also to the more conspicuous forms and generally does not extend to a knowledge of habits; while the whole subject is complicated by those who wish to protect, for aesthetic reasons, all but the most obnoxious of our animals. It goes without saying that 15 114 the interests of all these persons must be considered, but this cannot be done when any one of them may introduce and put through laws em- bodying their ideas, for, as I have intimated, no one of them is, as a rule, in a jiosition to give the matter thorough study. This is coming to be generally recognized. The northern Michigan sportsmen declare that the souther-n ^licliigan s])ortsmen cannot legislate for their area, the southern ^lichigan sportsmen believe that they are the best judges of the laws needed for their region, and I believe that it is not too mucli to say that not one farmer out of five has an accurate knowledge of the habits and economic importance of the animals found on his own prop- erty. The result is that our laws are woefully inadequate in that over the State as a Avhole slaughter dominates natural increase. In other words, in spite of what has been done to prevent it, we still continue to kill the geese that lay the golden eggs. It has been suggested that a census be taken of the opinions of the residents of the different parts of the State and these opinions combined into a general law. I do not wish to disparage any such laudable at- tempt to obtain efficient legislation, but I must say that such a pro- cedure would be very laborious and in my opinion, while it might better conditions, the results would still fall far short of the ideal, owing to the general ignorance of the actual conditions that I have asserted exists particularly among the farmers and the sportsmen Avith limited experience. I believe that I am not wrong Avhen I say that absolutely the only way to have efficient laws regarding the animals of Michigan is to subject them to the criticism of those persons Avho have made a detailed study of the conditions in different i)arts of the State, and are impartial in their sympathies. Is this not evidently true? It is hardly necessary for me to say that the Survey gladly ])laces its information at the disposal of persons interested in game conservation, but something more than this is necessary, and our suggestion covers this need. I have consulted with the federal survey people at Washing- ton, and with many people in the State who are interested in the sub- ject, and I find a unanimous o])inion, so far as it has been ex}>ressed, that probably the best Avay to bring about cooperation between the Survey and the individuals, associations and the other State depart- ments interested in the conservati(m of the INIichigan fauna would be to have all i)ro]»osed legislation affecting the animals of the State sub- mitted to the surve}^ for a])])roval or at least recommendations before coming up for action by the legislature. Such a procedure would be exactly in line with the federal methods of dealing Avitli these ])r()blems. It has no doubt come to your attention that it is the United Slates liiological Survey that is charged with the ])rotection of the animals of (he United States so far as this lies outside the authority of the dill'erent states. What more logical then than that the State liiological Survey be given a voice in the matter of State legislation. I would like to hear this suggestion considered. I cannot see that it is revolutionary, im])ractical oi* that it will cause hardship to any in- dividual, association or State department, and it seems to me that if we are really trying to obtain coo])eration. hei'e is the o])i)ortunity to do something in that direction that will have a real value. At any rate I would like to reiterate that without such a union of forces we cannot expect oui- legislation as a whole to be anything but unintelligent. 115 CONSERVATION OF BIRD LIFE. HY JEFFERSON BUTLER, PRESIDENT MICHIGAN AUDUBON SOCIETY, PRESIDENT DETROIT INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE. Darwin tells us that during bis trip to South America he visited the islands of the Galapagos Archipelago near the coast and found the wild birds so fearless of man that they would light on vessels held in the band. Testimony of the same character is given by other scientific travellers Avbich tends to show that in a state of nature, man and the Avild birds are friends. At the time our forests were swept away man was also engaged in killing our birds. Game was abundant and every- thing edible was game. When it was suggested to the legislature of Ohio in 1S57, that a law should be enacted for the protection of the wild Itigeon, a committee that investigated the matter said that this bird was so numerous as to make its extinction impossible. Yet rewards of up- wards of |2,000 in money have been offered for the discovery of the nest- ing of this bird, for the past three years, without anyone being able to claim the prizes, which leads us to believe that this bird is absolutely extinct. Michigan was one of the worst offenders in the destruction of the wild pigeons. These birds nested near Petoskey. Their nesting sites covered territory twenty-eight miles in extent by four in breadth. They were shipped in carloads to the markets in Chicago during the summer of 1878, and it is estimated that the destruction of these birds that summer in Michigan, counting the young that perished in their nests, due to the killing of the parent birds, amounted to one billion. The National Gov- ernment officials are telling us that there is danger of the wood duck, the upland plover, and many shore birds being exterminated. The Labrador Duck has gone with the wild pigeon. They were formerly sold on the markets of our large cities, now a skin of the duck sells for |1,500. The extermination of the Great Auk furnishes another sad chapter. An egg of this bird sold in San Francisco for |1,500. A desperate fight is now on to save tlie egret and snowy heron. The felling of our forests fostered wastefulness and destruction not only to our tree life, but to our land, our flora, our birds and many useful wild animals. The story of how our land has been washed away and our water supply dissipated is commonly known. With the waste- fulness of our forests by axe and fire Avent millions of our birds. From records sent me during the past eight years I have estimated that hun- dreds of thousands of both game and song birds have perished in Michi- gan through forest fires. I have known of half a dozen colonies of great blue heron that were destroyed in Michigan by such fires. p]very sportsman and naturalist knows that forests not only provide the necessary food for many wild birds and animals but affords them protection also for the winter. To build up our forests means the supplying of food and homes for these useful creatures. They are not only useful from an esthetic and educational standpoint but are neces- sary to the forests themselves. Trees and birds are so closely related 16 116 that it is impossible to separate one from the other without throwing nature out of balance. Where the trees are destroyed the birds will perish, where the birds are exterminated many trees are doomed. Where large forests are decimated the remaining trees and nnderbrush will not be adequate to offer protection for the nests and song of the birds, and the food supply will be so curtailed as to put the birds in a defenseless condition and their extermination will be all the more rapid. In clear- ing up the forests all the dead timber is frequently cut out and the nest- ing ])laces of the flickers and the woodpeckers are cleared away. The woodpeckers are among the best protectors of the forest trees. They prefer the dead trees to nest in and this should be kept in mind by the forester. Many of our Avater birds prefer to follow the shore line of the Great Lakes where they are wooded because they find a greater variety of food and of course in greater abundance. Many of our song birds such as the scarlet tanager, wood thrush, redstart and other warblers prefer deep woods to nest in. As many of the small streams as i)ossible, not specially adapted for agriculture, should be forested for they furnish the best nesting places for both game and song birds. Forest fires often play havoc with these birds. I was informed by a naturalist that at a swampy place near Alpena, which was surrounded by woods, during a forest fire a great number of ducks, coots, rails, bittern, sandpipers, plovers, quail and ruffed grouse came to the shore from the forest in large numbers. That many flew about through the woods and perished by smoke and flame. That numbers which had escaped returned to the woods, probably for their young, as the remains of many of these and of song birds were afterwards found. The parent birds gave up their lives in trying to save their young. The sportsmen should not only take active measures to prevent forest fires but should use their whole in- fluence in getting adequate measures to foster reforestation. Many sportsmen T have met are fond of the wild songsters and they are generally acquainted with the chickadee, white breasted nuthatch, two or three species of Avoodpeckers, blue jays, the owls and hawks and frequently know other varieties of useful birds. Many of them tell me they do not go for the shooting but for the outing. Our song birds per- form a great service to the country. Insects damage our crops to the extent of |S00,000.000 yearly. It' takes one-tenth of the time of all our farmers to feed the insects, rodents and to cultivate or fight weeds. The National Audubon Society estimates that our wild birds are worth more than $200,000,000 annually. More than sixty percentum of our birds were destroyed in thirty years. This has meant a loss not only of millions but of billions to the country — a frightful waste of our natural resources, not to mention the cruelty to the birds. The United States Government is warning the peo]ile that they must increase the field of crops in order to keep pace with the population, and the officials are going to the ends of the earth to study and acquire knowledge of methods that will be beneficial here. By reforestation of our waste places we can do a great public good by providing a home, a nesting place, a place of refuge in storm and cold for our birds Avhich will in return help us in preserving our grains, our fruits, and the forests themselves. These joyous creatures Avill flood the land Avith song and bring delight to our children, our naturalists, and eA^en to the man 117 absorbed in business and the cares of life. The Audubon Society is hope- ful that the song birds can be brought back not only to our woods and fields but to the towns and cities. While we are repairing our own fences it might be well to arouse an interest in bird ijrotection to the south of us, not only in our own southern states but in Mexico and Central and South America where many of our birds spend -the winter, and where they are frequently destroyed for millinery and other purposes. Canada has always shown a willingness to co-operate in this work. It is an inter-national question as some of our birds travel from Patagonia to the Arctic Circle, such as the golden plover. The Bartramian sandpiper comes from Chili, and many travel from Brazil to nest here and to the north. The Audubon Society joins heartily with the forester, the humanist, the sportsman and the patriot in the preservation of our forests and other natural resources, in the protection of our wild life as well as the animals that labor for us and contribute to our welfare, knowing that to make any appreciable advance these many forces must work in unison, the objects being the betterment of our country and the uplift of humanity. STATE GAME KEFUGES. FRANK H. SHEARER. BAY CriY. In making this address upon Game Kefuges, I trust that you will pardon me if I wander, somewhat, and speak of matters and facts a trifle foreign to my subject, but nevertheless, closely connected with it. I cannot allow this opportunity to go bj^ without an endeavor to ac- quaint you with some of the things that the sportsmen of Michigan very much desire. Some changes in our present laws should be made, and some new laws enacted, if we wish to save what now remains of our wild life. Ordinarily the American people are hard to arouse, but once awak- ened, may be trusted to right serious wrongs. A great wrong has been, and is being done, to our wild life. The game birds and animals are being exterminated. Everyone should aAvaken to this danger at once. They are the property of the public, and by them should be held in trust for future generations. Michigan has protecting game laws. These laws limit the number of birds and animals we may take, as well as the season in which they may be taken. Such laws have been in force for many years, and are neces- sary and useful, but have they increased our birds in number? No. Why? Because the birds have no refuge where they may escape perse- cution, and as our State becomes more densely populated, this persecu- tion constantly increases, and becomes more persistent. What will be the result of continuing present conditions? Our game must in a comparatively few years, be practically exterminated, or some practical measures must be taken to efficiently protect and preserve it. 118 From personal experience. I might tell you, that tliere is not now, one ruffed-gronse, commonly called partridge, where tliere were fifty, but ten years ago. Market hunting, Avhich is unlawful, has been directly to blame for this condition, but the cutting down of the "])ossessiou limit'' has almost put the market hunter "out of business." A few years ago, it was lawful to have fifty partridge in ])ossession at one time, and market hunting Avas profitable. Now the limit is fifteen, and there is no ''money" in it. If we can establish Game Refuges, where birds can be jtrotected at all times, it is not too late, even now, to save a great many, and these will breed, and the increase will spread over the adjacent territory, and re- plenish our woods and fields. It is to be ho])ed that it will not be a case of "locking the door, after the horse has been stolen." The sportsmen want the game saved, and increased to such an extent, that the few that are killed in the pursuit of pleasure and recreation, will not diminish the supply, that the balance of nature will not be dis- turbed; and the sportsmen of Michigan believe that it is perfectly feas- ible and practical to bring this situation about, here in our State. If the Public Domain Commission would set aside, say 20 tracts of about 5,000 acres, each, in different parts of the State, for Game Refuges, wild lands suitable for the purpose, and have the fires kept out, we could hope for our wild life to increase. The Game Warden's De- partment should then find out how to manage the game features of these Refuges, how to act as game keepers so that the necessary food could be provided, also exterminate the vermin that prey upon the game, and eft'ectually prevent trespass, and illegal killing. The foregoing refers to the use of State lands for (jame Refuges, but there is no reason why some legislation could not be enacted that would set aside private lands, with the consent of the owners, in suitable locations, for Refuges, and have them controlled by the Game Department, and protected from fire, and trespass, at all times. I know of one ])iece of property, containing thousands of acres, all fenced, that could be obtained for this purpose, without cost to the State. It is ideally situated, being covered witli second-growth timber, and the ground with natural feed for the birds. There are a great number of snmller tracts that could be secured, and by re-stocking these sanctuaries we Avould have more birds in five years, if properly protected and cared for, than we had twenty years ago. vSup- pose a tract of suitable land, containing from two to five hundred acres, was made a Refuge, and 100 ])airs of quail or Hungarian partridge were liberated u]»on it, and allowed to mate and breed unmolested. In five years, s]»caking very conservatively, there would be over 10.000 birds in the Refuge, or in the adjacent territory. J?irds very soon learn to go and stay where they are not jmrsued, for we all know how the wild ducks will feed from the hands of peo]»le in the Jndian River, Florida, where they are always protected in certain zones, and these ducks remain there during the winter months, and are very tame. Those same ducks when they start north in the spring iuuuediately become wild as hawks for they are fired at, and chased Irom early dawn uittil night. It is to be lioi)ed that the ^McLean VAU will l)econu' a law, for it will place migratory waterfowl under federal jurisdiction, and there will be no more s})ring-shooting, and in consequence, waterfowl will remain here in Michigan, and breed in goodly numbers, instead of all of them going 119 into the far north to breed. If there is any marsh land that can be se- cnred for Refuge purposes, it should be bought by the State and set aside for the purjtose. We are used to bearing the usual and slowly accumulating burdens with dull resignation and patience. The life and pr()])erty losses and taxes, are constant, and Ave take them for granted. It is the unusual calamity that shock and excite the sjtirit of opposition and the desire to ])revent a re-occurrence. The Titanic sank and 1,800 lives were lost, and the world was filled with fear and sympathy. Tuberculosis claims 100,000 and ])neum(mia 100,000 victims ])er year, yet we bear this awful loss of life with the passing comment that it is a great i)ity. The San Francisco earthquake caused a loss of over .flO0,O0O,00O, and was the primary cause of the ])anic of 1907. And now we come to the figures that should interest the farmers, who would greatly benefit by the pro])agation and preservation of game birds. The loss to the farmers caused by destruc- tive insects, is very conservatively placed at |800,000,000 each year, in the United States, and these figures are based upon the annual crop report of the United States I)ei)artment of Agriculture. We are so used to large figures these days, both in science and finance, that hun- dreds of millions mean no more than hundreds of thousands did a few years ago, so to show by comparison what a tremendous loss is |800,- 000,000, we will mention the fact that there are 000 Colleges in the United States, their buildings and endowments have been years in ac- cumulation. The value of the College and University buildings is esti- mated at 1200,000,000 and the endowments at |219,000,000. If they should be destro3'ed tomorrow, the insect tax of one year would replace them, and endow thirty-two additional Colleges in the sum of |10,000,- 000 each. Now, birds eat insects, and they eat most of the time, the quail alone eats his weight of insects every day. The partridge eats in- sects, and feeds its young entirely upon insects. These birds eat locusts, chinch-bugs, cotton-worms, army-worms, potato bugs, cucumber-beetles, and many others that destroy the farmers cro])s. A bevy of Hungarian partridge, or quail, upon a farmers field are worth their weight in gold to him, and if the sportsman desires to have their number increase, the farmer should certainly have their earnest and hearty supi)ort in any measure that will cause the much desired result. Now, it would take some money to carry out such a proposition, and the proper way is by having a hunter's license. A license of that kind would give us |100,000 the first year, and this money spent judiciously for the maintaining of Refuges paying the expense of the Game Depart- ment, and the re-stocking and pro])agation of game birds, would work wonders in a few years. No one objects to a man dancing, providing that "he" pays the fiddler, then why should anyone object to tliis method of s])ending the money. The sportsman and the farmers will derive the benefit, and as they furnish the money, they should be assisted in every way. Some say that the farmer would object to a license system and that he would not pay fl.OO each year for his boy to have the privilege of shoot- ing protected game, etc. Now, I do not believe that any farmer would object to the license after he realizes that it is a protection for his jiroperty and himself. It will do away with the irresponsible Sunday shooter, that rents a gun Saturday night, buys his bottle of "snake-bite" 120 cure and shoots everything he sees moving, and makes a general nuisance of liimself all day Sunday. This license law should be so worded, that every land-owner would have the right to ask for the license-card of a hunter that is upon his premises, then if damage is done, the blame could be rightly placed. No man has the right to trespass upon the lands of another, and it would necessitate the asking of i)ermission before starting in to hunt. I have heard some shooters say that it would put too much power into the hands of the farmers, and that in a short time it would be im- possible to find a place to go shooting, etc. Well, I have been shooting for the past twenty years and my experience has been, that the farmers, as a class, are a pretty decent, good natured lot of fellows; and I have never found one, during that twenty years that would forbid shooting on his lands, after he ascertained that his rights would be respected, and that there was no intention of injuring, or destroying his crops, stock, or fences. To sum the matter up, the birds are necessary to protect the crops from the insect pests, the sportsman desires an increase in their num- bers, and is willing to pay for it out of his own pocket, and Game Refuges are absolutely necessary to have the very much desired imj)rove- ment in conditions. I thank you, ladies and gentlemen. A committee which was appointed by the Chair to draft suitable resolutions and make recommendations in regard to the future work of the Conference reported as follows : We heartily recommend the action of the Public Domain Commission for the kindly interest they have manifested towards the Women's Clubs throughout the State, whereby it has been made possible for them to co-operate in this State-wide work; and we firmly believe that with their aid much can be accomplished and a better understanding arrived at as to the needs of the State of Michigan ; and We also heartily commend and recommend the State's aid and en- couragement to the Horticultural Interests which are now doing so much to place Michigan in the fore ranks as a horticultural State, by demonstrating that areas of Michigan which heretofore were considered of little value are of more Avorth than the much talked of fruit lands of the West; Whereas, There seems to be a consensus of opinion among horticul- turalists, agriculturalists, game Avardens and sportsmen demanding greater i)rotection of game life in the State; and Whereas, The State of Michigan is at last in a position through its Public Domain Commission both to preserve and advance the material prosperity of the State; and Whereas, We believe the efforts of the Public Domain Commission in inaugurating this admirable Conference have been and will be vastly beneficial to the State's interests in conserving its natural resources; and Whereas, the low price at which the public lands of Michigan are apj)raised and otlered for sale constitutes one of the greatest obstacles to the settlement and development of the State of Michigan, said condi- 121 tion being the prolific source of the idea of "worthless lands" which has caused great monetary loss to the State; Therefore be it resolved, That these meetings be continued, preferably in the winter time, and that the papers presented at this meeting be pub- lished for the information of the general public; and be it Resolved, That we recommend a gun license of at least fl.OO per 3'ear, the establishment of game refuges, of greater stringency in the game laws, a more limited "open season," the allowing of the raising of wild animals and the use of the State Forests as game preserves; and be it also Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that the Public Domain Commission should again revise the appraisals and purchase price of all lands under its control to at least six dollars per acre; and be it Further resolved, That we respectfully urge that the Legislature pro- vide more adequate appropriation for the use of the Public Domain Com- mission in carrying on the commendable and efficient work which they have been doing in the interest of conservation and development work in this State. The. above recommendations and resolutions were unanimously adopted by the Conference, Yd 20757 7.XB«Kfi^^^^HH 320937 HC/o7 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY