The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1913-01-25
(BY JOHN r. THoMPsoN)

thing in the way of forestry. but
most of the State Forests are not
forests withdrawn from private entry
with view to supplying wood to
the future. They are lands that are
privately owned, cut over and aban-
doned, and the states have either
bought them back or have taken
item for delinquent taxes. Such
lands constitute most of our State
Forests east of the Mississippi River.
fNdiana's State Forest was sobtained
W purchase. It's history is very
brief. covering a period OF only nine
years.
The tract contains two thousand
acres, situated in Monroe Township,
Clark County 1t is ninety miles
south of indianapolis. The Pennsyl-
vania railroad TO Jeffersonvile runs
along it's east boundary for a mile.
One can go from Richmond to Henry
vile and be within a five minutes
walk of the Administration Building.
One can go from Indianapolis on the
Louisville and Indianapolis Electric
line and be let off at the Admins
tration Building.
The bill providing for the purchase
of the land was approved March, 1903.
1t provided that land be purchased
al q price not to exceed eight dollars
per acre. OF course such a price
meant the purchase OF poor land; land
not fit for agriculture. The Forestry
Board could have purchased five
times that amount at such a price or
less, but that is all state as poor as
Indiana could afford to spend for the
future generations of the state.
The soil originally was very poor
and had been rendered almost worth
less for any kind of a crop by the
worst kind of farming. 1t had once
been heavily wooded but had been
cut over so many times that moth
ing remained but poor crop of sec
ond growth and even this had been
largely ruined by fire,
500 Acres Cleared.
OF this brush land there are 400
acres: 500 acres have been cleared
for farming. but il is all nonagri-
cultural land and should never have
been cleared. This land should never
have left the hands of the govern
ment. Some of our finest forests
were here on this poor soil which is
not fit for anything else.
The Reservation, from an artists
standpoint, is region of unusual
beauty. There are knobs, elevations
rising abruptly five and six hundred
feet, from whose tops miles of the
country may be seen, rolling hills
hazy, blue and uncertain. Down
among the knobs are messy rocks,
springs, brooks, and quiet pools rest
ing in shadowy twilight; an ideal
place for poet, lover or tramp.
The place is not rich in fora, but
there are some plants here not found
elsewhere in the state.
When the Northwest territory was
conquered, and the forts of Kask-
askia and Vincennes were captured
by Gearge Rodgers Clark a tract of
land was granted to him and to his
officers. This grant was not to ex-
coed $50 thousand acres and to be
located north and west of the Ohio.
The State Forest lies within this
grant as the name of the county
would suggest.
Managed by Board.
This small reserve is managed by
board, called the State Board of
Forestry, the members of which are
appointed by the Governor. Four
members constitute the board and
they all serve without pay except the
secretary who receives the tradition
1ar 10
who are engaged in public work. The
secretary, by virtue of his position on
the board, is State Forester. The Re-
serve is under his direct manage
ment: he gives his whole time to
1t and he has an office in the State
House.
Charles c. Dean, the secretary. is
man entirely capable: he is
good botanist. good forester and
enthusiastic and hard worker. He
regards the State Forest as properly
belonging to the public and is man.
aging it as such. 1t is to be hoped
that the new Governor will retain
him If he will stay. 1t is not his
policy, and should not be to reforest
the two thousand acres with view
TO supplying future indiana with
wood, the tract is entirely too small
for that. but he is trying to DEM
onstrate down there that non-agricul-
tural land can be made profitable if
planted to forests, that it is poor
policy to try to use strictly non
agricultural land for agricultural
crops. and that whenever this is
tried 1t fails and so much land is
rendered worthless. He has a hun
dred acres or more planted to various
kinds of trees, white ash, walnut,
yellow poplar, black locust, ect He
has also demonstrated that it will
not pay for the people of this state
to try to raise catalpa. He has al
ready shown for that locality at
least, the white ash is the most prof
liable tree to plant, and that the
yellow poplar does we'll The state
should buy up all such lands within
its boundaries and convert them into
demonstration forests. Southern In
diana does not have all the poor land
of the state, there is plenty in the
northern part along the shore of
Lake Michigan, land that would be