the hatchery more independent of the natural flow of water and assures the protection of fish reared and kept there at all times.

A full account of the work done and the results produced from each hatchery may be found in the reports of the Hatchery Foreman hereto attached and forming a part of this report.

Shellfish.

There was an effort made in the Legislature of 1907 to amend, consolidate and improve the statutes in relation to the shellfish interests of the State looking to a better management of the Department along lines followed in other States. A law similar to the one suggested a year ago seems very necessary when the whole subject is studied carefully and the results under the working of the present law noted. Formerly there was very little oyster planting done. The State to encourage the artificial planting and cultivation of oysters aided all who wished to engage in the business by allowing them to have State lands at nominal sums on longterm leases, and at one time, giving a perpetual franchise for the small sum of $1.00 per acre. The business has now reached very large proportions, amounting to about $10,000,000 a year, and the money and property employed in the business have reached very large proportions. In the last two reports of the Commission I recommended the passage of an improved and modern bill applicable to the business as it now exists a bill that enacted into a law would yield something to the State in return for its property used by individuals in oyster culture. The State of Rhode Island receives $50,000 a year from such sources; Connecticut, $11,266; Virginia, $99,480; the State of New York received this year only $4,836.18. The law should be amended in such a way

First. That the shellfish industry may pay into the State Treasury a fair return for the benefits enjoyed;

Second. That to this end a moderate additional income in the nature of fees for surveys, recording, copying certifying papers, etc., should be charged;

Third. That license fees for fishing facilities and nets may be collected the same as they are on the Great Lakes in waters in the jurisdiction

of the State. This is reasonable because we are constantly stocking the shore waters with millions of fish, greatly to the benefit of the fishermen, as has been demonstrated by experience;

Fourth. That a proper plan of sanitary inspection of the sources of shellfish supply may be secured;

Fifth. That the salt water fisheries laws may be gathered out of the Forest, Fish and Game Law, and, with necessary amendments, be brought together in one consistent statement of the law. Many minor reforms may be brought within the scope of the amendment, such as making all rentals for shellfish lands due and payable to the State upon one certain day in the year; allowing a certain number of days during which payments may be made and fixing an interest charge with a time limit at the expiration of which tenants neglecting or refusing to pay should be ousted. The law which authorizes in certain localities all land in perpetuity upon the payment of one dollar an acre and providing for other long-term leases upon nominal rentals should be readjusted in order that it may be a fair proposition as between the individual and the State. Under the proposed bill of last year the revenues of the State would have amounted to about $40,000 as against about $5,000 under the present law. That would have been reasonable. Therefore I recommend that a law be enacted to carry out the propositions here expressed, and that the Shellfish Department be reorganized and made adequate to carry out the provisions of and enforce the law when placed upon the statute books.

State Forests.

The value and importance of the forest lands owned by the State are constantly increasing. The diminution of water in all our streams as the timber is cut away constantly warns us of the importance of keeping the headwaters of our rivers and creeks protected by standing timber. Nearly all the great rivers of the State rise in the Adirondack and Catskill Mountains. The commercial value of the water in the rivers of the State, if properly husbanded and used, is as great as the value of the coal mines of Pennsylvania. Public sentiment is rapidly crystallizing along the line of better preservation and reforestation. During the year 1907 I have had

the pleasure of addressing about 100 separate audiences upon the subject of the preservation of the forest, fish and game of the State, and the necessity for reforestation. At each place and on each occasion I have urged upon the people to plant trees upon the denuded hillsides, especially in places where the land is of little value for agricultural purposes. At the same time I have pointed out the fact that in a very short time, at the rate timber is being taken from the forest lands of the State, we shall have little if any sawing timber left. This fact is very patent when we consider that there is only about 41,000,000,000 feet of sawing timber left on public and private lands, farm lots and all in the State, and that the cut this year has been 1,500,000,000 feet. Deducting from the total amount of timber land the 1,500,000 acres owned by the State, one readily observes that in 22 or 23 years we will have no timber to cut, assuming that the rate of cutting continues as it has for the last year or two, and under the constantly increasing demand for lumber there is no doubt about its continuing, and therefore, no doubt about it that there will be a scarcity of lumber and a very high price for the same in a few years to come. Once storage reservoirs were not needed in the State because Nature's reservoir was ample to retard, hold and conserve the water, paying it out into the streams gradually and keeping a substantially even flow throughout the year. As the timber disappears from the land the water runs off more readily. Floods occur whenever there is a heavy rainfall, and when the water recedes the rivers and creek beds are substantially dry. To lose our timber and thereby the continual flow of water in the great streams of the State will result in great commercial loss to the State, and, in places, much injury to agricultural lands. Therefore it seems very important that the State should increase its work in tree planting, and that all persons owning land not especially desirable for agricultural purposes, should be encouraged to plant trees thereon. The value of all kinds of lumber is daily increasing, and soon it will be so great that the lumbering of hardwoods in the Adirondacks will be feasible the price

so much exceeding freight rates and the cost of manufacture that the profits will warrant the cutting. If the people of the State allow that to occur, and the hardwoods are taken off, the protection of the sources of the rivers which rise in that section of the State will be destroyed and it