The Editor of this magazine, as an honorary member of the State Board of Agriculture of Pennsylvania, has continually pressed on that body the folly of any legislation looking to the " Preservation of the old forests." They are but receptacles of dead brush, and the great cause of our terrific forest fires. Old trees are not of much use as timber after they are a hundred years old; in most cases they are on the decline. The sooner the ground is cleared of them and planted with new material the better. The true forestry question lies in the encouragement of new forests.

At length it seems some one has thought there is something in it, and, to encourage new planting, a bill has been introduced, and at this writing has passed the Senate, establishing two nurseries in the State to raise forest seedlings, and give the plants away to those who will plant them " near streams or the head waters of our rivers".

It seems mortifying that a good idea should be rendered ridiculous in this way. Any nurseryman could raise forest tree seedlings ninety per cent, cheaper than any government can do it by nurseries. Contracts would be gladly entered into that would furnish the State with all they wanted to distribute for but a tithe of what this State nursery plan will cost, with its chief, its assistant chiefs, clerks, superintendents, packers, and so forth. It might be said that the Editor of this being a nurseryman will naturally be opposed to this free gift scheme. Nothing of this sort. No such scheme ever hurt a nurseryman, for the man who looks to get things for nothing would never buy. On the contrary, it will rather help the nurseryman's business, as the intelligent nurseryman would beat the ignorance of the State officials every time, and the better class of free recipients would be the nurseryman's friend at last.

Not then from any trade prejudice, but from utter disgust at these scandalous wastes of public money, we enter our protests against them. We shall get no more forestry planting under this free gift plan, than we got tea orchards from the thousands distributed by the United States government a quarter of a century ago.