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Show REPORT OF THE CONMISSIONEB OF I&DIAX AFFAIRS. 55 Tirnher, fictaw Nation.-To June 30,1909, there has been allotted in the Choctaw Nation land upon which there are 637,757,890 feet af estimated pine timber, which leaves approximately 575,213,010 feet still unallotted, over 95 per cent of which is located in the lands withdrawn in 1906 for proposed forest reserve. The appraised value of the land and standing pine timber in the proposed forest reserve. is as follows: 1,373,324.62 acres (reserved area), at $1 per acre ...................... $1,373,324.62 550,000,000 feet of pine, at 50 cents per M ........................... 275, WO. 00 1,648,324.62 The above estimate was made eight years ago, no estimate being made of trees under 8 inches in diameter. Undoubtedly there is now much more pine timber withdrawn from allotment for the proposed forest reserve than as above estimated. Extensive depredations and the wanton destruction of the forest has heen found. The federal grand jury at its Junc, 1909, session at McAlester, Okla., returned 59 true bills charging certain de-fendants with unlawful cut,t,ing of timber in violation of the act ofi June 6, 1900 (31 %at. L., 660). The ultimate conviction of the actual violators of the law is greatly to be desired, as such a result will undoubted1.y deter others similarly inclined. The pine timber lands reserved from ~llotments in sea. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, E. + sec. 16, and the hT. f of sec. 6, T. 9 S., R. 20 E., and secs. 51 6, 7, 8, 17, 18, and the W. f of sec. 16, T. 9 S., R. 27 E., Chocta\r. Nat.ion, are to be appraiser1 in the near futurs, and regulations will be prepared providing for their sale as pro-vided in section7 of the act of .April 26, 1906 (31 Stat. L., 137). In the summer of 1908 a ilestructive windstorm Mew down a large quantity of timber in townships 8 and 9 south, range 26 and 27 east, amounting to 3,000,000 feet, which was sold to the highest bidder at $1.05 per thousand fe:t. Several sawmills and unauthorized persons occupying t11e unal-lotted Choctaw lands have been removed. AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT WORK. The experimental work in agricult,ure in conjunction with t,he Bureau of Plant Industry of the Agric~dtural Department, which was covered by the report of last year, has been going forward at Secaton, Ariz. Fift.y-five acres of the school farm was turned over to the agri-cultu~ ral experts, and a large number of .suitable buildings were constructed, including a greenhouse; irrigation ditches were duDn' and the traet in general placed in suitable condition for tbc expera-mental work. The result of the experiments is epitomized as follows : |