Furthermore, numerous opportunities still exist for the acquisition of considerable tracts without disturbing previous development, and every reservation will contribute to the preservation of the natural beauty of the whole, and add greatly to the pleasure of a boating trip on the River, even if no landing is made.

The probable future value of this river scenery as a whole may best be estimated by a comparison with the Highlands of the Hudson, to which it is very similar, except that it is on about one half the scale, which adds materially to its comfort, safety, and pleasure for small craft. The power boats on the River from Hartford down are estimated to number about 500 at present, and for row boats and canoes there is always free power in one direction in the tidal currents of one to three miles an hour. The mean tidal rise at Hartford is about ten inches, at Middletown about eighteen, and the dryest season does not materially affect the mean summer level. The water is fresh above Essex, and while not recommended for drinking raw, is considered quite safe for bathing. Its volume is so great that it exhibits no physical evidences of pollution, and the twenty foot rise of the Spring flood scours off the banks so that many stretches are as clean as the salt water beaches.

Now the State of New York in 1900 established the Palisades Park Commission, and has since twice extended its powers. The first stretch above Fort Lee lying largely in New Jersey, that. State contributed somewhat to the funds needed, but the extensions are wholly the work of New York, and the plans now include some forty miles of the west shore, extending to Newburg on the north, and running west some seven miles opposite Peekskill to include the 10,000 acre gift of the Harriman Estate. The funds appropriated by the State and contributed by its citizens now amount to more than $5,800,000 and the plans are moving steadily to fulfilment. This sum is not by any means to be taken as a measure of the value of the Highlands of the Hudson to the citizens of New York, but it is certainly a mark of their appreciation.

The Thames River presents some very beautiful scenery, but the more desirable sites for reservations are in an advanced stage of development and no specific recommendations can yet be made.

The valley of the Housatonic contains so many charming possibilities, and has been hitherto so little disturbed, that it may safely be left for future consideration.

The condition of the Naugatuck at its low stage is a disgrace to our civilization, and for the present this valley can not be given the consideration to which its natural beauty and

recent rapid development would otherwise entitle it. Once the river is effectually cleaned up, as it must be soon, no valley in the State will yield greater returns on park investments.

The Shepaug, the Farmington, the Shetucket, and the Quinebaug, with their tributaries and many lesser streams, are bordered for scores of miles by narrow strips of land between their beds and the highways, too irregular or rough for ordinary purposes, of very small value at present, and for the most part neglected and unsightly. If such strips could be placed under the protection of the Park Commission and the use of the axe controlled by their direction, Nature would do most of the work, and a few years time would bring about a great improvement. Who has not felt a personal loss in the cutting of a piece of marketable timber shading a favorite stretch of highway along a bit of swift water? Frequently too, the cutting and removal of timber from such places costs about all it is worth, but the owner has been brought up to cut his timber as he does his hay, "to the line ", and seldom stops to think of the matter at all. And once such strips were acquired by the State, about the only expenditure involved would be time, of which we individually have so little, and of which the State has so much.

One other resource must be mentioned briefly, the hilltops and mountains, for the Topographic Map insists stoutly on the mountains. A glance at the colored map shows that the highest summits are in the northwestern part of Litchfield County, and the difference in the air of that section is quickly noted by visitors from the lowlands. The barometer reads some two inches lower than at sea level, and it takes four or five minutes instead of three to boil an egg. But the apparent height of a mountain is dependent on the heights around it, and many of the lower summits in other parts of the State command equally broad views, though the atmospheric effects at the lower altitudes are very different.

One of the finest of these lookout points, West Peak, in Meriden, is already open to the public, as are also East and West Rocks in New Haven. Another fine summit, Mt. Tom, in Morris, has recently been devised to the State for park purposes, but as it is not yet in the care of the Park Commission a detailed description cannot be presented at this time. Mt. Tom is a prominent landmark for miles around, and would occupy an important place in the State Park system. If it is placed in charge of the Park Commission, provision should be made by the State for a suitable memorial, preferably a lookout tower, which is necessary on such a wooded summit, and which should be of a permanent character.

Such high points are not appreciating in value as rapidly as the water fronts, and do not so urgently demand attention, but they should not be the less considered. The following list includes a few only of the more prominent and desirable, with their location and height above sea level:

In connection with these lookout points it may be noted that some of them will be very useful as stations for watchmen during the seasons of greatest danger from forest fires. Experience has shown this method of observation to be of the greatest value in the work of protection, and the cost of such protection would be small compared with the present annual loss. The State Forester's report for 1913 shows an estimated damage for that year of $96,000 with an area of 24,000 acres burned over. The detailed report indicates that two-thirds of this damage might have been prevented by means already provided if prompt notice could have been given when a fire started, and this can only be assured by a system of watchmen on the high points, some of which cover a very large area of woodlands. The selection of lookout points by the Park Commission should have due regard to this incidental but valuable purpose.

Land Values.

It would seem unwise, and would also be impossible at this time, to make public any detailed estimates of the probable cost of the various sites herewith recommended, but at the same time some general idea of the sums involved must be afforded. The study of market values has of course been a necessary and vital part of the field work, and may be summed up as follows:

Along the salt water front the. land has become so valuable for building purposes that very little is now priced by the acre, but more usually by the front foot of shore. Since the settlements frequently run back a half mile from the shore, this affects the acreage price for at least that distance. Partially developed but unimproved land with shore front is now selling at from $15 to $40 per front foot, depending upon the stage and class of development and upon the character of the land. At such prices good upland cut into building lots yields $3,000 to $10,000 per acre, diminishing somewhat as distance from the front increases. Such prices for the present may be considered prohibitive for park purposes, and such areas have been as much as possible avoided. $400 to $1,000 per acre for undeveloped land in tracts of considerable size with good-frontage may be taken as a fair range, but the scarcity of such tracts makes the actual price likely to be demanded very uncertain.

Lake and river fronts in some cases approach these front foot values, but as yet little development has occurred back of the front tier of lots, and acreage prices run much lower. The range in such property may be taken at $100 to $500 per acre, depending somewhat upon its farm value.

Natural woodland, that is, land so steep or rocky as to prevent profitable cultivation, may still be had in quantity at from $5 to $40 per acre, varying with the stand of timber and distance from market. Some of the most desirable lake and river frontage is of this class, and makes the best possible sites for purposes of the Commission.

Much local study will need to be given to this matter of price before commencing purchases in any particular section, and where there are many owners, and provided sufficient funds are available, options should first be secured on as much as possible of the land required.

The prices mentioned are to be taken principally as a measure of the urgency for action along the salt water front if any considerable areas are to be secured. They do not cover such buildings as may be included, which may or may not add materially to the price of single tracts, but will scarcely affect the total cost of the shore sites recommended.

In connection with the rise in value of shore property, it may be of interest here to record certain facts concerning the half mile of beach shown in Plate II, which in 1898 was in its natural state, with no building in sight. In that year, while engaged in trolley construction near by, the writer was told by the owner, who remembered the circumstance, that his father had purchased the salt meadow in the rear, thirty or forty acres, for $40, the beach being included, but having no

value. That was probably about 1850. Within five years after the building of the trolley line, the owner realized over $14,000 from the sale of the beach lots, and still had the salt meadow left, which he then considered of little value. The Plate shows only the front rank of buildings, but a street has been laid out in the rear, and houses are now pushing back into the salt meadow. This is the history of the Connecticut shore, in miniature, peculiar only because it happened to come within the writer's personal experience, but all the older residents along the shore know of just such cases.

It has already been shown that Connecticut has much more than her share of salt water front, yet if it were equally divided among her population of 1910 there would be less than fourteen inches apiece. When we consider the number of wealthy residents of other States who are constantly bidding up the price, we may readily judge of the economy of further delay.

Power of Eminent Domain.

Whether the public funds entrusted to the State Park Commission for the purchase of land are large or small, the Commission should be invested with that power of eminent domain which belongs only to the people, for whose benefit the Commissioners are freely giving their own time and thought, and for whose money they are seeking the greatest possible return.

Twenty years of general engineering experience in Connecticut has taught the writer that where this power is held it seldom needs to be exercised, but without it occasionally owners of small holdings may successfully block the development of important plans. In many cases the establishment of a State reservation will greatly increase the value of abutting property, and the Commission will either be forced to accept unsatisfactory and incomplete boundaries, or to pay later on the increased value due to the establishment of the reservation.

Also, in the acquisition of some of the wilder lands, of which the records are frequently inaccurate or incomplete, the nominal owner may be unable to grant a valid title, however willing. In such cases a resort to the formal procedure of condemnation clears the title to the satisfaction of all parties concerned, and relieves the Commissioners of unnecessary responsibility.

The Metropolitan Park Commission of Massachusetts received this power from the General Court upon its establishment, (Chap. 407 Special Laws.of 1893), and the other Special State Park Commissions in that State have been granted