NEW ENGLAND FORESTRY CONGRESS 



T^HE two-day session of the New England Forestry 

 ■^ Congress held in Boston, February 24th and 25th 

 marked the close of a period of fourteen years of de- 

 velopment of state forestry in Massachusetts, and 

 brought together many of the foremost foresters of the 

 country for a general review and discussion of the place 

 of forestry in public economy. In spite of the celebra- 

 tion due to the arrival of President Wilson on the 24th, 

 the sessions were well attended and the audience fol- 

 lowed the discussions with closest attention. Thirteen 

 papers were given, each of which dealt with some sub- 

 ject of direct interest and was discussed not on the basis 

 of theory or sentiment but from the results of experi- 

 ence and practical application. The first session was 

 devoted to a consideration of the economic importance 

 of forestry. The waterpower situation in New England 

 and its dependence on forest protection was set forth 

 by Henry I. Harriman, President of the Boston Cham- 

 ber of Commerce. Richard T. Fisher, Director of the 

 Harvard Forest and head of the Forest School gave an 

 illuminating talk on "Home Grown Timber, the Hope of 

 the Wood Using Industries of New England" in which 

 he emphasized the facts which the average man has so 

 far failed to grasp, namely, that it does not pay to have 

 to ship timber 3,000 miles and pay freight charges, while 

 at the same time the land capable of growing this tim- 

 ber lies idle at the factory doors. Ellwood Wilson, whose 

 Company, the Laurentide Paper Company is spending 

 $100,000 per year in reforestation, set forth "The Rela- 

 tion of Pulp and Paper Manufacture to Forestry." 



In the afternoon on Monday, while the guns were 

 booming the salutes to the President and cheering crowds 

 swayed round the Copley Plaza, the program of ti.e meet- 

 ing, somewhat more thinly attended, proceeded within. 

 Dr. Metcalf, Chief of the Division of Forest Pathology 

 of the United States Bureau of Plant Industry dis- 

 cussed "Fungus Diseases at Work in our Forests" and 

 brought up to date the knowledge of the White Pine 

 Blister Rust. E. C. Hirst, State Forester of New Hamp- 

 shire, recently returned from the management of the 

 ten sawmill units sent to Scotland, talked on "Co-opera- 

 tion in Forest Fire Protection." Commissioner George 

 D. Pratt of New York gave an illustrated lecture on the 

 work of the Conservation Commission in protectmg the 

 Adirondacks. 



In the evening, at the banquet given at the Copley 

 Plaza, Forester Henry S. Graves gave an address on 

 "The Need of Private Forestry" which should be in the 

 hands of every citizen. His analysis of the economic 

 situation with which this country is faced, and the rela- 

 tion of private timber holdings to the problem may well 

 serve as a basis for constructive efforts in the future. 



On Tuesday, the morning session was devoted to 

 "State Forest Policy." Dr. J. T. Rothrock, the veteran 

 state forest commissioner of Pennsylvania, now retired, 

 discussed the problems of re-organization now facing 

 that department and strongly advocated the continuance 



of the separate department under which the work had 

 developed. 



H. H. Chapman, Professor of Forest Management of 

 the Yale Forest School, discussed "State Forest Policies 

 in the United States." The principle emphasis of this 

 discussion was laid on the necessity of maintaining 

 separate departments of Forestry instead of effecting 

 consolidations with other branches of state activity. 

 Massachusetts is faced with a re-organization of this 

 kind, and there is a serious danger that the initiative and 

 efficiency of the work will suffer unless kept in a depart- 

 ment free to develop and cope with the big problems 

 which it faces. It was shown by Mr. Chapman that out 

 of thirty states with forest organizations, fourteen had 

 kept the work of forestry entirely independent, three 

 more practically so by nominal connection with state 

 land departments, six had tried combination with fish 

 and game protection, four with state geology, two with 

 state experiment stations and but one with State Boards 

 of Agriculture. The effect of these combinations on for- 

 estry was in each case determined by the degree to which 

 forestry officials were subordinated to other officials. 

 Game wardens have almost never succeeded in develop- 

 ing a progressive program of forestry, no matter how 

 well intentioned they might be. State geologists have 

 had better success — being scientists and specialists them- 

 selves they have given the State Forester the initiative 

 and sympathetic support needed. Foresters connected 

 with Agricultural Experiment Stations have been free 

 to develop forest education and demonstrations for en- 

 couragement of private forestry, for much the same 

 reason — just as the members of a college faculty are 

 given freedom of initiation in research. 



Rut the one experiment in combining State forestry 

 with agriculture in the State of Vermont proved a failure, 

 and enabled the interests which are always seeking an 

 opportunity to control State departments for their own 

 ends to overturn this department, oust the State Forester, 

 against whom not a shadow of criticism could be found, 

 and reduce the office of Forester to that of an unimpor- 

 tant subordinate of the Commissioner. It was strongly 

 urged that Massachusetts recognize the tremendous eco- 

 nomic interests at stake — with three-fifths of the area 

 of the State suitable chiefly for forest production — and 

 set the work on a firm foundation by the maintenance 

 of a separate State Forestry Department. 



This view was supported by the Congress, which 

 passed strong resolutions to that effect. 



A. paper was read from Dr. B. E. Fernow, the dean of 

 American foresters, on "Forestry Policies of Foreign 

 Countries." One of the most instructive papers was by 

 W. R. Brown on "Results of Twenty-five Years' Clean 

 Cutting and Selective Cutting in New England." This 

 jiaper was a digest of what had actually happened fol- 

 lowing the efforts of the Berlin Mills Company to prac- 

 tice forestry on their holdings. Facts such as have been 

 shown on these cuttings will be the basis of all successful 



