568 



A^l ERICA X FORESTRY 



BACK FOREST WIIKRK NO WORK WAS DONE. 

 TREES STRIPPED OF THEIR LEAVES IX 



TuivV, AS THorcii IT wi-;re winter. 



vinced that if the Legislature could see 

 its way clearly to enlarge greatly the 

 ])resent ap])ropriation for this work, we 

 could readily plant many times our 

 present annual acreage. Our reforesta- 

 tion act is unique and is proving a suc- 

 cess. The work in this line will be far 

 better appreciated in a few years, when 

 the young trees have grown to a more 

 desirable size. 



The gypsy and brown-tail moth 

 work, while still a very perplexing 

 problem, is better understood and 

 more intelligently combated than ever. 

 Our people are finding out that the 

 best way to fight these pests is to take 

 advantage of the advice and assistance 

 that experience has taught us. This 

 office is in a position to advise and as- 

 sist in this work throughout the in- 

 fested territory. The division super- 

 intendents are men of ripe experience, 

 and the local superintendents are more 

 efficient and in better control of their 

 conditions than ever before. 



If, as we now have reason to believe, 

 it is soon to come to pass that the 



United States government will take 

 over the parasitic work which the State 

 has hnanced up to the present, and 

 also assume the work of controlling the 

 spread of the moth, then our State 

 work will resolve itself down to in- 

 ternal self-preservation in the i>resent 

 infested territory. With this arrange- 

 ment, I believe the State ought to com- 

 bat the enemies satisfactorily with de- 

 creasing expenditures. IMany cities and 

 towns once badly infested are at pres- 

 ent, through State aid, in good condi- 

 tion, and now should become self-sup- 

 l)orting, and it is the department's pur- 

 pose to so direct the work that the an- 

 nual drain upon the State treasury may 

 be lessened as much as possible. 



Massachusetts has been the motive 

 force in combating these pests up to 

 the present. In recent years the in- 

 sects have spread into adjoining States, 

 where little attention to their control 

 has been given, so that now the problem 

 is one of protecting the nation. 



SPRAYING IN TlllC FORESTS, WITH l,oOi) 

 FEET OF HOSE AND A PRESSURE OF 300 

 TO .3.50 POUNDS AT THE NOZZLE. EX- 

 PENSE NOW REDUCED FROM OVER $40 

 AN ACRE TO BETWEEN $ft AND $10. 



