570 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



CLOSE VIEW OF THE NEWEY INVENTED POWER-TRUCK SPRAYER- 

 SAME POWER AS THE ABOVE, BUT DOES AWAY WITH HORSES AND 

 DRIVER, AND THE ENGINEER BECOMES THE CHAUFFEUR. TANK 

 AND PUMP ARE EASILY REMOVED AND THE TRUCK THEN IS USED 

 THE SAME AS ANY TRUCK. 



Increased interest has been shown by 

 parties looking over plantations with the 

 idea of making small plantings on their 

 own land, and the large number of in- 

 quiries shows that this work is awaken- 

 ing great interest. 



This year 860 acres have been 

 planted, and deeds for 500 acres ad- 

 ditional have been recorded which, 

 from lack of sufficient appropriations, 

 we were unable to plant. There are 

 also now offered 700 acres more. The 

 amount of work possible is governed 

 entirely by the appropriation, and it 

 would seem advisable for the State to 

 enlarge this work. 



It has been impossible up to the pres- 

 ent time to raise sufficient stock to take 

 care of the planting done under the 

 reforestation act, the department being 

 forced to purchase a large number of 

 seedlings from outside nurserymen at a 

 much higher price than if raised on our 

 own land. It has, therefore, been 

 deemed advisable to enlarge our nur- 

 sery from time to time, and we are now 

 in a position to supply from our own 



nursery sufficient stock for our planting 

 work next spring. 



It is with considerable reluctance that 

 each year we include in our annual re- 

 port a chapter on this painful subject, — 

 painful, because forest fires are the 

 greatest obstacle to the advancement of 

 practical forestry throughout this Com- 

 monwealth. As long as this State con- 

 tinues to burn over from 35,000 to 100,- 

 000 acres each year, just so long will 

 forest owners hesitate to make provi- 

 sion for natural reproduction, to plant 

 trees, to make improvement thinnings, 

 or to do other work looking to con- 

 tinued forest production. 



The season just ended has undoubt- 

 edly been the worst fire season this 

 State has experienced in many years. 

 When we stop and compare figures 

 with the records of the past three years 

 we find that during 1908. 1909 and 1910 

 there was burned over throughout this 

 State 116,97fi acres, with a damage of 

 $600,017, and in the year 1911 our re- 

 ports show 99,693 acres burned over, 

 with a damage of $537,749, nearly as. 



