470 ANNUAL REPORT OP THE Off. I>OC. 



This you might speak of under the name of improvement cutting. 

 A certain amount of work of this kind has already been done in the 

 forestry reservation of the State and more probably will be done 

 Considerable quantities of pulp wood and fuel have already been 

 sold from the reservation, not only without detriment to the reser- 

 vation, but as an improvement to it. There are thousands of acres 

 in this State now owned by the Commonwealth which should be ju- 

 diciously thinned out, and by this I do not mean that the ordinary 

 lumberman or wood-chopper should be allowed to go in and swing 

 his axe with the freedom that he has hitherto exercised in other 

 cuttings No State reservation should at any time be thinned out 

 except under the care of a trained forester. Upon this point I can- 

 not b3 too emphatic. It were better far that every tree should be 

 allowed to stand than that an untrained man should go in under 

 the plea of an improvement cutting to mar or ruin the entire crop 

 of trees. 



For several years you have honored me by making me the chair- 

 man of your Committee on Forestry. For the past year I have en- 

 deavored to avoid all public appointments of any kind whatsoever. 

 Increasing age and pressure of my own personal business demands 

 now that I ask you to accept my resignation as chairman of your 

 committee of forestry and to appoint some one in my place. I beg, 

 however, to thank the State Board of Agriculture for the number- 

 less acts of kindness and appreciation which I have received at their 

 hands. 



With every wish for your personal and official prosperity, I am, 

 gentlemen, with great respect, your most obedient servant. 



The SECRETARY: I want to call your attention to one item in 

 the report of Dr. Rothrock. He closes his report with the request 

 that he shall not be continued in that position as the Chairman of 

 the Committee on Forestry. This perhaps had better be attended 

 to by the Executive Committee. 



The CHAIR: The next thing on the program is the report of the 

 Committee on Cereals and Cereal Crops, A. T. Holman, Chairman. 



Mr. Holman read his report as follows: 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON CEREALS AND CEREAL 



CROPS. 



By a. T. Holman. Chairman. 



Before commencing the report of our cereal crops of this State, 

 I think it would be appropriate to give a short sketch of what has 

 been done in agriculture in a general way. 



When the record of the year just closing is made up and account 

 is taken of all that 1904 has given to the world in the way of in- 



