FOKEST SERVICE. 403 



ment. Prior to July 1 agreements were entered into by the Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture, specifying as the maximum amounts to be spent 

 by the Government during the remainder of the calendar year, if 

 needed, the following: In New Hampshire, S7,200; in Minnesota, 

 $10,000; in New Jersey, SI, 000; in Wisconsin, $5,000; in Maine, 

 $10,000; and in Vermont, $2,000. 



After the close of the fiscal 3^ear similar agreements were con- 

 cluded providing for a maximum expenditure of $1,000 in Connecti- 

 cut, $5,000 in Oregon, $600 in Maryland, $1,800 in Massachusetts, 

 and $2,000 in New York. 



The Federal funds were to be expended in each instance for the 

 salaries ol patrolmen exclusively. Cooperative agreements were 

 entered into only after the State had submitted a fire plan and a map 

 showing in detail the number and location of the protective force to 

 be employed, the location of telephone lines, lookout towers, and 

 other structures forming a part of the protective system, the amount 

 of State funds to be expended for various features of the protective 

 system, and how the Federal moneys allotted to the State would be 

 used to supplement State expenditures. The agreements provide 

 for inspection, by officers of the Service, of the operation and efficiency 

 of the cooperative protective system. 



Past experience in examining woodlots and privately owned 

 timber tracts has shown that the methods of forestry recommended 

 are actually put into effect in far too small a percentage of cases. 

 While the educational value of the cases where forestry is practiced 

 is very great, it is important to increase their number. An attempt 

 to do this is now made by giving greater attention, in the investigation 

 made and reports submitted to owners, to the pecuniar}^ advantages 

 of good over poor methods of management, and by studies of market 

 conditions in order to show owners how best to dispose of the products 

 of their woodlands. Primary consideration is given to the applica- 

 tions and needs of small owners, since they are more disposed as a 

 rule to put the methods recommended into operation. 



As the number of State and private foresters increases, cooperation 

 with private owners is being gradually restricted. The needs of 

 applicants from States in which it is still difficult to secure expert 

 information and advice are, however, so far as possible, provided 

 for. Examinations of a single woodlot in a locality are not ordi- 

 narily made. Instead the interest of several owners in a community 

 is sought by informing applicants that a field examination will be 

 made upon a joint application signed by a number of owners in the 

 same locality. The cost of such examinations is shared by the 

 owners, on an acreage basis. In connection with such examinations 

 studies are usually made of market or other conditions which apply 

 to the community as a whole, and of the possibility of cooperative 

 shipments of forest products. Public meetings with discussions of 

 local forestry problems, the distribution of publications, the forma- 

 tion of local forestry clubs if advisable, and the collection of addi- 

 tional data needed for Service publications are valuable features of 

 this work. 



As a result of many field examinations and general studies it is 

 often possible to furnish the advice and assistance needed by an 

 individual owner by letter. This policy is especially apphcable in 

 cases of requests for advice on tree planting, a field well covered by 



