88 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



of technical work ; far more effective protection of the Forests against 

 fire than ever before; marked advance in the silviciiltural work, both 

 in connection with the cutting of timber and in the field of reforesta- 

 tion ; inauguration of work under the Weeks Act, looking to the pur- 

 chase of lands for National Forests in the White Mountains and 

 Southern Appalachians; and, finally, but by no means least, im- 

 portant progress in laying broad and sure foundations, by means of 

 thorough study of underlying technical problems, for the eventual 

 superstructure of applied conservation, or, in other words, for devel- 

 opment of the full latent value of the Forests as public resources. 

 Like all foundation work, what is done in this field is mostly below 

 the surface and attracts little public attention ; but it is going quietly 

 yet vigorously forward and is already beginning to justify itself in 

 results. Without such work National Forest management would be 

 a shallow-rooted plant in an arid land. 



I 



ORGANIZATION. 



From top to bottom the members of the Forest Service have been 

 studying the possibility of improving the machinery and methods in 

 use. One reason for this has been the need everywhere felt to utilize 

 the funds available to the best advantage. All of the various lines 

 of work have been scrutinized in an effort to discover where more 

 economical methods could be employed without any sacrifice of 

 efficiency. Beneficial results have been obtained principally along 

 three lines : First, both the scientific work and the administrative and 

 protective work have been put on a better basis through more careful 

 organization ; secondly, the supervisory force at Washington and in 

 the six district offices has been materially cut down; tliirdly, steps 

 have been taken to gather better cost data, establish cost standards, 

 and insure the maximum of result in all kinds of field work, through 

 standardizing the work itself and obtaining a measure of its efficiency. 



The only important change made in the general form of organiza- 

 tion was the creation of a new administrative unit to handle the work 

 in connection with land purchases under the Weeks Act. It was 

 found that the opportunity for improving the organization lay not 

 in radical alterations of the administrative machinery, but in a tight- 

 ening of the various parts and a better direction of effort. A renewed 

 impetus has been given the scientific and cooperative work, on which 

 largely depends the development of the practice of forestry on pri- 

 vately owned timberlands (carrying four-fifths of the total timber 

 supply of the country) throughout the United States. 



The organization of the work on the National Forests under six 

 district offices, effected three years ago, had for its immediate pur- 

 pose closer supervision of field activities and the elimination of 



