FOREST commissioner's REPORT. 17 



of the stiite, a great resource yet practically untouched. A 

 central office acquainted with our supplies of hard wood, ac- 

 quainted too with the busine:^8 conditions of the whole coun- 

 try, should be al)le to help greatly in getting new kinds of 

 business established. Knowledge of this kind, to be worth 

 while, must not be second hand. It must be obtained direct 

 from the forests. Here, hand in hand with statistical work 

 should go inquiry into the nature and habits of our timber 

 trees. The conditions under which they grow and their rate 

 of growth, their habits of reproduction, the diseases and ene- 

 mies which attack them, these are all matters fundamental to 

 thorough knowledge of our forests and to their most econom- 

 ical use. These should be objects in any study of our for- 

 ests, ()l)jects which should be held steadily in mind, and 

 which constant observation should promote. Such funda- 

 mental knowledge, while it has frequently no direct commer- 

 cial value, is essential to other investigation ; it clears the 

 whole range of the subject, and in the end will be found to 

 justif}' its cost. 



I have spoken so far only of extensive projects which it 

 would take years to complete and which onl}^ an established 

 and fairly equipped commission could carry out. There is, 

 however, one line of work which seems to be needed at once, 

 and which is likely to result early in great gain to the state. 

 That is an all-round study of pine. The great forests of the 

 state now yield but little lumber ot this kind, and moreover, 

 little is growing. The western sources of supply too are by 

 all accounts nearly exhausted so that for some qualities of the 

 lumber we have already gone to Europe. All indications 

 point to the coming scarcity of this wood in the United States, 

 and while to some extent other woods may replace it, there is 

 every promise that prices for the best grades wMll be greatly 

 advanced. 



Xow no argument is needed to show that Maine climate 

 and soils are adapted to the production of the finest pine. 

 Once the staple of our market, pine grows now faster than 



2 



