750 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



ment, he visits the municipal "presidente" or the "teniente del barrio," 

 as the case may be, and asks him to arrange for a public meeting dur- 

 ing the late afternoon or early evening. Notice is then sent to all the 

 inhabitants of the town or village. In the larger settlements the 

 municipal police are effective in spreading the news, and in the smaller 

 towns, especially in the more outlying districts, the method known as 

 the "bandillo" is employed. Half a dozen or so of men are sent out 

 from the town hall equipped with a drum or other noise-making im- 

 plement, and as the people flock around to learn the cause of the ex- 

 citement a crier shouts out the object of the meeting and the time and 

 place at which it will be held. Anything out of the humdrum routine 

 of a monotonous existence is very welcome, and a good audience is 

 very generally obtained. The head-man of the settlement is always 

 requested to introduce the ranger, and the request is seldom refused. 

 This secures the double object of giving a stronger shade of official 

 color and of local authority to what the ranger will say, and at the same 

 time it flatters the most influential man in the community and makes 

 him more or less unconsciously arraign himself on the side of forest 

 protection. The talks are always given in an informal, easy-going 

 manner, and at the close the audience is invited to ask questions, to 

 voice "reclamos" or complaints, or to argue any policy or acts with 

 which they may not be in accord. It is not unusual for such gather- 

 ings to continue until nearly midnight. After such a meeting has been 

 held forestry seems a more intimate matter, slightly more tangible to 

 the people than hitherto, and the prestige of the Bureau and of the in- 

 dividual rangers takes a step upward. It would be easy to overesti- 

 mate the practical importance of the results achieved. Unless such 

 conferences are repeated with a fair degree of regularity their effects, 

 or most of them, soon wear off and are forgotten. But at least each 

 one does some good, and it is reasonable to expect that the aggregate 

 result will be quite worth while. It is one of the few lines of endeavor 

 which can be conducted without expense and without interfering with 

 the other work of the rangers, as the meetings are held during hours 

 which would probably not be otherwise officially employed. 



Larger audiences, but probably less unbroken attention, are secured 

 at the various fairs and "fiestas" which are frequently held throughout 

 the principal provincial centers, and advantage is taken of every such 

 opportunity that can be obtained. It is to be regretted that funds are 

 not available to keep two or three speakers in the provinces devoting 

 their whole time and attention to this work of propaganda, preferably 

 supplied with portable moving-picture outfits, models, and other equip- 



