224 Forestry Quarterly 



subjects, such as Forestry, Plant Industry, etc., absorbing the 

 real research work from each of the present divisions of the 

 Department of Agriculture. The Forest Research office would 

 then be subdivided by projects and studies and would, of course, 

 include the Madison Laboratory. The Forest Experiment Sta- 

 tions would be under a separate chief. Until this very radical 

 reorganization is possible, research, of course, should remain 

 as a separate branch under the Forester. The Experiment Sta- 

 tion research should, however, be absolutely divorced from West- 

 ern administrative control ; confer and work in co-operation, but 

 keep the research organization absolutely separate from adminis- 

 tration. This is fundamental with the research organizations 

 of other countries and there is no reason for departing from 

 the precedent in the United States. 



Possible Organisation Reform 



While it is unquestionably true that the districts have been 

 extremely useful from 1908 to 1915, the time is fast approach- 

 ing when better results can be secured by distributing the ex- 

 perienced assistant district foresters as chiefs of more important 

 units. While it is true that a densely forested region, such as 

 the Northern Pacific coast, cannot be organized on as large a 

 scale as some of the open, easily traversed forests of the South- 

 west, yet it would be possible to re-align and re-organize for- 

 ests of the same class in different parts of the country. Ob- 

 viously, it would always be impossible to have one man administer 

 as large an area in New Hampshire, or in the southern Appala- 

 chians as could be done in New Mexico. The problems are alto- 

 gether different. Therefore, the local forest organization must 

 vary considerably. The scheme of staff organization advocated 

 by District 3 seems practicable, if, simultaneously, steps are taken 

 to dispense with the District Office. Otherwise, the forest staff 

 organization does not seem advisable, except possibly as a test 

 case. It seems to me, fundamentally, however, that the first 

 improvement in our forest administration must commence at the 

 bottom rather than at the top, and that the best way to accom- 

 plish this is to get the very best men possible for the position 

 of Supervisor. That is where the men are most needed. The 

 next logical step is to make the forest important enough to hold 



