REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 33 



The division, hitherto with entirely inadequate means for such 

 work, has attempted mainly to gather statistics and compile data 

 from home and foreign sources, with the purpose of ascertaining our 

 actual forest conditions and requirements, and to acquaint our people 

 with the significance and the importance of our forests, and by pre- 

 senting the experiences of foreign nations and their methods of forest 

 administration to awaken an interest in and to popularize the sub- 

 ject of forestry. 



This class of work, which has been vigorously prosecuted during 

 the year, will be brought to a close by a series of special reports, 

 illustrating the relation of forestry to certain industries directly de- 

 pendent on forest supplies and often involving large forest tracts; a 

 fact which ought to dictate a more careful policy with regard to fut- 

 ure supply. These are, notably, the railroad and mining companies, 

 charcoal manufacturers, &c. 



These reports have been written by experts, and, besides their gen- 

 eral interest, will be of value to the particular industries to which 

 they refer. 



A new line of work has been begun during the year by the study 

 of the biology of our most important timber trees. Before we can 

 advise as to the treatment of a given species we must know its nature, 

 life history, and behavior under various conditions. I am gratified 

 at the willingness with which able botanists in various parts of the 

 country have undertaken these special biological studies, which will 

 eventually form the basis of future American forestry. A tabular 

 classification of the economically important flora, manuals on willow 

 culture, and other subjects directly bearing on American forest prac- 

 tice are in preparation. 



To bring the educational institutions into sympathy with the for- 

 estry movement, and to interest them in forestry matters, the public 

 school organizations of several States have been invited to co-operate 

 in gathering the forestry statistics of their localities, and schedules 

 for phenological observations have been distributed among the agri- 

 cultural colleges and several thousand private observers. 



The requirements of experimentation and distribution of seeds and 

 seedlings, as provided in the appropriation bill for this division, could 

 not be fulfilled at all, or only very partially, for lack of adequate 

 funds. 



The liability of tree seeds to deteriorate when kept, and the diffi- 

 culty of handling most of them by inexperienced planters, makes 

 this manner of supplying material a doubtful aid to tree planters. 

 The distribution of seedlings, on the other hand, requires a more 

 systematic and organized arrangement than the present funds of the 

 division will allow. 



Both the requirements of experimentation and aid by supply of ma- 

 terial, as well as instruction in the art of forest planting and man- 

 3 AG.— '86 



