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we Lave. I was out with a man owning seven tliousand acres in 

 the western part of the State last Friday. Tlie disease was the 

 Avorst where tliinnings had been made and a few trees allowed to 

 stand becanse they were not large enongh to cut into ties. 

 These forests were unbalanced and the air and sun allowed to 

 get in. The blight was on the southern side; the cankers showed 

 up largely there. But in the stands where we had normal con- 

 ditions, we found only a diseased tree once in awhile. There is 

 an unbalancing condition again where forest fires have raged 

 tlirough the State year after year and the trees are abnormal 

 and only half alive anyway. There you find the disease seems 

 to travel more rapidly tlian it does where the trees are under 

 normal conditions and have a forest floor where there is plenty 

 of moisture and the conditions are more favorable. I have gone 

 over it with some of our best practical men, lumber men, and 

 they seem to tliink tliat it is a problem tliat is going to solve 

 itself. They are good, practical men; they liave been in the 

 business a great many years, and are reluctant to believe that we 

 will lose all our chestnuts. The Avay that we are endeavoring 

 lo solve this problem in Massacbusetts is this: I have a forest 

 Avarden in each town, who is appointed by the officials of the 

 town, subject to the approval of the State Forester. I am en- 

 deavoring to educate these men so that they will know this 

 disease. We have notified all of our papers throughout the State 

 that it is up to tlie people that own chestnut trees that they 

 become familiar with the disease; otherwise tlie,y are likely to 

 lose their chestnut stand. We are sending out literature. We 

 have just sent out a recent bulletin. The idea of the bulh'iin 

 was to show photographs so that a man could take the bulletin 

 and go out and determine wliether the disease is present or not. 

 We send men from tiie office, at the expense of the State, to 

 assist anybody in cutting out, at the same time giving them 

 ideas as to better forestry management; and with that the idea 

 of education, endeavoring to make the work self-sustaining, so 

 that the people will attend to it tliemselves and without neces- 

 sitating State expense. I believe the first law is preservation, 

 self-preservation, and I believe we ought to educate, ought to 

 put out more practical publications that people will rea<l. If 

 boiled right down to the essence of the work, farmers will look 



