A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



1187 



Fire protection. State, county, and town aid provided in the fiscal 

 year 1932 for fire protection amounted to $354,929 in the six New 

 England States. The protection afforded is State-wide, and all 

 private forest owners receive direct public aid from either State, 

 county, or town funds. In Maine a special fund for fire protection on 

 part of the area is raised by a levy of 2% mills on the valuation of all 

 property, while on the remainder of the area towns pay suppression 

 costs and the State and Federal Governments carry the costs of pre- 

 vention. In Massachusetts and Vermont the entire costs of sup- 

 pression, and in New Hampshire and Rhode Island half of these 

 costs, are town obligations. In Connecticut half the suppression 

 costs are paid by the counties. In Connecticut there is a small asso- 

 ciation of private owners, but the general practice in this region is to 

 protect private timberlands at public expense. 



TABLE 4. Annual State aid to private owners in New England, by projects 



Planting. All the New England States except Rhode Island own 

 and operate tree nurseries, and all extend aid to farmers in planting. 

 Rhode Island solicits planting orders from owners and purchases 

 seedlings in wholesale quantities from commercial nurserymen. 

 Massachusetts ranks first in this region in the number of forest trees 

 distributed to farmers which in 1931 amounted to more than half a 

 million. Some 2} million more are planted annually in the State, 

 with about 2 million going on State forests and 600,000 on water 

 companies' lands and other large private holdings. Planting on the 

 State forests and on water company holdings are reported as nearing 

 completion. 



Extension. Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and 

 Vermont all extend State aid to owners of farm woods and are coop- 

 erating with the Federal Government under section 5 of the Clarke- 

 McNary law. New Hampshire and Connecticut are especially active 

 in this extension aid. Maine employs its own extension forester, who 

 performs both extension and educational work. 



Blister-rust control. The States in this group provide more money 

 for the control of white pine blister rust than for either planting, 

 extension, or research activities. New Hampshire leads all other 

 States in the amount provided for this tree disease control work, 

 expending in the fiscal year 1932, $55,000. 



Gipsy-moth control. Still larger sums are made available for gipsy- 

 moth control. During the fiscal year 1932 the six States of New 

 England, together with their counties and towns, contributed 

 $1,129,539 to suppress this insect. In Massachusetts alone the sum 

 of $803,048 was provided. State, county, and town aid for the work 

 comprises 68.6 percent of the regional expenditures for all forms of 

 forestry aid to private owners. 



