348 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



typical one, still, it presents some of the problems that the 

 students are likely to meet with in the management of their 

 own properties. 



Practical Assistance to Owners of Woodlands. 



Section 2 of the act provides that the State Forester may, 

 upon suitable request, give to any person owning or con- 

 trolling forest lands aid or advice in the management thereof, 

 the owner being liable to the forester for the necessary ex- 

 penses for travelling and subsistence incurred by himself or 

 his assistants. Up to the date of this report fourteen ap- 

 plications for practical assistance have been received. These 

 applications represent an area of approximately two thou- 

 sand acres. Five of these tracts have been visited, and 

 advice has been oiven in regard to their management. This 

 included the marking of trees for removal, in improvement 

 thinnings, in order to start the OAvner on the right track. 

 The Avinter closed in before more work along this line could 

 be accomplished. 



While the act gives the forester no authority on State 

 lands, it does make his services available to the State as 

 well as to private owners. Inquiries have been received 

 relative to this matter from the commission in charge of the 

 Mount Tom Reservation, and I hope that other reservations 

 will follow suit ; for practical work of this kind on State 

 lands should be the special duty of the State Forester. 



In order to make the offer of the State in this matter 

 better known, a circular letter has been printed, setting 

 forth the conditions under which the work may be done, 

 and it is being distributed among those likely to be inter- 

 ested. A copy of this circular is here given. It is hoped 

 that in response to this circular the advice of the forester 

 will be sought more frequently. 



In this connection a plan of co-operation between this 

 office and the United States Bureau of Forestry has been 

 arranged. Applications for practical assistance made to the 

 United States Bureau of Forestry by owners of woodlands in 

 Massachusetts will be referred to the State Forester, or such 

 portions of them as he may be able to take care of. The 



