350 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



plan. The expenses connected with the prej)aration and carry- 

 ing out of such a plan are to be borne by the owner, as set 

 forth in the agreement between the State Forester and the 

 owner, a copy of which will, upon application, be furnished to 

 any person owning or controlling woodlands in the Common- 

 Avealth. 



Unforested lands which the owner desires to plant fall within 

 the meaning of the term woodlands, as used above. 



A Forest Map. 

 The State Bureau of Statistics of Labor has been in con- 

 sultation with the forester relative to the collection of forest 

 statistics for the census of 1905, and I am assured that this 

 census will contain more information about the forests of the 

 Commonwealth than any previous census. A map showing 

 the forest area of the State is to be prepared in this con- 

 nection. Those in charge of this work have shown a com- 

 mendable spirit in regard to the matter, and I look for some 

 tangible results from this disposition on the part of the 

 Bureau of Statistics of Labor to help along the work of this 



oiEce. 



The State Forest Nursery. 



It is specified in the act establishing the office that the 

 State Forester may establish and maintain a nursery for 

 the propagation of forest tree seedlings on such lands as the 

 trustees of the Massachusetts Agricultural College may set 

 aside for that purpose on the college grounds at Amherst. 

 The stock raised in this nursery is to be furnished to the 

 State reservations free of charge, and to private owners 

 upon such terms as the forester may fix, subject to the 

 approval of the Governor and Council. I have met a com- 

 mittee of the trustees and have talked the matter over with 

 them, and this committee has recommended to the trustees 

 that a tract of three acres be set aside for the nursery. 



My policy in regard to the nursery is to make it a part 

 of the course of instruction at college. It would be a mis- 

 take for the State to go into the wholesale raising of seedlings 

 for public distribution, if the nurserymen of this State can be 

 induced to raise forest tree seedlings and sell them at reason- 

 able rates. Heretofore the nurserymen of this State, and in 



