No. 4.] FORESTRY AND ROADS. 255 



heard many people, and their report appears to have been 

 misunderstood. The same subject is before the present 

 Legislature, and it is to be hoped that it may become a law. 



During the past summer the American Forestry Associa- 

 tion met in Boston, together with the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science, and all the members of this 

 committee were authorized to attend said meeting. I regret 

 that it was not then possible for the full committee to 

 assemble with us, I being president of said association, in 

 Horticultural Hall, and participate also in the excursions. 



Papers were there read and remarks made by men in high 

 authority upon forestry matters, some of whom had been 

 trained in the best forestry schools in the world, and who 

 had held high positions in this country and abroad. 



During the past year the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society has established a permanent committee on forestry 

 and roadside improvement ; but, while the committee is 

 composed of men of high rank in such matters, they have 

 not found the opportunity for action during the year. It is 

 expected that they will be heard from to the State's good 

 during the next year. 



The Department of Agriculture at Washington has, during 

 the past year, instituted a plan to try to advance knowledge 

 of the care of woodlands, so as to better protect them against 

 fires, and to make them more profitable as timber to their 

 owners. I suppose their prospectives are upon the shelves 

 of our Board's library, where they can be seen to tell their 

 story better than I can here give it ; or they can probably be 

 secured from the Forestry Division of the Department of 

 Agriculture at Washington, upon receipt of postal card 

 request. 



The law permitting the election of town foresters has been 

 found in some places to have worked extremely well, where 

 some one was needed to give thought to the treatment of 

 roadside trees and shrubbery, who would give the necessary 

 time to the work. Those foresters who could work in con- 

 current understanding with the town's authorities, and in 

 true harmony of intent, have met with success in this work, 

 but at times the office has been locally found an unwise 

 creation. 



