A FORESTER'S CHIEF TASK 



989 



the views of the Association on the extension of the ap- 

 propriation for carrying on the program of acquiring 

 forest reserves under the provisions of the Weeks Law, 

 and to decide where to hold the next annual meeting. 



Boston, backed by the Massachusetts Forestry Asso- 

 ciation, made an earnest appeal for the meeting and it 

 was decided to hold it there early in January, the date 

 to be announced later. There has long been a demand 

 from the many members of the Association in New 

 England for a meeting there and as all throughout that 

 section there is a desire to continue the purchase of 

 Federal forest reserves, and as the Association is so 

 active in keeping before the public the necessity of com- 

 pleting the original program of acquiring 5,000,000 acres 

 in the Southern Appalachians and 600,000 acres in the 

 White Mountains, the meeting in January will be par- 

 ticularly appropriate occasion for discussing the situation 

 as it will be at that time. 



It is planned to hold a two-day session, with a public 

 banquet on the evening of the first day and to have 

 programs of addresses and discussions at the morning 

 and afternoon sessions each day. 



During the stay in Boston the directors were the guests 

 of the Massachusetts Forestry Association on a visit to 

 the Arnold Arboretum, through which the party was 

 conducted by Prof. John Jack whose lucid descriptions 

 of what has been accomplished there and what work is 

 planned for the future were much enjoyed. The party 

 was escorted about the city by Secretary Harris A. 

 Reynolds of the Massachusetts Forestry Association. 



At the Profile House, President Henry S. Drinker, in 

 behalf of the American Forestry Association, presented 

 its plans in relation to advocating an additional appropria- 

 tion of $10,000,000 to be expended during the next five 

 years in acquiring Federal forest reserves, and invited 

 the organizations represented at the meeting to cooperate. 

 This invitation was accepted with enthusiasm. Senator 

 Weeks, father of the Weeks Law, told, in an interesting 

 reminiscence, of the long-continued eflforts and final suc- 

 cess in securing the passage of the law, and of the effi- 

 cient manner in which the law has been administered, 

 during the past five years. He also gave some valuable 

 advice regarding eflforts to secure a continuation of its 

 operation. 



The Forestry Conference consisted of several sessions 

 during which there were addresses and discussions on 

 various phases of forestry, including addresses by W. R. 

 Brown, president of the State Forestry Commission, on 

 forest progress in New Hampshire; by Prof. H. IL Chap- 

 man, of Yale Forest School, on the woodlot from the 

 foresters' point of view ; by Dr. Kenyon L. Butterfield, 

 president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, on 

 the place of forestry in a rural policy; and the dis- 

 cussion on this topic was taken up by Commissioners of 

 Agriculture from various New England States; by John 

 C. Orcutt, secretary of the Agricultural Committee of 

 the Boston Chamber of Commerce, on the cooperative 

 marketing of woodlot products; by Herbert Welsh, of 

 Philadelphia, on cooperation at Sunapee; by Hon. E. E. 



Woodbury on progress at Lost River; by Prof. J. W. 

 Toumey, director of the Yale Forest School, on the wood- 

 lot at home and abroad ; by William L. Hall, assistant 

 United States Forester, on the national forest in the east, 

 and by Miss Eloise Gerry, of the U. S. Forest Laboratory 

 at Madison, on some suggestions in wood technology. 



An excursion by automobile through the national forest 

 on Lafayette Mountain and a tramp on foot over the 

 skyline of the Appalachian Mountain Club and an ex- 

 cursion to Lost River marked the outings of the party. 



A FORESTER'S CHIEF TASK 



By Alfred Gaskill 

 Director of the American Forestry Association 



THE chief task of a forester is to localize and to 

 specialize his etiforts always looking toward the 

 future. Above all he must educate his public in 

 economics and through that, not apart from it, lead to 

 the practice of silviculture. The store of virgin timber is 



ALFRED GASKILL 



State Forester of New Jersey and Director of the American 

 Forestry Association. 



the dominant factor in the lumber market. As that is re- 

 duced lumber prices will approach the cost of production. 

 The sections which use most wood and have the least 

 I'eserve ofifer the best opportunities for practical forestry. 

 It is important to realize that timber is accidentally, 

 not essentially, a product of the wilderness. The most 

 profitable forests are always close to populous centers 

 for the same reason that low grade lumber is more sal- 

 able in New York than high grade is in San Francisco 

 or New Orleans. 



