TWO FEATURES OF FORESTRY 127 



Economically the forest crop of the future must play a very important 

 part. Those of you who have not had time to study it, may be interested in| 

 knowing its importance to even a small State like Massachusetts. We have 

 in Massachusetts approximately 5,600,000 acres of land and of this acreage 

 three-fifths, or practically 3,000,000 is unadapted to tillage or general agricul- 

 ture. These lands, however, under management can all be devoted to forestry. 

 Upon a single acre of such land, we have demonstrated from a thorough study of 

 the white pine that we can grow 40,000 feet board measure in 50 years, or an 

 average of 800 feet per year. As stumpage is worth from |6 to f 12 a thousand 

 at the present time this would mean an average annual income of from 

 $4.80 to |9.60. Were it possible to practice modern forestry management 

 therefore, over our entire 3,000,000 acres of forest lands in Massachusetts it 

 would mean an annual income of from $14,400,000 to $28,800,000. These 

 figures may seem very startling at first, but I offer them for your deliberate 

 consideration. Please remember that the above figures are based on present 

 prices in Massachusetts and I am willing to leave it to your judgment, whether 

 future prices are not likely to be even higher. 



What is true of the growth of white pine in the old Bay State is more or 

 less true of forestry conditions elsewhere. When we consider stumpage prices, 

 we must consider also that these conditions realized, mean economic employ- 

 ment of manual labor, teams and machinery, together with the saving of 

 transportation on raw material and the giving of employment to rural sec- 

 tions during the winter resulting in an all year round occupation. 



While Massachusetts does not typify every State it exemplifies that fores- 

 try and forest products demand our consideration. 



The United States Forest Service has done and is doing splendid work 

 which is having desired results and many States have well organized depart- 

 ments of State Forestry, but it remains for this association through its present 

 splendid organization to become more elastic, welcoming the necessary ex- 

 tension of its curriculum and investigations to include forestry. 



I believe that every State should have its State Forester whose whole 

 time can be spent in determining and carrying out a definite State forest 

 policy. Fire protection and regulation, reforestation and general modern 

 forestry management need constant State supervision and encouragement. 



EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE 



With a National and State organization perfected the only thing lacking 

 is the great assistance that must come from educating the rank and file of 

 our people who are to own and manage these forest lands. There are no 

 institutions to which this work more naturally falls than to our Land Grant 

 Colleges and Experiment Stations. Already these institutions are doing for 

 our people everything possible in every other line of agriculture; then why 

 should not forestry be included along with horticulture and agronomy? The 

 department of Botany necessarily teaches the fundamentals of the science 

 and with little additional equipment and assistance any botanical depart- 

 ment could give a course in forest botany. What is true of botany is equally 



