386 FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



The state forester does a great deal by means of publications, 

 lectures, and exhibits to arouse an interest throughout the state 

 in better forest management. 



The Massachusetts Forestry Association has been an active 

 agent in arousing public interest in forestry, in the care of shade 

 trees, the prevention of fires, and the control of the injurious 

 forest insects. 



State Forests. 



D. — Massachusetts has no state forests in the true sense of 

 the term, although the state owns five reservations aggregating 

 15,000 acres, including the Blue Hills, Graylock Mountain, 

 Wachusett Mountain, Mount Tom, and Mount Everett. 



There is also a law giving the state forester authority to pur- 

 chase tracts of not exceeding eighty acres in extent and of 

 reforesting the same. In connection with this, there is a clause 

 making the repurchase of these lands possible by the expendi- 

 ture of the original price, the cost of planting, interest, etc. 

 Under this law, 3000 acres have been planted in various parts 

 of the state. The wisdom of this policy has often been ques- 

 tioned. Judging from the experience of other states there seems 

 to be little reason for the state to undertake the planting of 

 private lands, which it virtually does under this provision, if 

 the original owners care to repurchase. 



State Nursery. 



E. — The state maintains a nursery at Amherst, which was 

 established largely for the purpose of selling trees to land owners 

 at cost price. The annual output of the nursery is needed largely 

 to supply stock with which to plant the small tracts secured under 

 the reforestation law. 



Forest Taxation. 



F. — A commission, appointed in 1905, to investigate the 

 question of forest taxation recommended the following: 



