No. 4.] FORESTKY IN MASSACHUSETTS. 71 



policy of forest reservation should be inaugurated, and with 

 it a system of forest management. 



A good beginning in this direction will bring untold 

 indirect advantages. In the first place, it would necessitate 

 the systematic management of these lands under a respon- 

 sible State forester ; in the second place, the management 

 will recpiire the continuous employment of men who become 

 naturall}^ the reliable nucleus of a forest fire warden and 

 patrol system. Not only can the distribution of plant mate- 

 rial to would-be })lanters be more readily attended to, if the 

 State grows this material at the same time for its own use, 

 and the expert advice more readily disseminated, but the 

 good example of the State will find ready followers. It is 

 the good example of the State foresters in Germany, which 

 really do not represent one-third of the German forest area, 

 that has done so nmch for the well-managed forests of private 

 owners there. But in addition to all the indirect benefits of 

 a State forest reserve, I conceive that the 2,000,000 acres or 

 so, w^hich may appropriately fall into the hands of the State, 

 will, if the State is a good financier, — that is, willing to spend 

 money for some time in the improvement of these lands, — 

 secure in time as good a revenue from these poorest lands 

 as the German States now derjve from their forest domains ; 

 namely, from $1.(32 the poorest, to $4.50 the best, per acre. 



This area of 2,000,000 acres is about equal to that of the 

 State forests of Bavaria, which, topographically and climati- 

 cally similarly situated, produce a constantly increasing 

 annual net income of now nearly $4,000,000, and that by 

 merely taking the annual growth, without decreasing the 

 growing stock ; the cut being 72 cubic feet per acre, of 

 which 24 cubic feet are saw material, i.e., 200 feet B. M., 

 and half a cord fuel wood per acre. 



Let me, then, summarize what appear to me the desirable 

 actions in establishing a forest policy for Massachusetts, 

 approximately in the sequence of their importance and eflec- 

 tiveness, the first two being of like importance, and the 

 effectiveness of the rest being dependent on these. 



1. Improvement in the forest fire laws, making them man- 

 datory under State control and co-operation. 



