72 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



2. The appointment of a State forester, if possible tech- 

 nically educated in charge of the tire service, and of the 

 educational and all other forestry interests of the State. 



3. Encouragement by financial aid of all associations and 

 other educational agencies concerned in creating an active 

 interest in forestry. 



4. Acquisition by the State for forest reserves of those 

 stump, brush and waste lands, which by their location and 

 condition are of importance to the wehare of the State at 

 large, and do not promise to private enterprise or to town 

 enterprise sufficient inducement to take care of them ; and 

 institution of a forest management for these lands, includ- 

 ing nurseries for the production of plant material for their 

 own use and distribution. 



5. Encouragement of towns to acquire town forests, by 

 advice and by State loans, th« State's credit being used to 

 guarantee the public domain fund of the town. 



6. Encouragement of private owners to improve their 

 wood lots and plant up waste places, by furnishing expert 

 advice and plant material at cost, and by a just tax law, — 

 not necessarily tax release. 



On one point I must lay stress before closing. There is 

 no State in the Union that has enacted more far-reaching 

 legislation regarding the care and preservation of shade trees 

 and for securing public parks. The tree warden is a Massa- 

 chusetts institution, of which the State may be proud.; the 

 trustees of public reservations are a most useful lever for 

 securing the preservation of historic and scenic places. But 

 I nuist strenuously insist that these are matters which have 

 absolutely nothing to do with the care and rational treatment 

 of the forest areas of the State. This last is an economic 

 question, pure and simple ; while the arboricultural pursuits 

 of tree wardens, park superintendents and the absolutely 

 misnamed "city foresters," which your law so miscalls, are 

 of an esthetical nature. Much harm to the forestry move- 

 ment has been done by not keeping these two laudable 

 movements more distinctly separate. 



I close with the hope that Massachusetts will soon do at 

 least as well by her forests as she has done by her shade 

 trees. 



