No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 397 



true of all coniferous growth abroad, especially in German}^, because the 

 conifers are all highly resistant trees. The writer, after a study of these 

 conditions in Europe in the summer of 1912, returned with even greater 

 conviction that forestry management can be made a great factor in moth 

 control. Under proper conditions we too should have a much larger per- 

 centage of coniferous growth, but unscientific lumbering and forest fires 

 have conspired to reduce it to a minimum. 



These discoveries have molded beautifully into the Massachusetts 

 State Forester's methods of management, and offer a wide field for for- 

 estry development. Our woodlands should be thinned and the favorable 

 trees, notably the oaks and birches, removed. Where there is little chance 

 of resistant species taking the place of those cut out, artificial reforesta- 

 tion must be resorted to. Such operations must in time result in the re- 

 moval of a large share of our scrubby oak woodlands and their replace- 

 ment by fine plantations of conifers; clear stands of resistant deciduous 

 species are also practical undertakings. So important has this subject ap- 

 peared to the United States Bureau of Entomology that they have in- 

 duced the United States Forest Service, during the past year, to co-oper- 

 ate in experiments to test the value of forestry work in moth suppression. 

 The Massachusetts State Forester has increased his staff by the addition 

 of two professional foresters to the moth division of his department, and 

 they are carrying on a regular campaign urging woodland owners in moth- 

 infested sections to put their lands under proper forestry management. 

 Several gangs are now at work under direction, making improvement 

 cuttings. 



If forestry work is an aid in the control of the moth, conversely the 

 gypsy moth is of assistance in the development of forestry practice, al- 

 though at first sight it would seem to be a death-blow to this development. 

 I can safely say that as a result of our moth depredations thousands of 

 acres of our woodlands are being put under scientific management which 

 otherwise would never have had such care for some time to come. 



In conclusion, therefore, while the expenditure of vast sums of money 

 has been necessary to combat the moth ravages in one of the most noted 

 insect warfares ever undertaken by a single State, nevertheless, such an 

 expenditure has been fully warranted by the results; and to Massachusetts 

 must be attributed the courage of attempting and prosecuting a work 

 recognized the world over as a most plausible and worthy undertaking. 

 The many beneficial accomplishments which have been the outgrowi;h of 

 this work have contributed largely to the enrichment of both science and 

 industry, thus making Massachusetts again a world benefactor. 



The following is an abstract of an address delivered by State 

 Forester F. W. Rane before the Convention of the Massachu- 

 setts State Firemen's Association at New Bedford, Sept. 24, 

 1913: — 



