No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 309 



Rural Mail Carriers. 



The Postmaster-General, under date of May 31, 1912, issued an order 

 requiring all rural mail carriers to promptly report all forest and brush 

 fires to the nearest forest warden or deputy forest warden. We have 

 within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 300 rural and star route 

 carriers, with routes averaging about 20 miles, thus giving us a patrol 

 route of practically 6,000 miles that is traveled each day, with the excep- 

 tion of Sundays and national hohdays. As soon as the above order became 

 effective each carrier was supplied with a list of wardens and deputies, 

 together with their telephone numbers and places of residence, in order 

 that all fires observed by them could be promptly reported and extin- 

 guished. 



An investigation shows that, owing to this branch of the work being 

 entirely new, there are a large number of routes with no forest wardens 

 or deputies residing on them; therefore it is necessary that our district 

 wardens, in connection with the different town forest wardens, go over 

 each route and have necessary deputies appointed residing in or near the 

 forest areas and dangerous fire localities and having telephone connection. 

 This work I believe will be completed during the coming winter in order 

 that we may be in readiness for spring fires. The work accomplished by 

 the carriers this season has been very effective. Our reports show. 84 

 fires observed and reported, besides several fires extinguished in their 

 incipiency by the carriers. 



Federal Co-operation. 

 The Weeks bill, passed in 1910, providing for the purchase of portions 

 of the White Mountain and Appalachian Mountain regions, to be held 

 as government reservations, also carried an appropriation of $200,000 for 

 the protection against forest fu-es of the watersheds of navigable streams 

 in the United States. Of this appropriation $2,500 was allotted to the 

 State of Massachusetts, to be expended in co-operative effort in such 

 sections of the Commonwealth as would properly come within the pro- 

 visions of the bill. This restricted our co-operative work to the western 

 portion of the State, including the watersheds of the Nashua, Chicopee, 

 Miller, Thames, Blackstone, Hudson, Connecticut and Deerfield rivers. 

 This allotment became available May 1, and was used for the payment 

 of federal observation men who were placed in charge of the 9 observation 

 stations west of the east Hue of Worcester County, this being the territory 

 coming within the co-operative agreement. Of the amount appropriated, 

 $2,477 was expended in this work. Owing to the State appropriation 

 not being sufficient to carry on the work mapped out throughout the 

 State, this goveriunent aid has been very necessary, permitting us to 

 expend a portion of our State allotment in the construction of observation 

 stations and telephone lines, as under the terms of the agreement with the 

 United States government the State is required to expend an amount 

 equal to that expended by the federal authorities in protecting the above- 



