316 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



and energy to make more in some occupation, and he cannot afford to 

 give his services or neglect his business at times for a few days' work. 

 There are cases where men are doing such service because of their interest 

 in the forests, but there is no good reason why a capable forest warden 

 should not be paid as generously as any town officer. 



Forest wardens should be provided with modern fire-fighting equip- 

 ment. At least one-half of the towns within this Commonwealth have 

 no equipment whatever for handling fires, and until the selectmen and 

 residents of such towns provide their wardens with suitable equipment, 

 just so long will they have disastrous fu'es. City fire departments that 

 have an appropriation covering only their building and city fires should 

 not be obliged to expend a large part of this fund in fighting forest fires, 

 but a special fund should be available for such fires, and in many cities 

 the city fire department should have jurisdiction only within the city 

 limits. A town forest warden should be appointed who should have juris- 

 diction over all fires outside the city limits, and he should be supplied 

 with the most modern equipment. In this way we shall accomplish 

 results. Some of the most serious and damaging forest fires we have 

 had this summer have come under the supervision of city fire depart- 

 ments, and were absolutely uncared for. 



Another trouble we have experienced is in fires occurring just over 

 the town line. There should be no town lines in fighting forest fires. 



Through the -courtesy of Mr. L. A. Wells, observer in charge of the 

 meteorological observatory at the Blue Hill Reservation, we are able to 

 submit a table showing the precipitation for the years 1910, 1911 and 1912, 

 and also the normal rainfall (see page 311). This table shows that the 

 rainfall for 1912 is 7.36 inches less than in 1911 and 8.61 inches less than 

 normal. It shows that during the months of March, April, May, July 

 and August the precipitation was above normal, but the rainfall in June 

 was 2.54 inches below normal, there being but .53 of an inch rainfall that 

 month. During the months of September and October, the time when our 

 dangerous fires are liable to occur owing to the leaf fall and to frosts that 

 kill the vegetation, the rainfall was 2.61 inches below normal. Taking 

 into consideration the scantiness of the rainfall and the fact that the 

 majority of the observers are new to the work, we feel that the results 

 obtained have been very gratifying. 



Detailed reports received from the town forest wardens show that 

 we have, in addition to the forest wardens in the different towns, 1,640 

 deputy forest wardens, 1,135 of whom have telephone communication 

 with the observation stations. These reports show that our wardens 

 have issued 16,851 permits for burning brush, fallow, etc. We have 317 

 portable sawmills in operation throughout the State, of which 61 are in 

 operation in District 1, 22 in District 2, 137 in District 3, and 97 in 

 District 4. 



Statistics show that over 350,000,000 feet of lumber are being cut in 

 Massachusetts annually. This, in addition to what is being used for rail- 

 road ties and in wood-using industries, will soon exhaust all merchantable 



