No. 4.1 REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 547 



National Association of Conservation Commissioners. 



The State Forester was elected secretary of this association 

 at its meeting in Washington, D. C, in 1913, and the annual 

 meeting this year was held at New Orleans, La., at the invita- 

 tion of the State Conservation Commission of Louisiana. The 

 meetings were held at the St. Charles Hotel, New Orleans, 

 from Monday, November 16, to Thursday, November 19, 

 after which the Louisiana Conservation Commission extended 

 invitation to the delegates for a trip to the mouth of the Mis- 

 sissippi River, where an exceptional opportunity was offered to 

 see and study wild life and the fish and oyster industries of 

 the section. 



The subject, "Forests as Nurseries of Wild Life," was the 

 topic on the program discussed by the author. The subject of 

 wild life, and the importance of national and State laws regu- 

 lating the same, particularly in the case of migratory birds, 

 was given due consideration. 



The Massachusetts State Forest Policy. 

 Each year has seen a gradual step forward in our forestry 

 work in Massachusetts, until sufficient fundamental legislation 

 has accumulated so that it is not boasting, it is believed, to 

 say that we now have in this State a Vvell-rounded-out forest 

 policy. It was with the idea of calling attention to this fact 

 that the State Forester prepared and delivered the following 

 paper before the Society for the Promotion of Agricultural 

 Science, which held its annual meeting at Washington, D. C, 

 on Nov. 10, 1914, a copy of which is as follows: — 



The Massachusetts State Forestry Work. 

 It is believed that we are still woefully lacking in the United States 

 in bping unable to show more results from the practice of modern forestry. 

 In analyzing the situation it cannot be attributed to lack of enthusiasm 

 and willingness on the part of the men in the profession. For some reason 

 the owners of the larger tracts of forest lands seem interested, but non- 

 active, and real operating lumbermen change their methods relatively 

 slowly. Public, national and State undertakings in forestry, from the 

 standpoint of constructive and businesslike methods, seem to be lacking 

 in vigor. Lack of funds to do with would appear to be the trouble; but 



