FORESTRY IN MASSACHUSETTS 



forest products; (3) good transportation facilities ; (4) an 

 adequate system for protection from forest fires; (5) a fair 

 method of taxation of forest lands. Three of these condi- 

 tions are fulfilled in the Commonwealth, but an improve- 

 ment is not only desirable but necessary in fire protection 

 and the method of taxation. 



PART II 



THE COMMONWEALTH'S FOREST POLICY 

 The General Court of 1904 established the office of State 

 Forester. A brief review of the work of the office will show 

 how the State is going to work to make our forests more 

 productive and to increase their area. 



Lectures at the Agricultural College 



The act establishing the office of State Forester mentions 

 several lines of work, but leaves the execution of all except 

 one to his discretion. The one exception is that he shall 

 give a course of lectures on the art and science of forestry 

 to the students at the Massachusetts Agricultural College at 

 Amherst. The faculty of the college, acting under instruc- 

 tions from the trustees, have arranged the course as an elect- 

 ive for graduate students, seniors, and the short-course men 

 who are there for the winter months only. Twenty-nine 

 men elected the course in 1905, and fifty -four this year. 



Public Lectures 



Since taking up the work in August, 1904, the State 

 Forester has given, in addition to the course at Amherst, 

 fifty-six public lectures, talks, and addresses on various 

 phases of forestry. These have been under the auspices of 

 granges, farmers' clubs, improvement associations, and other 

 interested organizations. Invitations to speak will hereafter 

 be accepted only in the months of December, January, and 

 March ; the rest of the year will be reserved for work in the 

 woods and other duties. These public lectures are un- 

 doubtedly conducive to the perpetuation, extension, and 

 proper management of forests in the Commonwealth. Ap- 



