BUREAU OF FORESTRY. 173 



problems of importance in tlae State, was organized on the part of the 

 association as a preliminary step toward the formulation of a State 

 forest policy. 



An important part of the cooperative study has been a close exam- 

 ination of the damage done the forest by fire and the effectiveness of 

 present laws to secure fire prevention. The study of this subject occu- 

 pied three months of field work in 1903. A comprehensive report has 

 been submitted, which describes the damage from fire and the eiSciency 

 of present means of fire control, and proposes an entirely new fire law. 



A second part of the work is a study, the report upon which is now 

 almost complete, of the forest planting which has been done on the 

 watershed of the Wachusett Reservoir, near Clinton. This watershed 

 gathers a large part of the water used by Boston, and was originally 

 in large part open farm land. Within three years nearly 700 acres of 

 open land nearest the reser\oir have been planted to a mixture of white 

 ]pine and sugar maple under a planting plan made by the Bureau. The 

 forthcoming report is descriptive of the methods used in planting, the 

 cost, and the results. The report gives a valuable exposition of prac- 

 tical forest planting in New England. 



The results gained from the cooperative work have been used effec- 

 tively in the Massachusetts State legislature in securing the passage of 

 a law providing fyr a State forester. In consequence of the enactment 

 of this law a forest system will now be established, and the Bureau's 

 cooperation with the State forestry association will be closed with the 

 end of the fiscal year. 



New Hampshire. 



The field work necessary to a study of the forests of northern New 

 Hampshire, made possible by an appropriation of $5,000 by the State 

 legislature and begun toward the close of the last fiscal year, has been 

 continued and completed. The investigation covered the region north 

 of Squam Lake and west to the farming lands along the Connecticut 

 River, an area of 3,206 square miles, or approximately 34 per cent of 

 the State. The lines followed by the investigation were — 



(1) A study of the composition and quality of the forest, and an 

 estimate of the present yield. 



(2) A study of the characteristics of the more important trees and 

 of the conditions of their successful reproduction. 



(3) A study of the methods and extent of lumbering, of its effect 

 upon the forest, and of practicable means to improve the condition of 

 cut-over lands. 



(1) An investigation of the value of the forest as a conserver of the 

 water supply, made with the assistance of the Division of Hydrog- 

 raphy', United States Geological Survey. 



(5) A study of the magnitude, the value, and the character of the 

 lumber industry. 



The report, which will soon be published by the Bureau, includes a 

 comprehensive and detailed description of the forest, and an exhaustive 

 study of forest fires, with definite recommendations for fire protection.' 

 As a whole, it provides the means to answer questions of private and 

 public policy in the management or disposition of forest lands within 

 the region. 



