BEPOET OF THE FORESTER. 33 



To give the stockmen the very best possible use of the National 

 Forest ranges, special effort will be made to encourage the organiza- 

 tion of associations, so that through advisory boards the stockmen 

 may assist in the settlement of matters affecting their interests. 

 Through cooperative work great improvement can be made in the 

 condition of the ranges and the method of using them, and the result 

 will be beneficial to all interests concerned. 



DEVELOPMENT. 

 FORAGE INVESTIGATIONS. 



Because of the urgent need for improvement in the production of 

 forage upon ranges which have been injured by overgrazing, the ques- 

 tion of reseeding received special attention during the past year. In- 

 vestigations were commenced in cooperation with the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry to discover under what conditions and in what localities it 

 will be possible to secure natural reproduction of the valuable forage 

 grasses and plants, and also how and where it will be possible to plant 

 new seed successfully. 



WOEK OF THE ENSUING YEAR. 



Studies will be made of the manner in which stock is now being 

 handled upon the ranges, with a view to stopping any unnecessary 

 damage and ascertaining during what period each range can be used 

 with the most economy, and also of the life of the grasses and plants 

 to learn how to secure natural reseeding of the ranges. 



Experiments will be made in fencing certain ranges and in trying 

 new methods of handling stock within the pastures. Experiments 

 will also be made in planting both natural and imported seed upon 

 sections of the range which will be open to grazing, as well as upon 

 fenced areas, from which stock will be excluded. 



It is expected that by the close of the next fiscal year it will be pos- 

 sible to report the results of the first season's investigations and ex- 

 periments. 



PRODUCTS. 



In each of the three offices of this Branch — Wood Utilization, Wood 

 Preservation, and Publication — the volume of work handled was 

 greater and the results obtained were better than ever before. 



WOOD UTILIZATION. 



The Office of Wood Utilization is rapidly becoming a recognized 

 authority throughout the United States upon the subjects which it 

 handles. Its efforts to ascertain the amount of the annual drain 

 upon our forests and to point out the most economical means of utiliz- 

 ing forest products are doing much to bring about a public realiza- 

 tion of the necessity for taking prompt, and vigorous measures to in- 

 sure a future timber supply. 



WOOD CHEMISTRY. 



The work on zinc estimations, to discover the penetration of zinc 

 chlorid in treated timber, was completed, and analyses were also 

 made of a number of samples of treating-plant solutions. 



