The Forests of Barnstable Coimty 

 Reasons for the Survey 



In order to plan the work of the Department of Conservation 

 it is necessary that we know definitely how much forest land 

 there is in the State in comparison with the waste and idle land, 

 and also what amount of land is used for agriculture. We are 

 asked for this information many times, hut we have not had data 

 from which we could give an authoritative statement. The forest 

 land of the State is our heritage and the public looks to us to 

 handle it in a scientific and satisfactory manner. If we do not 

 have proper information at hand, a satisfactory program for forest 

 management cannot be laid out. 



The forest land of Barnstable County is mostly divided 

 into small holdings in the form of woodlots and since they are 

 repeatedly cut and sometimes burned, they vary greatly in age, com- 

 position and quality. A survey made under these conditions is 

 rather difficult and at beat only approximate results can be expected, 

 but we find that these approximate results give us better data than 

 any that have heretofore been obtained and with the aid of this we hope 

 to assist in forest management in the Commonwealth, 



Method of Survey 



Each man was equipped with a hand compass, a tallying 

 machine to keep count of the paces, a notebook and pencil, and a copy 

 of the United States topographical map of the town he was surveying 

 on which lines were drawn an inch apart and at right angles to the 

 roads. Starting on a road or edge of a pond on one side of the town 



