PREFACE. 



T 



O those who are familiar with depart- 

 ment work no explanation is neces- 

 sary for the delay in the appearance 

 of this publication. For the information of 

 others it seems proper to say that the State 

 printer takes up the report of each depart- 

 ment in the order in which it was received; 

 and that the preparation of a volume like 

 the one here offered to the public requires 

 so much time and care that it is apt to be 

 among the last to reach the printing office. 



The Commissioners desire to acknowledge 

 here their indebtedness to Prof. E. P. Felt, 

 State Entomologist, Dr. B. E. Fernow, Di- 

 rector State College of Forestry, Dr. E. L. 

 Trudeau, of the Adirondack Sanitarium, 

 Mr. Overton W. Price, of the United States 

 Forestry Division, at Washington, D. C, and 

 Prof. John Gifford, of Cornell University, 

 for the valuable, instructive articles which these eminent specialists kindly contributed. 

 While it is readily conceded that, as a general rule, a department report should be 

 confined strictly to statements relating to work actually performed or contemplated, it 

 has seemed advisable to include, also, some articles from well-known authorities con- 

 veying information on forestry matters of a special nature. The people of our State 

 are already so well informed as to forestry in general that there is no further need of 

 any propaganda for that purpose. It is the details of forest administration that are 

 now under discussion. The annual reports of this department seem to furnish a good 

 medium for imparting knowledge in relation to these topics; and, for ascertaining in 

 reply, through the comments of the public press, the opinion of the people as to the 

 particular subjects under discussion. It has long since become evident that the forestry 

 movement in this country is dependent wholly on public sentiment; and, that the 

 State can go only so far in these matters as it has the people behind it. 



The Commissioners further desire to acknowledge their indebtedness to Dr. Bash- 

 ford Dean, of Columbia University, New York, for the exhaustive article on the dog- 



"JIGGING" MACKEREL. 



