FORESTRY. 



It takes 3d years to grow a tree and 30 minutes to cut it down and destroy it. 



FORESTRY IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



Friends of the forestry* movement 

 throughout the United States will be de- 

 lighted to hear of the excellent stand taken 

 by Massachusetts in passing its new State 

 forester law. Great credit should be given 

 the Massachusetts Forestry Association for 

 work since it is due almost entirely to their 

 strenuous efforts that the Legislature passed 

 the bill. It is refreshing to see a State 

 forestry association doing something be- 

 sides reading tree poetry and swearing at 

 the lumbermen. More injury to the cause 

 has been done by such effeminate screech- 

 ing and crying of "Woodman Spare that 

 Tree" than any other thing in the fight to 

 make owners see forestry in its proper 

 light. Here at last is an association of 

 sane, sensible, hearty men who do not claim 

 that they know more than the lumberman 

 or that they have a right to call him an 

 octopus because he is carrying on a legiti- 

 mate business on strictly business princi- 

 ples. 



Governor Bates has . shown himself a 

 strong and consistent friend of the forestry 

 movement. His firm stand for an efficient 

 forestry service was important in securing 

 the enactment of a satisfactory law. In 

 his last inaugural address he said in part : 



"I suggest legislation that shall provide 

 for the appointment of a State forester, 

 competent by education, special training, 

 and practical experience, to direct to the 

 best advantage the efforts of towns and 

 individuals in this matter, and capable of 

 wisely planning and developing on a 

 broad policy State forest reservations. This 

 involves an appropriation for the begin- 

 ning of the work and for the acquiring of 

 land. 



"This concerns the Massachusetts of to- 

 morrow. Three million acres, or three- 

 fifths of the area of the State, are either in 

 woodland or waste land. The woodlot 

 area is but one-half of what is was in 1885 

 and the wood cut on the farms in the year 

 1900 is less than a third of what was cut 

 10 years ago, The timber of this State has 

 practically disappeared and the stump and 

 sorout lands are deteriorating. We have a 

 law permitting town forest reserves but it 

 has not been effective. We must adopt a 

 more adequate policy." 



The enactment of a law establishing the 

 office of State forester marks the most im- 

 portant epoch in the history of forestry in 

 Massachusetts and the accomplishment of 

 one of the chief objects for which the 

 Massachusetts Association has worked the 

 past 2 or 3 years. This achievement does 

 not mean that the work of the Associa- 



183 



tion is done. Rather* it is fairly 'in, and 

 may now be continued under mo. favor- 

 able auspices. In r. curing the new u.\; the 

 Association playea 1 prominent part. Its 

 work was most ective and its rapid 

 growth in membersl. ) during the campaign 

 acted as a continua. strengthener of its 

 influence through the evidence that it gave 

 of a growing popular recognition of the 

 importance of forestry in Massachusetts. 



Now that the Commonwealth is to take 

 up the practical forest work which the 

 Association has partially undertaken dur- 

 ing the past year, the Association may re- 

 vert to the task of education which has 

 formed a major part of its work from the 

 beginning and which must still go on. Fur- 

 thermore, the Association will be looked 

 to by the State forester to give him moral 

 support and encouragement. This it is in 

 a position to do without embarrassment, 

 for the position of the Association from 

 the beginning has been one of entire dis- 

 interestedness and regard for the public 

 service. It was characteristic of the fight 

 against the bill that the Association was 

 charged with looking for graft and work- 

 ing in the interest of a candidate of its 

 own. On the contrary, the Association has 

 never had a candidate, nor any desire other 

 than to secure the most expert forester that 

 can be obtained. 



The appointment by Governor Bates was 

 an excellent one. He asked the executive 

 committee of the Association to recommend 

 the most efficient man it could find. There 

 was a strong movement among certain agri- 

 cultural politicians for the appointment of 

 a man who had been doing forestry work 

 for various concerns in Massachusetts for 

 2 or 3 years ; in fact, he was at the time 

 employed as a forester by the Associa- 

 tion ; but as soon as it was found that a 

 more capable man could be secured the 

 Association immediately recommended him. 



Governor Bates formally appointed Mr. 

 Alfred Akerman, July 13th, and the choice 

 was approved by professional foresters all 

 over the country. Mr. Ackerman is a 

 graduate of the University of Georgia and 

 of the Forestry Department of Yale Uni- 

 versity. He has also studied his profes- 

 sion in Germany 2 years. He was State 

 forester of Connecticut when appointed. 

 Immediately after graduation from the 

 Yale Forest School he was made an instruc- 

 tor in the school. Mr. Ackerman is also a 

 member of the field force of the United 

 States Bureau of Forestry. 



The excellence and practicability of the 

 bill establishing the position leads me to 

 quote it entire, in the hope that a wider 



