A FORESTRY PROGRAM 9 



large and as well looked after as the State's finances 

 will permit. 



There is a brighter side to the State forestry pic- 

 ture, however. Thirty-nine States now have forestry 

 departments, and several others carry on forestry 

 work at their agricultural colleges and employ exten- 

 sion specialists in forestry. Thirty-three States main- 

 tain forest nurseries in which small trees are grown 

 for distribution to farmers and other forest owners. 



An important object of a State forestry department 

 is to give assistance to private owners in the manage- 

 ment of their forest lands. In some States members 

 of the forestry organization visit all parts of the 

 State and give expert advice on the ground in regard 

 to the proper management of particular tracts and 

 the marketing of timber. 



Trees should be regarded as a crop, but they can 

 not be grown overnight or in a year. If taxes are 

 levied on the growing timber each year, regardless 

 of the fact that it returns no revenue to the owner 



State forest nursery where thousands of little trees are 

 grown to reforest lands that would otherwise lie waste 

 and idle. 



until it is cut, few people can afford to grow forests. 

 Ten States, in order to encourage owners of forest 

 land to grow trees, have so modified their taxation 

 procedure as to defer taxation on young forests until 

 the timber is mature and can be cut and sold. 



Thirty-three States have protective systems for the 

 prevention and suppression of forest fires. Generally 

 this means an organization of State fire wardens, 

 supplemented during the season of fire danger by 

 fire patrols and lookouts. These protective organi- 

 zations are financed in part by allotments, under 

 the authority of the Clarke-McNary Act, of funds 

 from the Federal Treasury. In 1925 the 29 States 

 which then cooperated with the Government in fire 

 prevention and control received $400,000 of Federal 

 money for use in this work and expended in addition 

 nearly $1,700,000. 



Although notable progress has been made in State 

 forestry, a great deal remains to be done. A few of 

 the forested States have taken no steps whatsoever 

 to conserve their tree wealth. Public sentiment in 



