50 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



much sought after by stock. These trees, besides affording food and 

 shade for the cattle and naturally enriching the soil and improving 

 the grass crop, could be cut at intervals for fuel. 



Management. 



The problems in forest management are those first of all which 

 concern the protection of the present forests, such as the regulation 

 of ^conuco" farming, charcoal burning, and wood trespass in gen- 

 eral, which alone will undoubtedly yield ample returns. Yet these 

 little more than open the way to the real problems. The need for 

 the improvement and conservative management of the mangrove 

 has already been referred to. The insular lands, too, and to a large 

 extent the privately owned lands which still remain forested, should 

 not only be kept so but should be improved under systematic man- 

 agement. The nature of such management will depend on a variety 

 of circumstances. Its fundamental purpose, however, will be to 

 favor the growth and reproduction of those trees best suited to the 

 needs which the particular forest is intended to serve. If the most 

 suitable species do not occur in the original growth, it will be neces- 

 sary to introduce one or more of them by planting; but careful inves- 

 tigation will usually discover among even those commonly thought 

 to be useless qualities of excellence undreamed of. 



Investigation. 



In a country like Porto Rico, where so little is known about the 

 native trees, their habits and requirements, it would be folly to 

 ignore the needs for scientific study and research. The forest crop 

 grows and matures comparatively slowly, and it accordingly takes 

 several years for a mistake to become fully manifest. It thus will 

 not do to go ahead blindly and plant large areas with little-known 

 species, to find later that they are not suitable. Provision for inves- 

 tigative work is therefore indispensable to the practice of forestry. 



Education. 



One can not expect those who all their fives have been engaged in 

 wasting and destroying what has come to them without exertion to 

 see unaided the advantages of turning about and putting exertion 

 into its production. Educational work of a very thorough and 

 earnest sort is necessary to induce a people to support a tree-planting 

 or other forestry campaign because usually the benefits are either 

 obscure and indirect or are obtainable only by a future generation. 



There are many educational means by which forestry can be car- 

 ried to the people. The public-school system is, of course, one of the 

 first and most effective means to be considered. Then the more ad- 

 vanced thinkers may be formed into forestry associations for dis- 

 cussion and propaganda, and others may be reached through popular 

 publications, lectures, and the press. 



