'OS3M 



6ovm ml ford Ubrlc 



HPHE chief forest work of the Government is in 

 -*- charge of the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture. This is because the science of forestry is 

 essentially a branch of agriculture, for it has to do 

 with the growing of successive crops of timber from 

 the soil. It is also closely related to other lines of 

 work in the same department, particularly entomology 

 and plant diseases. 



The administration of the National Forests 1 is di- 

 rectly in charge of the Forest Service, which is a 

 bureau of the Department of Agriculture. Its chief 

 is designated " The Forester." Besides administer- 

 ing the National Forests, the Service also makes in- 

 vestigations in the interest of the best use of the 

 forests and forest products of the country generally. 

 These investigations are, in purpose and method, com- 

 parable with those of other bureaus in the same de- 

 partment and often concern kindred matters. The 

 problems involved in the administration of the Na- 

 tional Forests are fundamentally agricultural. When 

 forestry is practiced, timber becomes a crop produced 

 from the soil under methods which must be developed 

 76266°— 22 1 1 



