leader ready to carry out the extension forester's instructions, 

 provided they fit in with the problems of the county and are 

 sufficiently clear to he carried into effect. This points to 

 the fundamental job of any extension forester who undertakes 

 the initial work in a State, to study the forest problems as 

 they affect the agriculture of the State, and determine those 

 for which a satisfactory solution is available. From among 

 these pick out the two or three phases which are most essential, 

 analyze them, and determine the best means of presenting both 

 problem and solution to the people of the State. But this is 

 not all; unless the extension forester gets the attention of the 

 public whom he wishes to reach, and gets a reasonable number to 

 accept his ideas, he has not succeeded. 



It is unfortunate that this paper must be written so near 

 the close of a calendar year, before the reports on. the year's 

 activities are available. For that reason statistics of results 

 are limited to the calendar year 1925, the last half of which 

 was distinctly influenced by the funds made available by the 

 Clarke-McNary law. On December 1, 1925, there were 22 States in 

 which extension foresters were cooperatively employed. During 

 that year the outstanding piece of work dealt with forest plant- 

 ing on idle or waste land. Agricultural agents from 188 counties 

 reported 2,317 farm forest plantings on 11,458 acres. In addi- 

 tion, results were reported on projects dealing with woodland 

 care, improvement, and management, the establishment and care of 

 farm nurseries, the measuring and marketing of farm forest prod- 

 ucts, the preservation of fence posts and other farm timbers, 

 the planting of windbreaks and shelter belts, the control of 

 erosion and the fixation of send dunes, the planting of roadside 

 trees, and the control of white-pine blister rust. Blister-rust 

 control is usually handled by separate leaders under em agree- 

 ment which calls for the support and cooperation of the agricul- 

 tural extension service. 



To indulge in a few more figures, during 1925 there were 

 conducted 1,917 demonstrations of the results of forest practices. 

 Most of these were handled by an. extension forester in coopera- 

 tion with the county agent, but it is possible after adequate 

 instruction and experience for the county agent to conduct them 

 without the presence of the subject-matter specialist. 



County agents reported that 2,126 farmers were helped with 

 the management of their woodlands, while 1,191 planted windbreaks 

 or shelter belts, and 485 adopted the recommended practices for 

 the control of white-pine blister rust. Altogether, 6,574 farm- 

 ers were reported as having adopted better forest practics dur- 

 ing 1925. This is 1,000 more than were reported during the cal- 

 endar year 1924. I can not give you the acreage involved, but 

 I think you will agree that we are making progress. The report 

 for 1926 should show material gains, for the number of States 

 carrying on this work has increased by eight, and I think it rea- 

 sonable to assume that the ability of the extension foresters 

 has increased. 



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