194 AMERICAN FORESTRY 



In launching our New England states on a policy of state forests for 

 timber raising and revenue, we are confronted from the first with the problem 

 of purchasing the lands. In this connection it should be said that land in this 

 section will probably never be as cheap again as it has been during recent 

 years. In many sections the demand for this class of land is already improv- 

 ing and the price beginning to rise. On this account the sooner these lands 

 are acquired the less the initial investment will be. The natural result of any 

 extensive purchases on the part of the state will be to raise land values in the 

 region. It will, therefore, be advisable fi'om the standpoint of economy, to 

 secure large areas gradually as money affords in a few localities, rather than 

 to scatter small purchases all over the state, thereby raising values every- 

 where. Of course this raising of values is in itself a benefit to the state speak- 

 ing in a broader sense. The individual owners are enriched, the assessable 

 property of a town is increased, and the rate of taxation lowered. 



What would be the probable investment for the state for the purchase of 

 100,000 acres, say, in New Hampshire or Vermont? This brings up a ques- 

 tion of policy. Shall the state buy the cheapest land available or aim to get 

 the best possible investment just as a private individual would? At first 

 thought it might seem the state's duty to acquire cut over and burned over 

 land of which there is such a great area in every state. It is a peculiar fact 

 that the price at which most of this worthless land is held is usually from |1 

 to $4 an acre, while land of real value worth ten times as much can be pur- 

 chased for $4 to |6 an acre. It is, theiefore, a much better investment for the 

 state as well as for the private purchaser to acquire this land covered with 

 pine or spruce reproduction at these pr'ces or sometimes even at $10 an acre, 

 than to buy mountain tops from which the soil has been burned with the for- 

 est. Experience has convinced me that the committees of a legislature will be 

 much more apt to approve this kind of an investment which appeals to the 

 members personally than a purely altruistic proposition such as the acquiring 

 of slash and burns. 



There are in all of our New England states considerable areas of good 

 timber still standing. In my opinion -Jorne of this class of land should be in- 

 cluded, in the first place, because the people expect that the old forests are to 

 be saved and will not be satisfied unless some scenic points are preserved; 

 and, secondly, because by this means an income in the near future will be 

 assured which will appeal to the business sense of the legislators and people. 

 So in the purchase of 100,000 acres there should be a variety of classes of land 

 divided something as follows: 



50,000 acres waste land at |2.00 per acre f 100,000 



30,000 acres, second growth, at $5.00 per acre 150,000 



10,000 acres timberland at $10.00 per acre 100,000 



10,000 acres good timber at ?15.00 150,000 



Total $500,000 



Something the same proportion would hold for larger purchases, i. e., 

 an average price for purchases made during the next decade of |5 an acre. 

 Of course, in order to get lands at these fig-ures, local agents would be em- 

 ployed and considerable diplomacy required in order not to inflate prices. 



Two or three suggestions can be made for raising the funds to finance 

 such a policy during a decade. The first and simplest is. of course, to appro- 

 priate from money in the state treasury $50,000 a year for the ten years. This 

 is probably out of the question for either Vermont or New Hampshire at 

 present, but then the results may be gradually accomplished by smaller appro- 

 priations. Another suggestion is a bond issue maturing in forty or fifty years 

 when the forests become productive ; and still another is to levy a special tax. 



