EXTENSION WORK IN FORESTRY 



1481 



In the eastern United States there was a woodland 

 area on farms in 1910 of 143,391,568 acres,* a decrease 

 of about 15 per cent since 1880. The ten states having 

 the largest areas, each with over six million acres of 

 woodlands on farms are Georgia, North Carolina, Ala- 

 bama, Missouri, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mis- 

 sissippi, South Carolina and Kentucky. These south- 

 ern states are, of course, prominent in this grouping 

 largely because of their size. The ten states in which 

 the largest proportion of the farm land is wooded, in 

 each case over 40 per cent, are as follows : North Caro- 

 lina, Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, South Carolina, Ala- 

 bama, Maine, New Hampshire, Virginia, and Rhode 

 Island. If the states are grouped in relation to the 

 value of the cordwood produced on the farms in 1918, 

 the ten leading states, each producing over 18 million 

 dollars worth of wood, are : Michigan, Texas, New 

 York, Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Virginia, 

 Arkansas, Mississippi, and California. Grouping them 

 in relation of the woodland income to the total farm 

 income the ten states in which the woodland income 

 exceeds 8 per cent of the farm income are as follows : 

 New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Florida, West Vir- 

 ginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, North Carolina, 

 Rhode Island, and Virginia. It will be noted that 

 North Carolina and Virginia appear in each of these four 

 groups and may, therefore, be considered the most im- 

 portant farm woodland states. 



The extent to which a state can help the woodland 

 owners through the Smith-Lever law depends partly upon 



•Bulletin 481, "Status and Value of Farm Woodlots in eastern United 

 States," by E. II. Frotliingham 



the size of the agricultural population of the state and 

 partly upon the importance of the woodland problems as 

 compared with the other problems of the farms. The 

 ten states receiving the largest allotments under the 

 Smith-Lever law, in each case over $100,000, for the year 

 1919-20 are: Penn.sylvania, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, 

 Georgia, New York, Missouri, North Carolina, Alabama 

 and Tennessee. It is, of course, apparent that in some 

 states, as in those of New England, where the woodland 

 problems are relatively important, comparatively small 

 funds are available from this appropriation either be- 

 cause of the small population, as in Vermont, or the 

 relatively large urban population, as in Massachusetts. 

 The New England States were, however, the first to 

 realize the importance of the woodlands and they have 

 accordingly built up strong forestry departments. In 

 fact, the state foresters were carrying on extension work 

 before the agricultural extension work in New Eng- 

 land existed. It will, therefore, be the best policy in 

 these states for the extension services to assist the state 

 foresters in so far as their limited funds permit. In states 

 where there is no strong forestry department, or where 

 the state forester is wholly occupied with fire prevention 

 or the administration of state forests, a speciaHst in 

 forestry should be employed by the extension service, 

 and an organized effort should be made to bring im- 

 proved woodland management directly to the attention 

 of the farmers. 



In order to direct the work in farm forestry exten- 

 sion, the Forest Service will need financial support from 

 Congress similar to the support which other bureaus 

 receive for their extension work. 



OUR OFFICES BURNED OUT 



On October 6th, a fire in the Maryland Building, Washington, D. C, burned out the offices of the 

 American Forestry Association. The employes all escaped safely but the fire destroyed large numbers 

 of magazines, a quantity of stationery, and a number of records. Luckily membership records were 

 preserved, and aside from a two weeks' delay in issuing the November magazine the members are not in- 

 convenienced. 



Ample insurance policies covered the actual losses in stationery, furniture, typewriters, etc., and two 

 weeks after the fire the Equitable Fire and Marine Insurance Company, of Providence, Rhode Island, 

 made a satisfactory settlement. 



The lost magazines, however, cannot be replaced by insurance and the members are requested to kindly 

 assist in restoring the magazine files of the Association by contributing back copies if possible. The 

 following issues are particularly desired: 



1919 — January, February, March, April, May and July. 



1918 — March, April, June, July, August, October and December. 



1917— January, February, March, April, May, June, August, October, November and December. 



1916 — January, March, October and December. 



1915 — January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August and September. 



All months of all previous years. 



Please mail magazines to American Forestry Association, Maryland Building, Washington, D. C. 



