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  ganization 
  in 
  the 
  matter 
  of 
  interesting 
  the 
  man 
  on 
  the 
  street 
  in 
  nut 
  

   growing. 
  This 
  profession 
  and 
  the 
  business 
  of 
  forestry 
  have 
  been 
  

   passing 
  through 
  a 
  period 
  of 
  general 
  educational 
  work 
  in 
  this 
  country. 
  

   Some 
  of 
  the 
  lessons 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  learned 
  through 
  our 
  efforts 
  to 
  

   interest 
  the 
  people 
  in 
  their 
  forests 
  may 
  be 
  of 
  help 
  to 
  you 
  in 
  interest- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  people 
  both 
  in 
  the 
  consumption 
  and 
  the 
  production 
  of 
  nuts. 
  

  

  New 
  York 
  as 
  a 
  Great 
  Forest 
  State 
  

  

  Twenty-five 
  years 
  ago 
  New 
  York 
  was 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  leading 
  lumber- 
  

   producing 
  states 
  of 
  the 
  Union. 
  Today 
  some 
  twenty 
  other 
  states 
  

   produce 
  more 
  lumber 
  than 
  comes 
  from 
  the 
  forests 
  and 
  woodlots 
  of 
  

   New 
  York. 
  Statistics 
  given 
  out 
  recently 
  by 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  

   Census 
  Bureau 
  and 
  the 
  Conservation 
  Commission 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  

   show 
  that, 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  acreage 
  of 
  over 
  thirty-two 
  millions 
  in 
  

   New 
  York, 
  but 
  twenty-two 
  millions 
  are 
  included 
  within 
  farms. 
  

   This 
  leaves 
  something 
  over 
  eight 
  millions 
  of 
  acres 
  outside 
  of 
  farms 
  

   and 
  presumably 
  non-agricultural. 
  The 
  forests 
  of 
  the 
  Adirondacks 
  

   and 
  Catskills 
  and 
  the 
  woodlots 
  of 
  the 
  rougher 
  hill 
  counties 
  in 
  the 
  

   southern 
  and 
  southwestern 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  state 
  come 
  within 
  this 
  vast 
  

   area 
  of 
  eight 
  millions 
  of 
  acres. 
  Without 
  doubt 
  with 
  increasing 
  

   population 
  there 
  will 
  come 
  some 
  increase 
  in 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  what 
  are 
  now 
  

   non-agricultural 
  lands 
  for 
  the 
  practice 
  of 
  agriculture, 
  but 
  with 
  three 
  

   hundred 
  years 
  of 
  agricultural 
  history 
  back 
  of 
  us 
  in 
  this 
  state 
  it 
  does 
  

   not 
  seem 
  likely 
  that 
  there 
  will 
  be 
  much 
  change 
  in 
  the 
  relation 
  of 
  non- 
  

   agricultural 
  to 
  agricultural 
  land 
  during 
  the 
  next 
  half-century. 
  

  

  Out 
  of 
  the 
  twenty-two 
  millions 
  of 
  acres 
  of 
  farm 
  lands 
  in 
  the 
  state 
  

   but 
  fifteen 
  millions 
  are 
  actually 
  under 
  cultivation, 
  leaving, 
  therefore, 
  

   from 
  six 
  to 
  eight 
  millions 
  of 
  acres 
  within 
  the 
  farms 
  of 
  the 
  state 
  but 
  

   lying 
  idle. 
  That 
  is, 
  we 
  have 
  a 
  Massachusetts 
  enclosed 
  within 
  our 
  

   farms 
  which 
  is 
  non-productive 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  direct 
  returns 
  are 
  concerned. 
  

   Yet 
  there 
  is 
  really 
  no 
  waste 
  land 
  in 
  New 
  York, 
  as 
  every 
  square 
  

   foot 
  of 
  the 
  state 
  which 
  is 
  covered 
  with 
  any 
  soil 
  at 
  all 
  is 
  capable 
  of 
  

   producing 
  good 
  forest 
  trees. 
  It 
  is 
  this 
  great 
  area 
  of 
  idle 
  land 
  en- 
  

   closed 
  within 
  our 
  farms 
  which 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  unusual 
  promise 
  in 
  the 
  

   development 
  of 
  nut 
  culture 
  in 
  the 
  state. 
  There 
  is 
  a 
  great 
  deal 
  of 
  

   land 
  now 
  idle 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  steep 
  hillsides 
  or 
  ridges 
  or 
  rocky 
  slopes 
  

   upon 
  which 
  we 
  may 
  grow 
  with 
  comparative 
  ease 
  our 
  walnuts, 
  butter- 
  

   nuts, 
  hickories, 
  hazelnuts, 
  in 
  the 
  wild 
  form 
  at 
  least. 
  

  

  The 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  state 
  is 
  in 
  really 
  rather 
  serious 
  condition 
  finan- 
  

   cially 
  should 
  be 
  a 
  strong 
  reason 
  for 
  our 
  association 
  to 
  urge 
  upon 
  

   the 
  farmers 
  of 
  the 
  state 
  the 
  planting 
  of 
  nut-bearing 
  trees 
  that 
  the 
  

   returns 
  from 
  the 
  farms 
  may 
  be 
  increased 
  by 
  annual 
  sales 
  of 
  nuts 
  

  

  