AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS IN SOUTHERN NEW YORK. 



15 



and bettor adaptations to the conditions of our hill lands needs no 

 emphasis. Methods must be sim|)le and more economical, but the 

 op})()rtuuities are great. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE FARM WOOD LOT. 



The traveler in New York wState can not fail to be impressed with 

 the abundance and character of the tree growth, indicating a great 

 natural adaptation of the land to this class of vegetation. Again, 

 he can not but see the utter impracticability of the cultivation of 

 many of the rough and steep hillsides of the State. Economical crop 



Ftg. 6.— a hillside loo steep to till, showing natural reforestation. This land ought never to have 



been cleared. 



production is impossible on many of the hills because of their inac- 

 cessi])ility and their distance from market and from the source of 

 supplies. Many lands are so located that the cost of hauling supplies 

 and marketing ordinary farm products would largely influence profits. 

 It is clear that large tracts of New York lands should be covered with 

 tree growth. (See fig. 6.) 



The national and some of the state governments have already 

 adopted the policy of conserving the forest lands. They favor also 

 the development of the farm wood lots, the small areas owned by 

 individual farmers, which are the important factor from our point of 

 view. These are not as a rule yielding much income at i)resent, but 



[Cir. G4] 



