16 AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS IN SOUTHERN NEW YORK. 



are an imi)ortant ])art of the fann. Like other i)arts of the farm 

 unit they should be made to yield an ineome. 



Tree growth'would ])revent erosion on many of the lighter soils. 

 It would protect the watersheds, prevent floods, and make the water 

 supply more equable throughout the year. Moreover, the growth of 

 trees as a crop can be made to produce a profitable income on many 

 lands at a good valuation. From twenty to thirty-five yeare will 

 suffice to grow a cro]) of trees which will pay a good interest on the 

 investment in the land for the whole period. Throughout this area 

 the hard woods, such as oak, chestnut, hickory, and ash, are found 

 to thrive, and added to these is the more rapid growing but valuable 

 white pine. The lands already timbered should be conserved, and 

 additional lands should not only be allowed to reforest themselves, 

 but should be helped along by the planting of such trees as are 

 adaptive and desirable. Conservation of existing woodlands may be 

 easily efi'ected by such means as protection against fires, proper 

 thinning out of worthless trees and undergrowth, care against injury 

 by overpasturage, etc.*^ 



A METHOD OF WORK. 



The usual agricultural agencies, whether state or national, have 

 been unable to reach the southern section of New York as effectively 

 as some other parts of the State. Personal visitation by practical 

 men thoroughly acquainted with the situation seems to be one of the 

 methods of meeting the problem. 



During the past two summers Mr. George Monroe, of the Office of 

 Farm Management, has attempted a detailed study of two areas in 

 Tompkins County, with the object not only of finding out conditions 

 and reasons for the decline of agriculture there but also of searching 

 for and applying remedial measures. The results of a single 3'ear's 

 work in these areas have indicated man}'- important lines of 

 improvement. 



In a region where it was thought that corn would not grow well 

 a few good crops have been grown during the past year as the result 

 of seed selection and better cultivation. Where little or no winter 

 grain was sown several fields have been seeded to winter wheat. 

 Where the yields of potatoes have not been more than from 40 to 60 

 bushels ])er acre, from 200 to 250 bushels were grown during the sea- 

 sons of 1908 and 1909. The ultimate aim, of course, is to get clover in 

 rotation as nearly self-sustaining as possible, wliich will mean not 

 only better money crops, but eventually the keeping of live stock. 



a Full information along this line may be ol)tained l)y writing to the State Forest, 

 Fish, and Game Commission, Albany, N. Y., and to the Forest Service, U. S. Dept. 

 of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 

 [(Mr. G41 



