KKVUCWS 9i0.7s 



the "value of farm land" and the "proportion of farm land which is 

 improved" as the factors which have the most important bearing on 

 the real causes of woodlot clearing. Table i shows the average value 

 of farm land in 1910 for the counties in each woodlot division and 

 Table 2 the proportion of improved land in 1880 and 1910. The 

 general rate at which agricultural development took place between 

 1880 and 1910 is indicated in Table 3, which shows what proportion 

 of the total land surface was in farms in each of those years. Table 

 4 gives the acreage of woodland in 19 10 and the percentage of in- 

 crease or decrease since 1880 for each State and woodlot division. 

 The total woodland area in 1910 in the Eastern States was 143,391,568 

 acres. 



These tables show that in general there has been a gradual decrease 

 in woodlot areas. From 1880 to 1890 this decrease amounted to 

 nearly 15 per cent, and was most rapid in the three woodlot divisions 

 now having the smallest proportion of farm land in woods. The de- 

 crease amounted to 37 per cent in Division I, 39 per cent in Division 

 II, and 18.5 per cent in Division III ; while in Division IV it was, only 

 5.7 per cent, in Division V 0.8 per cent, and in Division VI no de- 

 crease at all. In New England there were increases in Divisions III 

 and IV, due chiefly to reforestation of abandoned fields. In the Lake 

 States a large increase is shown in Divisions III to VI, due to the 

 acquisition by settlers of large portions of the timberland. In most 

 of the States the decrease was more rapid in the small woodlot than 

 in the large woodlot region, every State except Minnesota and Mas- 

 sachusetts (Nantucket Island), showing a decrease in Division I, and 

 only four States showing an increase in Division II. 



The increase in the proportion of farm-improved land shown , in 

 Table 2 for the corresponding division shows that this decrease in the 

 area of woodlands has been caused chiefly by the need of land for 

 cultivation and grazing; but while the increase in total farm holdings 

 was less than 12 per cent from 1880 to 1910, the area of unimproved, 

 unwooded farm land increased over 34 per cent in amount, showing 

 that a great deal of farm land has not been improved when cleared. 

 In the Northern Lake States this can be accounted for by the acquisi- 

 tion by farmers of stump lands not yet in shape for cultivation, and 

 in the East, as a whole, it is probable that the greater part of this class 

 of land has remained idle, partly because the farmer did not have the- 

 means to improve it and partly because it was too poorly drained, too 

 steep, or too stony for successful cultivation. The area of unimproved. 



