Forest Planting as an Investment 543 



excellent investments even when the direct return in interest on 

 the investment is very low. 



It must, therefore, be left to the State and the community to 

 reforest by planting the idle and waste lands in New England that 

 on account of their location or quality are not attractive as a 

 planting operation by private capital and which, under natural 

 conditions, will not reclothe themselves with desirable stands of 

 timber. It is well to leave to private capital the planting of such 

 areas as can be planted with reasonable assurance of a profit 

 on the investment. Such areas in New England are relatively 

 small, and we can be sure that private capital will not wander 

 much beyond these limits. The State and community, however, 

 must assume their responsibility, and purchase and reforest areas 

 that private capital cannot profitably undertake. They can do 

 this when private capital cannot because they measure their 

 profits not only in wood products, but in the indirect value of 

 the forest to the community. 



Investments made by States and smaller governmental units in 

 waste and denuded lands unfit for agriculture and in planting 

 them with valuable timber are fundamentally sound. They are 

 unlike most other governmental investments such as expenditures 

 for public buildings, roads, etc., in that they soon begin to return 

 an income on the expenditure while the others do not. It is my 

 contention that at least a part of the present large expenditure 

 by our States and communities for public improvements should 

 be spent in the purchase of denuded land that the private citizen 

 cannot afiford to own, much less to reforest and improve it by re- 

 establishing the forest. 



