A PLAN ADEQUATE TO MEET OUR NEEDS FOR WOOD TIMBER. 8 1 



extent of ;^i4o, and in the third quinquennium, a surplus begins 

 to appear. Now arrangements for refunding the load may be 

 made at once, or else merely interest may be continued to be 

 paid out of returns for thinnings, the town receiving small 

 incomes until the sixtieth year, when the first 200 acres may 

 come to harvest yielding not less than ;z{^24,ooo (likely 

 much more at that time), wiping out the loan and leaving a 

 very valuable property producing annual revenue. 



" All that the State has done is to lend its credit, not one cent 

 is given in charity, and the town has made no expenditure except 

 for the care of the property, 



"That these calculations are not chimerical may be learned 

 from the experiences of France. 



"Here the State reforested during the last century 200,000 

 acres of sand dunes at a cost of ;!^4oo,ooo. Of this 75,000 

 acres were sold reimbursing the total cost of the 200,000 acres 

 and ^^28,000 to boot, and leaving a property now valued at 



;^2,000,000. 



" In the Landes the State, municipality and private owners 

 planted nearly 1,750,000 acres at a cost of ;,^2,ooo,ooo, the value 

 of the recovered properties being now placed at ^20,000,000,. 

 based on their annual production. 



" Some 200,000 acres of poor land, unhealthy useless waste, in 

 La Sologne, was planted by a private association at a cost of 

 ^i per acre. These lands, which fifty years ago could not 

 be sold at i6s. per acre, now bring in over 12s. per acre annual 

 revenue, being valued at ^3,600,000. 



" These are actual results achieved and not fancies -or fore- 

 casts." 



Dr Fernow went on to apply this to larger areas. In New 

 England he estimated there were 5 million acres immediately 

 ready for planting. This on a 25-year campaign would 

 necessitate planting 200,000 acres per year. Some planting 

 was now being done, but in the face of these figures did present 

 work not look amateurish and inadequate? 



Such an area (which is twice the forest area of Bavaria and 

 Baden combined, producing ;;r2,ooo,ooo) planted with white 

 pine at ^2 per acre and properly managed would produce 

 annually its 2,000,000 M feet of lumber, worth even at present 

 stumpage prices ;i^4, 000,000, and be an ample supply for any 

 population that might then be located in New England. 



VOL. XXVIII. PART I. F 



