i8 



NEW YORK STATE FORESTRY 



to finally bring about the most profitable 

 forest cover. There are considerable 

 areas in the Adirondacks which have 

 been so severely burned and cut that 

 seed trees are not present and con- 

 siderable planting will therefore be 

 necessary. However, as rapidly as 

 forests of the right species are put back 

 onto the ground, they should be handled 

 under methods of natural reproduction. 

 Wherever there is a forest as in Town- 

 ship 40 for instance, natural .methods 

 may be used to great advantage and at 

 very much less expense than planting. 



The growth of many of our native 

 species now being used commercially 

 has been so slow that should they be 

 equally as slow growing under scientific 

 management we probably could not 

 afford to grow them. The struggle for 

 space and light in the virgin forest is 

 intense and growth is retarted thereby. 

 Take for instance the Red Spruce in 

 the Adirondacks. It has been estimated 

 by well known known authorities that 

 it takes on an average from 170 to 180 

 years to produce a 1 2-inch tree. Where 

 the forest is handled as similar forests 

 are handled in Germany, it should not 

 take longer than 80 years to produce 

 such a Spruce. Again, the question of 

 growth has been gotten at by the state- 

 ment that our natural forests here in 

 New York are producing on an average 

 of about 12 cubic feet per acre per 

 year. The forests of Germany are 

 producing on an average of over 50 

 cubic feet per acre per year. That is, 

 given practically the same soil and 

 moisture conditions and almost the 



same species, careful forestry methods 

 will be from three to four times as 

 effective as nature left to herself. 



The progress of Forestry in the State 

 of New York during the past few years 

 seems to point to four lines of improve- 

 ment which should appeal to every tim- 

 ber owner, forester and public spirited 

 citizen. It is believed that these lines 

 of development will appeal when con- 

 ditions in the State are more thoroughly 

 understood and in a short time all the 

 people of the State will appreciate and 

 aid in this phase of the State's develop- 

 ment which is founded upon sound eco- 

 monic principles. 



1. The repeal of the constitutional 

 provision forbidding the cutting of trees 

 upon State lands. The throwing open 

 of the State Forests as a recreation 

 place for all the people. 



2. The large increase of the State's 

 holding of forest land. 



3. The wider extension .of methods of 

 protection now represented by observa- 

 tion towers, telephone and patrol and 

 the breaking up of forests into smaller 

 and more accessible working units. 



4. (The repeal of the constitutional 

 provision and the proper handling of 

 the forest lands already owned by the 

 State would aid greatly in carrying out 

 these last two suggestions.) 



5. The gradual introduction of simple 

 methods of Forestry which will demon- 

 strate the advisability of using natural 

 methods of reproduction and the possi- 

 bility of doubling and more the present 

 rate of growth. 



The Conservation Commission offers approximately eight million trees of various kinds 

 and ages at cost price to land owners for reforesting. 



The Nezv York Central Railroad Company is going to equip smoking cars which operate 

 thru the Adirondacks with screens to prevent smokers from throwing cigars, cigarettes and 

 matches from car windows. 



The Board of Water Supply of the State of New York, who has charge of the Ashokan 

 and Kinesco Reservoirs, have advertised for bids to furnish stock to reforest one thousand 

 acres of land adjacent to these reservoirs. 



