COMMERCIAL FOREST PLANTING IN NEW YORK STATE 



27 



Acres. 

 *Land in farms 22,030,367 



Lands in farms in 1900 22,648,109 



Improved land in farms 14,844,039 



Improved land in farms in 1900 15,599,986 



Woodland in farms 4,436,145 



Other unimproved land in farms 2,750,183 



By deducting the farm area from the 

 total land surface there is found to re- 

 main 8,468,193 acres. Of course a por- 

 tion of this is occupied by cities, towns 

 and villages. It is presumable that a 

 large proportion is forest land. We 

 cannot exactly determine what part is 

 cut over, burned over and not restock- 

 ing. However, if we assume it to be a 

 quarter of the area mentioned that 

 would be approximately 2,000,000 

 acres. To this may be added at least a 

 part of the class known as " other un- 

 improved land in farms " in the table 

 already mentioned, possibly 2,000,000 

 acres. This gives a total of 4,000,000 

 acres. Undoubtedly there are addi- 

 tional areas that are now farmed which 

 are not well suited to agriculture, and 

 there is woodland which can best be re- 

 newed by planting after cutting or by 

 underplanting. On the other hand, 

 there are areas now wooded which are 

 suitable for agricultural purposes and 

 will be cleared. 



I have given these conservative 

 figures to show that the people of the 

 State have a definite problem before 

 them which attains decided importance 

 in the maintenance of New York's 

 timber production. Much unused land 

 represents retrogression and not prog- 

 ress. 



The first principle in the maintenance 

 of a timber supply is efficient protection 

 from fire. This we have on our State 

 Preserves, but not organized service in 

 the rest of the State. Last summer on 

 one day during the drought period I 

 could from a hill near Ithaca, see a 

 dozen forest fires burning. Can planta- 

 tions in woodland regions outside of the 

 Preserves be safe from loss by fire? 

 Shall the Association recommend plant- 

 ing on a great scale without the assur- 



ance of organized means of control and 

 prevention of fires? A commercial 

 basis for forest planting must rest pri- 

 marily on the safety of the investment. 

 This applies equally well to an invest- 

 ment in woodland and its improvement. 



Measures of prevention rest not 

 alone, however, with the State, but 

 must be supplemented by the efforts of 

 individuals and of corporations who 

 undertake planting. Local protection 

 by fire lines and by other means has 

 proven adequate to protect planted 

 forest adjoining railroads and which 

 was open to danger from other causes 

 of fires. Educational work and organ- 

 ized fire prevention can remove to a 

 large degree this objection or stumbling 

 block to the planting of forests. Ade- 

 quate fire protection is sure to come if 

 extensive planting is done. Planting 

 creates and increases interest in fire pre- 

 vention. 



The danger of losses due to insects, 

 fungi and other injurious agencies does 

 not necessarily render an investment in 

 planting unsafe. Careful judgment in 

 the selection of species and mixtures, 

 as well as subsequent economic meas- 

 ures for preventing losses or reducing 

 the damage, are reasonable safeguards 

 in this respect. 



So far as taxation is concerned, there 

 is steady progress in legislation to do 

 away with injustice arising from re- 

 peated taxation of the forest crop. 



Another important principle is well 

 stated in a report f presented at the 

 Fifth National Conservation Congress 

 as follows : 



" The second principle is to establish a 

 timber supply on a permanent basis. To 

 accomplish this purpose, work must naturally 

 begin with a classification of the land, de- 

 termining as closely as possible what lands 

 are agricultural in character and what lands 

 are non-agricultural and should therefore 

 be devoted to the growing of timber. This 

 classification should be carried out by the 

 State irrespective of the ownership of the 

 land classified. Theoretically, this work 

 should precede attempts at reforestation, af- 

 forestation, application of silvicultural 



*Agriculture : New York, I3th Census of the U. S., 1910, Bulletin of the Bureau of the 

 Census, Department of Commerce and Labor. 



t Report of Sub-Committee on State Forest Policy, Fifth National Conservation Congress 

 Washington, D. C, 1913. 



