42 THE CORNELL READING-COURSES 



valuation of more than five dollars per acre, or that similar lands in said vicinity have 

 not been assessed for more than five dollars per acre, the said commission shall, as soon 

 as practicable after the receipt of such application, cause an examination to be made 

 of the lands for the purpose of determining whether or not it is of a character suitable 

 to be reforested or underplanted and to be classified as such. After such examination 

 if the commission shall determine that such lands are suitable for reforestation or under- 

 planting, it is hereby empowered to enter into a written agreement with the owner, 

 which agreement shall be to the effect that the commission will furnish said owner, 

 at a price not to exceed cost of production, trees to be set out upon said lands, the kind 

 and number to be prescribed by the commission, and to be set forth in said agreement; 

 that the owner will set out upon said land the number and kind of trees per acre desig- 

 nated by the commission; and that said land will not be used for any purpose other 

 than forestry purposes, during the period of exemption, without the consent of the 

 commission; and that said lands and the trees thereon will be managed and protected 

 at all times during the period of said exemption in accordance with the directions and 

 instructions of the commission. Said agreement shall be recorded in the office of the 

 county clerk of the county where the lands are situated, and the provisions thereof 

 shall be deemed to be and be covenants running with the land. Within one year after 

 the making of such agreement, said lands shall be planted by the owner with the number 

 and kind of trees specified therein; and the owner shall file with the commission an 

 affidavit making due proof of such planting, which affidavit shall remain on file in the 

 office of said commission. Upon the filing of such affidavit the commission shall cause 

 an inspection of such lands- to be made by a competent forester who shall make and 

 file with said commission a written report of such inspection. If the commission is 

 satisfied from said affidavit and report that the lands have been forested in good faith 

 as provided in said agreement, it shall make and execute a certificate under its seal, 

 and file the same with the county treasurer of the county in which the lands or any part 

 thereof so forested are located, which certificate shall set forth a description of said 

 lands, the area and the owner thereof, the town in which the same are situated, a state- 

 ment that the land has been separately classified for taxation in accordance with the 

 provisions of this section and a valuation, in excess of which, said lands shall not be 

 assessed for the period of thirty-five years, which valuation shall not in any event be 

 greater than the average valuation at which the same lands were assessed for the last 

 five years preceding the date of said application, or the value of such lands as appears 

 by the aforesaid sworn statements of the assessors of such tax district, and a statement 

 that the trees and timber thereon shall be exempt from taxation during said period. 

 Upon the filing of such certificate it shall be the duty of the county treasurer to file 

 with the assessors of each tax district in which the lands described are located, a cer- 

 tified copy thereof, and the assessors of such tax district shall place the lands according 

 to the description contained in said certificate upon the next assessment-roll, prepared 

 for the assessment of lands within such tax district, at a valuation not to exceed the 

 amount stated in said certificate, and not to exceed the assessed valuation of similar 

 lands in said tax district; and said assessors shall insert upon the margin of said assess- 

 ment-roll opposite the description of said lands, a statement that said lands shall not 

 be assessed during the period of thirty-five years at a value in excess of said amount 

 and that the trees and timber growing upon said lands shall be wholly exempted from 

 taxation during said period; and said assessors shall also insert upon the margin of said 

 assessment-roll the date of expiration of said exemption. Such lands shall be assessed, 

 and continue to be assessed, and carried in such manner, upon the assessment-rolls, 

 of such towns until the end of the exemption period. In the event that lands so classified 

 shall, in the judgment of the commission, cease to be used exclusively for forestry pur- 

 poses to the extent provided in the agreement between the conservation commission 

 and the owner, or that said owner has violated its terms, or any reasonable rules and 

 regulations of the commission in respect to the use of or the cutting of timber on said 

 lands, the exemption from taxation provided in this section shall no longer apply; or 

 at the election of the commission such owner may be also restrained from said acts 

 by injunction; and the assessors having jurisdiction shall, upon the direction of the 

 commission, assess said lands against the owner at the value, and in the manner pro- 

 vided by the tax law for general assessment of land. 



The planting or underplanting of a tract in forest trees in compliance with the agree- 

 ment as provided in this section shall be taken and deemed to be an acceptance by the 

 owner of the exemption privileges herein granted and of the conditions herein imposed ; 

 and in consideration of the public benefit to be derived from the planting, underplanting, 



