LESSON FOR THE FARM 



L. H. BAILEY, Director 

 COURSE FOR THE FARM, ROYAL GILKEY, Supervisor 



VOL. II. No. 4 o FARM FORESTRY No. 3 





COUNTY, TOWN, AND VILLAGE FORESTS 



A. B. RECKNAGEL 



A new law for the acquisition and development of forest lands by 

 counties, towns, and villages of New York State went into effect in March, 

 1912. The governing board of a county, town, or village may hereafter 

 acquire by purchase, gift, lease, or condemnation, tracts of land having 

 forests or tree growth thereon or suitable for the growth of trees. 



This opens up a new phase of forest management in New York State. 

 There are already national forests created from the public domain, or, 

 more recently, by purchase of land at the headwaters of navigable streams. 

 These national forests are controlled and administered by the Federal 

 Government through its Department of Agriculture. Forest reservations 

 are owned and administered by many of the States, also, such as the state 

 forest preserves in New York. But most of the forested area of this 

 country is owned privately or corporately. In New York State there 

 are large areas of unproductive land, yielding little or nothing in taxes, 

 which could be made productive. Such lands are well suited to become 

 county, town, or village forests that will substantially decrease taxes and 

 will keep up the roads. 



To the private owner the forest is primarily a source of immediate 

 gain. To the nation or state it is more than this it is a safeguard for 

 the prosperity of future generations, a prosperity dependent to no small 

 degree on the proper conservation of forests. The law making possible 

 the acquisition of lands for forestry purposes by counties, towns, and vil- 

 lages, is therefore a further step toward the goal of nation-wide conserva- 

 tion of natural resources. 



Conservation means not the locking-up of resources but the using 

 of them without abusing them. It emphasizes the management of forests 

 in such a manner that they will continuously produce timber and other 

 forest products without impairing their protective function. 



Published semi-monthly throughout the year by the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell 

 University. Entered as second-class matter October 13, 1911, at the post office at Ithaca, New York, 

 under the Act of Congress of July 16, 1894. 



