464 



BULLETIN 295 



Development of the woodlot. A little over a hundred years ago 

 Tompkins county was covered with a dense stand of excellent virgin 

 timber. This consisted of white pine, oaks, hemlock, maples, beech, 

 elm, basswood and many other species. In the early days there was 



FIG. 177. The rough land and hill tops should be left in woods. 



little market for lumber and in the haste to get the land cleared for 

 farm purposes much of the finest timber was burned. It is estimated 

 by men whose fathers settled the county that fully 60 per cent of the 

 virgin forest was cut and burned in order to clear the land. Unfortu- 



TABLE 67. AREA IN FARM WOODLOTS. 



Average area of woodlots, 1,940 farms, 13.5 acres. 



Average area of woodlots, 1,516 farms having woods, 17.2 acres. 



