AN AGRICULTURAL SURVEY 



465 



nately, neither the early or later clearing had much reference to the 

 character of the soil. Woodlots are still common on some of the level 

 rich land ; and poor barren hillsides that are too steep for tilled crops 

 or even for good pastures were cleared. There seemed to be no plan 

 or system in clearing land. Whether a field was cleared or not seems 

 to have been a matter of chance rather than a result of judgment. 



Prices of lumber. The " log-run " prices of timber for a number of 

 years show how rapidly the price that the lumberman gets for timber 



FIG. 178. A stony hillside. This laud has never been plowed and should never 

 have been cleared. It will grow trees better than anything else. 



has increased. Not only have the prices increased but many kinds of 

 lumber that once had no value now sell at fair prices. The figures in 

 Table 68 give the average prices obtained by examination of the books 

 of some of the oldest lumbermen. They are for the lumber just as it 

 comes from the saw-mill, or " log-run " prices. 



Present condition of the woodlots. The present conditions of the 

 farm woodlots in Tompkins county are representative of the conditions 

 of the woodlots in many other counties in New York State. They 

 might well be described as irregular, detached pieces of woodland, con- 



