iS REPORT OF THE FOREST COMMISSION. 



policy of restricting rather than enlarging the state's posses- 

 sions. See p. 22. 



All these activities are carried on simultaneously and as much 

 time devoted to each branch as circumstances justify. 



AGRICULTURE. 



And with the work in forestry goes hand in hand an effort to 

 open up portions of the present forest to agriculture. It is a mis- 

 take to assume that great unbroken forest areas are desirable, as 

 it is to entertain the belief, unfortunately too common, that most 

 of South Jersey is valueless. Large portions, indeed, will yield 

 more from forestry than from farming, yet scattered everywhere 

 through the woodland are soils that should be put to the higher 

 use. In a state with such hunger needs as this it is quite as im- 

 portant to locate agriculturists upon every parcel of arable land 

 as it is to advance timber interests; to consider the well-being of 

 those who live adjacent to the forests as well as the advantage 

 of the forests themselves. Field and forest is not a mere phrase, 

 they go together by nature. 



LAND SCHEMES. 



This interest in farm extension by no means includes ap- 

 proval of the many development projects that afflict our terri- 

 tory. "A town lot in the pines" is more apt to be a delusion 

 than a bargain. Legitimate efforts to open up any wild section 

 are commendable, and there are such, but a majority of the new 

 towns have little more than a paper existence and no future. 



Most of these schemes violate no law, the victims are volun- 

 tary. All that can be done is to sound a warning and urge 

 every intending purchaser to be sure that besides a deed to his 

 lot, usually at from four to twenty times its value, he gets so- 

 ciety, water, schools, stores and other necessities. 



PROGRESS. 



It can be said in a word that forestry has found a permanent 

 place in this state. The citizens believe in it. No small part of 

 the Commission's task has been to correct misapprehension, an- 



