it here, there was little incentive to produce it, but 

 that time is past. 



4. Thirty-five per cent of the towns of Massa- 

 chusetts have fewer inhabitants today than they had 

 fifty years ago. In many of them, lumbering was 

 the chief industry. Small farmers were dependent 

 largely on local markets which were created by the 

 lumber industry. With the passing of the forests, 

 both the mills and the farmers disappeared. This was 

 not the only cause for the abandonment of so many 

 farms in the State, but it was an important factor. 



5. One million acres, or one-fifth of the State, is 

 classified as "Waste Land." The assessed value 

 ranges from nothing to $10.00 an acre, with an aver- 

 age of about $5.00 "Waste Land" is a misnomer, be- 

 cause it is really only idle or wild land, which has 

 produced timber in the past and can be made to do 

 so again. 



6. This idle land is a burden rather than an asset 

 in its present condition, because it is producing little 

 or nothing for the owners, or for the State in taxes. 

 We must build and maintain roads over and around 

 it, toward which expense it contributes nothing. In 

 other words, we are supporting a desert equivalent in 

 area to Worcester County, 



7. Three-fifths of Massachusetts is better fitted for 

 growing trees than it is for any other crop. Properly 

 managed, this area could be made to meet our lumber 

 needs. The individual has failed to properly manage 

 this land, and he can never be expected to reclaim.it. 

 Therefore, the task of reclaiming the wild land of 

 the State must be accepted by the Commonwealth, if 



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