290 FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



income to the inhabitants of the region, but it is of less volume 

 and does not assume the relative importance which it holds in 

 parts of the spruce region where many people are dependent 

 upon tourists for their summer work. Agriculture is the lead- 

 ing industry of this section and furnishes abundant work during 

 the tourist season. The importance of the forest cover in at- 

 tracting and holding summer trade is, therefore, much less than 

 in the spruce region. 



Strictly forest industries are seen to occupy a place secondary 

 in this region to agriculture. There is also considerable devel- 

 opment of water powers for manufacturing purposes, and in the 

 Vermont section large quarries of marble and granite are located. 

 The relative place in value of output held by manufacturing 

 interests with respect to agriculture and the lumber industry 

 is difficult to determine, but it is probable that manufacturing 

 exceeds the lumber industry in value of annual output. To 

 summarize, it may be said that the northern hardwoods region 

 is an agricultural section with important manufacturing and 

 lumber interests. 



Character of the Land and Timber Ownership. — Ownership of 

 the land and timber in small holdings is the rule. It is a forest 

 region characterized by so-called woodlot ownership, i.e., the 

 forest areas are owned mainly in connection with the farms. 

 Each farmer has his woodlot but these lots are considerably 

 larger than those of the sprout hardwoods region, often com- 

 prising several hundred acres of forest. There are, of course, 

 many forest tracts held by other persons than farmers. The 

 larger holdings are among this latter class, being owned princi- 

 pally by lumbermen or by sporting clubs or private estates. 

 There are still comparatively few such club or estate owners, 

 but the number is increasing, — there being a decided tendency 

 for wealthy men to buy up rundown farms with their accom- 

 panying woodlots. 



Lumbermen as a class of permanent land owners are not 

 prominent; their holdings are changing continually, through the 

 sale of cut-over lands and the purchase of timbered lands. 



