62 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



supposed to be an inducement to plant up the land at an 

 expenditure which would probably not fall below $10 per 

 acre. In other words, the law invites you to put seven 

 times the amount of value on your land for going untaxed 

 for ten years. It does not say that after that period it will 

 not tax the land according to its true value, based upon the 

 improvement, nor does it refer .to the risk of losing the 

 whole investment by fire, under our lack of protection. Do 

 you see much encouragement in this release? How many 

 have started planting for its sake? It is, to be sure, quite 

 pleasant to reduce taxes by any means, if only for a short 

 time, but I doubt whether it is a financial inducement to 

 grow timber. 



On the other hand, the financial result of timber planting 

 in itself should be encouragement enough, if the State, the 

 town, will only do its duty of insuring reasonable protection 

 for it. 



To demonstrate what inducement to invest in a tree plan- 

 tation comes from its own results, it is necessary to be some- 

 what more definite as to the character of the planting, 

 although it would be no trick at all with almost any planta- 

 tion, made at an expense of $10 per acre, to secure a 5 per 

 cent investment by mere firewood production, in any place 

 where thirty years hence $1 stumpage per cord could be 

 secured, — a not unreasonable assumption for many places 

 in Massachusetts. But to him who has time to wait, a tim- 

 ber proposition would be nmch more attractive. There is 

 some experience in your State of what white pine can be 

 made to do without very nmch attention, several hundred 

 acres of plantations being in existence. 



Our experience in New York teaches us that we can make 

 a first-class plantation of white pine and spruce, which is 

 better than a pure white pine plantation, at within $10, if we 

 grow our own stock and set out 1,700 two to three year 

 seedlings to the acre. If the planting is properly done, and 

 no misfortune occurs, there is nothing to be done to this 

 plantation until it is about thirty years of age, except that, if 

 it can be utilized, some of the dead material may be removed. 

 By the thirtieth year the number of living trees will have 



