12 



TAXATION OF FOREST LANDS 



Bounty for 

 tree planting. 



Three years' 



cultivation 



required. 



Density. 



Proof neces- 

 sary. 



naturally into four groups : 1st, bounties ; 2d, rebates ; 3d, 

 exemption for a period of years ; and 4th, exemption of a 

 certain proportion of the area held by an owner. Some 

 States have both bounties and exemption for a term of 

 years. 



(1) BOUNTIES 



Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts and Wyoming offer 

 bounties to forest planters. A bounty in money is offered 

 in order to encourage private owners to plant their non- 

 agricultural lands to forest trees. In some cases the 

 bounty takes the form of a competitive prize for the best 

 plantation in certain districts; in other cases the bounty 

 is paid for each acre of satisfactory plantation. 



We made inquiries to ascertain the extent to which this 

 method has proved of value in forest production. Except 

 in the case of Minnesota, so far as the reports are obtain- 

 able, they indicate very small results. 



In Minnesota $440,000 have been spent in bounties, the 

 amount appropriated being $20,000 a year. The law has 

 been in operation since 1877. The bounty is at the rate 

 of $2.50 an acre. It is claimed by those who are in a 

 position to know that some 50,000 acres of standing timber 

 can be traced directly to the operation of this law. It will 

 be seen at a glance that, although the law has accomplished 

 results, it has done so at an enormous cost. 



The Massachusetts bounty laws are treated in detail in 

 Part III. of this report. 



The Illinois law is given below as a type of bounty 

 law: 



ILLINOIS REVISED STATUTES, CHAPTER CXXXVI. 



SECTION 1. It shall be lawful for the board of supervisors 

 or county commissioners' court (board of county commis- 

 sioners) in any county in this state to offer a bounty to any 

 person in said county who shall hereafter plant one or more 

 acres of land with forest trees and properly cultivate the same 

 for three years, for each acre so planted and cultivated : pro- 

 vided, that trees so planted shall not be at a greater distance 

 than ten feet apart each way. 



SECTION" 2. Any person claiming the bounty under this act 

 shall make proof before the county clerk that he has complied 



