PREFACE 



As an educational institution, the New York State College of 

 Forestry is oblio:ated to the people of the State of New York to 

 give information regarding the forest resources of the state, 

 chief among which are its trees. In the past we as a common- 

 wealth have been profligate in the natural bounty with which 

 nature has endowed us. We have watched with public serenity 

 the wasteful exploitation of our forest resources with no thought 

 of the future. Today we are faced with an appalling timber 

 shortage -vA-ithin the state. Thousands of acres of forest lands lie 

 idle which should be producing the forests of the morrow. 



To exercise sane suffrage the public must be educated as to the 

 natural resources of the state. We must know more of the kinds 

 of trees which make up its forests, the game which inhabits them, 

 the fish which live in the forest streams. Succeeding generations 

 will criticize or commend us as we employ unwise or remedial 

 measures. A wise forest policy presupposes two things, an exten- 

 sive campaign of reforestation on idle forest lands within the 

 state, and a close utilization of such forest resources, chiefly tim- 

 ber, as still remain. Closer utilization of wood requires a more 

 specific knowledge of tree species and the information given in the 

 following pages is an endeavor to meet this demand. 



In writing this bulletin no contention is made that the field is 

 a new one. The information given herein is included in the 

 larger and more comprehensive ''tree" manuals covering the 

 trees of North America or. more specifically, those of the north- 

 eastern states. Unfortunately, however, many of the manuals 

 are inaccessible to the general public because of the cost while 

 others are of such a technical nature as to render their contents 

 difficult of interpretation by the reading public. Moreover, such 

 generalities often occur as to cause the reader some doubt as to 

 what to apply to New York State. The present bulletin, covering 

 the trees of the state only, omits much extraneous matter which 

 would otherwise confuse. 



In the publication of a tree bulletin the New York State Col- 

 lege of Forestry is meeting a definite demand as evidenced by the 

 numerous queries received relative to tree species within the 



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