56 REPORT OF THB FOREST COMMITTEE 



by county, town and municipal planting. There are several methods that suggest 

 themselves for State aid of community planting. 



(1) Legal permission by the State to local governments (county, city, 

 town, village) to bond themselves or raise money by loan' for the purpose of 

 acquiring and planting denuded lands. (A measure already in law in New 

 York State.*) 



(2) Same provision as (1) in reference to bonds or loans, but State 

 to furnish plant material free of charge to counties, cities, towns and villages. 



(3) State loans with interest at 3% for a 50-year period to county or 

 local community for use in acquiring land and planting it; to be secured hy 

 a lien on the first timber returns. (fThis plan was suggested by Dr. B. E. 

 Fernow in an address delivered at the annual meeting of the Society for 

 the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, Lake Sunapee, N. H., July 

 23, 1913.) 



(4) County, town, city or village having or acquiring land for reforesta- 

 tion to give deed to the State which reforests the land and manages it. 

 Within a given period the land may be redeemed upon payment by com- 

 munity of reforestation costs with interest at 3%, provided the forest is 

 thereafter managed in accordance with a working plan prepared by the 

 State Forester and under his supervision. 



The States should continue present encouragement of private planting by 

 furnishing advice and planting stock at cost where such is not available from 

 private nurseries at reasonable prices. It is very doubtful if financial aid to 

 private individuals, associations, companies or corporations either in the form 

 of free plant material or money subvention is advisable. The State's own 

 reforestation work and State aid, as indicated above, on a large scale would 

 prevent any assistance of this sort. 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 



(1) Although interest in forest planting is increasing, the actual area 

 planted each year is very small in contrast to the millions of acres which require 

 reforestation. 



(2) An investment in planting should be made relatively safe from loss, 

 especially by fire. Organized fire prevention and control has minimized losses 

 from this source. Adequate fire protection is sure to come if extensive planting 

 is undertaken. 



(3) Successful commercial planting depends upon a good future market, 

 lands of low value on which to plant, a choice of species suited to the needs of 

 the market and to the conditions, local and regional, relative freedom from 

 sources of damage, a low initial cost of planting and a return on the money 

 invested equal at least to a fair rate of interest. Many examples of successful 

 plantations exist which meet these conditions. 



(4) As an investment forest planting is not attractive to the small private 

 landowner excepting where other valuable considerations exist, such as appre- 

 ciation of land values, the protection of crops by wind breaks, or early returns 



* Chapter 74, Laws of New York, 1918. 



t "A Plan to Meet Our Needs for Wood Timber," American Forestry, Vol 19 No s 

 page 521. ■ ' ^""^ °> 



