al 
to the problems of cheap waste land, soil influences, 
altitude and kinds of timber trees to plant, there are 
local factors that must be considered with reference to 
Tompkins County alone. 
Utilization of Waste Land. 
There are many small areas of so-called waste land 
in Tompkins County. These consist of swamps, gullies, 
ravines, steep hillsides and stony areas. There is 
scarcely a farm in Tompkins County but what has a certain 
amount of waste land. Such land is, in most cases, best 
fitted to grow trees. Formerly most of these waste areas 
aid grow trees, but they were cut off and since then the 
factors of fire, soil erosion, and stock have combined 
against natural reafforestation. These waste land areas 
might well be set out to quick growing trees, such as, 
locust or chestnut, either of which will grow into 
excellent post timber in from fifteen to twenty years. 
A few men in Tompkins County are far sighted enough to 
take advantage of these conditions and are planting 
limited numbers of locust and catalpas for future fence 
post timber. 
