FOREST TAXATION IN THE UNITED STATES 345 
Hartford and Middlesex County meadow lands_______________________ $2. 50 
ENON Ney aYo sh | SES ae LT ene gah mas NOURI AN SON Nad, MAM MA ge Caer a Cet eh at Umi 28 Le Levy) 
Mowinotamcnelear pasture mrp lira titel este on bry Ell eon NT herp 1. 34 
SUSANG ION NGAI 2, MM AT We A VG LS Se AR BPG S11 Aa Ra AM, A a 1. 25 
| BASHA SO OVO NR VOI A wea a a Pol ai I Ne ss pl AS cons fa 8 . 84 
Timber lands which, if cleared, would be fit for mowing or plowing; boggy 
lands not mowed; and lands overgrown with woods, bushes, briars, and 
the like whereby the lands become unsuitable for pasture, whether the 
Sail era venOeCen iCLeALeGr Om MOb aa wok ye) oy a hala at ea A ee ue . o4 
Uninclosed land, second rate (mountain timber land)__________________ sal 
RO Give rspunimian clos ea). ea tacit gan ees ye ee Teh Te Ne A ee . 09 
EARLY WESTERN LEGISLATION 
Exemption Laws To ENCOURAGE PLANTING 
This Connecticut effort, the first so far as is known, to make suit- 
able provision for the taxation of forest property devoted to contin- 
uous production, although it failed, is none the less significant. At 
that time it had seemed that the way to face the forest problem was 
directly through the conservation and management of the then 
existing forests. Kinney (196) shows numerous attempts to legislate 
forestry into existence by requiring conservative cutting and the 
prevention of waste, particularly with reference to the forests still in 
public ownership. Hough (192) and Ise (194) also show the same 
thing but indicate that the timber interests were then strong enough 
politically to block any effective legislation dealing with the existing 
forests. On the other hand, interest in the planting of new forests 
encountered no such entrenched interests to offer political opposition, 
while many factors were at work in its favor. This was particularly 
the case in the central Western States, which were then being rapidly 
settled up, and in New England, where much of the readily accessible 
original timber had been or was being cut. In both sections the 
scarcity of wood for fuel and for fences and buildings was imposing or 
threatening a hardship. In the West droughts were occasioning an 
added interest in the planting of forests. In New England, floods, 
unseasonable frosts, and summer droughts—all attributed to the 
destruction of forests—were also causing concern and were stimulating 
interest in forest planting. Consequently it is not surprising to find 
in these sections taxation measures, in the form of relief from taxes, 
together with the offering of bounties and prizes, for successful tree 
planting as the first tangible taxation relief measures actually to be 
enacted. 
Nebraska Territory led in this movement by the passage of an 
exemption law on January 4,1861. This action appears to have been 
directly attributable to Gov. Samuel W. Black. Governor Black 
(178) in his first message to the legislature, December 6, 1859, had this 
to say on the subject: 
While our climate is, in many respects, all that could be desired, and our soil 
so richly productive, it is not to be denied that the want of timber on the prairies 
is a great drawback, notwithstanding the fair supply to be found on the Missouri, 
and the inland streams of Nebraska. If it is possible, in any practicable way, 
to encourage the planting and growth of timber, it seems to me it should be done. 
But a very few years are required to grow, to a profitable size, from small begin- 
nings, such trees as cottonwood, walnut, black locust, ash, maple, and hickory. 
I recommend to your consideration a plan of indirect bounty, by which, I believe, 
great good could be accomplished. If every settler could be induced to plant 
and start into successful growth, on his own land, a few acres of the trees I have 
named, I feel satisfied it would in the end be a decided and general gain, to exempt 
