7,10 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



a railroad will inevitably come about in 

 the course of time. At the present time the 

 prospects of construction are indefinite. 

 This fact is chiefly responsible for the com- 

 paratively low value of these lands." 



This raises the question as to what will 

 be the effect generally upon railroad exten- 

 sion in the Southern Appalachian of the 

 establishment of this national forest. In 

 a very few years, beyond a doubt, all the 

 timber in that region as good as the Gen- 

 nett tract would pass into the hands of 

 operating lumbermen, and as an incident to 

 these operations a considerable railroad 

 development would occur. A number of 

 spurs and extensions would be built by lines 

 penetrating that region, and in addition 

 many logging roads would be constructed 

 which ultimately would develop into com- 

 mon carriers. How much this railroad de- 

 velopment will be retarded by the passing 



of a big area of the timber into the hands 

 of the government remains to be seen. It 

 is not the purpose of the government, as we 

 understand it, where it acquires land hav- 

 ing timber good enough for sawmill opera- 

 tions, to withhold the timber from manu- 

 facture, but to offer the utmost encourage- 

 ment to lumbermen to come in and buy and 

 cut it under such regulations as will per- 

 petrate a regrowth, while protecting the 

 area from destructive erosion. 



The editor of The Southern Lumberman 

 is familiar with much of the tract embraced 

 in the present purchase. It is in a region 

 where, when the timber has been cut off, 

 the erosion is frightful, and is in the heart 

 of a section where, if this erosion can be 

 prevented throughout a wide territory, the 

 effect on a number of important southern 

 streams will be very great. — The Southern 

 Ltimberman, 1, July, 1911. 



NEWS AND NOTES 



Uncle Sam Owns Much Timber but Has Only 

 One Saw Nill 



Wausau, Wis.. June 27. — According to 

 oflttcial reports. Uncle Sam owns some six 

 hundred billion feet of standing timber scat- 

 tered over a wide territory in the United 

 States. However, at only one place has he 

 attempted to convert stumpage into lumber 

 on a commercial scale. This is at Neopit, 

 Wis., where a government-built and oper- 

 ated sawmill is cutting lumber from the 

 timber on the Menominee Indian Reserva- 

 tion, on the theory that more profit can 

 thus be made for the Indians than by sell- 

 ing stumpage for some one else to manu- 

 facture. It is an up-to-date, modern plant, 

 with two band and a resaw, besides shingle 

 and lath mills. It was built three years ago 

 under the direction of E. A. Braniff, of the 

 United States Forest Service, and the entire 

 plant represents an investment of more 

 than $300,000. The mill is turning out 

 250,000 feet of lumber every twenty-four 

 hours, and it is expected that the annual 

 cut from now on will be 40,000,000 feet. 

 With 2,000,000,000 feet of standing timber 

 on the reservation to draw upon, the plant 

 has a long future before it, regardless of 

 any second crop of timber which may be 

 obtained through scientific management of 

 the cut-over land. It is estimated that 

 approximately 40 per cent of the stand is 

 hemlock and the remainder exceptionally 

 good white pine and hardwoods. The cut 

 this year is chiefly white pine, and some 

 very high class timber is being manufac- 

 tured, as will be seen by the illustrations. 

 One contract calls for 1,000.000 feet of 

 waney-edged pine to be shipped to England, 

 for which $50 per thousand is paid at the 

 mill. 



In addition to being the only government 



sawmill in the United States, this plant has 

 the unique distinction of having a woman 

 for its sales manager — Miss E. S. Gallet — 

 and she is generally acknowledged to be 

 well fitted for the task. Uncle Sam has ex- 

 perienced various kinds of trouble with his 

 sawmill, including some unpleasant noto- 

 riety during the Ballinger-Pinchot inves- 

 tigation, but he takes no chances with slow 

 collections, and in this respect is decidedly 

 ahead of the ordinary lumber manufac- 

 turer. The lumber at Neopit is advertised 

 and sold to the highest responsible bidder, 

 and it is paid tor in cash without dis- 

 count when loaded on the cars ready for 

 shipment. An exact and complete cost- 

 keeping system installed by the general 

 superintendent and Indian agent, A. S. 

 Nicholson, indicates that the operation is 

 making a small margin of profit above pres- 

 ent stumpage prices, after allowing for 

 depreciation, interest on the investment, 

 and overhead charges of every kind. 



The Menominee Indians number some 

 1,100, and on an average about 200 of the 

 men are employed in the woods, on the 

 river, and around the mill. The Indians 

 are exceptionally good river men, but will 

 not have so much opportunity for work of 

 this character as was anticipated. The 

 original plan was to drive all timber to the 

 mill, but this has been abandoned, and the 

 logs will hereafter be brought in by rail- 

 road. Seven miles of logging road is now 

 built, and the system will be gradually 

 extended to reach all the timber on the 

 reservation. After cutting, part of the 

 reservation will be cleared and allotted to 

 the Indians for farms, while the remainder 

 will be held for another crop of timber, 

 the cutting on this section now being re- 

 stricted to timber marked according to for- 

 estry methods. 



