FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 27 



previous report, that tliis product would load 62,000 cars, making a train over 400 

 miles long. 



There are no statistics showing the number of tanneries, for there are none left 

 in the Catskills. The hemlock included here in the sawmill returns stands for logs 

 that were cut for himber, and not for bark. At one time the tanneries were numer- 

 ous in these counties, owing to the vast amount of hemlock standing there. But 

 this industry is now extinct in that region, the tanneries having been abandoned 

 here and there as the supply of bark became exhausted. Some little hemlock was 

 left standing in places, but it was so remote and inaccessible that it could not be cut 

 with any profit. But, influenced by the present high price for this kind of lumber, 

 the sawmill men are picking up what few lots are left, and hence the quantity — 

 18,659,026 feet — -shown in the returns. In a few years the small amount of hemlock 

 remaining in the Catskill region will be gone, and the species will become extinct 

 there with the exception of what may be found in the forests of the State Preserve. 



There is another industry connected with the Catskill woodlands which may be 

 mentioned here, although it is one that is not regarded favorably from the forester's 

 standpoint ; and that is the annual cropping of the small evergreens for Christmas 

 trees. The market demand for this young growth is enormous, although there is 

 little profit in the business for those who are engaged in furnishing the material. 

 Its bad effect on the future timber supply of these merchantable species is readily 

 apparent, as the continued destruction of the young growth must result eventually 

 in the extinction of these desirable kinds. If these w^oodlands were under a proper, 

 conservative management no harm would be done; for the yearly thinnings from 

 the entire forest would satisfy the market for Christmas trees. But under the 

 present methods entire areas are completely stripped of the young spruces and bal- 

 sams, thereby changing the future composition of the forest and converting it into a 

 hardwood stand of less valuable timber. 



The annual output of the Adirondack forests shows no diminution, tht product 

 for 1900 being largely in excess of the i)revious year, although not quite equal to 

 that of 1898. Aside from the State holdings, there are now about 700,000 acres of 

 forest land in the Adirondack Park that have not been lumbered, or from which a 

 second cutting of spruce can now be obtained. 



Each year, recently, the softwood timber on 80,000 acres or more is cut and 

 removed by the lumbermen or jjulpwood operators. Tliis would indicate that, if 

 the present rate of cutting continues, these iiulustric:^ will exhaust their suppl\- of 

 raw material in ten or twelve years, after which they will have to depend on the 

 State forests or Canadian imiiorls for a further continuance of their business. At 



