A HISTORY OF THE LUMBER INDUSTRY IN 

 THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



INTRODUCTION. 



From the time when the pioneers first swung their axes in the 

 primeval forests of New York, lumbermen have been closely connected 

 with the industrial progress and development of the State. The first 

 settler was the first lumberman; and his work commenced when he 

 felled the trees to make a clearing in the forest for his cabin and his 

 crops. Although this use of the ax alone would hardly constitute 

 lumbering as understood to-day, still it was not many years until a 

 sawmill appeared in each settlement and the lumber industry was 

 formal 1 v inaugurated. 



Of necessity, the first colonists went without sawmills longer than 

 the later ones. The}' made rough lumber for their houses, barns, and 

 fences with their axes, supplemented at times by saws, large and small, 

 worked by hand-power. But in the later settlements, which in the 

 beginning of the last century included three-fourths of the State, a 

 sawmill was built in each locality within ten or fifteen years after the 

 first family moved in. In many instances the sawmill preceded the 

 gristmill; and in a few places the erection of the mill antedated the 

 advent of the first settlers. 



Whatever means the first colonists used in converting trees into 

 lumber, the methods of logging must have been substantially the same 

 as those of to-da}^ From the first settlements to the present time lum- 

 bermen have never resorted to "clearing" operations in carrying on 

 their New York work. There is, however, a widespread impression 

 to the contrary, and people are very apt to attribute the absence of 

 forests to the work of the lumbermen. This is an error. The dis- 

 appearance of the forest is due to the farmer, not to the lumberman. 

 In clearing his land the farmer cuts and burns every tree and bush for 

 the purpose of improving his land. The lumberman takes only a few 

 scattered trees to the acre, confining his selection to some merchant- 

 able species. The carelessness of the farmers in burning their brush 

 and log heaps has caused many of the fires that have destroyed so much 

 of our forests. Lumbermen do not start fires for their work, ''"he 



