14 FOREST commissioner's REPORT. 



• 



no source from which to derive the information here unless 

 we gather it ourselves. The whole policy thus far seems to 

 have been a "penny wise and pound foolish" one, but we 

 hope the time has arrived when more intelligence will be used. 



What then is the practical information we need? What are 

 some of the practical questions necessary to have answered ? 



The matter of waste is certainly not fully understood and 

 ranks among the first things of importance. 



To what extent is it carried on and whether it is practical 

 to introduce other methods of lumbering, not so expensive 

 but that the saving will more than offset the outlay, are facts 

 worth knowing. 



No one disputes but that the present methods of cutting 

 are wasteful in the extreme, such, for instance, as felling with 

 an axe instead of a saw and cutting off tops with reference 

 to where the log Avill scale best ; yet if our supply of lumber 

 is good for all time, except to the individual owner, there is 

 no reason for the public, at least, to be at all alarmed at the 

 waste. 



How does the matter stand in the State of Maine ? Are we 

 increasing or decreasing our stock? If increasing we can rest 

 quietly, while if decreasing at all rapidly, then waste is one of 

 the matters to immediately consider. The situation demands 

 that we know of the consumption of our mills, the standing- 

 resources of our timber lands, their condition and growing 

 power. How much of the virgin lands still remain? On 

 lands that have been cut through, how much was left to cut 

 aofain or to <»row ? 



Some conclusions regarding these questions will be offered 

 after the reader has had a chance to examine the result of Mr. 

 Carv's work. 



