HARDWOOD RECORD 



denuded timber area on the upper watershed 

 of the French Broad river, and rising to the 

 top of Pisgah mountain, embraced about 100,- 

 000 acres. Mr. Vanderbilt originally pur- 

 chased about 10,000 acres of very badly de- 

 nuded mountain land near Asheville, which 

 he named Biltmore, and which has since been 

 transformed into a magnificent gentleman's 

 estate. A splendid castle adorns the moun- 

 tainside and surrounding it in all directions 

 are artificial lakes, fine roadways, flowers, and 

 one of the most marvelous collections of or- 

 namental trees, gathered from all parts of 

 the world, in existence. 



The Pisgah mountain estate, now embrac- 

 ing about 130,000 acres distinct from the 

 Biltmore property, represents an attempt on 

 the part of Mr. Vanderbilt under the direc- 

 tion of Dr. Schenck, to practically demon- 

 strate the commercial possibilities of refor- 

 estry on semi-denuded, badly fire-scalded tim- 

 ber growth on lands unfit for agricultural 

 pursuits, and only adapted to timber growth. 

 In carrying out tjiis magnificent plan of re- 

 forestry Dr. Schenck has encountered diffi- 

 culties that would have seemed unsurmount- 

 able to any man with less knowledge of his 

 subject, less enthusiasm in his calling and 

 less energy and vitality to carry on the en- 

 terprise. The building of a forest is like 

 unto the building of a nation — not a thing 

 of a day, of a year, or even of a generation. 

 Thus, the success of this great enterprise may 

 therefore still seem conjectural to many, but 

 to its promotors and to practical foresters the 

 work is now regarded as an accomplished 

 fact, so far beyond the theoretical viewpoint 

 has it passed. 



As already related, Dr. Schenck came into 

 this old yet new and wild country — this great 

 mountain slope of the lower Appalachians — 

 equipped with a scientific knowledge backed 

 by practical training in old-world methods. 

 He found European forestry systems entirely 

 inadequate for the handling of the great 

 proposition placed in his hands, and was 

 obliged to adopt many new methods which 

 he found better adapted to the conditions at 

 band. With the acute sense of humor which 

 marks his utterances, he likes to relate some 

 of his early experiences in handling the 

 Pisgah mountain estate. The first responsi- 

 bility thrust upon him was the presidency of 

 the Biltmore Band-Mill— this in spite of the 

 fact that he had never seen a band mill be- 

 fore in his life! He does not pride himself 

 upon the success of his first venture in North 

 Carolina. The logging operations in the 

 mountain, of which he had charge during that 

 first year, necessitated the building of splash 

 dams, and he confesses that his knowledge of 

 splash dams was as thoroughly inadequate as 

 was bis knowledge of the idiomatic English 

 "pyrotechnic" which he often felt con- 

 strained to apply to them. His splash dams, 

 built in the unreliable mountain streams, were 

 not a success, and the small quantity of logs 

 he finally delivered at the mill by his system, 

 was not enough to keep operations running 

 a month at a time! 



After "acquiring this experience at his 



employer 's expense, as most people do, ' ' to 

 quote Dr. Schenck "s works in telling the 

 story, he gave up the plan of attempting to 

 supply a large band mill with logs ' ' splashed ' ' 

 down streams that were flush with water only 

 when he did not want it, or being over-flush, 

 staved his booms to pieces — and since that 

 time he has done what other modest lumber- 

 men of his district do, and employed porta- 

 ble circular mills, bringing his plants as close 

 to his timber as possible, instead of attempt- 

 ing to bring the logs long distances to the 

 mill. 



He has adopted a very conservative policy 

 in his lumljering operations and is simply 

 culling the forest, taking out the mature and 

 hyper-mature trees and leaving the growing 

 trees for further development. He says that 

 the price of poplar lumber in 1896 — the first 

 be sold — was $21 for firsts and seconds, on 

 rigid New York inspection, and today under 

 modern inspection it is worth f. o. b. cars mill, 

 from $45 to $58. He sententiously observes: 

 "lam now glad for every poplar tree I have 

 left standing, and sorry for every poplar tree 

 I have cut." 



The establishment of the tannic acid indus- 

 try using chestnut wood for raw material, has 

 been an ally to successful forestry work in 

 western North Carolina. This market makes 

 it possible to sell the offal of chestnut timber, 

 which cannot be used as lumber, since it is 

 replete with worm-holes, and Dr. Schenck 

 early recognized an element of ' ' saving ' ' the 

 hardwood forests of that region in this in- 

 dustry. He alleges that they can be ' ' saved ' ' 

 only when the stumpage commands a high 

 price, and when the offal and even the debris 

 left by lumbermen has a value. He alleges 

 that the greatest enemy of conservative for- 

 estry, aside from fire :ind taxation, is low- 

 priced stumpage and low-priced lumber. 



To no great extent does Dr. Schenck prac- 

 tice replanting. He contends that this neces- 

 sarily expensive plan is not practical on ex- 

 tensive areas of comparatively cheap land in 

 this country. He further contends that if a 

 given area be protected from fires and depre- 

 dation Nature with very little assistance will 

 do her own replanting and supply a growth 

 best adapted to the soil and environment. Be- 

 yond question he is working at the rcforestry 

 problems of the Pisgah mountain estate in a 

 practical way that will eventually secure to 

 its owner a very handsome profit on both the 

 investment and the cost of management and 

 maintenance. 



In 1898 Dr. Schenck established the Bilt- 

 more Forest School for the education of 

 young men in practical forestry. Anyone 

 who has kept at all in touch with the work 

 of this school need not be to!d that primarily 

 it is eminently practical. It acquaints young 

 men not only with the lumber business, but 

 with silviculture, surveying, cruising, lumber 

 inspection, etc. The school has as its work- 

 room Mr. Vanderbilt 's 130,000 acres of wood- 

 land in the southern Appalachians, on which 

 grow the greatest variety of both hard and 

 soft woods in the known world. On the 

 various levels all kinds of southern pines 



abound, and doubtless more than a hundred 

 varieties of hardwoods are found there; on 

 the high elevations flourish the spruces, bal- 

 sams, hemlocks, white pine and other coni- 

 fers of the northern forests. Hence the Bilt- 

 more Forest School, with this great natural 

 laboratory, is far the superior of any other 

 in the country. 



In connection with some of fhe graduates 

 of this school, in 1903 Dr. Schenck formed 

 the firm of C. A. Schenck & Co., timber ex- 

 perts and cruisers, and up to this time there 

 is not a state east of the Mississippi in which 

 this house has not done work — notably in es- 

 timating stumpage and stumpage valuation, 

 soh-ing silvicultural problems, making maps, 

 or serving as court experts in matters per- 

 taining to timber and timber disputes. 



During the open season the school makes 

 headquarters in the woods, where an old- 

 fashioned country schoolhousQ affords a lec- 

 ture room for Dr. Schenck and his assistants, 

 and the whole great mountain-side a theater 

 for practical demonstration. During the sum- 

 mer the boys find shelter at night in the 

 homes of settlers scattered here and there 

 throughout the woods, or they may if they 

 like, roll up iu their blankets and sleep under 

 the stars. Here these earnest students live 

 practically out of doors, in an incomparable 

 climate, acquiring not only a knowledge of 

 road-building, logging and all the other prac- 

 tical features that go to make up a competent 

 and authoritative knowledge of timber and 

 lumber affairs, but the fresh air and healthy 

 exercise which make a strong and wholesome 

 body. In the winter the students are trans- 

 ferred to the handsome school building at the 

 Biltmore estate, and there work out problems 

 based on the practical experience of the sum- 

 mer spent in the open. 



Admission to the Biltmore Forest School is 

 restricted to earnest and intelligent young men 

 who seek to become experts in forestry and 

 lumber pursuits. Shirkers are not allowed to 

 remain very long, for Dr. Schenck wants only 

 those who are willing to work, and to "rough 

 it." He has the love and respect of every 

 student that ever entered his school, and it 

 is surely a great work that he is carrying on 

 for young men who are ambitious to acquire 

 this sort of an education. There are no 

 molly-coddles in the school, but active, healthy 

 young chaps who learn to love work for 

 work 's sake, and in emulating the indomit- 

 able energj- of their chief grow to be boys 

 who are worth while, boys who will amount to 

 something in the lumber world. 



These youths are largely from the various 

 colleges and universities and they bring with 

 them to Biltmore certain of their college 

 ways. It is an inspiring sight to see a bunch 

 of them starting out for a long cruise astride 

 their mountain ponies, in forester's garb, 

 their packs on their shoulders, and singing at 

 the top of their voices — 

 Who Is the man thaf Is rlillne along. 

 Iliiinming the lune of an old German son- 

 Tclllng the lioj-s that the road Is run wr.i 

 "lis the man that looks like the Kaiser ' 



