HARDWOOD RECORD 23 



twenty billion less than what the railroads carried. No inconsistency eainiugs all items must be taken in account. The following table 



exists, however. The forty million feet listed by the census was lumber does this with a number of forest products and also with certain 



^ilone, which was less than half of the whole products of the forests other kinds of shipments, and comparisons can te readily made. The 



that year. Including ties, poles, posts, pulpwood, fuel, and other figures given show the earnings per mile per ton in cents: 

 commodities which did not appear in the lumber cut, the total was ^ ,■ ^^ _^„ . 



about lOo billion feet, or some forty-two billion feet in excess of Sg / 3q oQ>, 



what the railroads carried. !,< ' »9»i .,°2 



Some of the country's forest products were shipped by water, .j,'^ t„'^| „^ 



though not a large amount. Much was never in the hands of com- §2" SS"^. §"f<z 



mon carriers at all, but was used so near the points of production c.M.MnDiTv =?o S^-'^ kskS 



that deliveries were made by wagons. This was true more particu- 5 3 a 



larly of eordwood used as fuel than of any other conunodity. Wheat 0.9S5 0.643 0.594 



Attempts were not made, in the preparation of this article, to ^^^J^^^l ! ! i ! ; ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! a666 450 0374 



show the extent of water carriage of forest products. Much difficulty iron ore n. 311 ""Oo 169 



would be met with in an attempt to show this accurately for a term Bricks 0.762 0.495 0.457 



of years because statistics for diflferent periods were not compiled on Agricultural implpmont.« 1.491 0.698 0.621 



the same basis. The rafting of lumber at certain times and places purnfture Ifil 501 437 



has been very important; and some would include log drives in Paper pulp 0.708 42'' 381 



statistics of forest products transportation. Others who compile Empty barrels 0.701 0.246 0.214 



figures on the subject confine their investigations to boats only. Lumber and box shocks O.O.jr, 0.379 0.345 



It may be stated generally that the transportation of lumber by f[Z'' "°" '^'''"""S^ °f^^ H^T 0.291 



^"s** U.oo.J 0.218 0.162 



water is not so important as it once was, on either lakes or rivers. Ties 0.547 0.343 315 



The reason is tliat much less timber is now cut near navigable streams Cordwood 1.077 0.996 0.674 



than formerly. Operators go so far back to procure timber that it Poles, posts, props 1.05S 0.675 0.538 



must be brought out bv railroads. In 1SS9 the receipts of lumber °"'"" """'' P''°''"^'*^ """ O-"^ «-3'9 



: and other forest products at all ports on the Great Lakes in the "^^"^ '°*^' ^^"'^^^ ^""''"^ ^^ railroads in 1910, including what came 



United States was 3,428,628,500 feet. In 1906 it had fallen to ^™'" o'-'g'°'it"'g pomts and that received from connecting lines, was 



1,883,175,000 feet. In the same year the total movement of lumber 1-^^9-900.101 tons. That was made up of the following items: 



on the Mississippi and its tributaries was 225,545,000 feet, and on all Fo"'st products 193,239,733 tons 



other inland waters 220,752,000 feet. The total shipments of lumber I^^^^d^is ■":"":: ::;::;:;::;:::;:::::::::::;:: 't^^^ ZZ 



on all the inland waters of the United States in 1906 was only two- Mines 942,065,847 tons 



thirds that on the Great Lakes alone seventeen years before. By Manufactures 278,157,500 tons 



1910 the lake shipments of lumber had fallen off another half billion Merchandise 61,234,757 tons 



,. , Miscellaneous 71,600.523 tons 



■ . rn.issignpd 104.575,273 tons 



It may be of interest to compare the earnings of railroads in 



carrying different commodities. Sometimes the fact is lost sight of Total 1,849,900,101 tens 



that railroads haul cars as well as the commodities in the cars, and The tonnage furnished by the forests is 9.57 per cent of the total 



must also haul the empty cars back. It costs as much, weight for carried by railroads. It is 11.67 per cent of freight received at 



weight, to haul cars as the articles in the cars, and in figuring originating points. 



^< ;:>8oe^:;sto:^;;?c/x:,.\:^^ox>'i^^■te/.y/5k:;w^^^ 





Hardwoods Crowd Out Pine 





The Deprtrtnieut of Agriculture and Im)nigration of Virginia has 

 jrablished a pamphlet written by W. W. Ashe of the United States 

 Forest Service giving the result of investigations covering the propa- 

 gation, growth, and utilization of shortleaf yellow pine in that state. 

 Mr. Ashe has worked for years among the forests of the southeastern 

 part of the United States and has published a number of works on 

 the subject. One of the best known of these was published in 1905, 

 "The Southern Appalachian Forests," a book of several hundred 

 pages. His recent report on the Virginia pines deals chiefly with 

 the comm.ercial handling of that timber; but he makes a point which 

 is of general interest — that if left to compete in nature's way, the 

 pines cannot hold the ground indefinitely, but hardwoods will crowd 

 them out and take possession. 



When the ground is open, as in the case of old abandoned fields, 

 the pine gets the first start because its winged seeds are thickly sown 

 by wind, and a dense stand of seedling pines is the result. The 

 first forest is, therefore, j'.ine with scarcely anything else; but the 

 oaks, hickories, and other hardwoods slowly prepare to take possession. 

 Squirrels and birds carry the acorns and other heavy seeds into the 

 forest and they germinate in the dense shade of the pines; but the 

 seeds of the pines cannot do that. They will not grow in such a 

 shade, and, in course of time, as the old trees die. the small hard- 

 woods, which may haye held their place for fifty years without grow- 

 ing nuicli, pcsli up to the light, grow rapidly, and cast such dense 



shade that seeds falling from pines can gain no foothold. By that 

 process the pine stand finally dies out and a hardwood forest takes 

 its place. 



This agrees with historical evidence. When white men first landed 

 in Virginia they found little pine except on the immediate coast. It 

 was the same in North Carolina. Further back the forests were 

 hardwoods. Pine did not spread inland much until old plantations 

 began to be abandoned, and it then took possession. 



It thus appears that pine in that region can spread and can hold 

 its ground only by human help. When nature is given a chance to 

 assert its power, the hardwoods win the fight, and crowd the pine 

 out. This agrees exactly with recent conclusions reached by R. M. 

 Harper in the longleaf pine forests of Alabama. Botanists have long 

 known that, generally speaking, broadleaf trees are stronger than the 

 needleleaf species and when the contest for space is on an equal 

 footing the broadleaf species will prevail. That is why pine, cedars, 

 and cypresses are so often found in swamps, or on sandy tracts, or 

 sterile mountains. They are crowded from the good lands by the 

 hardwoods and retreat to situations where their rivals have not the 

 hardihood to follow. 



The studies of Mr. Ashe in Virginia are of great interest when 

 considered from that standpoint. It is shown that occupation of good 

 land by pine is only temporary unless man, or some other agency, 

 assists the weaker species to hold the ground. 



