Current Literature. 559 



roads and to the diminution of the accessible timber immediately 

 on the water fronts about the upper Mississippi and its principal 

 tributaries. 



"Though Iowa supplies its factories with less than 3 per cent, 

 of the wood they use, there is in the state an up-to-date sawmill 

 running regularly and sawing daily 125,000 feet of logs. This 

 shows that the prairie area is a good consumer of raw material 

 in its roughest form. The owner of this large mill reports that 

 he has a great advantage over mills located a long distance from 

 the centers of population when it comes to disposing of waste 

 material, such as slabs, sawdust, odd lengths and inferior low 

 grade lumber. In the prairie districts all such material can be 

 disposed of at more or less of a profit, for kindling if for noth- 

 ing else, but in a lumbering district proper it finds few buyers, and 

 most of it goes to waste. It can be made profitable, therefore., 

 to transport logs long distances in order to reach a market for 

 what would otherwise be waste. 



"The state of Iowa is making rapid progress toward caring 

 for and developing its natural timber resources. The Iowa State 

 College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts at Ames is well 

 equipped for and is carrying on a large number of experiments 

 for the guidance of those interested in forestry, in anticipation 

 of a time when the region must depend upon itself for a large 

 part of its timber. There are a score or more of important 

 manufacturing centers, including Des Moines, Dubuque, Daven- 

 port, Keokuk, Cedar Rapids, Sioux City and Clinton., each 

 of which has a number of large wood- working plants which 

 claim to be in position to compete successfully with establishments 

 situated in remote but heavily wooded districts. It is claimed 

 that the cost of shipping the raw material in the rough form is 

 more than offset by the closer utilization possible around cities 

 located in the nontimbered belt. The Mississippi is a great aid 

 in cheap transportation from the north. Contemplated locks and 

 dams, to be built by the federal government between Illinois and 

 Iowa, should add much to the stream's value in that respect. It 

 is further anticipated that the development of water power, now 

 in process, will grealy stimulate manufacturing." 



"According to the best available figures, the timbered area of 

 Iowa amounts to 2,500,000 acres, or approximately 7 per cent, 

 of the total area. The timber is almost exclusively of the mixed 



