366 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The destruction of forests in America during- the century (espec- 

 ially the last half) is unparalleled in the world's historj-, both in its 

 extent and in the ferocity of its slaughter. The bulk of the timber 

 which adorned the country over, the Middle States in particular, was 

 consigned to the flames to make waj- for the plow. This timber 

 comprised a long list of varieties of useful and valuable woods. If 

 the oak. walnut, cherry, ash and other woods which went to the log 

 heap or into fence rails, were standing todaj- in Ohio, Kentucky 

 and Indiana, it would net enough to give a stone inansion to every 

 farmer in those states. Be it said, in extenuation of this almost 

 crime, that its perpetrators were not prophets and could not see that 

 this world of timber could ever be utilized or would grow into 

 enormous values for domestic as well as export purposes. The de- 

 struction of our pine forests has proceeded for the last quarter of a 

 century at a rate that will soon deprive us of a supplj' of this tim- 

 ber. Eastern Michigan is practically denuded and relies on Cana- 

 dian timber to run her mills, and the western half will soon be in 

 the same condition, with no outside supply available for her mills. 

 The Southern States have not, as yet, made such fearful inroads on 

 their timber resources, but they are afflicted with the same mania 

 for destroying which has characterized the Northern States. An- 

 other generation will complete the destruction of the invaluable 

 timber suppl}' which adorns that section of our countr}'. Thej" are 

 offering every possible inducement to secure men and means from 

 an}-- part of the world to come and hew down their forests and carry 

 away the proceeds. The difficult}' seems to lie in the low valuation 

 placed upon the timber. This, in the nature of things, will continue 

 until we are compelled to resort to timber culture, as they have in 

 Europe, for our supply. An ordinary lifetime is required to produce 

 trees fit for commercial purposes, and it is verj' questionable wheth- 

 er any amount of time and labor could ever be made to produce our 

 pine forests, the nature of the pine-producing sections being such 

 as to almost preclude the possibility of attempting anj'thing of the 

 kind. The pine forests once destro^^ed are gone forever. 



One of the strangest features of the destruction of pine is, that not 

 the slightest effort, public or private, has ever been put forth to save 

 these most valuable forests froin destruction. The government 

 seems to have regarded it as a useless burden and multiplied the 

 means by which it could be gotten rid of, practicall}- giving it away 

 to the first applicant, generally without monej- or price. The bulk 

 of these lands, in Wisconsin and Minnesota, at least, were given as a 

 gratuity to half-breed Indians and soldiers, who peddled it away for 

 pittances to lumbermen, who value it lightl}', because it costs but a 

 trille. Such prodigality on the part of the government is, perhaps, 

 the prime cause of the reckless waste and destruction as well as the 

 low price of timber and lumber. 



Among other reprehensible features of our American policy is, 

 and has been, the encouragement of the wood export trade. Time 

 will not permit me here to laj' before 3'ou the figures showing the 

 fabulous amount of timber wliich has been shipped to Europe from 

 the United States since the earlj^ settlement of the Eastern States. 



