ORIGINAL STAND AND PRESENT SUPPLIES. 19 



of Lake Huron (Georf,'iaii Bay district) and Lake Superior, and the White Pine lumbering is 

 practically confined to these districts. The output of White Pine in the Dominion is estimated 

 at IJ to 2 billion feet per year. 



ORIGINAL STAND AND PRESENT SUPPLIES. 



What the original stand of White Pine was is dillicult even to estimate. The amount of 

 White Pine cut in the New England States, New York, Pennsylvania, and the eastern Provinces 

 of Canada is not known, and the only reliable figures which give an indication of what has been 

 harvested are the figures for the Lake States above mentioned. For the Lake region alone the 

 estimated original stand for Wisconsin may serve as an illustration. For the pine-stocked area of 

 this State, a total stand of about 150 million feet per township (J.'5,(>00 acres) has been shown to be a 

 fair average. This would indicate a total of about 130 billion feet, of which about GO billion feet were 

 cut between 1S73 and 1807, and about 20 billion feet are supposed to have been cut prior to 1S73, 

 making a total of about 80 billion feet as actually harvested, while about 18 billion feet were 

 believed to be still standing in 1897. These figures are based upon a thorough canvass made by 

 Mr. Filibert lloth and published in detail iu Bulletin No. 16 of the Division of Forestry. On the 

 same basis, jMichigan possessed fully 150 billion feet and Minnesota may be assumed to have had 

 about 70 billion feet,, which would make an aggregate of about 350 billion feet of pine for the Lake 

 States. Of this about 170 billion feet were cut between 1873 and 1807. and about 50 billion feet 

 •were probably cut prior to this time, accounting for about 220 billion feet out of 350 billion feet. 

 While it must remain mere conjecture, it seems quite fair, nevertheless, to assume that the total 

 supplies of White Piue aggregated probably not less than 700 billion feet of standing timber 

 originally. Of this total, then, not less than 50 per cent was contained in Canada and the 

 Eastern States, the United States portion representing about two-thirds of this heritage, the 

 Canadian portion showing less than 20 jier cent of total supi>lies. 



Of this large amount of virgin supplies, a little over 15 per cent, or 100 billion feet, may be 

 estimated as standing. These supplies may be approximately distributed as follows: 



Canada is credited by the statistician of its department of agriculture with about 37 billion 

 feet of standing pine, an estimate probably far below the real truth. For the Lake States the 

 following estimates were made in 1897 by the best-informed man of the Lake region : ^linuesota, 36 

 billion feet; Wisconsin, IS billion feet: Michigan, 10 billion feet. These estimates are considered 

 quite high by many. The standing pine in Michigan is placed bj- a detail township canvass in 

 1890 at only about billion feet; the standing White Piue of Minnesota is estimated by the State 

 chief fire warden at only about 12,600 million feet, while an estimate for Wisconsin made in 1895 

 places the standing piue of that State at only 8 billion feet. 



Eetaining the larger figures as probably the nearest correct, there exist to-day : In the Lake 

 States, about 61 billion feet; in Canada, over 40 billion feet; in New York and Pennsylvania, not 

 over 2 billion feet; in New England, not over 3 billion feet; in West Virginia and Tennessee, not 

 over 1 billion feet; making a total of about 110 billion feet, or about 22 per cent of what may fairly 

 be believed to have been standing originally. Of this standing supply-, about 100 billion feet are 

 so located that the present rate of exploitation (over 6 billion feet per year) can be, and probably 

 will be, continued until over 75 per cent of the present supply is cut, when, of course, a lack of 

 logs will lead to a reduction in output. This condition may be looked for before the end of the 

 next ten or twenty years, and from that time, unless recuperative measures are adopted. White 

 Pine will cease to be the great staple of our lumber markets. 



In former years lumbering of all kinds was careless, and even in the White Pine forests the 

 prevailing "inexhaustible supply" notion led to enormous waste. Stumps were left 3 to 4 ffeet 

 high, all defective trees were left, and top logs burned up with the di-bris. .Many of these old 

 slashings have been logged for the second and even the third time, often yielding a greater profit 

 than when first culled. 



At present this is no longer the case. High stumpage prices and a perfect market have led 

 to the closest economy in logging, milling, and shipi)ing of White Pine. The trees are felled with 

 the saw, the stumps are 18 inches and less, care is had iu the marking and sawing of logs, and 

 the top is utilized, irrespective of knots, just as far as it will make saw timber. Defective logs 



