122 THE BOOK OF FORESTRY 



tree of commerce. Pine deals and square hewn timbers 

 were shipped to all parts of the world, but so plentiful 

 was the supply that only the best trees were cut, and 

 the forest cover was scarcely broken. After the war 

 with England the center of the lumber trade shifted 

 westward to New York and the same process was 

 repeated. 



First the largest pines were cut, then the remainder 

 of the pine, then hemlock, primarily for tan bark, next 

 the spruce and finally the hardwoods, beech, birch, and 

 maple. There are tracts of forest land in Maine that 

 are now being cut over for the fourth time, and sad to 

 relate, each crop is getting smaller and smaller owing 

 to the larger amount removed at successive cuttings. 

 Where formerly trees smaller than ten inches diameter 

 were left on the ground they are now using them down 

 to six inches in size. 



The lumber industry in this country has grown with 

 leaps and bounds during the past sixty years and at 

 present ranks third in the list, being surpassed by 

 agriculture and the iron industry. An idea may be 

 gained of the vastness of the lumber industry and all 

 phases of manufacture when it is realized that more 

 than one billion dollars are invested in timber, mills, 

 and factories, 784,000 men are employed and the 

 annual output of mills and factories amounts to 

 $1,156,000,000. Figures are at best dry reading and 

 the real heart of lumbering is located in the woods 

 where the raw material is obtained. Owing to the 

 size of this country and the wide range of conditions, 

 different mehods of lumbering are used so only the 

 most important will be described in detail. 



Harvesting the Forest Crop. The oldest type of log- 

 ging in the country is the spruce and pine operation of 



