14 



MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



TAKES ISSUE WITH PINCHOT. 



A St. Paul correspondent of the New York 

 Sun taxes issue with Gifford Pinchot, the Unit- 

 ed States forester, because of the latter's 

 statement that "It is estimated that 4,000,000 

 Christinas trees arc used in this country each 

 year, and there is no more reason for an out- 

 cry against using land to grow Christmas 

 trees than to grow flowers." 



The correspondent says: No one can- pos- 

 sibly object to the use of land for the pro- 

 duction of Christmas trees, and I do not un- 

 derstand that any one ever has objected to 

 it. It seems to me that the business, under 

 favorable conditions, would seem both pleas- 

 ant and profitable. But Mr. Pinchot has ovei- 

 looked the fact that the use of trees for thhi 

 purpose has almost annihilated the supply ol 

 spruce for pulp wood, particularly in the west, 

 where the manufacturers of print paper are 

 now compelled to buy their raw material in 

 the Canadian provinces by the cord and haul 

 it by rail to their mills. 



If it had been the custom during the last 

 ten years to set aside each year the "400 acre.s 

 of land" suggested by Mr. Pinchot, and to 

 plant thereon the 4,000,000 trees required for 

 each year's Christmas supply, present condf"- 

 tions would not exist; but that has not been 

 done, and practically all of the trees used for 

 the purpose have been taken surreptitiously 

 from widely scattered growths by people who 

 have no interest whatever in preserving or per- 

 petuating them, and in consequence the supply 

 of spruce for pulpwood is exhausted in Wis- 

 consin, Minnesota and Michigan. 



Mr. Pinchot also says that "the use of 4,000,- 

 000 trees for Christmas each year is utterly 

 insignificant when compared to the other greai 

 drains on the forest." There are but four 

 "great drains" on the spruce growth that I 

 know anything about, namely, fire, wind, lum- 

 ber or pulpwood and Christmas trees 

 Nearly all of the spruce is a swamp growth, 

 where the ground is wet the year round, and 

 since the pine which once surrounded these 

 swamps has been cut there is little or no loss 

 from fire. The loss by wind is unimportant, 

 for the cedar, tamarack and balsam which 

 grow with the spruce serve as a very efficient 

 windbreak. There can be no "great drain" 

 by the lumber or pulp mill people, because 

 the remaining spruce is altogether too small 

 for their purposes. The only "great drain'' 

 is the Christmas tree thief, who enters the 

 swamps in the fall of the year and cuts and 

 slashes right and left and destroys not only 

 the small trees but the larger one_s as well, 

 and of the larger ones he takes only the tops 

 and throws the rest away to rot. 



If Mr. Pinchot is correct in saying that 

 there are 4,000,000 Christmas trees required 

 each year to meet the present demand, and 

 that "only 1,400 acres of land are sufficient 

 to supply that number," it would be necessary, 

 of course, to provide a plantation for each 

 year's requirements, and as it needs about 

 live years of favorable soil and climate to 

 produce a tree of the character demanded, 

 it can readily be seen that considerable land 

 and considerably intelligence and capital will 

 be needed in the business. 



Thus far there is no indication that any one, 

 not even Mr. Pinchot himself, has given this 

 matter much thought, for surely the preserva- 

 tion of the raw material upon which the news- 

 papers depend for their supply of print papei 

 is of vastly more importance to the public 

 than the two or three days' use for the pleas- 

 ure of the children of a very scarce and valu- 

 able forest product, and especially when it is 

 so easy to produce a satisfactory substitute 

 out of non-inflammable materials. In the face 

 of an advance in cost during the last three 

 years from $3.50 a cord to $14 a cord for 

 spruce for pulpwood, not because of any 

 corner in spruce, but because of actual scarcity. 

 it seems to me not unreasonable to expect 

 from the forestry bureau at Washington 

 (which is supposed to be above political con- 

 siderations) a suggestion that the Christmas 



tree industry if continued along present lines 

 is apt to still further increase the cost of our 

 morning and evening newspapers. 



GIVE FORESTRY A SHOW. 



The plan ior^he reforestation of the waste- 

 lands of Michigan, now of absolutely no value 

 to the state, which was outlined in the Citron 

 icle by Professor Roth of the University of 

 Michigan would seem to be one which is all 

 merit and against which it would seem there 

 can be no good argument raised. These lands, 

 which have been robbed <>f their former wealth 

 of timber, are certainly capable of recovering 

 themselves with timber if given half a show. 

 They have gone back to the state for taxes 

 by the thousands of acres and are now only 

 a burden of expense and a menace to sur- 

 rounding valuable lands on account of their 

 deadly proclivities for breeding forest fires. 



If these lands were placed in the hands 

 of the state forestry commission, and it were 

 authorized to hire help as may be necessary 

 to keep out fire, and to properly thin tne 

 wild timber that still springs up of its own 

 accord, the state in a couple of decades might 

 have a paying investment upon its hands. In 

 three decades there ought to be an income 

 from this source that would go far toward 

 paying the state's expenses. At the same time. 

 with the experience of the first slaughter be- 

 fore it, the state ought to be able to avoia 

 destroying the source of the wealth while 

 enjoying the income from it. Nature will 

 herself do much toward repairing the ruin 

 that has been wrought if she is given only 

 half a chance. The Roscommon experiment 

 has proven so much. Let the state give the 

 forestry commission a show. Muskegon 

 Chronicle. 



PLANTING BASSWOOD SEEDLINGS. 



William B. Mershon, of Saginaw, discussing 

 the work along forestry lines being done on 

 the Au Sable forestry farm, says: "We have 

 just contracted with the forestry nursery ;u 

 Dundee, 111., for 5,000 basswood seedlings. 

 These are two years old, and will be put out 

 as soon as the weather is favorable in the 

 spring. 



"It is an interesting fact to note that bass- 

 wood seeds do not germinate the first yeai 

 of planting, but germinate in from the second 

 to the fifth year." 



Basswood is now extensively used for pack- 

 ing poxes, etc. A few years ago it was not 

 used for such purposes, but it has been found 

 to be an excellent substitute for pine, for- 

 merly so largely used in this way. 



MORE FOREST RESERVES. 



Two additions, aggregating 78,000 acres, have 

 been made to the San Gabriel national forest 

 in southern California by proclamation of the 

 president. The additions consist of lands lying 

 on the slopes and foothills of San Gabriel 

 mountains and protecting the stream flow on 

 the territory known as the San Gabriel v/a f er- 

 shed, on which Pasadena, Pomona, San Ber- 

 nandino and a number of smaller towns arc 

 dependent for a water supply. The damage 

 from fire always is serious in this region, and 

 the forest service plans to build fire lines and 

 trails through the new additions which will 

 aid materially in preventing serious fires. On 

 one of the additions there are about 15,000 

 acres of woodland, which will contribute to 

 the fuel supply of the region. These additions 

 will bring the total area of the San Gabriel 

 national forest up to 63,295 acres. 



KENT COUNTY ROADS. 



During the year 1908 Grand Rapids and the 

 surrounding townships will enter upon a high- 

 way construction campaign that promises 

 eventually to give that vicinity a public roads 

 system of notable excellence. 



The people last fall voted to form a good 

 roads district under which advantage could 

 be taken of the help held out by the Michigan 

 state highway department. Twenty thousand 

 dollars has been set aside for a beginning ol 



the work of improvement, and a district high- 

 way commission has begun operations. 



This commission is made up <>f public spirited 

 citi-zcns who have brought enthusiasm, gener- 

 osity and sound judgment into their work. 

 One of their first actions was to vote not to 

 take salaries for themselves, but to spend all 

 available funds in the betterment of the roads. 



The commission realixes that the advantages 

 of good roads are not fully recognized by the 

 public at large, and it has started out both to 

 build good roads and also to popularize the 

 movement by giving the people a practical 

 demonstration of what benefit can be derived 

 from improved highways. 



With the $20,000 available for good road 

 construction this year it is proposed to im- 

 prove eight much used roads radiating out 

 from the city of Grand Rapids. Work will 

 progress from the city outward upon a compre- 

 hensive plan that looks well to the future. 

 The principally used highways will receive at- 

 tention first, and gradually the roads will be 

 pushed back farther and farther into the town- 

 ships until all the main highways have been 

 cared for. By working along a definite line, 

 with the city as a center of radiation, costly 

 waste, due to patchwork and misapplied energy, 

 can be avoided. 



The Lake avenue road, running from the 

 city out through East Grand Rapids and into 

 Hast Paris township, is prominent on the list 

 of highways to be bettered. 



Kalamazo avenue will be improved out to 

 the county home road in central Paris town- 

 ship. Clyde Park avenue, leading to the south, 

 will be made one of the principal arteries of 

 highway travel into Grand Rapids. 



The Butterworth avenue road, which serves 

 the country southwest of the city north of the 

 river, is also on the improvement list for next 

 summer. 



West Leonard street, running out among 

 the fruit farms and suburban homes along the 

 Muskegon interurban, is the western road 

 chosen for improvement. 



The Canal street road, one of the most 

 important highways leading out from the city, 

 was a particularly good road in the old days 

 of the toll gates; work will put it back to 

 its old time condition, and even improve upon 

 that. This road is the principal highway lead- 

 ing to Comstock park and the west Michigan 

 state fair. It is also the principal highway 

 leading to the Soldiers' Home, North Park 

 and the farming region along the river banks. 



The highways to the east to be improved 

 are Knapp avenue and Fuller street. 



It is prqbable that gravel with a clay binder 

 will be the material largely used in the im- 

 provement. Choice gravel is easily obtained 

 here, hence its popularity as a good roads 

 material. 



TUSCOLA ROADS. 



Cass City, Vassar, Millington and Cairo, in 

 Tuscola county, are already making plans to 

 extend the sections of good roads built during 

 the past few years. Other towns in the county 

 are waking up to the importance of these mat- 

 ters, and the agitation of the subject, together 

 with the changes in the law abolishing the 

 pathmasters, will doubtless serve to rapidly 

 improve all highways in Tuscola county and 

 lead to the extension of stone and gravel 

 roads. 



The board of trade of Caro has adopted 

 plans for the extension of the stone road to 

 Pattison's corners, and will begin work as soon 

 as spring opens. 



The township of Henrietta, first in Jackson 

 county in making good roads, is considering 

 the advisability of building another mile, which 

 will make three miles the township has built 

 under the state aid law. The good roads have 

 cost the taxpayers $12.50 per $1,000 of assessed 

 valuation, but a goodly number seem to believe 

 it is money well invested. 



