12 



MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



deeper and deeper into the forest. For three 

 centuries the ring of the woodsman's ax has 

 been our national- music. On every hillside, 

 in every valley, the night has been turned to 

 day by the glaring, burning log heaps, where 

 great trees, such as this country will never 

 see again, were burned to ashes. The lum- 

 berman has hunted the large and valuable 

 trees as the frontiersman has hunted the deer. 

 Fires have followed on the footsteps of the 

 lumberman, taking what he has left. On the 

 better soil the forest has given way to orchards 

 and fields of grain, an inevitable result of 

 progress and civilization; but, on the non- 

 agricultural soils of our barrens, hills and 

 mountains, where they should have remained 

 forever, they are but a remnant of their former 

 grandeur. 



It is this rapid disappearance of the better 

 forests of the country that has brought about 

 a change in public sentiment. The forest is 

 no longer looked upon as an enemy to progress 

 and civilization. 



Our National Forests. 



With this change in public sentiment there 

 has arisen a profession new to this country. 

 This profession is forestry, a profeision dedi- 

 cated to the best uses of our forest _ posses- 

 sions, a profession that has come to this coun- 

 try to stay. It will remain as long as civiliza- 

 tion endures. Already forestry has become a 

 powerful factor in national development. Un- 

 der the able guidance of Gifford Pinchot, na- 

 tional forestry has made more rapid progress 

 during the last decade than has ever before 

 been made in any country. America today 

 stands in the front rank among the nations 

 of the e'arth in the rate of national forestry 

 advancement. The western half of the country 

 is dotted with national forests. West of the 

 Mississippi there are today more than 130,- 

 000,000 acres reserved, to remain forever in 

 forest growth. These forests are in charge 

 of. an able and efficient body of young men, 

 and they are protected and managed so as 

 to give every American citizen the utmost use 

 consistent with their perpetuation. They are 

 freely opened to the homeseeker, the cattle- 

 man and the miner. The nation seeks to put 

 them to the utmost possible us;, but aims to 

 prevent their destruction. Where timber can 

 be cut without harm to the forest, or where 

 it is over-mature, it is sold or given to the 

 public. Grazing rights are sold or given to 

 the homeseeker, when it will not unduly in- 

 jure the forest. Nurseries are being estab- 

 lished and trees planted. Trails, roads and 

 fire lines are being constructed, and a net- 

 work of telephone wires are bringing all parts 

 of the national forests into communication 

 with the supervisors and the range force. Last 

 summer I spent three months in the national 

 forests, and I am enthusiastic over the splen- 

 did organization that has been built up dur- 

 ing the past few years, and which is doing 

 so much for the future good of our country. 



Up to the present time national forestry 

 has overshadowed all else, but from now on 

 state forestry is going to make unparalleled 

 advancement in the United States. East of 

 the Mississippi there is practically no forest 

 land owned by the national government. If 

 national forests are ever secured in the east, 

 they can only be made through the purchase 

 of land by the national government. When 

 it comes to the appropriating of money for 

 this purpose congress has in the past been 

 slow to act. I see but little hope in the 

 future. It is my opinion that government 

 forests in the east can only be obtained in 

 area at all commensurate with the needs of 

 the country through legislative action of the 

 several states. You who are citizens of Michi- 

 gan cannot afford to wait for congress to 

 appropriate money to make a national forest 

 of the pine lands of the state. You cannot 

 afford to have a national forest in Michigan, 

 even if it could be had for the asking. What 

 Michigan .wants are state forests of sufficient 

 area to secure her citizens an ample supply of 

 timber for all time to come. What Michigan 



wants is a legislative body with a future out- 

 look broad enough to see the real needs of 

 the present situation. Provide trees for your 

 sons and daughters, because they will turn 

 to golden dollars. 



In conclusion, I beg of you to consider care- 

 fully the forest situation in this state today. 

 Carry on the work with enthusiasm that you 

 have just begun, until once again Michigan 

 stands in the front rank among the timber 

 producing states of the Union. Do not be 

 content until the bare, blackened and desolate 

 barrens of the north are again clothed in 

 green. Do not be content until the pine 

 again waves in one unbroken stretch from 

 Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. 



PAYING AGAIN FOR LACK OF FOREST 



Once more southern Michigan is paying the 

 penalty for the practically complete removal 

 of the forests that used to prevent the win- 

 ter's snow from melting so rapidly. Higher 

 water than has ever been known is reported 

 as the condition of several rivers, and all 

 ar.e at flood height. Before the swollen 

 streams subside hundreds of thousands of dol- 

 lars' worth of damage will have been done, 

 and it is getting to be an annual event to 

 thus suffer loss to a greater or less degree. 

 Conservation of our forests might not have 

 prevented all this loss and reforestation might 

 not entirely check it, but the trees that now 

 are absent have served in years gone by 

 to hold spring freshets in check, and they 

 would again. How many more yearly object 

 lessons must we have before all of us become 

 ardent advocates of reforestation ? Lansing 

 State Republican. 



NEW FOREST RESERVE. 



The Ozark forest reserve, comprising 920,000 

 acres in Arkansas, has been created by an 

 order of the President. The area includes the 

 Boston mountains and portions of the Ozark 

 range, and is covered with short leaf pine and 

 hardwoods, worth probably $1,500,000 as it 

 stands. Together with the Arkansas forest, 

 the addition makes 2,000,000 acres of reserve 

 in that state, and brings the total of national 

 forest reserves up to 164,963,555 acres. 



THE SPIRIT OF FORESTRY. 



This spring will see many shade trees set 

 out in Lansing, probably more than has ever 

 been started before, and each little shade tree 

 that lives adds dollars to the value of a home, 

 not only in real money, but dollars' worth 

 of pleasure that their beauty and shade give 

 to the owner. 



Lansing's fine shade trees are yearly praised 

 and commented upon by summer visitors, and 

 are one of the principal things that make 

 any city pleasant. One of the first questions 

 asked real estate dealers by prospective pur- 

 chasers to whom the dealer is talking up his 

 sale isr "Are there shade or fruit trees on 

 this property?" and, nine times out of ten, 

 if property is shadeless, the customer is lost. 

 Shade and fruit trees enhance the value of 

 any property, and the years of growth only 

 add value. A healthy shade tree is not like 

 the house, which gets out of repair. 



MACHINES REPLACE MEN. 

 The Stearns Salt & Lumber Company, of 

 Ludington, will cease night work in their saw 

 mill as soon as it can install the new machin- 

 ery. The capacity of the mill in a ten-hour 

 day will be fully three-fourths of a twenty- 

 hour day with the old machines, while the 

 wage list will be half or more reduced. The 

 new machinery is after the plan of the single 

 machine. Logs, after being prepared by the 

 band saw, are treated by the resaw much as 

 the blocks are by the shingle machine, the 

 cut is made from the under side of the log, 

 the finished product drops on live rollers and 

 is delivered; hand work is greatly reduced. 

 Another economy effected is the reduced quan- 

 tity of sawdust manufactured. The resaw is 

 thin and leaves more lumber. Two resaws 

 are to be put in, one for logs and another 



for stave making. The changes will cost 

 about $1,000. The hardwood now in the com- 

 pany's possession will last, at present rates of 

 use. for about eighteen years. This tract is 

 in Kalkaska county. 



MUCH HEAVY TIMBER CUT. 



For the past two months the receipts of 

 timber at the mines at Ishpeming and Negau- 

 nee have been unusually heavy. Most of the 

 timber was cut in Marquette county, although 

 some of it comes from Baraga county. The 

 hauling of the timber has been pretty well 

 divided between the South Shore. Northwest- 

 ern and Lake Superior & Ishpeming railroad 

 lines. The camps along the latter route below 

 Marquete and in the Birch district have furn- 

 ished more timber this winter than ever before, 

 and there has been a falling off in the Little 

 Lake and other districts south of Negaunee. 



It is estimated that more than 1,600 cars of 

 timber has been delivered to the mines of the 

 two cities since the movement started, and 

 sume of the yards, particularly at the soft ore 

 properties, are heavily stocked. As the mines 

 are developed the demand for timber for use 

 underground increases. Each year the avail- 

 able timber is farther removed from the mines 

 and as a result its cost increases. A few years 

 ago the greater part of the timber used at 

 the mines at Negaunee and Ishpeming was 

 brought in from the districts north and west 

 of the city by teams, but everything now 

 comes by rail. 



ALPENA'S LUMBER INDUSTRY. 



Alpena's lumber industry is yet a big item 

 in the prosperity of that hustling city. Last 

 year the Gilchrist mill cut 4,000.000 feet of 

 hardwood, 4,000,000 feet of hemlock, 143,000 

 feet of pine, 633,000 lath and 2,543,000 shingles. 

 A large stock is in sight for the coming season. 



The cut for the Island Mill Lumber Com- 

 pany last year was: Pine 200,000 feet; norway 

 and hemlock, 5,000,000; hardwood, 4,000,000. 

 Good prospects for this season. 



The Churchill Lumber Company cut last 

 year: Pine, 1.000,000 feet; hemlock, 10,000,000- 

 hardwood, 4,000,000; lath 3,000,000. The coin- 

 ing season will be as good as the last. 



The Richardson Lumber Company cut 13,- 

 000,000 hemlock, pine and mixed timber last 

 year. The prospects for 1908 are good. The 

 mill will be equipped to cut hardwood this 

 year. 



The mill of George Masters turned out 19.- 

 308.000 shingles and 135,000 cut ties last year. 



The output of the Eales Bros, mill was 

 11.617,500 s'hingles. 



The above figures show the approximate 

 cut for Alpena last year to have been 12,000,000 

 feet of hardwood, 33,000,000 feet of hemlock, 

 pine and other timber, 4.000,000 lath, 32,000,000 

 shingles and 135,000 ties. 



NORMAL OUTPUT OF LOGS. 



A prominent Calumet man who has visited 

 several of the lumber camps during the last 

 few weeks states that most of the camps in 

 the vicinity of Calumet hope to get the normal 

 output this year, despite the fact that many 

 delays have been encountered in unsatisfactory 

 weather and in the organization of the winter 

 crews. The camps are working hard to make 

 up for these delays, and the conditions seem 

 to favor them to a small extent. There is 

 plenty of snow to make good roads, and the 

 weather is now excellent for the men. 



Much of the work in the immediate vicinity 

 Calumet is being done by jobbers, and the 

 regular operators are devoting more atten- 

 tion to work in larger fields. 



RESIDENT MANAGER wanted in each city or 

 town to represent large manufacturer of com- 

 plete line high-grade automobiles; must invest 

 small amount of money, which is amply secured : 

 good salary, expenses and commission to de- 

 sirable party with Al references. Send applica- 

 tion and references to our general manager, H. 

 L. Palmer, 46 Dev shire st.. Boston. 



