MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS 



11 



MICHIGAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



The Michigan Forestry Association was organized in Grand Rapids August 30, 1905, having for its object the promotion of a ra- 

 tional system of forestry in Michigan. The society is managed by the following roster of officers: President, Hon. Chas. W. Garfield, of Grand 

 Rapids; Vice-President, John H. Bissell, of Detroit; Secretary, Filibert Roth, of Ann Arbor; Assistant Secretary, Henry G. Stevens, Detroit; 

 Treasurer, W. B. Mershon, Saginaw, \V. S. Board of Directors Hon. J. E. Beal, Ann Arbor; J. J. Hubbell, Manistee; Mrs. Lena E. Mautner, 

 Saginaw; Prof. James Satterlee, Lansing; Fremont E. Skeels,- Cadillac ; W. F.. Williams, Pittsford; Dr. Lucius L. Hubbard, Houghton ; Mrs. 

 John C. Sharp, Jackson. 



Annual Meeting Michigan Forestry Association 

 at Kalamazoo, Nov., 15 and 16. 



PROGRAMME. 



TUESDAY EVENING, NOV. 15. 



Session Held in Normal College Gymnasium. 



7:00 Members, and friends of Forestry will 

 meet for exchange of greetings, and enroll- 

 ment. 



7:45 Thirty minute addresses, illustrated 

 with stereoptican views: 



a. Trees and Forests as Features in the 

 Landscape C. C. Simonds. 



b. The Day's Work of a Forester Walter 

 Mulford. 



c. Practical Lessons for Michigan from 

 the Forests of Europe Filibert Roth. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 

 Y. M. C. A. Auditorium. 

 1:30 p. m. Reports of Secretary and Treas- 

 urer. 



Appointment of Committees. 

 2:00 p. m. Practical Forestry for the Farm- 

 er Messrs. Cook, Watkins, Bissell and others. 

 3:30 p. m. Michigan Women in Forestry 

 Mexlames Mantner, Perry and others. 



4:30 p. m. Forestry in the Educational Sys- 

 tem of the State Prof. Waldo and others. 



WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16. 



Morning Session. Y. M. C. A. Auditorium. 

 9:00 a. m. Greeting from the City of Kala- 

 mazoo. 



9:20 a. m. President's Address Chas. A. 

 Garfield. 



10:00 a. m. Conservation at the St. Paul 

 Congress Hon. J. E. Beal. 



Work in Forestry of the Public Domain 

 Commission Hon. A. C. Carton. 

 11:00 Shade and Roadside Trees; their Pro- 

 tection and Care. 



EVENING SESSION. 

 Y. M. C. A. Auditorium. 



?::!(> ]). m. Election of officers. 



.s:0o p. m. Platform meeting. This meeting 

 will be devoted to popular forestry questions, 

 led by selected speakers. 



Adoption of resolutions. 



It is expected that all persons interested in 

 forestry, and in good government in the direc- 

 tion of forestry and conservation will come 

 to this meeting and help to make this gathering 

 < f real value to all our people and to catry 

 away a message worth while. 



The Forestry Association may well be proud 

 of it> work. With the excellent help, especial- 

 ly of our press, cur Women's Clubs, and our 

 commercial organizations the association has 

 succeeded in the five years of its existence to 

 make real the great hopes of forestry friends 

 we have today. 



THE SECRETARY'S CORNER. 



Letters From the People. 



From Houghton. 



"I am having an argument with one of our 

 congressmen on the Weeks bill. Can you tell 

 me about what is the cash yield of an average 

 acre of Michigan land in timber (pine, etc.) in 

 60 years ? 1 believe that 3c an acre is paid in 

 taxes by settlers in the pinery region of Michi- 

 gan. What will the tax average in all our timber 

 land? pine and mixed? I believe also that you 

 have estimated the present value of land devoted 

 to growing pine for 60 years at over $5.00 on a 

 3% basis and over $25.00 on a 2% basis. Am I 

 right?" 



As regards taxation, we have still an uncertain 

 and unsatisfactory condition to deal with. The 

 local tax gatherer can still do as he pleases, and 

 is ready to confiscate people's property under the 

 guise of taxation. That the average tax rate in 

 Roscommon county in 1901 was over $63.00 on 

 every $1,000 worth of assessed property is a 

 matter of public record and proves conclusively 

 that things are truly unsatisfactory. Concerning 

 the growth and yield of timber your figures are 

 correct. If we assume here an acre of land 

 entirely bare, to be planted in timber, the cal- 

 culation can be set in about the following form : 

 Planting $10.00 with compound interest 



:s% for 60 years $48.90 



Rent of land valued at $5.00 per acre with 



interest at 3% for 60 years 24.25 



Care and protection of the land at 10 cents 



per acre a year, with interest 16.15 



Taxes at 5 cents per acre a year, with 



interest 8.10 



$97.40 



If the acre of land will produce in 60 years 

 07.40 worth of wood it will pay 3% compound 

 interest on all the investment, valuing the land at 

 $5.CO per acre and pay 5 cents per acre taxes. 

 The acre would have to grow only about $1.50 

 worth of wood per year, or produce 36 cubic 

 feet of timber at present prices ; or produce 20 

 ordinary Norway Pine trees, such as we now 

 find on these lands. That we can generally beat 

 this, is well shown in numerous cases in the 

 New England states. How far this can be ex- 

 ceeded is well proven in European experience 

 where one finds plenty of stands worth $500 and 

 over at the age of 120-140 years and where, as 

 in the Black Forest, stands of 140 years of 

 age occasionally reach and pass the $1,000 mark 

 in value. 



From the Traverse Country. 



"I have a piece of original timber land at Old 

 Mission, Michigan, consisting of oak, beech, 

 white pine, hard maple, etc., 30 acres, about 60% 

 in timber. These trees are too thick and I want 



to know which to cut and which to leave. I sent 

 this inquiry to the Department of Agriculture, 

 and they sent me Pinchot's Primer in Forestry 

 which of course does not help me any in this 

 difficulty. Is there a book or pamphlet that will 

 give me the desired information." 



Your case is a most interesting one, for it 

 touches one of the most vital points in forestrj. 

 Without thinning and proper care of the forest 

 there is no promise in forestry of any kind any 

 more than would be in the attempt at raising 

 corn without cultivating. And while this matter 

 of thinning is quite a simple affair, it is not so 

 easy to put down rules and directions in a book 

 or pamphlet that will suit all cases and places. 

 This is evidently your difficulty with the primer, 

 which was not prepared for this particular task. 

 The following suggestions should prove at least 

 helpful : 



1. Do not be too hasty, but leave especially 

 younger stuff (under 25 feet in height) pretty 

 dense so that the trees grow straight and clean. 



2. Make up your mind just what kinds of 

 trees you want to keep and give preference to. 



3. Cut out any tree only when it really hinders 

 a better one or one fully as good. 



4. Never open up more than is necessary to 

 give the good trees (i. e. those you really want) 

 a chance to have a fair crown, i. e. one which 

 will enable it to grow thrifty. 



5. Do not bother with brush and small stuff 

 which is really under the trees; it does no harm 

 but is really a benefit. 



6. In your locality I should favor Pine, Maple, 

 Basswood, Ash and Elm. 



7. Old stuff, especially big spreading trees, and 

 certainly all defective crooked, etc., trees, should 

 come out to make room for good young growth. 



8. All bare spots better be planted to White 

 Pine, and if you like you could also try Norway 

 Spruce which I feel certain will prove of value. 



9. Any piece of woods needs going over every 

 10 or 15 years to make sure that the good trees 

 have plenty of light and room to grow. 



You might also apply to the Public Domain 

 Commission. Hon. A. C. Carton, Secretary, Lans- 

 ing, Michigan, and ask that they send the State 

 Forester to you when he happens in your vicinity. 

 This commission has, by law, as one of its duties, 

 to give advice in just such cases as yours, and 

 thereby promote forestry in the state, and I feel 

 sure the commission will be glad to help you. 



"PROMOTION" LAND GOES INTO 

 FOREST RESERVE. 



What will eventually mean the curtailing of 

 one of the rank frauds that have been in vogue 

 n Michigan for many years has been nipped by 

 the public domain commission. 



Ten or twelve years ago a certain Chicago firm 

 purchased from the state several hundred acres 

 of land in Roscommon county, which they after- 

 wards platted into lots 20x30 feet. This land, 

 which cost the schemers from $3 to $4 per acre, 

 was for the most part situated some distance 

 from any town. From 20 to 30 lots were platted 

 from each acre of land. In some sections of the 

 country there are sites which are either owned 

 by private individuals or by the state which are 

 really pretty places and some fine houses are 

 situated on them. These places were photo- 

 graphed, and it is alleged that in selling the lots 

 the promoters of the scheme used the photo- 

 graphs to deceive buyers. Purchasers who bit 

 on the proposition, and, according to Secretary 

 Carton of the commission, there were hundreds 

 of them, soon found that they had been "done," 

 and of course let the lots revert back to the state 



