10 



MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



Michigan Forestry Association. 



The Michigan Forestry Association was organized in Grand Rapids August 30, 1903, having for its object the promotion of a rational system ot 

 forestry in Michigan. The society is managed by the following roster of officers : President, John H. Bissell, of Detroit, Vice-President, C. S. Udell, 

 Grand Rapids; Secretary, Henry G. Stevens, Detroit; Treasurer, J. J. Hub bell, Manistee. Board of Directors, Mrs. Francis King, Alma; L. L. Hub- 

 bard, Houghton; S. M. Lemon, Grand Rapids; H. N. Loud, Au Sable; Thos. B. Wyman, Munising; Mrs. J. C. Sharp, Jackson; C. D. Lawton, Lawton. 



The State Forestry Commission Charles W. Garfield, Grand Rapids; Arthur Hill, Saginaw; William H. Rose, Lansing. 



FORESTRY MOVEHENT 



RECEIVES IMPETUS 



The forestry movement in Michigan gained 

 further momentum through an enthusiastic 

 meeting held June 8 at the home of C. S. 

 Udell, Grand Rapids, under auspices of the 

 Grand River Valley Horticultural Society. Mr. 

 Udell, the active chairman of the Grand Rap- 

 ids forestry committee, arranged a most at- 

 tractive program, and with the assistance of 

 the officers and members of the state associa- 

 tion, and the friends, of the cause, the afternoon 

 proved profitable, and enjoyable in the fullest 

 degree. 



It was a rare June day wttn a sun in me 

 heavens and soft winds blowing, and the large 

 gathering, representative of the best thought 

 and culture of Grand Rapids and vicinity, was 

 held out of doors on the lawn, amid delightful 

 associations of trees and shrubs and flowers. 



Wm. H. Anderson, of Grand Rapids, was the 

 first speaker, and was introduced, not as a 

 banker, but as a farmer and horticulturist. The 

 subject of his address was "The Comparative 

 Growth of Trees." 



Prof. Filibert Roth, state forest warden, fol- 

 lowed with a clear, pointed and energetic dis- 

 cussion of reforestation from the standpoint ot 

 investment. He corrected the mistake fre- 

 quently made in the newspapers that in order 

 to raise big pine in Michigan again it would be 

 necessary to wait 200 to 300 years, saying that 

 70 years would be approximately a true esti- 

 mate. Other common mistakes made in un- 

 derestimating the yield of an acre of pine and 

 in using an interest rate that is too high in 

 figuring out the practical side of forestry were 

 also spoken of. Speaking from the standpoint 

 of actual experience the 29,000 acres lying 

 south of Houghton lake was referred to, and 

 the practical work of reforesting these lands 

 that has been going on for the past four years, 

 although not a tree had been planted, simply 

 by protecting the young growth from fires. 

 He spoke of the sale of $2,900 worth of dead 

 timber from this land, and of the expenditure 

 of $800 a year in keeping the fires out, as il- 

 lustrating that a rational system of caring for 

 the state lands could be made to pay for itself. 



In regard to reforestration by individuals, 

 Prof. Roth said there were plenty of lumber- 

 men in the state who would take up the work 

 as soon as permitted to do so through a change 

 in the system of taxation. He said that the 

 state reserve lands are fainy representative 

 of the large area of non-agricultural lands in 

 the state, or a little below the average. 



"Yes," added Chas. W. Garfield by way of 

 emphasis to the remarks, "after pleading with 

 the legislature for a long time to let us show 

 them what could be done, they threw these 

 lands at us, knowing them to be the poorest 

 in the state." 



C. F. Beardsley, of Grand Rapids, for 25 

 years timber agent for the Grand Rapids & 

 Indiana railway, supported Prof. Roth in his 

 statement that unjust tax laws have very 

 greatly hastened the elision of Michigan's 

 forests. 



Wm. Widdicomb, one of the pioneer furni- 

 ture manufacturers of Grand Rapids, had an 

 exhibition at the meeting. Three mahogany 

 boards of beautiful grain, and a photograph 

 was also passed around showing a mahogany 

 log 39 feet in length and 46 inches square at 

 the butt that sold at the Liverpool auction four 

 years ago to American manufacturers for 

 $15,768. Mr. Widdicomb gave an interesting 



history of mahogany, telling where and how it 

 grows and of its value. 



Mrs. Francis King, of Alma, who is at the 

 head of the publicity committee of the Michi- 

 gan Forestry Association, spoke earnestly in 

 behalf of greater interest in the work, saying 

 that the best way to help the association is, 

 first of all, to join it. She referred to the un- 

 selfish and unremitting labors for the cause of 

 Mr. Garfield and Prof. Roth, and said that 

 while the forestry workers cannot hope to reap 

 the full reward themselves in their life times, 

 their children would enjoy blessings untold. 



The ladies in attendance were especially 

 interested in an exhibit made by Mrs. King 

 of rare and beautiful specimens of iris and 

 tulips, grown from imported bulbs. 



Mrs. M. R. Bissell, head of the Bissell Car- 

 pet Sweeper Co., spoke of her interest in the 

 forestry movement, saying that the club 

 women of Grand Rapids were taking up the 

 subject. "I say, ask for the needed legislation, 

 and if you don't get it, then demand it," said 

 Mrs. Bissell earnestly. "If we don't vote, we 

 have voters in the family." 



In response to a question as to how fires 

 start, Mr. Garfield said that it was largely 

 through carelessness, and he cited the instance 

 of a leading citizen of Grand Rapids going out 

 to his farm on last Decoration day, where he 

 set a brush pile on fire and left it. As a result 

 20 acres of beautiful second growth forest was 

 practically destroyed. 



E. A. Stowe, president of the Grand Rapids 

 Board of Trade, read a paper on the "Use and 

 Abuse of Trees." He said in part: 



Shelter and fuel were, perhaps, the first uses 

 to which trees were put I say this with apolo- 

 gies to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, 

 because I am not prepared at this point in my 

 discussion, to take up the abuse of trees. 



Third, in the utilization of trees, comes the 

 harvesting of fruits and other foods therefrom, 

 and next, probably, was the fashioning of trees 

 into boats and rafts. From these four begin- 

 nings have developed unnumbered legitimate 

 uses of trees. That lumber barons existed 

 and were just as unpopular ages ago as they 

 are today is shown in the Fifth Book of Moses 

 where this law is proclaimed: "Thou shalt not 

 destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe 

 against them." 



These stray fragments of history are 

 brought in to show you that the matter we 

 are now considering has been thrashed out 

 thousands and thousands of times before, and 

 that, judging from present conditions, they are 

 not much nearer settlement than of old. 



We will find it is almost invariably because 

 of ignorance that trees are abused. Haphazard 

 planting of trees is abuse of trees caused by 

 ignorance, shiftless cultivation, careless trim- 

 ming, negligence in times of stress, failure to 

 protect them against the elements and their 

 other natural enemies, clumsy, cruel trann 

 planting, brutal trimming, deliberate starva- 

 tion all of these assaults upon trees are the 

 results of ignorance. The great crime of 

 Michigan, the utter devastation of the most 

 magnificent forests of white pine on this con- 

 tinent, is the result of ignorance; because if 

 it had not been for the ignorance of those 

 who caused this awful ruin, they would not 

 have permitted their avarice, their selfishness 

 and their atomic moral sense to dominate in 

 the development of so complete a destruction 

 of resource intended by Nature to continue 

 perpetually. The men who so ruthlessly rav- 

 ished Nature that they might gain their 

 millions of dollars were so ignorant that they 



could not foresee that two or three genera- 

 tions further on their crime would become a 

 stench and their very names an everlasting 

 reproach on good citizenship. 



Returning to the use of trees and without 

 referring to the universally known uses to 

 which trees are applied for purely material 

 gain, I do not hesitate in declaring my opinion 

 that no less important in value are the 

 aesthetic, the sanitary and the moral uses to 

 which trees may be dedicated. Show me the 

 man or woman who can look affectionately 

 and tenderly upon a beautiful young seedling 

 tree or who can speak lovingly and sincerely 

 to a great dignified, honorable old tree, and 

 I will show you a good man and a good 

 woman. Set me down, blindfolded, in a door- 

 yard where I can hear the rustle of healthy 

 foliage and smell the bouquet of many blos- 

 soms and without other guaranty I will know 

 that I am within precincts made sacred not 

 only by industry and thrift, but by domestic 

 harmony and good citizenship. There's no 

 misjudging such signs. On the other hand, 

 show me the man who can stand listless and 

 unnoticing in the presence of a great elm 

 fairly bursting with the joy of living, and I 

 will show you a man who misses half the 

 good things of earth without knowing it, be- 

 cause of his ignorance. 



The world's best placards as to human char- 

 acter are the trees of a city and the shrubs, 

 foliage, plants, vines and flowers of that 

 city's homes; the orchards, the shade trees 

 and the wood lots of the farms. You may 

 build your houses, your public structures 

 city halls, public libraries, postoffices, school 

 houses, churches and so on ever so grandly 

 and correctly as to architecture, but they will 

 not give out their full values except by aid 

 of Nature's irrevocable accessories trees, 

 shrubbery, grasses, plants and flowers. In a 

 most general way this constitutes a summary 

 as to the spiritual uses to which trees and all 

 their kin may be applied. 



And these are spiritual services in all truth. 

 They are services inspiring purity of thought 

 and most sincere action. The best gardener, 

 the best forester, the best florist, the best 

 farmer is he who is thoroughly proud of his 

 efforts in his chosen field and who is abso- 

 lutely free from vanity in following that call- 

 ing. Such a man is proud that he is able to 

 demonstrate, without selfishness or avarice, his 

 absolute fealty to Nature; proud over his suc- 

 cess in providing without money or price, un- 

 told happiness and delight to thousands who 

 enjoy the results of his efforts. Such a man 

 is a king among the benefactors of humanity. 

 I am told that the late Judge Solomon L. 

 Withey, .of Grand Rapids, set out those glori- 

 ous old elm trees on Fountain street, just 

 east of Division street. I learn also that the 

 late George Kendall set out the splendid elms 

 on North Prospect street next north of Foun- 

 tain street. Those are monuments to those 

 men greater than anything of marble or 

 bronze, because they whose memories are thus 

 perpetuated, performed those devotions them- 

 selves and voluntarily, knowing that many 

 generations to come would receive individual, 

 personal inspirations and pleasures therefrom. 



Such thoughts as these, it seems to me, sug- 

 gest their foils the abuse of trees, the out- 

 raging of Nature and offenses against human- 

 ity. Why was it that the late and most hon- 

 ored John Ball did not strip his holdings of 

 timber, saplings, and undergrowtn years ago? 

 Why was it that the man who had visited the 

 Sandwich Islands almost before Grand Rapids 



