MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



Beech Growth on Uplands Near Yazoo Delta A Good Illustration of Bad Erosion Checked 



by Tree Cover. 



(Courtesy Forestry and Irrigation.) 





the sale of tax homestead lands be restricted, 

 and that the discretion vested in the commis- 

 sioner be exercised to that end in furtherance 

 of the legislative intent aforesaid and of the 

 best interest of the state." 



The commission is made of R. D. Graham, 

 Grand Rapids, President; A. B. Cook, Owosso, 

 Secretary; Charles B. Blair, Grand Rapids, 

 Kxecutive Agent; C. V. R. Townsend, Ne- 

 gaunee; George B. Horton, Fruit Ridge; A. L. 

 Palmer, Kalkaska; Francis King, Alma; D. B. 

 Osmun, Montague, and Carl E. Schmidt, 

 Detroit. 



ARIZONA NATIONAL FOREST. 



The Verde National Forest, in Arizona, re- 

 cently proclaimed by the President, has an 

 area of 721. 780 acres, and is situated in Mari- 

 copa and Yavapai counties. It lies on the 

 west side of the Verde river, and includes a 

 large part of the watershed of this stream. 

 Jerome, the headquarters o/ the United States 

 Verde Copper mine, is in the northern part 

 of this forest. West and southwest of Jerome 

 are the Mingus mountains. 



The greater part of the area of the forest 

 i- covered with a growth of brush without 

 commercial value, says a bulletin of the forest 

 service. The protection of this, however, is 

 just as important as heavily forested land, for, 

 as in the case of Southern California, this 

 scrubby growth is the only thing that con- 

 serves the water supply and protects the 

 watershed of the Verde river from serious 

 erosion. 



This watershed has an important relation, 

 says tlu- Reclamation Service, to the full de- 

 vel'ipment of the irrigible lands of Salt River 

 valley. In order that the rich lands in this 

 part of Arizona may be brought to their 

 highest development, the watershed of the 

 Verde river will be protected from damage 

 through wasteful lumbering and over-grazing. 

 Many parts of the forest have suffered from 

 over-grazing by goats, and the protection of 

 the brush cover will prevent further erosion 

 and impairment of the water supply. 



A PRACTICAL FORESTRY SERMON. 



The rivers of the country are preaching 

 their annual forestry sermon. Scores of cities 

 have been inundated and the property loss is 

 great. In Pittsburg alone the loss is esti- 

 mated at millions of dollars, and cities in 

 Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia suffer 

 corresponding losses. 



The flood at Pittsburg and along the Ohio 

 is the most disastrous of these annual affairs, 

 and affords the most striking proof of the 

 practical necessity of forestry for the preser- 

 vation and restraint of the rivers of the coun- 

 try, if for no other reason. The Pittsburg 

 flood is beginning to be looked for every 

 spring now as a regular thing. But the other 

 sections of the country also suffer in the 

 same way. 



It has been forcibly pointed out that the 

 Pittsburg situation has been rendered possible 

 only by the stripping of the land around the 

 headwaters of the streams which come to- 

 gether at that point of the forest growth 

 which once adorned them. Formerly the forest 

 retained the moisture from the rain and snow, 

 stored it up and released it gradually. The 

 rain filtered through slowly, the discharge 

 of the water into the rivers was extended 

 over a greater length of time, and was con- 

 sequently of less volume at one time. The 

 river might be slightly swollen for some time, 

 but there was no sudden flood of the dis- 

 astrous character of those of recent years. 

 \<>w, however, the water rolls off the bare 

 hills into the river, and the spring thaw pre- 

 cipitates the melted snows into the river with 

 a suddenness that causes the rapid and dam- 

 aging rise each year. 



In the case of Pittsburg the lesson is the 

 more emphasized, as it has been pointed out 

 by the government forestry department that 

 the extensive and uneconomical cutting along 

 the headwaters of the Allegheny and Monon- 

 L'ahela rivers is responsible for the whole 

 difficulty. For the protection of the towns 

 ,nd cities along these rivers and along the 

 Ohio, reforestation appears to be a necessity. 



The importance of forestry work is most 

 pronounced in the Allegheny section, perhaps, 

 although the same thing is felt in this city 



and elsewhere in this and other states. But 

 the annual Pittsburg flood will afford, in a 

 measure, an indext to the extent and value 

 of forestry work. Saginaw Courier-Herald. 



LITTLE SQUARE TIMBER NOW. 



Thomas Denton has been getting out square 

 timber in Michigan forty years. He is about 

 the only square timber man left in the state, 

 of oak in West Virginia, and 25,000 cubic feet 

 of oak in West Virginia, and 25,000 ubic feet 

 of elm in Wexford county, this state. 



Only a small quantity of square timber was 

 taken out of the Saginaw river the last season. 

 For forty years this industry was actively 

 prosecuted at Bay City, and vast quantities of 

 red and white oak and elm, as well as some 

 square pine timber were sent out of the Sag- 

 inaw river. Canadian operators handled the 

 greater portion of it which went to Quebec, 

 though considerable quantities were sent to 

 Tonawanda. From 1860 to 1890 about 50,000,- 

 000 cubic feet of square timber were shipped 

 out of eastern Michigan and the Saginaw val- 

 ley. Now only a few thousand cubic feet each 

 year is gotten out. Thomas Denton owns a 

 fine farm near Reese and though more than 

 70 is as tough and wiry as most men at 50. 



FORESTRY IN THE SCHOOLS. 



The United States government is endeavor- 

 ing to introduce forestry in the high schools 

 of the country. The Department of Agricul- 

 ture, however, recognizes the fact that the 

 pupils have about all the fancy branches al- 

 ready that they can assimilate, and therefore 

 proposes to have the forestry teaching incor- 

 porated with the geographical and botanical 

 studies. 



BIG LUMBER DEAL. 



For a consideration of $75,000 Edward Hines, 

 of Chicago, has purchased the entire holdings 

 of the Garth Lumber and Shingle Company, 

 in Alger and Delta counties, upper Michigan. 

 The property involved includes tracts of stand- 

 ing timber in the valley of Whitefish river, 

 logging equipment and logs and the manufac- 

 turing site at Garth. 



