MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



Official Org.n of The Michigwi Road Mkm Auoottion nd Michigan Ftxetlry Association 

 SUITE 1406 MAJESTIC BUILDING DETROIT. MICHIGAN 



Frank E. Carter Editor 



PUBLISHED EVERY MONTH 



BY 

 THE STATE REVIEW PUBLISHING CO., 



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 PAYABLE IN ADVANCE. 



MICHIGAN LEGISLATORS 



MUST AWAKEN 



The forest fires which have swept Michigan 

 this year have been productive of some good. 

 They have awakened the editors of the state 

 to the importance of fire protection for pur 

 forests under the plan advocated by the Mich- 

 igan Forestry Association. With a practically 

 unanimous press clamoring for proper protec- 

 tion, it is very likely that the next legislature 

 will make an appropriation which will enable 

 the fire warden to establish an effective sys- 

 tem of fighting fires in all sections of the 

 state. 



The following editorial from the Adrian 

 Times is an excellent example of what Michi- 

 gan editors are printing these days. The 

 Times says: 



"Each year about this season millions of 

 dollars' worth of valuable timber lands are 

 swept by flames, utterly destroying timber 

 resources and even rendering the land unfit 

 for years for cultivation. This tremendous 

 annual loss has been allowed to go on prac- 

 tically unchecked each year without anv well- 

 considered effort being made toward preven- 

 tion. The rapidly diminishing timber re- 

 sources of the middle west and particularly 

 in Michigan make such a waste of timber noth- 

 ing less than a calamity. Some strong and 

 intelligent effort should be directed toward 

 providing against such losses in the future. 

 Since it is impossible for private individuals 

 to organize in defense against loss by fire, the 

 duty devolves upon the state at large, and the 

 next legislature in Michigan should give to 

 this subject careful consideration. 



"Without doubt short-sighted and small- 

 minded men will raise against any plan which 

 would provide adequate protection against 

 forest fires, the argument of too great ex- 

 pense. Such arguments, however, should not 

 prevail. The conservation of the timber re- 

 sources of the state is a project 'which directly 

 affects the interests of every man living within 

 the borders of the state, not only of the pres- 

 ent generation, but of the generations to come. 

 Money expended in maintaining an adequate 

 force of fire wardens and in the dissemination 

 of information regarding the origin of forest 

 fires and methods of fighting fires when once 

 started, would be returned to the state many 

 fold in the years to come. 



"At the present time the duties of fire war- 

 dens and in all matters relating to forestry 

 are included in the work of the state game 

 warden. He is provided with meager funds 

 and a staff altogether insufficient to achieve 

 any practical results. The establishment of a 

 forestry department by the legislature, em- 

 ploying a sufficient number of wardens to 

 patrol the points of danger and prevent these 

 tremendous conflagrations which are annually 

 causing such great losses and doing such in- 

 calculable injury should be one of the tasks 

 seriously undertaken by the state legislature 



when it convenes at Lansing next winter. 



The Saginaw Courier-Herald says: 



Who is responsible for the forest fires which 

 have been proving so disastrous to the state? 

 If the responsibility could be placed on an 

 individual there -would instantly be a cry for 

 his punishment. If it could by any possibility 

 be done he would be thrown into state's prison 

 for the protection of society. For the crime 

 is one of some magnitude, involving as it does 

 the destruction of some hundreds of thousands 

 of dollars' worth of property. Unfortunately 

 the problem is not so simple as it would be- 

 come if the responsibility could be thrown 

 upon any single individual. 



J. D. Hawks, president of the D. & M. 

 railroad, answers the question of responsibil- 

 ity by accusing the state. The state, he says, 

 is to blame for the immense annual fire losses, 

 the consequent destruction of property and 

 in many cases imperilled lives. It is possible 

 to minimize fire possibilities by a reasonable 

 enforcement of caution and proper oversight. 



What, then, is the proper treatment for the 

 protection of society? Obviously the state 

 cannot be thrown into prison. It represents 

 the individuals collectively. As long as the 

 individuals are not awake to the danger of 

 forest fires, the loss entailed by them and the 

 possibility and necessity of preventing these 

 losses by adequate laws and proper enforce- 

 ment, the state will continue to suffer the un- 

 necessary destruction of a great amount of 

 property annually. 



The trouble at present is that the state is 

 being terribly punished for its negligence in 

 the matter, without realizing either the negli- 

 gence or the punishment. Relief can come 

 only through an awakened public sentiment 

 on forest fires and a popular demand for such 

 action by the legislature as will constructively 

 tend to cause a production of wealth annually 

 in the extensive portion of the state which 

 now annually witnesses only destruction. 



This is the sane action which will ultimately 

 be taken. How long must the present tremen- 

 dous annual waste continue before the state 

 awakens to the economic importance of the 

 question? 



The Marquette Mining Journal says: 



This is the forest fire season and reports of 

 disastrous blazes in various parts of the state 

 are continually coming to hand. In fact, they 

 are .expected and appear to excite little com- 1 

 ment. The state looks for blazes of this sort j 

 every year during the dry season and unless | 

 there are peculiarly sensational features I 

 usually fails to see any material importance 

 in them. Occasionally when a village is 

 menaced, when a settlement is swept over, or 

 when heroic measures are resorted to to stay 

 the progress of the flames, the rest of the state 

 begins to take interest, but otherwise curiosity 

 is not even greatly aroused. 



As a matter of fact the fires that receive 

 public notice are individually .the most disas- 

 trous, but there are countless smaller blazes 

 that are passed over, that excite no comment 

 from many even of those who see the smoke 

 and frequently the flames from them. 



During the dry season it is possible nearly 

 every day to see the white smoke of a forest 

 fire at some point on the pine barrens in the 

 northern part of the state and to trace the de- 

 velopment and, roughly, the path of the blaze. 

 Also there is not a point in the expanse of 

 country which once constituted Michigan's 

 chief source of wealth that does not bear the 

 marks of past fires which have devastated the 

 land, destroyed timber and rendered more bar- 

 ren the soil. Yet the question of fire preven- 

 tion receives comparatively little attention. 



The loss from forest fires most frequently 

 commented on is to the timber. Trees are 

 destroyed. The sweep of the flames cuts off 

 at the start what would become valuable 

 forests again and in many cases where there 

 is standing timber this is injured. 



Yet there is another loss which is perhaps 

 ultimately even greater ifi the deterioration of 

 the soil. The ground in the entire pine section 

 of Michigan has been greatly impoverished by 



frequent forest fires. The result has been to 

 delay their settlement and development. Even 

 for the growth of timber they are materially 

 injured. 



In view of the few people who are to be 

 found scattered through the pine barrens the 

 number of forest fires is almost criminally 

 large. Nearly all are started through careless- 

 ness. Hunters or fishermen, who have little 

 conception -of the danger and possibility of 

 disaster, leave their camp fires in such condi- 

 tion that they can start blazes. A match 

 thrown lightly aside, or a cigar stub may fall 

 in a dry, inflammable spot and cause trouble. 

 In the majority of cases the blaze starts from 

 carelessness. 



The number of forest fires could and should 

 be materially reduced. It would be policy and 

 economy, in view of the immense annual loss, 

 immediate and potential, for the state to spend 

 materialh- more money, if necessary, to enforce 

 sane forest laws, rather than to continue with 

 the present annual destruction. The elimina- 

 tion or a satisfactory reduction of forest fires 

 would afford new possibilities for neglected 

 sections of the state, which are now idle in- 

 stead of being properly productive. 



FORESTRY AT STATE FAIR. 



Prof. F. H. Sanford, in charge of the exhibit 

 at the state fair given by the forestry depart- 

 ment of the Michigan Agricultural College, 

 was one of the busiest men on the grounds 

 during the ten days the fair was in operation, 

 explaining to farmers regarding the handling 

 and growing of trees. 



"We distribute a vast quantity of trees to 

 farmers practically at cost," said Mr. Sanford. 

 "Those distributed are black locust, evergreens 

 and all species native to Michigan. We found 

 the farmers greatly interested in the demon- 

 strations we made concerning post preserva- 

 tion. We use two systems for treating posts. 

 We show how they may be creosoted inex- 

 pensively, and by the use of appliances that 

 any farmer is able to improvise. A farmer 

 can take a barrel and half fill it with creosote, 

 extend a gas pipe from the bottom of the bar- 

 n/1 and maintain a lire under the pipe, which 

 will keep up a circulation in the fluid. In three 

 hours the creosote will penetrate between one- 

 half and three-quarters of an inch. The cost 

 per post for creosote used is 7 cents. 



"The other treatment consists of the use 

 of the bichloride of mercury, commonly called 

 corrosive sublimate. The equipment necessary 

 for this treatment requires a tank made en- 

 tirely of wood or of cement. No metal can 

 be used in the construction. The solution is 

 made by the use of two gallons of saturated 

 bichloride of mercury to 100 gallons of water. 

 The posts are submerged and held by pressure 

 for three days entirely under the liquid. At 

 the end of this time the posts may be removed 

 and allowed to dry. This treatment doubles 

 the life of the timber at a cost of 3 cents per 

 post. The first installation of the plant is 

 much more expensive than for the creosoting. 

 The plant at the fair grounds cost $50 and 

 the capacity for three days is between GO and 

 80 posts, while the cost of the creosote outfit 

 would not exceed $.">. 



"The forestry department at the college is 

 anxious to co-operate with timber users in 

 every way possible, both for the preservation 

 of timber and for the betterment of their 

 wood lots." 



OFFICIAL TREE TRIMMER. 



A new city office, that of tree warden, to be 

 filled by appointment by the chief of police, 

 lias been created by the Flint common council. 

 The new official will be commissioned a mem- 

 ber of the city police force and his duties will 

 be to see that the trees in the city are prop- 

 erly trimmed. Chief McCall named Thomas 

 McLain for the place. 



The road which was started between White- 

 hall and Montague in Muskegon county, was 

 built too narrow and had to be widened to 

 18 feet. It is an excellent highway. 



