196 OUR USE OF THE LAND 



of the lake states are concerned, the first part of the pattern 

 was developed rapidly enough. The land was cleared for agri' 

 culture with a speed that would have delighted the followers 

 of Daniel Boone. But the farmers who followed the wood' 

 cutting in Cloquet, unlike the farmers in the blue'glass region 

 of Kentucky, found that the soil was not adapted to agricul' 

 ture. Here the pattern collapsed. The glacial land on which the 

 white pine forests grow simply won't produce good crops. It 

 is suitable only for forest land. Thus as in many other cases of 

 recent timber cutting, the plow has not followed the axe. This 

 means that little islands of stranded communities are left be' 

 hind on many of these areas that were once heavily wooded. 

 These people live on sub'marginal land and they soon become 

 sub'marginal families. 



It is possible that the town of Cloquet may also represent 

 a fourth and coming period of American forestry. As you come 

 into the town from the east you notice on either side of the 

 road there is a factory, and again at the end of the town there 

 is another factory. These three factories depend on the aspen 

 wood from this land for their raw material. The best wood 

 goes to the clothespin factory, the next best wood goes to the 

 match factory, and finally the worst wood goes to the pulp 

 mill. For the raw material these factories pay about $250,000 

 a year, most of which goes to the farmers who cut the 

 wood from their land. This adds about $300 a year to the 

 average farmer's very small income. The use of aspen suggests 

 a future use of forest products which may support a large 

 number of people now living on sub'marginal land. It all de' 

 pends primarily on whether the forest products are used wisely. 



About 25 per cent of the timber in the United States is on 

 farm woodlots. When pulp factories, which can use this wood 

 are built in an area where pulpwood is available, the farmer 

 has a market for his wood. This enables him to add to his in' 

 come during the winter months when he isn't able to farm. 



