188 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 
ous parts of the world. Railroads soon rendered other 
regions accessible; huge sawmills were in time con- 
structed, and the great lumber industry was pushed 
to its utmost to supply the needs of a progressive, 
wood-using people. It has swept across this country 
like a voracious monster, and in the great forests of 
the far West is now having its richest harvest. It is 
rapidly devouring the substance which keeps it alive. 
Soon there will be insufficient food material for these 
enormous mills. The day of the little mill will come 
again. The industry will be forced to content itself 
with smaller and poorer stuff until the time comes, 
as it must come to every progressive, wood-using peo- 
ple, when wood will be protected and exploited in 
such a way that a constant supply for all time may 
be assured. 
The nature of timber varies, of course, with every 
locality, and the methods of working it vary accord- 
ingly. In the North the white pine has been and is 
still the king of soft woods. Although Michigan, Wis- 
consin, and Minnesota are classed as the great white- 
pine States of America, white pine was once more or 
less abundant throughout the northern and north- 
eastern United States, and in eastern Canada. The 
amount which has been cut must be reckoned in bil- 
lions of feet, and the amount of capital concerned in 
hundreds of millions of dollars. The natural range 
