490 



THE FORESTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



PISCATAQUIS COUNTY. From eight- to nine-tenths of this county is reported covered with forests, the southern 

 portion only being cleared of the original tree growth. 



SAGADAHOC COUNTY. One-half of this county is reported covered with woods, principally second growth. 

 Considerable second-growth white pine is now growing up upon abandoned farm lauds, and the wooded area of 

 the county is increasing. Manufacturers report all timber of sufficient size for use scarce and of inferior quality, 

 and apprehend early exhaustion of hard woods suitable for mechanical purposes. 



SOMERSET COUNTY. Five-sixths of this county is reported covered with woods, the southern portion only 

 being cleared of its forests of spruce and pine. Excelsior, handles, woodenware, etc., are largely manufactured. 

 Hard-wood timber of all sorts is abundant and of excellent quality, with the exception of black ash, now scarce 

 and in great demand. 



WALDO COUNTY. From one-quarter to one-half of this county is reported covered with woods, generally of 

 second growth. The wooded area is now gradually increasing by the growth of white pine on abandoned farming 

 lands. Manufacturers report a scarcity and deterioration of timber of all kinds of sufficient size tor use. 



WASHINGTON COUNTY. From eight- to nine-tenths of this county is reported covered with woods. In the 

 southern portion considerable areas contain scattered bodies of large pine, and through the center of the county 

 are large tracts of first-growth hemlock forests. No future scarcity of lumber is apprehended. 



YORK COUNTY. From one-third to one-half of this county is reported covered with woods ; it contains large 

 quantities of scattered pine. Second-growth pine is spreading on abandoned agricultural land, and the forest area 

 is increasing. Wood pulp, cooperage stock, and handles are largely manufactured. Timber of all sorts is reported 

 as depreciatfrug in both quality and quantity. No immediate scarcity, however, is apprehended. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



The forests of New Hampshire were originally composed of a belt of spruce, mixed with maple, birch, and 

 other hard-wood trees, occupying all the northern part of the state and extending southward through the central 

 portion ; the southeastern part of the state and the region bordering the Connecticut river were covered with 

 forests of white pine, through which considerable bodies of hard wood were scattered. The original white-pine 

 forests of New Hampshire are practically exhausted, although in the northern counties of the state there still 

 remain a few scattered bodies remote from streams and of small size; once of great extent and importance, these 

 forests have disappeared before the ax of the settler aud lumberman, or have been wasted by forest fires. Large 

 areas, however, once covered with forests of pine, have grown up again, especially in the southern part of the state, 

 with this tree. No estimate of the amount of this second-growth pine standing in the state has been possible; it 

 furnished during the census year a cut of 99.400,000 feet of lumber, board measure. The remaining forests of the 

 state, considered as a source of lumber supply, are composed of spruce, more or less mixed with hard woods, of 

 which the sugar maple and the birch are the most valuable. In the northern part of the state large areas of the 

 original spruce forest remain, although these bodies of timber are now only found at a considerable distance from 

 streams. 



Fires, which at different times have destroyed vast areas of forest, especially in the northern part of the state, 

 are now less frequent and destructive. During the year 1880 but 5,954 acres were reported stripped of their tree 

 covering by fires. Of such fires twelve were set by sparks from locomotives, seven by the escape into the forest of 

 fires originally set in clearing land for agricultural purposes, six by sportsmen, one through malice, and one by the 

 careless use of tobacco. 



The basis of the following estimate of the amount of merchantable black spruce (Picea nigra) lumber standing 

 May 31, 1880, in Carroll, Coos, and Grafton counties, where alone the spruce forests of the state are now of commercial 

 importance, was furnished by Mr. G. T. Crawford, of Boston, and verified by the testimony of other experts: 



BLACK SPRUCE (Picea nigra). 



It is roughly estimated that the spruce forests of the state contain over 33,750,000 cords of hard wood and 

 165,000,000 feet of hemlock. 



