THE FORESTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 557 



u On the Eau Claire river the timber is small and sound, growing very thick and long; there are frequent 

 instances where 1,200,000 or even 1,500,000 feet of lumber have been cut upon a 40-acrc lot. One tree was cut 

 on Jump river some years ago which scaled 7,000 feet of lumber. The general character of thi.s timber, especially 

 upon the main Chippewa or West Branch and a portion of the Flambeau, is called 'big sapling pine'. Of the true 

 eork pine very little is fouud iu the northern part of Wisconsin, probably because the soil is not strong enough to 

 permit its full development. The general character of the timber upon the Wisconsin river is very much the same 

 as that upon the main Chippewa. There are instances of very flue pine having been cut iu the hard-wood forest 

 upon the lower part of the river, and some fine groves are found even as far north as the Tomahawk and East 

 Branch. The Flambeau river, or East Branch of the Chippewa, has also, in ranges 2 and 3 east, extending from 

 townships 35 to 41 north, inclusive, some excellent bodies of upper-grade pine. 



" On the Jump river are some fine bodies of pine, nearly approaching iu quality Michigan cork pine and running 

 largely to ' uppers '. This is true also of the pine upon the Yellow river, where the timber grows largely scattered 

 among hard woods and is of fine quality. One of the finest bodies of pine in Wisconsin is that which belongs to 

 Cornell university, lying in townships 33 to 38, ranges 8 and 9, in the highest part of Chippewa county, on the 

 divide between the Chippewa and Red Cedar rivers. On this body frequent estimates of 1,000,000 feet to 40 acres 

 have been made. On the Saint Croix river are many barren areas timbered with scrub pine, patches of Norway 

 pine, and small black and white oak. These barrens cover about 700,000 acres of the Saint Croix region. The soil is 

 sandy, and fires run over the country every year. South of these barrens, in Poik, Barren, Saint Croix, Dunn, and 

 Pierce counties, is a tract of very valuable hard-wood land, upon which the greatest portion of the timber is now 

 standing, although settlements are already largely scattered through this region. This body of hard wood contains 

 a large amount of valuable white-oak stave timber and much timber suitable for general manufacturing purposes. 

 It is being, however, rapidly destroyed by settlers and by the fires incident to agricultural and logging operations. 



"In Clark county, which lies partly in the Chippewa and partly in the Black Eiver region, are large bodies 

 of hard-wood timber as yet uncut and growing upon land valuable for farming purposes. This growth extends as 

 far north as the northern line of the county. The same body of timber extends east through Marathon and Wood 

 counties, and is particularly fine in the western portions. The same body of hard-wood timber continues east 

 toward lake Michigan, including the counties of Portage, Waupaca, Shawano, Outagamie, Winnebago, Brown, 

 Kewauuee, Manitowoc, Calumet, Fond du Lac, Sheboygan, and Ozaukee. Large tracts in these counties are, of 

 course, cleared and settled ; still they contain large bodies of unoccupied hard- wood timber, and the opportunities 

 for cheap farms are plenty. 



" Of the forest region proper of Wisconsin, fully 5 per cent, is not covered with timber; this includes swamps, 

 lakes, rivers, bottoms, etc. In the extreme southern part of the forest area, over a region from 35 to 50 miles in 

 width, the hard wood predominates, only about one-fifth of the forest growth being pine. North of this hard-wood 

 region proper, perhaps one-half of the forest growth is pine and other soft woods and the rest hard woods. Hemlock 

 is scattered through the pine forest outside of the heavy hard-wood areas. A careful estimate of the hemlock timber 

 now standing gives the following results, the divisions agreeing with those used in estimating the standing pine : 

 On the Chippewa river, upon 3,000,000 acres, 2,500,0110,000 feet of hemlock; on the Saint Croix river, upon 1,000,000 

 acres, 500,000,000 feet of hemlock; on the Black river, upon 350,000 acres, 100,000,000 feet of hemlock; in the 

 country east of the Wisconsin River division, and including the Wolf, Oconto, Peshtigo, and Menomonee rivers 

 and their tributaries, upon 3,000,000 acres, 1,500,000,000 feet. 



The total area in the state on which hemlock timber grows is about 10,500,000 acres, containing, roughly, 

 5.500,000,000 feet. The quality of the hemlock timber in Wisconsin is not so good as that grown in New York and 

 northern Pennsylvania, although it is valuable for its bark, and the timber when peeled can be driven down with 

 the pine and sawed at the mills into dimension stuff for use where coarse lumber is required. 



" Generally, therefore, the forests of Wisconsin may be divided into the hard- wood lands already described, 

 along the southern borders, from which the pine has been mostly cut ; north of this, and extending northward 

 somewhat indefinitely, the mixed growth of hard wood and pine, growing upon soil adapted for agricultural purposes. 

 The open meadows in this region are covered either with grass or cranberry marshes, alike valuable to the lumber 

 and farming interests. About the head of the Flambeau river are large open spaces running into groves of heavy 

 pine timber. These open spaces, once lakes or swamps, are drying up and the timber is gradually spreading over 

 them. There are bodies of timber scattered through the southern portions of the state outside of the original forest 

 area, but the amount of this timber is relatively so small that it cannot be considered of commercial importance, 

 and hardly supplies the wants of the population occupying the thickly -settled southern counties. 



" Five thousand men are employed in the pineries of the Chippewa river. They are expected to cut during 

 the logging season about 600,000.000 feet of logs, or an average per man of over 100,000 feet. This rule is not 

 applicable to the northwestern pineries generally, for in Michigan, as the timber is now farther from the streams, 

 the average cut per man is not as great, and 80,000 feet per man would perhaps be a fair average, taking the 

 pineries of the whole northwest. 



