552 



THE FORESTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



An estimated amount of 575,500,000 cords of hard wood is distributed over some 20,000,000 acres in the lower 

 peninsula. Of this about 20 per cent, is suitable for lumber and cooperage stpck. The cut of hard wood for the 

 census year ending May 31, 1880 (exclusive of 103,821,000 staves and 18,567,000 sets headings, and including 

 6,038,000 feet of spool stock), was 440,944,000 feet. In scattered swamps there are standing some 5,000,000 cords 

 of yellow cedar [Thuya ocddentalis). 



From Menominee and Delta counties the merchantable pine has been almost entirely remoA'ed. Baraga county 

 contains little pine, and Keweenaw county a single considerable body some 30,000 acres in extent. 



The northern portion of Oatonagon and Marquette counties is chiefly covered with hard wood. 



An estimated amount of 124,500,000 cords of hard wood is distributed ovi r some 10,000,000 acres in the upper 

 peninsula. The cut of hard wood for the census year ending May 31, 1880 (exclusive of fuel and railroad ties), 

 was 1,145,000 feet. 



The southern counties of the upper peninsula contain large areas of swamp, covered with tamarack and yellow 

 cedar (Thuya ocddentalis), estimated, in the aggregate, at 62,500,000 cords. 



Some 7,000,000,000 feet of hemlock lumber and 7,000,000 cords of bark still remain in the state. 



Michigan is first among the states in the volume and value of its lumber product. Its principal centers of 

 lumber manufacture are Muskegon, on the shores of lake Michigan, the shores of Saginaw bay, in Bay county, the 

 Saginaw river, in Saginaw county, Manistee, and Menominee, in the upper peninsula. The valley of the Saginaw was 

 long the seat of the most important lumber-manufacturing operations in the United States. Its supremacy, however, 

 has departed with the destruction of the splendid pine forest which covered its watershed, and the center of 

 manufacture has moved westward from the shores of lake Huron across the peninsula to the waters flowing into 

 lake Michigan. 



Lumber was first manufactured iu the Saginaw valley as early as 1832. Three years later^a second mil!, with 

 an annual capacity of 3,000,000 feet, was built upon the Saginaw. In 1836 the first shipments of lumber were made 

 from this mill, and from that time forward great attention was given to the manufacture of lumber for shipment. 

 The commercial panic of 1837, however, seriously interfered with the development of this business, and it wa."* 

 not until 1849 that mills began to multiply. In 1844 there were 23 mills upon the Saginaw, with an aggregate 

 capacity of 60,000,000 feet. Ten years later the number of mills had increased to 82, manufacturing 425,000,000 feet 

 of lumber, while in 1873 there were 83 mills, which produced that year 567,000,000 feet. Since 1870 there has been an 

 almost steady decrease in the number of mills operating in the Saginaw valley ; the number finishing their " cut out" 

 is fast increasing, and those destroyed by fire are not rebuilt. But, although the number of mills has decreased, 

 their production has increased, their present capacity being estimated at 923,000,000 feet. A large part of the lumber 

 manufactured upon the Saginaw is transported by lake to Ohio and New York ports, and thence to the principal 

 eastern markets, although a considerable, amount is shipped by vessel to Chicago and Milwaukee, and thence 

 distributed by rail through the west. The wide market open to this lumber is due to its excellent quality. Twenty 

 years ago logs which would run 25 per cent. " uppers" were considered common ; 40 per cent, was the rule, and as 

 high as 75 per cent. " uppers " was sometimes obtained. Logs were then cut from the lower trunk of the tree below 

 the tops, and only the largest trees were selected. Now land which has been cut over three times is gone over 

 again, and lumbermen are satisfied if logs yield 10 per cent. " uppers ". 



Of late years considerable changes have been introduced into Michigan lumbering operations by railroad 

 logging; by this means mills are able to obtain a constant supply of logs by railroads built into the forest for the 

 purpose, and tliis supply can be regulated almost entirely by the demand. There are sever.al roads in different 

 parts of the state doing this business, the principal being the Flint and Pere Marquette and the Lake George and 

 Muskegon Elver railroads. The growth of this business in the Saginaw valley and at Muskegon, Manistee, and ou 

 tlie Flint and Pere Marquette road is shown by the following table extracted from Bradstreet-s of February 

 5, 1881 : 



