"REINDEER IN MICHIGAN" 



757 



even your white-tail deer how to fight. They have no 

 mercy and oftimes they fight until death." 



Dr. Christiansen stated that this is the first incident 

 in the history of the reindeer industry where a shipment 



A MOTHER REINDEER FROM NORWAY AND HER TWO 

 CALVES, WHICH WERE BORN IN MICHIGAN THIS SUMMER. 



has been made to any foreign country from Norway 

 that has reached its destination 100% intact. . Not one 

 reindeer that left Norway, February 14, until they 

 reached the Mason State Game Farm, March 27, died. 

 Out of a shipment of 700 reindeer shipped to the order 



of Vilhjalmer Stefansson, 180 died en route to their 

 destination. This may be explained by the fact that 

 the reindeer coming to Michigan were each crated 

 individually, while other shipments have been made by 

 herding in the hold of the vessel. 



To Be Confined On Superior Forest 



Since the arrival of this herd of reindeer in Michi- 

 gan, they have been confined to a 26,000 acre ranch 

 belonging to Rasmon Hanson, of Grayling, Michigan, 

 and lying quite close to the city of Grayling in Ros- 

 common County. As soon as the breeding season is 

 over these animals will be transported to the Lake 

 Superior Forest Reserve, a tract of land bordering the 

 north shore of Lake Superior of over 62,000 acres in 

 extent. They will not be allowed during the coming 

 winter season to range at will, but will be confined in 

 an enclosure, four miles square, and be under the con- 

 stant care of a Finnlander, well versed in the rearing 

 of reindeer. The original herd of 60 was reduced by 

 accident through shipment to 55, but was supplemented 

 by the arrival of 26 calves in June and each one, as 

 the photographs will show, are now quite near the size 

 of their parents. 



If the experiment of rearing reindeer in Michigan ac- 

 complishes but one thing, and that of giving to this 

 northern country a hardy and easily handled food ani- 

 mal, the Department of Conservation will feel well 

 repaid for its efforts. If, on the other hand, in years 

 to come, the experiment should prove a failure, it will 

 have established for all time to come the impractibility 

 of attempting reindeer culture in the temperate zone. 

 However, our guess is that Michigan will make good 

 and will be the first State successfully to establish this 

 splendid food animal in the United States. 



Upon that we await results. 



FOREST POSSIBILITIES OF NORTHERN MINNESOTA 



(Continued from Page 745) 



Over 80 per cent of the fires occur in cut-over or burned 

 over areas. People are more careless in these areas be- 

 cause they do not realize that they are dealing with stands 

 of young trees having considerable potential value. It is 

 the setback caused by repeated burning not the rate of 

 growth that keeps the stands in the seedling stage per- 

 petually. Every fire that passes over reduces the num-. 

 i)er and quality of the trees and impoverishes the soil. 



It is also of interest to know how dense the stands are. 

 The number of trees j^er acre influences both the amount 

 of material produced and its character. The number per 

 acre required for a properly stocked stand diminishes as 

 the stand grows older. The density of stocking is gen- 

 erally quite satisfactory. Thirty-five per cent of the 

 stands were found to be stocked satisfactorily, 45 per 

 cent too lightly, and 20 percent too heavily stocked. The 

 too heavily stocked areas are a greater problem than the 

 lightly stocked. A too dense stand causes a slowing in 



rate of growth while the slightly understocked areas 

 eventually become fully stocked with increasing age. 



Many of the stands in the seedling stage have an over- 

 story of older trees that will soon become merchantable. 

 These older trees are remnants left after logging, or 

 second growth that has escaped repeated burning. This 

 makes a very complete utilization of the soil and reduces 

 the period during which no financial returns can be ex- 

 pected from these areas. This considerably counteracts 

 the effect of the large proportion of seedling age stands. 



The Dark Cloud Has A Silver Lining 



We have then discovered sufficient stock on hand with 

 which to begin work. We are not going to be able to use 

 the same species as originally, nor produce the same 

 product ; but that is unavoidable. Instead of large saw 

 mills cutting pine we will have box mills, pulp mills, 

 portable sawmills and specialty plants. We will have 



