394 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



started in spite of the woods patrol, all employes are 

 immediately called out to extinguish the blaze. Trees 

 thrown by wind or injured by insect* or disease are re- 

 moved as soon as possible so that their full usefulness is 

 obtained and the health of the forest is protected. As 

 a result of this policy, there remains a profitable stand 

 of virgin timber and second growth, sufficient to supply 

 the mill for years to come. A prosperous village has 

 grown up around the sawmill that has operated in one 

 spot for half a century, with a good school, church, 

 stores, pleasant homes and shady streets. It is fitting 

 that the name of this town is Endeavor, and Mr. N. P. 

 Wheeler, the founder, may well take pride. 



The rise in the price of white pine stumpage is well 

 shown by the history of a tract of ">00,000 acres of white 

 pine timber in Wisconsin. This area was purchased in 

 lHt>(> by Kzra Cornell, at a price of (50 cents per acre, or 

 less than 10 cents per thousand board feet. A portion of 

 the tract was sold in 1873 for $4 per acre or about 30 or 

 40 cents per thousand feet of standing timber. By 190."> 

 practically all of the land was sold and a profit of five 

 and one-half million dollars was realized. Some of t.iis 

 white pine timber brought $10 and $12 per thousand feet 

 on the stump, and present prices of stumpage may exceed 

 $20 per thousand feet if the timber is of exceptional qual- 

 ity and well located. -This rapid rise in stumpage value 

 has opened the door to the application of the principles 

 of intensive forest management in producing future crops 

 of white pine lumber. This is especially noticeable in 

 New England, where great interest has developed in 

 planting white pine and in giving proper care to second- 

 growth white pine forests. 



The uses of white pine are so diversified that several 

 pages could be filled with the mere enumeration of them. 

 In the day of wooden ships, white pine was highly im- 

 portant for masts, spars, figureheads and decking. Boats 

 of all kinds are constructed of it, and in early times 

 canoes were frequently fashioned from white pine logs. 

 Floating docks made of white pine logs or timbers serve 

 their purpose perfectly, decades after other kinds of 

 wood have become water-logged. I '.ridges, aqueducts 

 and structures of a like nature were formerly built en- 

 tirely of white pine timbers, where they were not required 

 to bear excessive strains. Many of the old covered 

 bridges of Pennsylvania and West Virginia were built of 

 white pine timbers, enclosed with white pine siding and 

 covered with white pine shingles. So durable have these 

 bridges been that it was said of some of them that "no 

 man had lived long enough to both witness their building 

 and their failure through decay." 



White pine has always l>een the wood of universal 

 excellence for constructing houses, barns, sheds and 

 other buildings. Early in 1800 Michaux estimated that, 

 aside from the cities, there were half a million houses in 

 the United States that were built of white pine wood. 

 New York and the New England States abound with 

 splendid examples of beautiful colonial houses con- 

 structed of white pine, that have stood for more than 



a century, or even more than two centuries, testimonials 

 to the wisdom of the early builders in selecting white 

 pine in preference to other materials equally available. 

 Not long ago, ten white pine beams were removed from a 

 building in New York City after doing service for fifty 

 years. These beams were 18 inches thick, 2 feet wide 

 and 50 feet long, free from knots or defects and per- 

 fectly sound after a period equal to an ordinary lifetime. 

 Some of the beams are now being used as temporary 

 supports in the New York subway excavations, in a posi- 

 tion where their light weight, strength and length, give 

 them superiority over metal or other kinds of wood. 



White pine is unequalled as a wood for lath, siding, 

 light dimension, sash, doors, blinds, planing mill prod- 

 ucts and general mill work. White pine shingles are of 

 high order of merit; where it is not subject to heavy 

 wear, it makes a serviceable flooring. Porch columns, 

 pumps, patterns, picture frames and penholders are all 

 made of white pine, because the wood is less affected by 

 moisture than other woods, neither shrinks, checks nor 

 warps, holds paint and gilt finish well, and its soft, even 

 grain, makes it an easy wood to work with any kind 

 of tools. 



Moulding, ceiling, panels, shelves, caskets, baskets, 

 wooden ware, refrigerators, toys, trunks, tubs, shade 

 rollers and skewers are a few of the common uses of 

 white pine. On the farm and in the home, the shop and 

 the factory, this wood has uses galore. Fences, wagon 

 beds, parts of vehicles and machines, wheelbarrows, wind- 

 mills, handles, beehives, chests and shelves are a few of 

 these. A fine, old, white pine chest made of beautifully 

 clear, wide lumber may be seen by visitors to Longfel- 

 low's old home in Portland, Maine. 



For a period of 200 years large quantities of white 

 pine were used for such articles of furniture as book- 

 cases, cupboards, counter tops and tables, desks, benches, 

 stools and chairs. While not well adapted to all of these 

 uses, it served its purpose, and for drawing tables and 

 drawing boards it has no equal. It is also one of the best 

 woods for all kinds of boxes and crates, except for the 

 heaviest shipping, because it combines fair strength with 

 light weight, and its light, even color and the smooth 

 surface of the planed wood makes printing show to ad- 

 vantage. Much white pine is manufactured into fish 

 and lard buckets, pails, washtubs, churns, ice cream 

 freezers, spice containers, etc. ; it is also a high-class 

 wood for tanks and silos and barrel headings. Logs of 

 white pine were formerly used for wooden water pipes, 

 for which they served better than most woods. Excel- 

 sior and match sticks are two other commodities in which 

 white pine is preferred above other woods. 



Western white pine (Pinus monticola) and sugar pine 

 (Pinus lambertiana) are five needled pines with wood 

 very similar in appearance to that of the eastern 

 white pine (Pinus strobus). In fact, the qualities of the 

 two western woods are so nearly like those of white pine 

 that they may be substituted for the eastern species for 

 most purposes. 



