FOREST POLICY. 



wood coppice now existing consists of maple, chestnut, oaks, gray 

 birches, hickories and pitch pine. Scattering red cedar and a 

 few groves of white pine or hemlock are frequently met. 



4. Forest ownership: The Boston park system now ag- 

 gregates 6,784 acres. 162 lumber firms own 41,000 acres of 9,000 

 feet b. m. stumpage. Cities near South Orleans, after Sargent, 

 have fully 10,000 acres planted in pitch pine. The balance of the 

 woodlands is attached to farms. 



5. Use of timber: Stumpage costs $2.64; logs at mill, 

 $9-49- 534 saw mills, the larger ones placed along the Connecticut, 

 report an average investment of $7,518. The value of the sawed 

 output is constantly rising: 



1850 $1,500,000 



i860 2,200,000 



1870 3,500,000 



1880 3,100,000 



1890 5,200,000 



1900 6,500,000 



The cut of the mills in 1900 consisted of: 



Spruce 29,000,000 feet b. m. 



White pine 261,000,000 feet b. m. 



Hemlock 12,000,000 feet b. m. 



Other conifers 2,000,000 feet b. m. 



Chestnut and oak 42,000,000 feet b. m. 



Total 346,000,000 feet b. m. 



A large proportion of this cut seems, however, to have orig- 

 inated in Vermont and New Hampshire. 



Farm lots are said to produce nearly 600,000 cords fire wood 

 and over 400,000 railroad ties. 



Woodenware, manufactured from second growth white pine, 

 forms an important industry (notably near Winchendon). 



Large production of hoop poles. The miscellaneous indus- 

 tries are otherwise insignificant. The box, casket and barrel in- 

 dustries rely entirely on stock imported from other States for a 

 production valued at $5,500,000 per annum. 



Leather industry: Massachusetts is second only to Penn- 

 sylvania in leather production. 119 plants produce $26,000,000 

 worth of leather and consume 62,000 cords of hemlock bark, worth 



43 



