I902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



385 



ufacture having been improved so that 

 a satisfactory fiber is now being ob- 

 tained from Hemlock, Pine, and Balsam. 



The effect of the wood-pulp industr}- 

 on timber-cutting was soon evident. 

 Where the lumbermen formerly took 

 nothing less than two-log trees, leav- 

 ing nearly all that were 12 inches or 

 less in diameter, the wood-pulp men 

 cut all the trees of certain species, 

 large and small. This close cutting left 

 no provision for future growth, and 

 thinned the forests so severeh' in places 

 that further damage was inflicted by 

 wind and ice storms. 



It will probably be news to many per- 

 sons that the lumber industry of New 

 York attained its maximum develop- 

 ment at some time prior to 1865, when 

 there were, according to the state cen- 

 sus of that year, 3,963 saw-mills. Per- 

 haps three-fourths of this number were 

 mills equipped with one saw only, none 

 of which cut over 100,000 feet in a 

 year. 



From the Tenth United States Census 

 (1880) it appears that there were then 

 2,822 mills in New York, with an in- 

 vested capital of $13,230,934, giving 

 employment to 17,509 men, and paying 

 out annually $2, 162,972 in wages. The 

 combined lumber product of these mills 

 amounted in 1880 to 1,148, 220,000 feet, 

 board measure, not including laths, 

 shingles, and staves. 



Within the next twenty years there 

 was a great decrease in production. 

 There are not over 150 mills in the state 

 to-day with an annual output of over 

 100,000 feet. The production is now 

 confined almost wholl}- to the Adiron- 

 dack region, the mills which are stocked 

 from there having sawed in 1899 the 

 following amounts : 



Feet, B. :\I. 



Spruce 148,203,491 



Hemlock 46,545,772 



Pine 33,132,807 



Hardwood 24,296,554 



Total 252,178,624 



Number. 



Shingles 33,619,000 



Xaths 49,329,090 



To the amount of sawed lumber 

 should be added 195,568,623 feet of logs 

 that went to the pulp mills, making the 

 total forest output of northern New 

 York that year 447,747,247 feet. 



There are several small saw-mills in 

 the Catskill counties, with a few others 

 scattered throughout the western part 

 of the state, their combined product not 

 exceeding 60,000,000 feet. The advo- 

 cates of conservative forest management 

 need no better argument than is con- 

 tained in the foregoing figures, showing 

 the great decline in this industry within 

 the last twenty years. 



Many people attribute the disappear- 

 ance of the forests to the work of the 

 lumbermen. This Colonel Fox points 

 out is an error. He shows this is due 

 to the farmer, not to the lumberman. 

 In clearing his land the farmer cuts and 

 burns ever}^ tree and bush for the pur- 

 pose of improving his land. The lum- 

 berman takes only a few scattered trees 

 to the acre, confining his selection to 

 some merchantable species. The care- 

 lessness of the farmers in burning their 

 brush and log heaps has caused man}- 

 of the fires that have destroyed so much 

 of our forests. Lumbermen do not start 

 fires for their work. The cutting and 

 skidding are mostly done in the late fall, 

 and the log-hauling in winter, when the 

 woods will not take fire. The writer 

 further claims that ' * had no other in- 

 dustry but lumbering been carried on 

 within our borders, the once unbroken 

 forests of New York would still be 

 standing. ' ' 



Colonel Fox's bulletin makes avail- 

 able for the first time in concise form 

 the particulars of the lumber industry 

 in New York. It gives an excellent 

 view of the beginnings, methods, and 

 various stages through which this im- 

 portant industry has passed. It con- 

 tains a lot of information that should be 

 of value in determining a policy for the 

 future management of the state forests. 

 An attractive feature is the large num- 

 ber of excellent illustrations, several of 

 which are reproduced here. 



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