412 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



October, 



The up-to-date hardwood lumber plants 

 are putting in charcoal kilns and chem- 

 ical extractors. An example of how 

 clean cutting is being carried on is 

 shown at our plant at Slocum's Grove, 

 Muskegon county, where we have char- 

 coal kilns that consume fifty-five cords 

 of wood every twenty-four hours. We 

 utilize the tops and limbs and all timber 

 that will not make sawlogs, taking the 

 limbs down as small as two inches in 

 diameter ; the bark is peeled from all 

 hemlock timber down to six inches. 

 Hemlock timber as small as three or 

 four inches in diameter can be sold at 

 a profit for pulp- wood. All of the small 

 wood, except Bass wood and Hemlock, is 

 used in making charcoal. We cut the 

 small Basswood down to four inches in 

 diameter for excelsior and heading bolts ; 

 the slabs and edgings from all the hard- 

 wood timber, except Basswood, are used 

 for charcoal. 



We make lath from the hemlock slabs 

 and edgings, grinding the poorest and 

 fine stuff into fuel for our boilers. Hem- 

 lock slabs and edgings that are not suit- 

 able for lath are manufactured into 16- 

 inch wood for kindling, for which we find 

 a ready market at a fair profit. Ferns, 

 which are abundant, are picked and 

 shipped tofloristsin the large cities. Thus 

 it may be seen that if a tract of timber 

 is handled with the idea of clean cutting, 

 it can be worked up so closely that there 

 will be nothing left but brush piles. 



In cutting a cedar swamp the practi- 

 cal lumberman takes out all the straight 

 timber for telegraph poles, cutting 

 the balance into ties and shingle bolts, 

 as the timber may be best utilized. 

 The small timber is cut into posts. A 

 standard post is four inches and up in 

 diameter at the small end and cut in 

 lengths of seven or eight feet. As 

 the price of poles, ties, shingles, and 

 posts has advanced materiall}' in the 

 past few years, they can be manufact- 

 ured at a profit, leaving only the 

 growth under four inches in diameter 

 that is unmerchantable. 



In cutting the mature timber from the 

 average hardwood forests in Michigan, 

 I think I would be safe in saying that 

 no trees are cut for lumber that are 

 under fifty years of age, except, per- 

 haps, Basswood, Ash, and Elm. As the 



cull lumber from these sells at a fair 

 price at the present time, they are cut 

 down to a smaller diameter than other 

 kinds. Generally speaking, hardwood 

 under twelve inches in diameter is of 

 little value for lumber. I also think I 

 am safe in stating that the number of 

 trees cut for lumber would not exceed 

 one-third of the number of trees on a 

 given area, if all trees four inches and 

 up in diameter are counted. 



Here, then, we have all this beautiful 

 timber, most of which has taken forty to 

 fifty years to grow, sacrificed for the 

 small amount that can be realized from 

 cord wood or charcoal. 



I have shown you what can be real- 

 ized at the present time from a tract of 

 hardwood timber by cutting it clean. 

 As to the raising of continuous crops by 

 present holders of hardwood lands, it is 

 a business proposition that can be 

 brought about only by educating timber- 

 holders that there is ultimately just as 

 much, or more, money in cutting only 

 the mature or merchantable trees, util- 

 izing the tops for cordwood and charcoal 

 and burning the brush. The value of 

 wood in the tops and limbs of the ma- 

 ture trees will, in many instances, pay 

 for taking care of the brush. 



There is no question in my mind that 

 the timber left after cutting the mature 

 trees can be held at a profit for continu- 

 ous crops, provided that a provision is 

 made for a rebate of taxes in .some 

 equitable manner to owners who are 

 willing to hold their land for such pur- 

 poses. It would probably mean hold- 

 ing the timber thirty years or more for 

 the second crop. 



Cutting the large timber does not ma- 

 teriall}' injure the younger growth. The 

 underbrush comes up very rapidly after 

 the large timber is out of the way, 

 making a sure protection to the soil. 

 However, unless you have tax laws that 

 will encourage timber-holders and stim- 

 ulate education along the line that it is 

 not only for the public benefit, but for 

 their benefit also, you can readily see 

 that they would not be in sympathy 

 with the movement. If the preserva- 

 tion of the forests is a public benefit, 

 why should not the public be willing to 

 bear the burden in this as well as other 

 matters ? 



