414 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



October, 



VIEW OF TYPICAL JACK PINE BARRENS, ROSCOMMON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



in dense pure stands on the barren 

 waste lands, which deserves particular 

 consideration. Here one meets the Jack 

 Pine, in forests of many miles in extent, 

 practically alone in the make-up of the 

 woods, as young timber 40 to 60 feet 

 high, 10 to 12 inches in diameter, usu- 

 ally straight and sound, fully covering 

 and protecting the ground. It is here 

 that the farmer has begun to learn 

 and appreciate the value of this scrub 

 pine. It is here that thousands of 

 people find their supply of fuel, and 

 hundreds of portable mills are beginning 

 to convert Jack Pine into ties, into di- 

 mension stuff, and even boards. 



As with so many of our untried woods, 

 the man who ' ' knows it all ' ' declared 

 against Jack Pine. " It does not last ; 

 it is brittle, unsound, and of no use," 

 and many more such clear-cut de- 

 cisions condemned Jack Pine. This, 

 of cour.se, always preceded the actual 

 trial, for so often the " practical " man, 

 like other people, finds predictions 

 much more convenient than a fair trial. 

 Nevertheless, when railways needed ties, 

 the choppers went for the Jack Pine, 

 and when the farmer began to use Jack 

 Pine rather than pay fancy prices for 



Norway or cull White Pine, he learned 

 that hard pine is hard pine, and that, 

 aside from its smaller size and less clear 

 bole, the Jack Pine answered his pur- 

 poses just as well as the Norway. 



This same experince has been repeated 

 elsewhere. The Jack Pine of the Rock}' 

 Mountains (the Lodgepole Pine) is cut 

 into finishing material, and commonly 

 passes under the name of White Pine 

 in Wyoming and Montana. 



In addition to furnishing useful ma- 

 terial, this pine performs an important 

 function in preparing the ground for 

 more valuable trees. Here and there 

 the sands ma}' be so poor as to prevent 

 the growth of other species, but this is 

 rather the exception in the lake region. 

 There are large stretches of Jack Pine 

 to-day where White Pine was lumbered 

 half a century ago. On the other hand, 

 there are miles of old jack pine woods 

 where one may see the Norway and 

 even the White Pine returning. Cases 

 have been seen by the writer where the 

 Jack Pine has given way to Norway 

 and White Pine until it was represented 

 merely by scattered old veterans, long- 

 shafted trees, dropping out one by one. 



With others of its group, the north- 



