1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



467 



before long there will be a marked 

 decline in quantity accompanied by a 

 corresponding increase in value. 



The Census figures on the lumber 

 cut in 1904, excluding custom mills, 

 are as follows: 



Per 

 Kind M. ft. B. M. cent. 



Yellow pine 12,812,307 37.5 



White pine 5,253,846 15.4 



Hemlock 3,268.787 9.6 



Red fir 2,929,534 8.6 



Oak 2,902,855 8.5 



Spruce 1,303,886 3.8 



Poplar 853,554 2.5 



Cypress 749>59 2 2 - 2 



Maple 587,558 1-7 



All others 3,473,220 10.2 



Total 34,135,139 IOO - 



There was, within memory, a time 

 when white pine alone constituted one- 

 half of the lumber cut of the United 

 States. The ratio fell to about 22 per 

 cent in 1900, and to 15 per cent in 

 1905. Michigan has become a small 

 factor in white pine production; Wis- 

 consin is waning, and it will not be 

 long until Minneapolis and Cloquet 

 cease turning out daily a million and 

 a half feet each during the sawing 

 season. 



Yellow pine is now furnishing about 

 35 per cent of our lumber, and red 

 fir, about 13 per cent. The output of 

 red fir is increasing rapidly since it 

 was credited with only 5 per cent of 

 the total out in [900 and 8.6 per cent 



in 1904. 



The following statement of the 

 value of the products of the lumber in- 

 dustry in the lake states, at the last 

 four decennial periods, is taken from 

 Census report - : 



State V a l i i 



1870 '" 1900 



Wisconsin..$15,131,000 $17,9 !,000 $60,966,000 i . I 



Michiean I 946, - 52,450,000 S.122,000 54, 191,000 



Minnesota.. 4,299,000 7,366,000 25,075,000 I ! 



From these figures the deduction is 

 easily made that, since 1870, the aver- 



age yearly value of the products of 

 the lumber industry in these states 

 has been $38,000,000, and that the 

 years is over $1,300,000,000, 



As before mentioned, we have prob- 

 ably reached the maximum annual cut, 

 and the constantly growing demand 

 for lumber can have only one effect, 

 viz., rapidly rising price, particularly 

 with the species which are nearest 

 exhausted. 



With a present annual yield of 5 

 billion feet, white pine, despite the 

 boasts of its southern and western 

 competitors, is still a large factor in 

 the lumber market. 



The rise in lumber prices is making 

 possible a rational, economical treat- 

 ment of our remaining forests. Un- 

 der the practice common in many 

 places, little more than 25 per cent of 

 the total wood content of the tree 

 goes into lumber. Tops, lops, crooked 

 logs, and high stumps are left to burn 

 01 decay in the woods, and slabs, 

 edgings, and trimmings are fed into 

 the burner at the mill until it be- 

 comes a cloud of smoke by day and 

 a pillar of lire by night. 



|',ver\ pari of a tree is intrinsically 

 capable of utilization, and the time is 

 rapidly approaching when it will be 

 utilized. Not many lumbermen have 

 vet come to the point of logging their 

 holdings according to methods which 

 will insure a future crop of timr* 

 but the progress in this direction is 

 encouraging and rapid advancement 

 is being made in the utilization of the 

 log. Methods of manufacture are be- 

 is being lessened, slabs are cut thin- 

 ner, odd lengths and widths arc- ap- 

 pearing, and new uses are being found 

 for waste. It is the proud boast of 

 the biggesl mill in Minneapolis, and 

 possibly the biggesl in the United 

 States, that it does not have a burner, 

 and this example is worthy of imita- 

 tion. 



