MAKING PRIVATE FORESTRY PAY 



647 



and 1900, and in 1902 he was elected 

 Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts. 

 After serving as Lieutenant-Governor 

 until 1905 he was elected Governor, an 

 honor which fell to him twice subse- 

 quently. April, 1911, he was appointed 



to represent this country at the Russian 

 capital. Col. Guild enlisted during the 

 vSpanish-American war as First Lieuten- 

 ant and Adjutant of the Sixth Massa- 

 chusetts, and was made Lieutenant- 

 Colonel and Inspector-General. 



MAKING PRIVATE FORESTRY PAY 



By James Upham 



THERE is in Michigan a practical 

 and successful lumberman of 

 many years' experience. He 

 believes in forestry. About 

 thirty-five years ago he acquired about 

 1,400 acres of young growth maple, 

 hemlock, oak, birch and cherry. At 

 that time he was connected with a 

 steamboat company using cordwood as 

 fuel. He saw a time when local forests 

 would be exhausted. He realized the 

 future value of his tract and figured 

 the time would come when its lumber 

 would be such that it would pay to 

 handle it by forestry methods and 

 manufacture practically every particle 

 of it that could be taken off. He 

 resolved upon systematic forest manage- 

 ment. Roads were built through the 

 tract; its growth was studied; its 

 manufacture considered the birch go- 

 ing to the spool industry, the cherry 

 and oak for veneers and other stuff for 

 novelties so that everything was used 

 down to the last piece. Today many 

 of the trees are over 12 inches in diame- 

 ter, breast high. 



The management of the tract as 

 planned by David Day is interesting. 

 He began it as a business proposition. 

 So we learn that his plan was to make 

 it pay from the investors point of view. 

 Mr. Day wants to keep this 1,400-acre 

 tract right along, not despoiling its 

 beauty by clean cutting. To do this 

 he will have to divide the 1,400 acres 

 into 2 5 -acre blocks numbering from 

 one to fifty-six blocks. Each year one 

 of these blocks is cut out. The next 

 year another; and so on until all fifty- 

 six blocks have once been cut over. 

 Then number "one" block will be 

 ready to cut again. Thus the forest 

 is never cut with the " clcan-swecp " 

 policy. 



Contiguous to the tract is a small 

 sawmill. Mr. Day will saw his logs 

 into lumber, spool blocks, veneers and 

 novelty stock. Herein lie his annual 

 dividends on the forestry investment. 

 He cuts, removes, and utilizes every 

 possible portion of a tree and protects 

 young growth with a view to future 

 returns from it. 



Since Mr. Day is a lumberman of 

 long experience, the question of a proper 

 disposal of his forest products is readily 

 answered by himself. The following 

 are prices received by Mr. Day, f. o. b., 

 Glen Haven, Michigan. The prices are 

 for log run, that is, the full run of the 

 log except No. 3 common. 



Sugar maple, $23 to $24 per M. 

 Beech, $18 per M. 

 Soft elm, $29 per M. 

 Basswood, $27 per M. 

 Rock elm, $26 per M. 

 Hemlock, $15 to $16 per M. 

 Hemlock (mill cull), $9 to $10 per M. 

 Sugar maple and beech slabs and 

 edgings $3.50 per cord. 



The prices of oak and cherry are not 

 given since they sell at very high prices 

 anyway and this article shows only 

 what forestry is doing for less valuable 

 species. The lumber prices alone are 

 given. In addition veneers and novelty 

 stock will swell his profits. 



This tract is attracting a great deal of 

 attention both from the United States 

 Government and the State and shows 

 what anyone can do with at least 1,000 

 acres or upward when conservatively 

 handled under forestry. 



It is especially noteworthy because 

 it is being handled by a practical 

 business man who would not touch 

 forestry if there was no profit in it 

 for him. 



