528 FOREST RESOURCES OF V/ISCONSIN. 



published a map of the State, showing its general geology, climatology, 

 and the distribution ofits timbers, «&c., and from the report of the execu- 

 tive committee we condense the following information : 



The soutlicrn part of Wisconsin is characterized hy hard wood, and the northern por- 

 tion by evergreens. There are many exceptions, but this is a general rnle. The timber 

 has a close rilation to the geological formation, evergreens belonging to the aaoic and 

 sandstone regions, and the hard wood to the limestones. To detinemore narrowly, the 

 hard woods are confined to the northern three-foiutlis or fonr-fifths of the eastern portion 

 of the State, within the connties north of Racine, along the lake, and extending from 30 

 to 60 miles inland. There are also these forests of considerable extent in other portions 

 of the State; as, for instance, in Green, Grant, Sauk, Richland, and Bad Ax Countii-s; 

 as also along many of the streams in the evergreen region of the State, bnt they are 

 rather isolated. The rest of the southern part, and a strip of considerable extent along 

 the Mississippi and Saint Croix, as far as the northern limit of the Potsdam sandstone, 

 consist of pvairies and oak openings. 



The prairies are small, skirted with timber, and well watered by lakes and unfail- 

 ing stre ms. These openings are found in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and are of two 

 kinds — the burr oak and the black oak. The latter belong to the sandy regions, and 

 are not marked by any considerable agricultural capacity. The former are among the 

 most productive parts of the State, being especially adapted to the continued pr duc- 

 tion of wheat. They are, moreover, the most beautiful portions of the varied and pic- 

 turesque surface of the country. Grouped here and there, like so many old orchards, 

 on the summit of a gentle slope of laud, or on the border of marsh, prairit^, or lake, 

 there is nothing in the whole catalogue of American sylva that equals these burr oaks 

 for the charming, homelike expression they give to the landscape. The timber they 

 furnish is brittle and of little worth except for fencing and fuel; still, abounding as 

 they do in what would otherwise be a prairie country, and com-tituting so charming a 

 feature of Wisconsin scenery, they possess a value svhich is beyond computation. 



The evergreens, consisting of white, red, and yellow pines, hemlocks, spruces, firs, 

 and red and white cedars, occupy a large area around the waters that llow into Green 

 Bay and the Mississippi. There are also large quantities of tamarack.' 



Statistics reported for 18G0 showed the production of lumber of Wis- 

 consin as 355,055,115 feet, worth $2,302,558.37, or an average of $0.G5 

 per M feet. The amount of shingles made was 2,272,0(51 IM, wortli 

 $1,134,83-151, or about 50 cents per M. The census of 1870 does not 

 admit of a separate calculation of values, the total value of sevtral 

 products being given. The production for the year was 10J,G63 M of 

 lath, 1,098,199 M feet of lumber, 800,807 M shingles, and $020,591 worth 

 of staves; total value of these, $15,130,719, against $4,010,420 of the 

 returns for 1800. 



Discussions in agricultural societies and elsewhere having drawn 

 attention to the subject, both as regards tlie direct and the collateral 

 benefits to be derived from the maintenance of a due proportion of wood- 

 lands, the legislature was a few years later induced to give attention 

 to this subject, beginning with specific inquiries to be prosecuted by a 

 commission. 



By " An act relating to the growth of forest-trees," approved March 

 30, i8G7, the State agricultural and horticultural societies were each 

 authorized to appoint one person, and these persons a third one, who 

 were together directed to inquire and make report iu detail to the legis- 

 lature at its next session : 



1. Whether the destruction of the forests in this State, now going on so rapidly, is 

 likely to prove as disastrous to the future inhabitants of the State as is claimed by 

 many. 



2. Whether such destruction will tend to diminish the moisture of the atmosphere, 

 to increase the degree of cold in winter and the heat in summer, or otherwise. 



3. Whether, owing to the want of information in individuals and the shortness of 

 their lives, it is the duty of the State to interfere [interpose] its authority to prevent 

 an undue destruction of forest-trees where they now exist, and to encourage their 

 cultivation where they are deficient. 



1 Transactions of Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, 1860, p. 46. 



