AMERICAN FOREST CONGRESS 155 



all tops, from the clear trunk up, 50 to 150 feet in 

 length, 20 to 60 inches in diameter, all these were left 

 in the woods. 



As if fearful of taking too much of the forest to the 

 mill the timber fallers vied with each other to place 

 their chopping boards higher, and many a stump, 16 

 to 20 feet in height, marks the success of their efforts. 



The aggregate of this waste reached over 60 per 

 cent, of the forest and left the ground covered with 

 tops, broken timber, and brush, many feet in thickness. 

 To this, when dry, fire was set. The fire killed all 

 timber left standing, burned any'young trees and the 

 hemlock seeded the ground. Later, the dead hemlock 

 fell, and a few years after the first fire, a second, or 

 even a third, went over the ground and the hemlocks 

 were no more. Only tops and trunks and a desolate 

 waste was left. Then the ferns and blackberry vines, 

 as if to hide the shame, spread over all their mantle of 

 verdure. 



In this way, and by fire in green timber, townships 

 of lands, valuable only for the timber crop, have be- 

 come worthless wastes. Where young forests should 

 be growing to keep good our timber acreas, charred 

 trunks are piled on trunks, under a tangle of vines. 



Times have changed somewhat. Steam skidders 

 for yarding, and steam road engines for hauling, have 

 replaced the bull team. The railroad is fast replacing 

 the river. 



Cedar has become the most valuable of our woods, 

 and hemlock is found to be our most beautiful interior 

 finish. Standing timber has a greater value and is 

 cut closer, but enormous tops and most of the hemlock 

 are still left in the woods. Logs with no clear cannot 

 be handled at present prices of lumber without loss. 

 The per cent, of the crop now saved is increased, but 



