THE NORTHERN HARDWOODS REGION 287 



of timber and then were succeeded by many portable mills, which 

 could be transported to the numerous isolated bodies of virgin 

 timber. As this timber is being exhausted and the bodies of 

 remaining timber are each year averaging smaller in size the 

 trend is again toward the development of stationary mills. 

 When timber lies in comparatively large bodies, with many such 

 patches, it is more economical to employ a portable mill and take 

 it into the timber. When the timber remaining is in scattered 

 small patches it is better economy to have a stationary mill and 

 bring the timber to it. The stationary mills where run by water 

 power are cheaper to maintain, and do a better grade of work 

 where the machinery rests on a permanent foundation. More- 

 over, they can be equipped with additional machinery, such as 

 planers, small resaws, and machines for sawing special products. 

 Thus the stationary mill should utilize more fully and more 

 profitably the entire log than can the portable mill. 



Market Conditions. — Transportation facilities are reasonably 

 well developed. No point is twenty miles distant from a rail- 

 road in a direct line, while fifteen miles is an exceptionally long 

 haul. County and state roads penetrate all portions of the 

 territory and make it possible to haul timber or logs by team to 

 a railroad usually in less than a day's time. While the region 

 has a fairly good transportation system, yet with the disappear- 

 ance of most of the virgin timber and the great inroads on the 

 forest lands for agricultural use, it cannot be counted on to 

 furnish export timber in large amounts. Agriculture has moder- 

 ately populated the region, so that there is a good local demand 

 for forest products and the cut is seldom in excess of the local 

 demand. However, the higher grades of timber are shipped to 

 outside markets and some timber is imported. 



The local inhabitants furnish a good market for cordwood, 

 as well as for timber. This is especially true of the people 

 scattered through the country at a distance from railroad lines, 

 because coal is expensive, while cordwood is relatively cheap 

 and of a high grade, ^ and also because the winters are long and 



1 Beech and sugar maple are two of the best species in the country for fuel wood 



