12 FORESTS OF WISCONSIN. 



as a p-ure growth. Either one or both together formed forests 

 of considerable extent, tisuaJly with hardly any undergrowth 

 and mixture save some scattering scrub oak. (Barrens of Bay- 

 field county and in Douglas, Marinette, and Portage counties.} 

 The greater part of the swamps in North "Wisconsin were 

 well stocked with dense thickets of tamarack, cedar (arborvitse), 

 and some scattering spruce. The cedar (arborvitse) prevailed 

 in those of the eastern part, especially the swamps of the sandy 

 loam lands along and near Green Bay, the tamarack had undis- 

 puted possession of those of the southern and southwestern part 

 and also covered part of the swamps of the openings. Th^ 

 swamps of the central, northern, and northwestern part were 

 stocked without regularity, some with tamarack, others with 

 cedar, and in many of them both trees occurred together. The 

 spruce as a very runty shrub or half tree covered many open 

 bogs and otherwise occurred scattered in the swamps, especially 

 within the moister hemlock area. 



FOREST CONDITIONS OF THE PRESENT. 



At present these forests are materially changed. More than 

 one million acres have been cleared and put in cultivation. Dur- 

 ing forty years of lumbering nearly the entire territory has been 

 logged over. The pine has disappeared from most of the mixed 

 forests and the greater portion of pineries proper has been cut. 



There is to-day hardly a township in this large area where no 

 logging has been done. In addition to this, the fires, following- 

 all logging operations or starting on new clearings of the settler, 

 have done much to change these woods. Nearly half this ter- 

 ritory has been burned over at least once: about C million 

 acres are without any forest cover whatever, and several raillion 

 acres more are but partly covered by the dead and dying rem- 

 nants of the former forest. 



In the better hardwood areas (Taylor, Marathon, Langlade 

 counties) the least change has occurred; the former existence of 

 the pine is scarcely noticed and the forest is damaged by fire 

 only where it borders on "pine slashings" or spots where quite a 



