FOREST POLICY. 



The northwestern pine belt of the United States reaches 

 its western limit in Minnesota. The species prevailing in the 

 hardwood belt are black oaks, sugar maple, birches and cotton- 

 wood. In the pine belt, white pine, Norway and jack pine are 

 found, according to the soil. The poorer the soil, the more jack 

 pine. White pine occurs, usually, with an undergrowth of lin- 

 den, maple and hazel. In. the swamps, black spruce, balsam, white 

 spruce, white cedar and tamarack. On the wind-swept side of 

 lakes, conifers are missing. No hemlock is found, a fact denied 

 by H. B. Ayres. Birches and poplars occupy cut-over white pine 

 land and secure, acting as nurses or ushers, if fire is kept out, a 

 gradual recurrence of white pines. White pine underneath white 

 pine is never found, whilst Norway pine immediately replaces 

 Norway pine, and whilst jack pine invariably follows in jack pine's 

 wake. 



4. Forest ownership: 85 lumber firms own 2,025,000 acres 

 of 3,900 feet average stumpage per acre. State owns between 2 

 and 3 million acres of land forfeited for non-payment of taxes. 

 The United States own enormous tracts still. 30 townships re- 

 main unsurveyed north of the continental divide. Large Indian 

 reserves. 



5. Use of timber: The value of the products of the lum- 

 ber industry in Minnesota gives it third rank as a lumber produ- 

 cing State. Minnesota came slowly to the front, having in 1880 an 

 output of $7,400,000; in 1890, $25,000,000, and in 1900, $43,600,000. 



The cut in 1900 consisted of: — 



White pine 2,250,000,000 feet b. m. 



Norway pine 108,000,000 feet b. m. 



Other conifers 20,000,000 feet b. m. 



Spruce 1,000,000 feet b. m. 



Hardwoods 62,000,000 feet b. m. 



Total 2,441,000,000 feet b. m. 



The miscellaneous industries (furniture, cooperage, wagon 

 stock, flooring, spools, etc.) yielded, in 1900, only $1,300,000. 

 White pine and hardwoods in Minnesota are, on the average, 

 inferior to white pine and hardwoods in Wisconsin and Michigan. 



404 saw mills of $60,848 average investment (maximum in- 

 vestment, by far, of United States). Logging by rail is taking 

 the place of log driving, on which the mills of Minneapolis used 



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