FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 3 01 



lands have commenced sawing hardwood logs in order that their mills and plant may 

 not be idle. They find that they can make this change with profit. A few years ago, 

 before there were any railroads in the Adirondack region, the manufacture of hard- 

 wood lumber was confined to some small mills which were scattered at long intervals 

 on the outskirts of the forest. These mills hauled their product in winter to the 

 nearest railway station, generally twenty miles or more. But now there are mills 

 situated at various points along the railroads in the forest, which have not only a short 

 haul for their hardwood logs, but can load the sawed lumber on cars in their mill 

 yard. When the merchantable hardwood trees near the mill have been cut, and the 

 logs can no longer be hauled there with profit, owing to the increasing distance, a 

 portable mill can be set up in the woods wherever the birch and maple are thickest ; 

 the logs can be sawed there, piled and seasoned, and the dry lumber hauled on 

 sleighs the next winter to the nearest railway station. 



New uses have developed for certain kinds of hardwood, the kinds which 

 predominate in our New York forests. There is now a large demand for birch by the 

 furniture trade. New and better methods have been discovered for finishing this 

 material, with the result that it surpasses all our native woods in the beauty of its 

 appearance and artistic effects. Its light, cheerful color makes it popular, also, for 

 inside finish of houses and business offices, wainscoting, paneling and staircases. 



I would also call attention to the great increase in the demand for maple flooring, 

 which is now manufactured in narrow, even widths, tongued and grooved, matched at 

 the ends, and bored by machinery, all ready for laying. The sales of this kind of 

 flooring have increased so rapidly of late that the mills can scarcely supply the 

 demand. Its use is due to the superiority of hardwood floors and the ease with which 

 it is now laid. 



There is little increase in the sale of beech, which stands third among our hard- 

 woods in the matter of quantity. Its use seems to be limited principally to the 

 manufacture of tool handles, planes, and agricultural implements, although there are 

 other purposes to which it is adapted. The cherry' and ash will always meet with a 

 ready sale as fast as they become accessible. The basswood is being cut wherever it 

 can be hauled to the mill; and the white cedar is sawed into shingles in large 

 quantities. 



All this means that the time is near when the different species in our forest, both 

 conifers and broad-leaved trees, will become merchantable timber. This is a most 

 desirable condition, provided the State owns the forest; because under State ownership 

 the cutting would never be allowed to interfere with the preservation of the forest and 

 the exercise of its protective functions. This growing demand for hardwood, the 

 merchantable character of all the species, will increase the revenue-producing capacity 



