lOO REPORT OF TPIE 



mostly poplar mixed with second-growth pine and basswood ; not much spruce. 

 The pulp from these mills is not used for making paper; it is dried and pulverized 

 for use as a carbon and absorbent in the manufacture of dynamite; and. also, as a 

 substitute for cork in making linoleum. 



The combined product of the Adirondack and Catskill forests amounted in 1900 

 to 651,135,308 ft., or more than the entire Canadian lumber import of that year to 

 the United States.* As the figures may convey little or no meaning to persons 

 who are not familiar with the lumber business, it may be well to explain, as done in 

 a previous report, that this product would load 65,000 cars, making a train over 400 

 miles long. 



There are no statistics showing the number of tanneries, for there are none 

 left in the Catskills. The hemlock included here in the sawmill returns stands for 

 logs that were cut for lumber, and not for bark. At one time the tanneries were 

 numerous in these counties, owing to the vast amount of hemlock standing 

 there; but this industry is now extinct in that region, the tanneries having been 

 abandoned here and there, as the supply of bark became exhausted. Some little 

 hemlock was left standing in places, but it was so remote and inaccessible that it 

 could not be cut with any profit. Influenced by the present high price for this 

 kind of lumber, the sawmill men are picking up what few lots are left, and hence 

 the quantity — 18,659,026 ft. — shown in the returns. In a few years the small 

 amount of hemlock remaining in the Catskill region will be gone, and the species 

 become extinct there with the exception of what may be found in the forests of 

 the State Preserve. 



There is another industry connected with the Catskill woodlands which may be 

 mentioned here, although it is one that is not regarded favorably from the forester's 

 standpoint ; and that is the annual cropping of the small evergreens for Christmas 

 trees. The market demand for this young growth is enormous, although there is 

 little profit in the business for those who are engaged in furnishing the material. 

 Its bad effect on the future timber supply of these merchantable species is readily 

 apparent, as the continued destruction of the little trees must result eventually in 

 the extinction of these desirable kinds. If these woodlands were under a proper, 

 conservative management no harm would be done ; for the yearly thinnings from 



* The total Canadian import for 1899 was: 



Logs and round timber, - 198,135,000 feet. 



Hewn or squared timber, --------- 1,593,504 



Sawed lumber, boards, plank, etc., 423,705,000 " 



623,433,504 feet. 



