

Co 
A Colorade manufacturer writes as follows upon the subject: 
The largest amount of charcoal is made and used in Lake County; the Leadville 
smelters there use daily about 10,000 bushels. Charcoal is made of both dry and 
green timber. About three-fourths is made from dead timber, one-half of which is 
down. One cord of wood will yield about 50 bushels of coal. Dry or dead timber, if 
sound, will yield more than green, but the quality of the coal will be about the same.* 
Concerning the extensive use of charcoal by smelting companies, and 
the consequent heavy draft upon the forests, it is reliably stated that 
the use of charcoal in smelting is a convenience but not a necessity. 
There is in many parts of this region an abundant supply of mineral 
coal, of good quality, including dry, bituminous, or coking, and an- 
thracite, and its use by smelting companies would simply involve the 
employment of more skillful furnace men than are used under the present 
system. 
FENCING. 
Although barbed wire is largely superseding the use of boards for 
fencing, there is a continued demand for timber for fence posts, rails, 
ete., and as farms and ranches are rapidly increasing in number, the 
demand for fencing material is likely to growin proportion. Much 
dead timber is utilized in this way. In the mountains, Aspen is often 
used for fence rails. For posts, Yellow Pine (here called Pitch Pine), 
Cedar (Juniperus), White and Black Spruce, etc., are used. Ina few 
instances posts for wire fences have been made of bar iron. j 
With the data available, it is impossible to ‘state the amount of tim- 
ber that is annually consumed in this region for fencing purposes. It 
is a varying and probably an increasing quantity. 
FUEL. 
In the mountains, except in the immediate vicinity of coal mines, wood 
is the principal fuel, and for this dead and fallen timber is largely used. 
Except in the case of Pinon, it is unlikely that growing timber will 
suffer greatly from this use, and the greater portion of the Pifon meets 
its fate at the hands of the charcoal burners. In most of the towns, 
and inthe plains region, mineral coal is furnished of good quality and 
at reasonable prices. 
Nore.—Since the fuel question is a most important one in connection with forest 
preservation, the statistics of the supply of mineral coal are of great interest in this 
place. The following notes, therefore, taken from the reports of the Division of Min- 
ing Statistics and Technology, U. 8. Geological Survey, are here inserted. 
In the Rocky Mountain district coal beds are found in a number of geological for- 
mations, from the Carboniferous up to and including the Cretaceous. 
No detailed information of the entire coal area of the Rocky Mountain region, sim- 
ilar to that which has been determined by State geological : surveys of the coal Hei 

*From i imper feet returns to a se parate canvass, it w ould appear that the total con- 
sumption of charcoal for smelting purposes in the region must be placed at round 
4,000,000 bushels, of which the three Leadville smelters take 2,364,000 bushels. —B>; 
E. F, 

