27 
The thinly scattered Balsam and the less frequent Spruce appear to 
have occupied the same position as the pine and Hemlock, but it was 
naturally much less important and conspicuous. 
In the regular pinery of the sandy soils the pines predominated, the 
Hemlock was entirely wanting, and the hard woods were scantily repre- 
sented by small White Birch, Aspen, and Maple, which were mixed 
with the young pine; these deciduous trees were killed out in the dense 
stands of mature timber, but reappeared where the superannuated pines 
were dying off and the cover of their shading crowns was broken, as in 
some places in Oneida, Vilas, Marinette, and Bayfield counties. 
On the better loamy sands the pine forest was a mixture of White 
and Red (Norway) Pine, with occasional patches (temporary?) of Jack 
Pine (Vilas and Oneida), but on the poorer sands the Red (Norway) and 
vack Pine were often alone (pure growth), either one or both together 
forming forests of considerable extent, usually with hardly any under- 
growth or admixture save some scattering scrub oak. This was the 
ease in barrens of Bayfield, in Douglas, Marinette, and Portage 
counties. 
The greater part of the swamps of north Wisconsin were well stocked 
with dense thickets of Tamarack, Cedar (arborvitz), and some scatter- 
ing Spruce. The Cedar (arborvitie) prevailed in the swamps of the 
eastern part, especially those of the sandy loam lands along and near 
Green Bay, while the Tamarack had undisputed possession of the 
swamps of the southern and southwestern part, and also covered part 
of the swamps of the openings. The 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 runty shrub or half tree covered many open 
bogs, and was 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. During 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 have been cut. There is to-day scarcely a township 
in this large area where no logging has been done. In addition to this, 
the fires following logging operations or starting in the new clearings 
of the settler have done much to change these woods. Nearly half this 
territory has been burned over at least once; about three million acres 
are without any forest cover whatever, and several million acres more 
are but partly covered by the dead and dying remnants of the former 
forest. 
In the better hard-wood areas (Taylor, Marathon, Langlade counties) 
the change is least conspicuous; the former existence of the pine is 
scarcely noticed, and the forest is damaged by fire only where it borders 
