144 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



FORESTS AND LUMBER OF WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 



The investigation embraces about 30,000 square miles, lying between 

 the Cascade Mountains and Pacific Ocean, and the Columbia River and 

 British Columbia and Strait of Fuca. The principal portion of this re- 

 gion is covered with a dense growth of timber trees. 



The firs, cedar, spruce, hemlock, and pine are used almost exclusively 

 for timber. The pine, which grows to majestic proportions in Eastern 

 Washington, is not found in the region of Puget Sound. 



Arbor-vitcu grows along the Strait of Fuca. Fully 90 per cent, of all 

 the lumber, timber, and spars produced on Puget Sound is fir. 



White Maple is the most common of the deciduous trees; it is a beau- 

 tiful wood, susceptible of high polish. Alder is white and soft, and is 

 excellent for carving for furniture; the bark makes a red dye, and is 

 used by the Indians for coloring purposes. 



White Oak is much larger than in the Atlantic States, is light and at 

 the same time elastic. 



Laurel is very common. 



There are three species of Poplar that abound, the Aspen predom- 

 inating. 



Willows grow along the river banks; only two varieties attain to any 



size. 



The first saw-mill erected in Washington was located at Turn water, 

 in 1845, by Colonel Simmons. The falls of the Deschuttes River at 

 this point furnish extensive water-power. 



The first shipment of sawed lumber from Puget Sound was in 1851. 

 The first steam saw-mill was planted at Seattle in 1853. There are 

 now thirteen mills operating on the Sound, whose combined capacity 

 per day is 1,002,000 feet. The demand for lumber is so great that the 

 mills are run to their full capacity. 



Great improvements have been made over the primitive method of 

 logging and handling sawed lumber. 



The finest timber region of Washington is yet unexplored. It lies 

 west of the Willamette meridian, and is as large as the New England 

 States. It is densely covered with stately Firs, and this vast timber 

 tract is distinct from that east of Puget Sound. 



The Samish, Skagit, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Dwamish, White, Nis- 

 qually, and Puyallup Rivers empty in Puget Sound. The logs are 

 " boomed " in the rivers and towed by tug-boats to the mills. 



The demand for lumber is on the increase, and when railroads to the 

 interior are opened up new markets will be added. 



The question arises, How long will the supply last, with the increas- 

 ing demand in contemplation? Bold writers assert that the supply in 

 the Territory will never be exhausted; but personal observation war- 

 rants the assertion that the destruction of timber by fire has never 

 been greater than it is in Washington, especially along the Sound. It 

 is simply fearful, criminal. On the denuded lands trees spring up spon- 

 taneously, and thicker, seemingly, than the original ; but a half or a 

 whole century will be required before this growth is fit for use. 



The General Government has done and is doing something to protect 

 the timber and encourage tree-planting. Statutory laws are good as far 

 as they go, and are a move in the right direction ; but public opinion 

 and interest must be awakened and educated to sustain and enforce the 

 laws. How and in what manner this can be speedily and successfully 

 done is yet an open question. The facts are manifest that the increased 

 demand for and rapid consumption of timber, together with the wanton 

 waste going on, are fast rushing us on to the verge of a timber famine. 



