146 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



posts is proving so successful that groves of other varieties can be seen 

 in many places and seem to be doing well. Some of the railroad mana- 

 gers are planting the Catalpa along the lines of the roads to supply ties 

 in the future. 



Forest fires formerly did great damage, but clearing off the under- 

 growth and putting the land in pasturage has served a good purpose 

 IB preventing forest fires, so that very little damage has been done of 

 late years. 



Some very old trees are still standing and are well preserved, which 

 indicates that soil and other surroundings seem to have more to do with 

 them than age ; some show an age of 300 to 1,000 years, and indicate no 

 deterioration. Oaks that appear to be in their prime, vigorous and 

 healthy, are estimated to be 3.000 years old. 



The amount of boards and other sawed lumber reported for 1883 is 

 159,983,000 feet, an increase of 30,341 feet over 1882. The number of 

 shingles in 1883 is 4,300,000, an increase of 1,225,000 over 1882. The 

 number of laths in 1883 is 12,612,000, an increase of 2,485,000 over 1882. 



ILLINOIS. 



Of Circular A, one hundred and twenty copies were sent out. To 

 these, ninety-four replies were received. Two hundred and twenty-five 

 of Circular B were sent, and one hundred and thirty elicited responses. 



The circulars were distributed in every county in the State, and the 

 reports received were from sixty-eight of the one hundred and one 

 counties, or 68.3 per cent, of the whole. 



"When it is taken into consideration that Illinois is largely a prairie 

 State, the reports are encouraging and show a growing interest in the 

 subject of forestry. 



Only about 45 per cent, of the area of the State was originally 

 in forests, the growth being pines, oaks, walnuts, hickories, maples, 

 beech, ash, poplar, elms, sycamore, linden, locusts, cherry, gum, and 

 some other soft-wood varieties. 



Fifty-five to 60 per cent, of the original area has been cut clean, and 

 the most valuable timber cut out of the greater portion of the remain- 

 der. The clearing for agricultural purposes has not been as large as 

 in some States, on account of the large area that was treeless, yet at 

 the same time the organ of " destructiveness v seems to have been very 

 prominent on the heads of some people, judging from the manner in 

 which the destruction of timber has been carried on, by rolling it in 

 heaps and burning it, simply to get it out of the way. The cutting has 

 been for lumber for saw-mills, for fuel, fencing, railroad-ties, staves, 

 wagon timber, and other domestic and manufacturing purposes, while 

 large quantities of walnut lumber have been shipped. A large de- 

 crease in the products of saw-mills for 1883 is proof conclusive of the 

 growing scarcity of good merchantable timber for milling. In some 

 instances the second growth has been cut, and now the third is coming 

 on. Quite a reaction has taken place within the past few years, 

 and is growing very perceptibly, in regard to forestry. The use of 

 coal as fuel and the introduction of wire fencing cuts off a heavy drain 

 on the forests, and it is estimated that the new voluntary growth 

 largely exceeds the original forest area. This, taken in connection with 

 the fact that the farmers in the prairie districts are awakening to the in- 

 terest of tree-planting, and that here and there groves of walnuts, locusts, 

 chestnut, maples, catalpa, larch, Austrian pine, osage orange, and other 

 varieties are growing successfully, shows conclusively that the possi 



