148 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



timber, and more of it is utilized now than formerly, while the intro- 

 duction of coal for fuel has greatly diminished the demand for wood. 



Where the timber has been simply cut off and the land left undis- 

 turbed a promising new growth is coming on in many portions of the 

 State. It is estimated that the new growth in the counties of Adams, 

 Dane, Douglas, Greene, Juneau, La Fayette, Marquette, Pierce, Polk, 

 Racine, Bock, Saint Croix, Sauk, Trempealeau, and others is equal to all 

 future demands. In the prairie districts a growing interest in tree- 

 planting is manifest, and many farmers are making successful progress 

 in tree-culture. The possibilities are good, and there is no doubt that 

 deciduous trees can be grown as well in Wisconsin as anywhere else. 

 The only apparent difficulty is, the people do not realize the necessity 

 at this time. They need to be educated to the importance of the subject. 



No general fires of a recent date worthy of notice. Some counties, 

 or rather portions of some counties, have suffered from fires, and among 

 them Barron seems to have suffered most. In 1871 incalculable dam- 

 age was done to the forests in some sections of the State, and the greater 

 portion of the standing timber in the burnt districts is more or less in- 

 jured; even the soil is injured so as to render it unproductive. One- 

 third of the denudation in Douglas County was caused by fire. 



The deterioration of trees depends more on the surroundings than the 

 age. The best time to cut timber for durability is in the month of June. 

 An instance is mentioned where rails of poplar and basswood split in 

 the month of June thirty years ago are perfectly sound. A Bavarian, 

 who has been a close observer, gives as the proper age to cut trees for 

 different purposes as follows : Oaks — for hoop-poles, 5 to 8 years; wagon 

 material, 8 to 16; machinery, 35 to 50; lumber and ship timbers, 50 to 

 75 years. Pines, average value at 75 to 100 years. Beech, 60 to 100. 

 Hemlock, 45 to 75 years. 



As to what should be done for the preservation and increase of the 

 forests on the public domain, but very few suggestions are made. 



One says : " Bepeal all homestead and pre-emption laws and railroad 

 grants, sell the land to actual settlers only at $1 per acre, give a bounty 

 for every 5 acres successfully planted in trees, and exempt from State 

 taxation for twenty years." 



Another says : " Compel every person to keep a certain portion in 

 timber of every tract patented." 



The products of the mills reported are as follows : Boards and other 

 sawed lumber for 1883 is 1,241,069,511 feet, being an increase of 

 136,151,842 feet over 1882 ; laths, 269,134,603, a gain of 50,839,453 over 

 18S2 ; shingles, 65S,692,700, a gain of 86,446,450 over 1882. 



ABSTRACT OF THE SPECIAL REPORT OF HON. ROBERT W. FURNAS ON 

 " TREE GROWTH, MAXIMUM SIZE AND AGE, PERIOD OF DECLINE, COM- 

 PLETION OF CYCLE, ETC." 



The results of twenty-nine years' experience and observation in a 

 region naturally timberless, and where successful etforts have been 

 made in growing trees, are presented in a brief, plain, and practical 

 manner. 



The greatest objection to a prairie country is the want of timber for 

 fencing and fuel, hence those who entered the "Great American Des- 

 ert" after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska act, in 1854, went to 

 work and demonstrated the fact that they could raise their own timber. 



The field of study is boundless when we start out to investigate the 

 growth, maximum size, age, &c, of forest trees, and, as Pliny remarked 



