472 



AMOUNT OF LUMBER PRODUCED 



Although this calculation may appear large, I leave it as the result for 1849, 

 because some of the new mills will do business this fall. 



It is difficult to calculate the amount of laths and shingles produced, in the lumber 

 region under consideration. There are about three mill-saws for one circular or 

 lath-saw ; although I believe each mill of two upright saws has a lath-machine, 

 which cuts up all the slabs and waste timber. 



The lumber of Wolf River, of Lake Winnebago, and of Fox River, is all 

 consumed at the numerous villages on those waters, springing up with hot-bed 

 rapidity. None of it is shipped, but on the contrary, boards are brought into 

 Fox River from mills down the Bay ; so that, probably, not more than one-third of 

 the lumber produced is taken out of the Ray to the Lake towns, or 11,000,000 feet. 



No better evidence could be produced of the surprising growth of the Fox River 

 country. From the best information within my reach, — which is, however, very 

 indefinite, — I think it requires twenty men during the year to produce a million of 

 lumber, or six hundred and seventy labourers in all. 



The saws that are driven by water, are fixed in the old-fashioned frame or gate. 

 I saw none of the " Muly" or patent saws. The expense of erection varies very 

 much,— from $1800 to $2300 a saw. 



The pine trees from which this lumber, lath, and shingles, are made, are nearly 

 all taken from the public lands. From my observations on the Oconto and Wolf 

 Rivers, and from reports of the timber on the head waters of the other streams, the 

 supply will be sufficient for thirty years, although becoming less accessible every 

 year. 



It is reported that there are nine saws in operation, and two more in process of 

 erection on the waters of Green Bay and Bay de Noquet, to the eastward of the 

 Menomonie, in the State of Michigan, making, when all are completed, sixty-nine 

 saws and about thirty lath-machines on the waters discharging into the Bay. 



Lumber from Michigan and Wisconsin now passes through the Illinois Canal, in 

 considerable quantities, to the Mississippi River and the towns on the Illinois River, 

 and is said to be of better quality than that received from the Upper Mississippi. 



I am aware that my results show a greater product for the number of saws here 

 than in the mills on the Wisconsin, Black, Chippewa, and St. Croix Rivers, as 

 shown by Mr. Randall, in the Report for 1847. It is possible that the Green Bay 

 mills run more at night, and the timber is better for the sawyer, as the lumber is 

 said to be for the joiner and carpenter. 



According to Mr. R., forty-five saws on the Wisconsin turned out nineteen and 

 a half millions, and thirty-five saws on the other principal tributaries, nineteen 

 millions of feet. If these mills lie idle half the time, and run day and night the 

 other half, the average of the Wisconsin mills was about 2200 feet, and of the 

 others 2600 feet per day of twenty-four hours. 



None of the lumbermen with whom I conversed rated their mills at less than 

 4,000 feet to each saw ; others were put at 5,000; and one at 6,000. 



Many of the country, or " custom saw-mills," which are frequently weak in power, 

 not being built on the best plan, nor kept in good order, cut two thousand feet of 

 pine lumber by daylight. The merchant mills generally have an abundance of 



