52 



The Forests of Maryland. 



per cent, mixed stands of each. 3 per cent. It was shown by the survey 

 of 1910 that there are 4,301 acres of mixed hardwood which contain 

 5,000 board feet or more per acre, and 94,659 acres containing hard- 

 wood stands of less than 5,000 feet ; on the pine lands there are stands 

 of 5,000 feet or more on 601 acres, and of less than this on 144; while 

 mixed hardwood and pine are all less than 5,000 feet to the acre, with 

 a total area of 3,810 acres. 



Uses op the Forests. 



The cut of approximately 30 mills in Baltimore County, most of 

 them of the portable kind, supplemented by that of numerous individ- 

 ual timber operators, many of them with woodlots of their own, 

 amounted in 1914 to 2,119,584 cubic feet of wood, with a value at 

 points of production of $308,186. Of this, of course, lumber repre- 

 sented the major pai't, followed by railroad ties, poles, pulpwood, 

 cordwood, piling, export wood, shingles, fence posts, tanbark, mine 

 props, and lath. Baltimore County has the greatest mileage in rail- 

 way lines of any county in the State. One railroad follows the south- 

 west border for about 18 miles; there are 111 miles of five different 

 lines in the county itself; and a large additional mileage in the elec- 

 tric lines which extend from Baltimore City in all directions. The re- 

 sult is a large demand and a good price for railroad ties, and as these 

 are a product for which the county has many suitable woods, the cut- 

 ting of cross-ties is an important local industry. There is enough 

 chestnut in the county, and a sufficient number of pole-lines, to make 

 poles a considerable product, while cordwood is characterized by a 

 heavy demand and a profitable market. Convenient railway lines and 

 extensive highways in an improved condition make practically all of 

 the county's forests accessible for remunerative logging operations. 



There are a total of eight retail yards located in the county at 

 some distance from Baltimore City — Towson, Upper Falls, Arlington, 

 Lauraville and Evergreen, all having one or more, in some cases with 

 a small planing mill in connection for doing custom work. Within a 

 few miles of the center of Baltimore are located the State 's most im- 

 portant wood-using industries, in all nearly two hundred firms which 

 use or handle wood in some form, and which are of incalculable bene- 

 fit to the county in the way of products sold and wages paid. 



The woodlands are, for the greater part, well tended and carefully 

 protected. Many of them form parts of large estates, and while their 

 management may be guided as much by aesthetic as by commercial 

 tastes, it is still a desirable condition for the count}'. There are resi- 

 dent Forest Wardens in practically every wooded section, and it has 



