Present Forest Conditions. 



The first sawmills consisted of a. straight saw opcM'atcd by water 

 power, and working in np-and-down fashion : their (•ai)acit\' uikIit the 

 most favoralile conditions was less than 1.000 l)oard fi'ct piM- da\-. 

 These were tlii' days when the hewing of tind)cr for framing and othci- 

 eonstruetion purposes was an art universally praeticcd. Slungh's were 

 made by splitting the pieces fi'om clear, straight-grained logs of [iropcr 

 length, to be shai)ed down to the proper thinness l)y hand tools. There 

 are a few of the old-fashioned up-and-down mills, with saws (i[)i'ratcd 

 by water power, still in existence in this State. Their cut ol' timber, 

 however, is inconsiderable, and they are now curiosities in tlie Inmlx-r 

 business. 



The introduction of circular saws, oi)erated by steam ])ower. was 

 a great advance over the water mills, since their capacity was so much 

 greater. This was really the beginning of the lumlier business, as 

 the small up-and-down sawnulls could do little mon' tiian su])])ly the 

 local demand, and that in a viuy unsatisfactory way. As improve- 

 ments wei'e made in sawnull machinery, its effectiveness in cutting thi' 

 forest was very much increase(l. The small, low-capacity mills gave 

 way to the lai'ge, high-powered ones, which c(ndd do as much in one 

 day as the lirst mills in sevei'al months. Indeed, sawmills and logging 

 machinery have I)een moi'e highly developed in the T'nited States 

 than anywhere else in the world, and this is due to the large amount of 

 tind)er available. Under the highly develoi)ed system of lumbering it 

 did not take a gi'eat many x'eai's to make serious inroads on the forest : 

 with the iutrodu(dioii and extension of I'ailroad facilities, distant mar- 

 kets WH're opened : and there was no limit to the amount of tind)er that 

 coidd be dis|iosed of. The forests that wer(^ first cut over to remove the 

 choicest material were visited again an<l again, each time taking a 

 lowei' gi'ade of produi-t. it was only in the inaccessible places that 

 any amount of timber was left. 



This was a legitimate business, and carried out tlie uinversal law 

 of supply and demand. Young growth had no mai'ket value, and 

 therefore I'eceived no consideration. It has only been in the last 

 twenty yeai's that any attention has lieen given to the pi'actical appli- 

 cation of Foi'cstry. and that in a linnted way. 



PRESENT FOREST CONDITIONS. 



I)( sh-iictirc A(i( ncics: The present condition of the forests is the 

 result of a nuudier of causes working independently and collectively. 

 The forest areas themselves have become fairly fixed, so that no great 

 changes are likely to occur in the future, while the limiting of the for- 

 est areas has in the ]>ast gone through a process of evolution. Like- 

 wise, the character of the forest has been changed to such an extent 



