East Saginaw courier., 1866-06-28
u le q ourier.
THURSDAY. June 81. 1909.
Necessity Of Planting Trees.

'CCSooAsI VI Aus@b2hB 4I0c8~
We give below an interesting ex-
tract from an address befor the Asso-
citation for the Promotion of Science
and Art in New York. IL was made
10y tho Hon. @. o. Hutchinson, of
Kansas
The timber business of Chicago is
as astonishing as her grain trade
The commerce of Eastern cities in this
line, great as it is is insignificant when
compared with that of Chicago. The
question now is, considering tho i'm
mense demand, how long i'll the sup
ply last9 There has been a good deal
of loose talk upon the subject but
desiring accurate information, called
upon the Hon. j. Nj. Edmunds, Com
missioner Of the General Land Office,
at Washington. Judge Edmunds
commenced life amid the primitive
forests of Western New York, and re-
moved at an early day to Michigan,
whore he embarked largely in the
lumber business. There are no rec
ords in tho Land Office to show the
amount of timber in the country as
compared with prairie even upon pub
lie lands, fact of itself sufficient to
prove that our Government, as we'll as
the people, are profoundly unconsci-
Gus of the Importance OF the timber
question. Commissioner Edmunds,
however, with his broad comprehen-
sion of the matter of internal i'm
provements, has anticipated the in-
quiry, and is now awaiting returns
from his subordinates, which shall
fully present the facts in the case. /
derived much valuable information
from Judge Edmunds, which he very
kindly permits me to use. Upon one
point he is quite confident, to- wit -
that there is more timber in Michigan,
fit to be sawed, transported and used
in the construction of houses, bridges
and vessels, than in all the other
States east of the Rocky Mountains.
Think Of it, those of you who have
supposed that supply in Maine, Penn
sylvania, and in the Southern States
was inexhaustible.
Think that in our State, and that
largely settled and cleared, there is
more merehantable lumber than in all
the other States east of the back
bore of the continent Furthermore,
the best of this timber is to be found
on the northern half of the lower
p"ninsular of that State, whore one
acre will yield as much wood or tim
her as two on the northern peninsula.
Judge Edmunds says the timber
along the shores of the lakes on the
British side, and on the banks of the
streams there entering, is of on infe
rior quality, the soil being in places 80
thin that fires sweep over thousands
of acres, staying the trees like grass
before the sythe. The papers last
week contained an allusion to the de-
struction by fire of some thousands OF
acres of timber in Maine. Let us re.
member that loss is irreparable. i
would take two centuries to grow such
trees as are now standing in Michi-
gan. When cotton or corn is burned
4 it is only an actual loss to the owner
and to the world of the amount in
dollars and cents which the articles
were worth, because it will be replaced
by the crop of another season. Blu
these burning forests connot be replac
ell centuries, and all the valuable uses
to which civilization would apply tina
lumber is Tn so much retarded.
There are in Minnesota vast forests
of incalculable value to the State, bu
the lumber is said by dealers to bC
quite inferior to that of Michigan ant
eastern Wisconsin. l know at al
events that most of the pine used o
sold in st. Louis is brought from
Chicago. Pennsylvania has formerl,
sent abroad large quantities of lum
bor, but she has now no more thar
will soon be needed for home con
sumption; while the forests of western
New York, Ohio, and Indiana ar
known to have been destroyed to max
room for farms. There are in west
ern New York single whitewood tree
W. rth 800 each for lumber; and
commercially speaking, there is n
timber in the Southern States whicl
can be spared to be shipped up tn
Mississippi.
We thus see that, for the supply o
tho upper half of the Mississippi Val
Icy, "A region of 1900 miles square
the supply of n,erchantable lumber
to he found around Lakes Miehiga
and Superior. Even new steamboat
are breastiDg the turbid Missouri, la
den with pine which was cut in tn
lake region, shipped to Chicago, theme
~ st. Louis, and now up the Missouri
perchance thousand miles to Dacc
tab. When landed, farmers and deal
ers will be ready with their teams
haul il one hundred or two hundre
milos into the interior. 1t first cost
but little, but transportation and th
profits of dealers runs it up to $75
sl35 per thousand feet when fnall
used. The process is constantly goir
en i'm Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, g.
Now, how long, with all this deman,
will the limited supply last2 M
Thomas, editor Of the Country Cent?
man. has stated the period at 30 year
j have talked with no gentleman Fl
miliar with tho subject who put ii
period more remote than so years!-
The meaning of all this is, not th'
all the hard and soft wood of OF
country will be destroyed in that tim
hut. that the supply will be so sma
and the price so high as practically
put it out of the market. This is Il
opinion of Commissioner Edmunds.
The drift of what has now bee
said is inevitable. IL we could NAL
the needed preparation fos the demar