The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-01-13
Destruction OF Timber.

In his evidence before the agricul-
tural commission OF Canada, says the |
Toronto Globe, Mr.. Brown, OF Port |
Elgin, expressed the opinion that the
for st should be reclothed with forest.
trees. He recon mended the planting OF
large nurseries by the government, from
which the people could obtain trees at
low price, and, also, that the. govern
ment should replant the crown lands, as
is done in Australia and other countries,
Mr.. Brown has been engaged in the
study of forestry all his life, and what
he said before the commission is worthy
of serious attention. The process
of stripping the land of its timber
supply, and more particularly of its
merchantable timber, has been going
on at reckless rate for many years
both in Canada and theUnited States and
unless it is checked the time must soon
come when even the demands. OF the
home market cannot be supplied. IL is
not with forest as with grain or live
year or in generation. Our great pine
woods are the growth of hundreds of
years, and once they are cut down or
burned over the supply is ended.
The pine forests OF Maine fifty years
ago were thought to be mex haustible.
Thousands OF men were employed dur
ing the winter months telling and cut
ting trees, and in the summer rafting
the ilogs down the streams or cutting
them into lumber in the mills. Bangor,
on the Penobscot, was once the busiest
town in the United States. The river
was lined with sawmills for miles, and
2,OC0 vessels were engaged in the carry
ing trade. The forests for 200 miles up
the river, and for many miles on either
side, have been laid waste, and the
"Old Pine Tree State I" is no more than
a figure of speech. Spruce, which rapidly
reproduces itself, is the lumber most
generally manufactured-th production
on the Penobscot this year being ten
times that of pine.
In Michigan and Wisconsin the same
reckless haste and waste are going on.
The Saginaw valley, which formerly
contained the largest and finest forests
in Michigan, is being rapidly depleted
Its mills have q capacity Of 100000, OCt
feet of lumber per year, and mlll-oWner:
are Obliged to bring logs from Other
rivers, often as tar as 100 miles distant
to supplement the stock of the Saginaw
The output has reached its climax, anC
no new mills are built or old ones re
: placed On the Muskegon river tht
amount of logs RATED this year is AGO.
600, 600 feet, and one large operator alone
will put in about 50,0000 600 feet thi
winter, hauling to the river by raj an
average distance OF eight miles. The
Alpena district will, at the present rat,
of cutting, be stripped in fifteen years
! The Wisconsin pioneers have beel
worked much less extensively than thos'
of Michigan, but an estimate made b.
t the PRESIDENT of one of the largest log
= ging companies on the Mississippi tixe
the utmost limit of the supply at fort,
/ years. In Minnesota the forests ar
8 much smaller in extent, and will prob
4 ably not survive the others, Unless
then, new departure is made, the las
/ tree will be cut from Maine to the Rock
t mountains by the end of forty years, an
e the United States must derend for II
e supply of pine on foreign countries.
q Is there no way Of limiting produc
e ton, of outstanding our resources, {
e putting an end 10 reckless waste, {
: protection against forest fires. or of r.
:. plenishing our woods by systemat
p forestryP These are questions in whic
q the whole country has on interest. an
e which must be discussed and answered