The Portland daily press., 1888-09-04
Maine Forests

The Agricultural Department has just is
sued a report, from its Division of Forestry,
touching the lumber interests of the country
From this report it appears that twelve mil
lion acres of the State Of Maine are wooded,
or 62.7 of its entire territory. OF this per-
centage 22.4 per cent. is in farm lands, and
the balance in wild lands, largely in the
northern part of the State Referring to the
timbered portion of the State, the report
says:
Originally the entire State was covered
with pine, spruce and hemlock, with hard
woods largely interspersed. The old growth
of white pine is mostly cut out, only small
scattered patches remaining, in at present
inaccessible places, but fine hard wood tim
Der abounds, especially in the central portion
of the State. The immense forests in which
the large rivers of the State find their sources
were originally worked for the pine Since
its exhaustion they have been worked for the
spruce. The white pine is largely replaced
by a rank growth Of spruce, birch and other
hard woods.
other hard woods, which has hitherto pos
sessed no commercial value, from the fact
that the rivers furnished the only route for
the logs to the mills, may eventually, when
railroads are built in the wilderness, make
these woods of more value to the owners
than even the pine and spruce.
From the important position which the
lumber business of the State once occupied
it has gradually dwindled down yet the an
nual product OF the forest may still be placed
at $11,000,000 to $12,000,000 for timber and
fire wood, representing, say 220,000,O0O cubic
feet, of which 45 per cent is lumber
The conviction that the commercial and
industrial Importance of the State must be
based largely on its forest wealth has in
duced change of policy in regard to the
working of the forests, and more sensible
and economical management has taken the
place of the former wasteful methods. This
consists mainly in keeping out fires and in
not allowing trees below a certain size to be
cut, condition which enters into the land
holders leases to the loggers. The owners
OF the wild timber lands, whose holdings are
in large tracts, often comprising one or more
townships, clear no land, and sell no land
In the southern counties the young pine
now spring up freely on abandoned farming
lands.
1t is the belief among prominent lumber
men that the annual growth of wood equals
or even exceeds the cutting.
The interest of the State in forest property
led, as early as 1855, to the passage Of an act
ito protect forest and timber land from fire.
and to punish the unlawful and careless
kindling of fires; ;" amended in 1885 by sub
stitutiDg Imprisonment for the fine imposed.
OF the 1000 acres OF land set aside in each
township for public purpose, probably a
good deal is timbered, but no enactment in
reference to those lands exists.
Tree-planting for shade and ornament is
practIced throughout the State. Arbor Day
was appointed by the governor, upon recon-
mendatlon Of the legislature, in 1887. The
State Grange, having committee on Arbor
Day and Forestry. suggests among other
recommendations, that town assessors be
required TO make returns as to forests areas
and lumber industry, so. that the state of
this important interest may be better
known from year to year than it can be from
the annual statistics as now gatherered by
the Secretary of the State.