Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1895-12-19
IT'S EXTENT AND QUALITY.
BY JOHN o. WHITNEY.

heretofore soft woods have been almost
wholly used. There is great demand al
the present time, and the demand seems
to increase from year to year, for hard
wood such as we have in our forests, ana
among other purposes for when II Is
desired is that for interior finish of build
ings.
For building purposes, the hardwood
of the quality most common IN our ior-
ests, has perhaps the greatest demand Tor
that suitable for floors, yet for other IN
terror finish hardwood IS largely sought
and the woods of our own forests are rs
beautiful when properly finished as are
many of the woods from other parts OF
the country, and it is to the development
of suitable plant with machinery adequate
to the task, W hich under the guidance OF
skilled workmen shall convert the now
almost useless growth into such va
riety of merchantable products that we
NAV not only supply the greater part OF
our home trade. bat have large surplus
to be shipped to OF her and larger markets.
that the board OF trade and many olher
publie-spirited ana enterprlsing cltAehs
are now turning their attention.
The lumber business il Oh the wane,
and were it not for the employment Turn
ished by the shoe factories established
here at just about the time the lumper
mills were commencing to gradually yet
surely lose their prominence. and conse-
oueptly furnish less and less demand for
labor. eur city, would have been in
very deplora Bile business condition
Every honorable industry established
here greatly benefits US all: brings more
life into our streets, makes cur home-liie
more happy, and our city a pleasanter
and more interesting place to hive in,
from the fact we are busy and interested
and have more means with which TO BET
ter feed, ciothe and educate ourselves ana
children, and purchase some oil the very
many luxuries that are almost lhdIS-
pensa Bile in most families Of the present
age; and again hat our people can nave
employment here instead Of being Obliged
to go away from home to find 1t.
Asto the result Of our business mac
tiyity, take a look at our assessors report
our growth in population has not only
stoppea. but ne actual count SHOWS th"l
we are getting le"tit ioN' ~ 49, -
murh deplore. and current we "ouId
like to have arrested ana changed /"
rapid increase.
HARDWOOD GROWTH OF VAST EXTENT.
the hardwood growth of the territory
drained by the Union river Is OF vast ex-
tent, and there are many millions OF leeI
of such growth awaiting the time wheh
il shall take the place of the soft-wood
growth of former years, in furnishing
employment to hundreds Of people in
telling, floating or transporting, and
instead OF being shipped in the rough
and crude condition, as has always been
our custom, furnishing to the world
finished produce, and yielding to our city
and county large revenues.
The exact amount of hardwood growth,
OF even the acreage OF 1t Is almost I'M
possible to estimate with any degree OF
accuracy for we find that even men ex-
merit in woods here, of large experience
and good judgment, viii differ widely in
their opinions of the amount of growth
in certain tracts of land; and as that fact
is well understood, it is only necessary
for me, from what meagre knowledge
possess of such growth, to say there are
vast Quantities of hardwood, and the
quality of a large portion of it Is very
good for manufacturing purposes.
The forests of spruce, pine, hemlock and
cedar-in fact, our soft-wood growth Is
fast being diminished by the woodsman
axe, and the growth of large portion OF
the territory has been entirely consumed,
l.
mented by that worst of foes to forest
growth-fre-
wish to state right here that it i the
opinion Of most IumDermen, that we
should have plentiful supply OF forest
growth oyer our entire territory, had i
not been for the destruction and devasta-
tion caused by fire. In most places it
has been so intense as to not only destroy
all vegetation, but even the soil has been
entirely consumed, leaving nothing but
the rocks and perhaps a few limbless
trunks Of trees to mark where once the
forest stood.
Men well informed ON the subject say
that it takes nearly hundred years for
nature, unobstructed in her work, to re-
place and mature the growth so de-
stroyed.
Our strict laws in regard to the ma
Iicious or criminally careless use of fire in
our woodlands and forests should be
rigidly and swiftly enforced.
The lumber business, as carried 'on at
the present time, is not of so extensive
scale as it was in former years, yet we
find it is more difficult to obtain good
stock than it has been in years past.
SOFT WOOD INDUSTRY WANING.
The depletion of our soft-wood forests
and the consequent general diminution
81 the lumber business as now carried on,
furnish grounds for the gravest fear for
the near future.
IT. - - hn Ia ~, l,cr los