San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-10-29
HARDWOOD LUMBER.
An Industry That Is Carried on
with Great Economy.
Timber That is in Great Demand All
Over the Country - Some Facts
About LAUNDERING in North
ern Michigan.

When the railroads first penetrated
northern Michigan pine was looked
upon as the only timber really worth
the dignity and efforts of the genuine
lumberman. The demand for hard
wood was comparatively limited, and
the hardwood interests were left to the
little operators to make out of it what
they could. But there has been a
great increase in the demand for hard
wood, says the Chicago Journal, not
only in the form of lumber, but also in
the manufacture of articles of COM
merce. Hardwood lumber is now con-
sidered game big enough for the best of
the numbering fraternity. As the pine
resources of the state have become ex-
hausted the successful operators in
that line are turning their attention to
hardwoods, bringing into it the same
methods and energy which character
lied their dealings with pine, and the
increased demand makes their opera
tons financially profitable.
Where a decade ago there was one
hardwood mill in northern Michigan
there are now dozen, and the number
is still increasing. An important factor
in the industry is the small mills scat
tered all through the country along the
railroads, on the lakes and in the in
terror, near the standing timber, but
far from the usual haunts of the travel
ing public. The big mills operate on
much the same lines as the modern pine
mills, and some of them can reel off
anywhere from seventy-five to one hun
dred thousand feet of lumber a day,
while the rural back country mills are
often primitive affairs, with capacity
of from five to ten thousand feet day,
with water for motor power, and often
with facilities attached for grinding
wheat for the farmers. These small
mills are individually insignificant, but
in the aggregate they add millions of
feet of hardwood lumber to the annual
product of this section, and aid ma
terially in the development of the coun-
try and in bringing prosperity to this
section of the state.
In hardwood numbering operations
are conducted on different lines than in
the early days of pine numbering. Of
the pine fully as much was wasted as
ever reached the market. The early
lumbermen went into the forests en-
tirely reckless of the future. They
slashed and slaughtered, destroying
everything in their way, and left the
country barren and waste and worth
less. The state has thousands of acres
of waste land to-day so poor and barren
that weeds will scarcely grow, and it
was thus left by the pine lumbermen,
who abandoned it as soon as the forests
were removed. The hardwood lumber
men are proceeding with more discre-
ton and wisdom. They are sparing
the young trees and saplings, that they
may grow up for future cutting, and in
some camps young trees are being
planted to replace those cut down.
But the hardwood lands are of differ
ent character than the pine lands.
When the forest is removed a rich soil
is left behind for the farmer to Guilt
vate. The farmer is following close in
the wake of the hardwood lumbermen,
and the demand for hardwood logs of
all kinds aids him very materially in
getting established. The timber on his
land has a cash value at the nearest
mill or railroad station. and the money
thus earned will tide him over until he
can realize on his crops. All through
this section will be found farms, many
of them new and still thiclxly dotted
with stumps, but some that are as rich,
as well cultivated and handsome in ap-
pearance as will be found in the state.
This section is especially adapted to
potatoes and fruit, and has in the last
four or five years become famous for its
crops. Every fall commission men
come here to buy the crops and ship
them out to other parts of the country.
In the development of the hardwood
resources of northern Michigan the
Indian is factor that must not be
overlooked. The indians do not lumber
on big scale, nor dc they do it sys-
tematically. The Indian farmers often
haul logs to market, but the largest
consumption on their part is to manu-
facture the Indian baskets for the sum-
mer resort and export trade. These
baskets are made of black ash, and, as
they do not know what economy is in
the use of the raw material, one tree
will not go very far. The Indians are
making baskets all the way from
Traverse Citv 10 the S+rai1hts of Mach.