Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-12-18
OUR SPRUCE SUPPLY
CONTINUED from page -


side Of The plateau belt is proved by
the fact that in getting the data Tor
This article. the scaler for one of the
largest land owners in the State fui-
nished an estimate of the number of
acres of spruce lands in each Of "A
townships in the extreme northern
part of the State. and it was found I"
h. in the aggregate i6S.50O acres, or an
average of 1880 acres To township.
It is perfectly safe and conservative
estimate that the spruce area OF Maine
exceeds the entire area of the state
Of Massachusetts.
Another method of estimating the
forest area of Maine. is by taking tbs
so,are miles of forest still remainlnS
in the principal river basins as
lows: The total area Of the Andres
coggin basin in Main" IS 100 sIuar"
miles. covered With forest. 1850 suuar"
miles. the total area OF the kenheher
basin is $500 square miles. 81 when
$500 square miles are forest: the Pc
uobscor basin contains 500 square
miles. of which 5i60 are forest: the 81.
John basin in Maine. contains 40"
suuar- miles and nearly the whole al
il is covered with forest. the St 'roiN
basin in Maine contains 500 square
miles Of which $40 are forest. the SaCb
basin in Maine contains 500 square
miles of which one half is for, 81. tn"
above forest areas added. aggregate
1880 suuar,. miles. ana if W. add t.
this total the forest areas of the small
-r river basins We shall have Il grand
total or about y 600 square miles Of
y IN s..H in ~
ether place.
Aside. from spruce and poplar, there
are in thu Maine forests white and vel
lev birch and maple in large quaint
ties with considerable. beech and fir
with scattering areas of bass. brown
and white ash. white and red oak and
in the southwestern portion of the
State large areas of pine There are
also tracts Of hemlpck and cedar in the
State.
To make Il ton Of sulphite pulp re-
puires 1000 feet of spruce while ~
ground wood pulp 500 feet are reUuir-
ed. The average is about 9oo feet.
There are 104s tons made daily and
this will show that there will be 4
need Of 600. 00000o feet yearly required.
Substractinc the amount IF poplar
used and adding what the new mills
will use, We have about 10000 GOO feet
= year. Then the saw mills require
about 30 0u0. 0(0 feet. which makes tn"
total consumption about 60oO00,n Hh.
The mills that draw from Maine for
other states are about offset by that
Maine draws from Canada. After in
-Iiring whether the forests of Maine
can annually Yield that amount uf
Sprllr" he dvells upon the manner in
which tn" German government is ap-
plying scientific forestry and adds that
her" in the United States every state
is left to look out for its own supply.
He states that several states have
made no attempts go retain the forests
from h" destruction of private owners.
though lawyers. doctors and others be
Iicrr that laws should he enacted to
preserve them for public good. In this
state he believes We are alive to the
importance ana should the possible de
crease Of the forests he in sight there
arc those experts who would warn the
state.
H.. then goes into the varying
methods Of cutting lumber. 1t was
once Il custom 10 cut nothing under u
inches at tn" top. but now the limit
Of the 81 John has been reduced to
II inches Even down to six and eight
inches is used on the k-nnebec. Pc
nobscot and AndroScoggin. BY the
methods used in cutting and sealing
in some parts Of the State whore the
waste is from - To 81 per cent. he M
IcNrs it u menace to thu welfare of the
forests The danger Of exhausting. n
decides. is greater among the small
nwners They have in many cases
never seen the lands ana desire ONLY
Ia get their money back. 50 that in
many cases lands have been entirely
stripped of THEN growth. Many larG"
owners arr not entirely hlamelrSs.
though in thu greater numb,-r of cases
they ar" more careful.
one Of the pertinent questions in th,.
rapidity with which spruce grows. In
v"stigatinnS hay" proved that the idea
that u tract Of land can b. cut over
every - or 20 years is erroneous.
Austin Gary. the expert. says says #
requires q spruce tree. after il is six
81 eight years of age. about that
length If time To- add an inch ~ it's
diameter and the Investigations III
others proves this
In cas-" thc~,- estimates ere. t:I,. then A
>ptcr ut - ur - wears must ,..ara- b.
tween cuttings whrr,. they cut at Vine ~iZ,
~ present H. N"SGr IL All hu, thr uppel
ST John ri atuu
In the. very excellent 'cpurl If la,. for
est commissioner for 1884. ~. lisa Nh rSti
mate IF TIN quantity "f Spruc" lumber ~
suitable size Inr cutting. standing in III.
Audros"nSG:H valley in Maine in HAT
year. HE estimate Na~ about ..brnWu,r
feet ON Pa square miles. The spruce
produciN. area ~ m. kcnnrbrc valley i,
Ahput -NN' square miles. uf the i'c!lnbHcnt
valley iJNl square miles. and Of jhr -
John valley in MHiur. .WO square miles
1t wc apply th, estimates of the andre,
to th"S- three sections. We shall hay. I'll,
enormous amount Of -. "a. G00 400 feet 81
ANaill BIZ. SpruC" IN tn. ktnnrheC. prNnh-
scot ana st. John valleys. Eu; this
amount should probably II" reduced one
third az III" three sections under con
sidera ton arc mot considered equal To tn,
Andres co@gin Vall.r in Spruc" pruluc-
tt1n. Reducing the amount - Su%S ~
and adding the estimated amount 80
spruce in the -AndroSCpcGiu valley. We
nave 3l.o2l. Hr.~N feet Of available, spruce
lcNS OF III" state. In an address dtlivsre,
~ Boston last May before the A>tUcia
ton of Engineering Societies. by Austil
Gary. ~ Forest Management in Maine
Nc makes the approximate estimate o.
3o.Wm.FhrD feet board measure Of SpruC,
in Main" forests At the present time. IS
pulp ana lumber mills Will Tor man!
wears h,. - far J.Nt Hai .,