The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1902-03-01
THE FORESTS In DANGER
WARNING GIVEN BY AN EXPERT TO
LUMBER MEN.


A discussion is now going on among
lumbermen, woodsmen and forestry
experts as to whether or not the
spruce forests of Maine are in danger
Of destruction from careless and
wasteful methods of cutting and from
the immense demands made upon
them every year by pulp mills and saw
mills.
Henry Grinneli, an expert from the
forestry division Of the United States
department of agriculture, who has
been making a tour of inspection In
the northern Maine woods for one of
the big pulp companies, went to Ban
gor the other day and in an address
to lumbermen at the board of trade
rooms declared that with continu-
ance of present methods Of logging
the forests would be exhausted in less
than 100 years.
On the other hand President F. s.
Lyman of the Cushnoc Fibre company
Of Augusta. one of the most expert
enced men in the state in all matters
pertaining to numbering, says that
there is more spruce standing in
Maine than can be cut off in countless
years, taking account of the growths,
that the end of the spruce supply Is
SO remote that worry on the subject
is absurd.
Mr.. Grinnell told the Bangor lumber
men that it required two or three Gen.
I'm 70 of OF q
size suitable for lumber. but Mr.. Ly-
man says he has cut good sized spruce
on land that had been moved for grain
40 years before. The general opinion
among the older lumbermen seems to
i be that the Washington experts the
cries on some phases of numbering are
not entirely accurate, at least as ap-
piled to Maine.
1t is generally conceded, however.
that a reform is needed in numbering
methods in this state and the present
discussion must result in great good.
The owners of timber lands, the paper
| and pulp manufacturers and the lum-
Der mill owners are all interested in
| the situation. The preservation and
propagation of the spruce forests must
be more carefully looked after, for the
benefit of all.
agent and forest commissioner, is
| making arrangements to ascertain as
soon as possible after the spring
opens the amount of standing spruce
in Maine. He has had a practical ex-
| perience of more than rs years in the
| the counties of Penobscot, Piscataquis
and Rroostook, as far as the lumber
growth is concerned, as thoroughly as
any man living.
He says there Is vast amount Of
| spruce in the Allegash country, and
now that the railroads are penetrating
that region in various directions the
timber can be more cheaply brought
| to market. When the winter is ended
Mr.. Ring proposes to send experienced
| woodsmen into the forests to explore
and report the condition and extent
| of the growth.
what the state Of Maine needs"
says Mr.. Ring. "is a modern system
of forestry, adapted to conditions in
this state, which in many cases will
radically differ from systems practised
in other countries.
I'm certain sections lumber and pa
per companies have invested large
sums of money in mill plants and of
course the continuance of their bust
ness depends upon the future supply
| of timber. Such companies would find
| it more profitable to adopt system
| of forestry which would give the best
results.
"In my opinion, the timber on the
Kennebec and Androscoggin is cut to
| much better advantage than they cut
| on other waters of the state. The rea-
son for this is that on those two riv-
ers the land Is owned largely by the
companies that own the mills, while
the reverse is the case on the other
| rivers.
For instance, on the Penobscot the
wild lands, with few exceptions, are
owned by one class, who sell permits
to the lumber operator, he selling his
out to the manufacturer, often buying
stumpage by one scale and selling the
logs by another.
"The influence of situation and soil
on the character of the distribution of
spruce is very marked. 1t is not a fas-
tidious tree, for it occupies all situa-
| tions and soils-low, wet swamps,
abrupt, rocky slopes, and the tops of
| mountains and ridges, as well as
good soil. The best spruce is found
| on moderate slopes with fruitful soil.
'The loss by cutting high stumps
| and leaving large tops in the woods is
| something that can easily be RENE
died; may say that this fault is be-
| ing overcome by the lumber operators.
1t is well known that when crowd
| ed stand of spruce is thinned, the trees
| which remain grow more rapidly than
| before.
"In some parts of the spruce
| growths, where the forest is dense and
| the climate cool, deep layer OF hui
mus or vegetable mould accumulates
on the tree, retarding its growth. In
such localities trees six inches In
diameter have been cut which showed
| $50 annual rings, while under more
| favorable conditions spruce has been
known to increase one inch in year.
By cutting or thinning out such a
growth the humus will disappear on
those trees that are left and they will
grow much more rapidly"
Experts say that the best quality
of spruce standing in Maine today is
to be found in the Allegash and Fish
river valleys in Aroostook county
These valleys are on st. John waters.
and the cut heretofore has gone to
the sawmills in the Province of New
Brunswick, although the land is owned
he