The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1907-12-04
THE LOSS OF WHITE PINE.
How The Trees Have Been Wasted Al
Over The Country.


The position which the United States
has held az a lumber producing nation
has. perhaps, been due more to white
pine than TO any other wood. The timber
OF this valuable tree. which has played
most important part in the material
development Of the nation Is fast dis
appearing, and now IL il as costly as
the finest American hardwoods. Rev.
Edward Everett Hale, the chaplain of
the senate, who has always taken an In
terest in forestry, deplores the passing
of white pine az our foremost wood, and
tells how in his own lifetime he has
seen the day when "the masts Of every
vessel that sailed the seven seas were
made from New England grown pine;
while today very little white pine Is
cut in New England big enough TO fur
nish good-sized spar He tells also,
TO illustrate the increasing cost Of the
wood, that he ordered a set of book
shelves on which the cabinet.maSer
made a price and then asked whether
they should be mahogany or white
pine.
The white pine production has shifted
from New England to the Lake states,
and Michigan was the leading lumber
producing state 20 years, from 1870 TO
1890. with supremacy based on white
pine In these two decades the cut was
100 billions Of board feet, valued not less
than $4,000, 100000 or nearly nalf as
much again as the value derived from all
the gold fields of California from their
discovery in the late '40s until the pres
ent. The rich forests Of Michigan were
once thought inexhaustible and lumber
ing continued in most reckless manner
for years Suddenly the people awole to
the fact that the thoughtless destruc-
ton of the trees had thrown 100000 Of
acres on tho delinquent tax list. These
white pine barrens point TO the terrible
penalty Of wasting the forest resources
which should have been the heritage Of
all future generations.
An idea of the increasing scarcity of
white pine timber is given by the New
York (. D. b. quotations, on q basis Of
carload lots. "uppers" Of the best grade
cost S97 to St14 Thousand board feet
and the selects" or next lower grade
cost $3.50 to $09.5o Men who are
not yet middle.aged remember the time
when these grades could be purchased
az sfs to $25 thousand feet. The
present quotations on quartered white
oak, which are SIS TO $50, offer another
basis Of comparison which indicates the
condition Of the market for white pine.
The best stands Of this timber now in
the country are in scattered sections in
Minnesota, New England and parts Of
Idaho. The species in Idaho il son1es
times called silver pine. Some Of the
countrys best white pine Is found on
the Indian reservations in Minnesota
and Wisconsin and scattered stands are
found in the state Of Wyoming, Mon
tana. Colorado and one or two otner
states. At the present rate Of cutting
the tree will soon be practically thing
of the past. The small stands in the no-
tional forests are inconsiderable, but
they will be managed with the greatest
conservatism by tine government
through the forest service, and through
this method and practice Of reforestation
Il may be hoped that the fine old tree
will furnish timber for other genera
tons