Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1908-01-29

this portion Of the State OF Maine. Sew
ersl OF the rivers Of this region are doing
. yearly lumber business amounting to
between fifty and sixty board feet per acre
on the total area OF their drainage, waste
lands and all That means 81 per acre dis
tributed yearly among the people OF the
county, or on 10000 acres more than s.
for each man, woman and child. That ia
worth while, small as i is, compared with
the results Of scientific forestry under
whose methods the lands in question
might be made to yield product Of 500
feet per acre and year. The values that
might be produced under such a system
and the rivers OF prosperity that would
fow out Of it, no man is likely to estimate
too high.
The details Of logging practice cannot be
gone into here, though numerous points
might be developed which have important
bearing on The growing power Of the land.
Cheap operation is an essential, but That
should be balanced with economy in the
use Of timber stocks and with care for the
small growth that will form the merchant
able timber Of years to come. This matter
can only be commended to the consider
ton OF the men who have the lands and
the work in charge. Operators of the
present day are ready enough to say that
their predecessors in business were very
blind in the recklessness of their policy
and operation. II in the conditions Of the
present day they themselves shall prove to
have failed in the same way there will be
less excuse for them because they have
had warning and because great deal
more is known now than formerly about
the growth OF timber and other con-
trolling facts. Speaking broadly, however,
the region, in my opinion, has little in this
line to learn from the rest Of the State.
The logging methods which have been
found in the region to be cheapest are also,
or can easily be rendered, the least detri-
mental to the woods.
CHARACTER OF LABOR.
An important factor here is the cbarac-
ter OF the labor employed. The men
working in these woods are generally ma
tives of the region, identified with its in
terests and as rule effective and reliable
men. This is far different from condi-
tions prevailing in some other parts of the
State, where frequently foreigners, and
strays make up large part Of logging
crews. laundering costs lot more under
such conditions, and it is difficult or i'm
possible to get careful, prudent work
done. The employers Of the region should
appreciate this fact and continue to see
that the legitimate demands OF labor are
satisfied.
Nature is very generous to Maine, in no
way more so than in the rapidity with
which she covers burnt or cutover land
with new growth. This is frequently OF
such a nature as to have little in that
direction to be desired SO that protection is,
for the present at least, the most that can
be asked. In management of woodland,
however, there is at least one broad princi-
property SHOULD bear in mind. That is
the necessity of maintaining growing
stock in other words, of having growing
timber on the ground as basis of con-
tinued growth. Trees we know are long
in attaining their growth, year by year
adding a little to their volume in the
shape OF rings of wood on the outside.
small area Of foliage which it pos
sesses can produce but small volume
of wood, while a larger tree, if not yet
past the point of vigor, yearly grows q
manifold larger amount. 1t is the same
with acres and townships as it is with
individual trees. II by hard cutting the
trees are kept very small and the growing
stock low, the production OF the land is
kept at a low figure and the business
which can be done on it at a correspond
ingly small amount.
In this connection a word may be said
in regard to those Yho hold land for
growth and increase in timber price. A
prejudice sometimes exists against them
because for a time they tie up the re-
sources OF the land from use. This feeling
l believe in general to be unjust and un-
sound. Many OF our tracts need nothing
SO much as time in which to rest and
gather their resources, and no disfavor or
prejudice should attach to the men who
take on themselves the financial burden
involved.
On the other hand, some items in the
timber stock of the country might well be
used more closely than they are toe day.
Our fir, for instance, is a short-lived tree,
liable to defects if it stands too long.
More thorough cutting than is now prac-
llceO In some ulStructS "ouiu save iol VI
this material for use and relieve spruce
from much of the demand for short lum-
Der which it now has to supply. Our hard
wood stocks in large measures may be
looked at in the same way. The value of
these is yearly increasing with the ex-
haustion of the western woods. When
the time comes that they can be put on
the market at good profit, that will
mean in every way gain to the region and
TO The country at large.
/ feel, too, that the region is to be
congratulated on the general stability
of its business concerns.
In Washington county, there is very
little speculation in timber lands. The
men in control are for the most part
identified with the region and interested
in its permanent prosperity. They are on
a sound financial basis, and can give the
land that steady and careful treatment