Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1919-08-15

ger that is. he VINO cuts for sawmills,
is almost extinct The big sawmlil
drives are seen no more. This Is the
day Of the "fourfoOt stun" which
makes up most Of the drives and gives
business to the railroads The pulp
mills eat up so many millions OF feet
Of spruce that speculative and statis-
teal persons wonder where 1t all
comes from and how long the supply
will last. SO far as Maine Is con
cerned there need be no fear OF wood
famine very soon, bur at the pres
ent rate Of cutting there is bound to
be a scarcity in the United States with
in few years that will send prices
kiting.
The present annual consumption of
pulp wood east of the Mississippi
river Is about 100000 cords, or 3.60O,-
100000 feet. That Is using wood "a
reckless rate, even with q big supply
In sight. But there is greater drain
upon our wood resources. Fire takes
more than the mills. The eastern
slope of the Rockies Is rs per cent
splotched with great black patches all
the way from Puget sound to the
Penobscot. In some parts Of Maine
the burnt area greatly exceeds the
green. In the South the pine and the
cypress are being cut away at an
th Do nj In gf pQ
the Douglas fir and other growths are
being turned into money as rapidly
as possible.
TO make up for all the cutting, lit
tie is being done. Scientific forestry
Is making some progress, but as yet
efforts in that direction are as nothing
compared with tree slaughter. Re-
forestation is being carried on in some
states, as on small scale, in Maine,
but tree doesn't glpw In day
big spruce may be felled in five min
utes, but its reproduction will re-
quire 40 years.
1t is NOT altogether question OF
wood supply, either. As the forests 90
the foods will come, waterpowers
will fail and all industry will snf-
fer. Therefore, there must he a lot
Of tree planting in this country, else
pretty much everything will go by the
board,
Advance in Pulp Wood Values.
The advance in pulp wood values
within 30 months has been remark
able even for the times. Before the
entrance of this country into the war,
peeled wood delivered in the mill yard
in Maine was worth 50 cord.
Now the price is $1S in Maine and in
New York state $26 cord This ad-
vance Is due in part to higher wages
aud in part to little proiiteering or a
turn of thrift by the land owners.
Wages before the war, that Is, up to
the spring of 1917 were $50 to $50
month and board. In 1918 and 1919 the
rate Jumped to $50 to $65 month, and
I'm some instances as high as STD or
SS5 has been paid. Just now, because
Maine Is pretty well stocked, the de-
mand for labor and the price show a
declining tendency. But in the United
| States as whole the supply OF wood
is short of the demand and there
seems to be no prospect OF lower
| prices either of labor or product.
| One operator in Maine, Massa-
| chusetts man, who got into the lum-
Der business through his love of ma
ture, cut last year on Molunceus and
the east branch of the Penobscot
| &C. 900 cords, or 100000 feet, of pulp
wood and 100000 feet of long logs,
and will cut this year 10000 cords, or
20. 100000 feet of pulp wood. employ
ing 900 men at S62 month and
board or for piece work, $3.50 to 1910
d cord.
The common impression Is that all
wood pulp is made into paper and
that the increased demand for news
print alone is responsible for the de-
mutation of our forest lands. 1t is
true that most of the pulp goes to
satisfy the appetite Of the printing
presses, bur there have been devel-
oped in recent years many and vari-
Gus other uses for the fiber of the
spruce and poplar. lnnumerable
articles are now made of wood pulp
doors, dishes, buttons, boards, boxes,
pie plates by the million, trunks and
ear wheels, and milady who parades
the avenue, proud of her gown Of
trcolette, may be surprised to learn
that in that silken fabric Is woven
the fiber of the spruce--that she owes
something of the luster and durable
texture of her tinery to the fragrant
| fnrnsIs of Muinn