The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1920-02-09
New England Timber Resources.

An idea of the undeveloped wealth OF
New England in timber may be gained
from a statement in the last number
of the Waterbury, VT, Record, a paper
published in the heart of the Green
mountains--under the shadow, as il
were, of both Mount Mansfield and
Camel's Hump. The Record says that
manufacturer of hardwood lumber
near Waterbury was Caught" last
wear with a considerable quantity OF
hardwood flooring on his hands, which
he had been trying to dispose of. He
may have regarded the incident at
this time as a misfortune, but he has
Just sold this particular lot of flooring
at a total advance OF $4,000 above
what he was willing to sell it for last
year-the price of hardwood flooring
having advanced in the meantime to
$50 q thousand. The same grade of
flooring sold at $50 a thousand only
a few years ago, and there had been
an advance from SO a thousand to $50
within ten days. Here, therefore, there
was an actual fortune, at least for a
Vermont lumberman or sawyer, in the
increase in value of one lot of hard
wood flooring alone, in one years time.
Naturally an incident like this raises
the question whether there are as yet
considerable bodies of timber, afford
ing like profits TO those who exploit IL,
on New England hills. And one may
be sure that there is. The Waterbury
Record says that in the neighborhood of
that town there are thousands of acres
that are well timbered in hard woods
chiefly maple, beech. and birch. No
doubt IL had been assumed that this
hardwood is too scattered to make it
very profitable to timber IL. At the
old rate for such timber it might have
been so, but at prices which now pre-
vail. the increased cost of numbering
scattered trees may be more than met.
At all events, the Green mountains are
going TO be numbered for hardwoods
after this. And there are in Maine and
New Hampshire great areas OF equally
valuable hardwoods, as well as a good
deal Of scattered pine which now be-
comes a valuable proposition.
The same should be found true with
regard TO pulpwood. All who have trav-
cled chum in northern New England
are aware Of the seemingly endless
stretches OF low and more or less scrub
by timber, which never appeared like
~. under previous conditions. TO be-
come very valuable. But all this i
at least available for pulpwood, and
che supply Of It l. boundless To real
izc upon It should be merely a matter
Of organization. II will not harvest
Itself. nor is II a matter for small, fur
tive OF timid enterprise These more or
less scattered areas viii need to be
handled on a large scale and with am
pie capital. But it appears Incredible
that the thousands Of miles of woods
within New England should not be
ample for New Englsnd'- hardwood and
newspTint paper industries.
Prevailing high prices for lumber and
print paper NAV indeed deplete New
England woods. aud turn many a re-
gion Of wild beauty into a desolstion.
That has 10 be lamented. from the
aesthetic and the sentimental point Of
view. But those who love the beauty
even If the scrub woods may rejoice
that the devastation wrought by cut
ting j. always temporary No New
England woodland ever became = des-
srt- The woods spring up again, in our