The Great Pineries

Of the niUier more than U.UW.UUU,000 feet of white pina lumber that 'early reacties the docks and ywrds of Chicago, uearly all comes fróm the weatern half of Michigan, the uorthem ruininonln nt t.lin same State uul the Jíí A-LIJ W III w íreen Bay districts OÍ Eastern wisconsiu. Of the total amount, as mueli as 1,200,000,000 is deriven from a dozen places aloug the eastern shore ofLake Michigan. Muskegon alone in 1881 funüated 491,824,000 feet, and 25 715,000 shingles, whilo Manistee sent forward 151,130,000 ftet of lumber, and 357,000,493 sbingles, the latter place being the groatest shingle manufacturing place on tliat shore. The ehief district of lumber mannfactureon the upper península is at themovith of the Menominee Biver, wliicli cm pues mío ureen oay uiu divides the States of Michigan and Wisconsin. The milis are töcated at Menominee.in Michigan, and Marinette, Wisconsin. A largo proportion of the lumher stock that goes to make upthc residue of GMcago's 2,000,000,000 feet la produced at these Uva poiuts. The Menominee district in 1881 fumished 265,917,000 f eet of lumber, and this year ït ia thought tho amount wiil reach over 300,000,000 feet. The other Green Bay and Upper Península porta of iniportance in 1881 shipped as follows: Vpahtiaa. 52.260.000: Ford lliver, 724,000; Eseanaba, 5,030,000; Oconto, 7,210,000. Of Sagiaaw lamber in 188] 37,578.000 feet were received but it is probable that much moro will have arrived at the close of the present seaBon, on account of the unusual reach. ing about after stocks thlfl year. Alpena, on the Hurón ahore, In 1881 supplied Chicago witb. 9,439,000 feet, and more than" that will arrive iroui that port this year. Soine is l'urnished f om oUier Lake Huron points. Latterly the Lak Superior región luis producea considerable lumber, niost of whicb has reached tlie Chicago market, the arrivals lïoui Asmanu m 1001 bhwuuviw to 20,995,000 feet, sud from Oiitouagon to 1,360,000. The lamber industry of that section is being greatly developed, and the time will soon como when the output along the soutli shore of the great lake will BweH the yearly total to 250,000,000, but a large part of it Will no doubt go to supply the markets of the new Korthwest by way of Duluth and the tlsree Northern Pacilic railroads. It is impossible to esliiaate the JnQuence üiè plne of Michigan afad Wisconsin bas had in the development of the northwest and of the eatlre counw„ .1 hnnArfiinf Pafï.nv in t.hiHirrp.at. agency i3 tlie fact thatawater way existed bet ween the foratfl and tbe prairies. White pina is a liglil and portable tiuibei1, eminent ly adapte'! lo the wants of new settlm, éasily worked by partly skilled labor. It has furnislied a material foi the buildixig oí home?, the iroprovemeiit of farms, tbe sudden growtb of citiesapd villages, and by its means au empire has been created, as it were, in a day. Comparison ia the most coiiclusive argument; and iL one compares white pine witii the yellow or pitch variety of the soutb, it will be seen tliat if tlo northwest had been dependent upon the wftighty and hardly worked pineof the soutliern sections oí' the country, the progresa of the prairie statea would have dragged f ar behind its present ad vaneed tiou. Even to this day, when railroad facilities from south to north are quite ampie, the weiglit of yellow pin amounts to almost an embargo on shipments to the northwest, thougli strenuous efforts are being made to overeóme this diffl culty by cheapér freiglits. The estímale placed on the standing piiie ai the Northwest by the Federal cenaus forestry bulletins, ho wever much they may be critcised,hasserved to awaken much interest inthe present and prospectivo pine supply. Ten years ago it was claimed in the Saginaw Valley that the available pino in thai section would be used up in ten yeais; yet the yearly product siuce tlien has steadily increased, and last year the output was greater thau ever befoie. The same is trae of the Lake Michigan distriets. This at íirst blush seems ;m inconsistent proposition, butbeiagbetter understood, It appears more leasonable. When the flrst estimates of Michigan pine were made, the operators took into account only such timber as was accessible to the streams, and was of certain proportions. For instance, time was when a pine less than teen incoes in diameter was never cut. Now, such has become the insatiable demand that trees bo more than eigbt incbes In diameter are sacriüced to the greed of the lumbermeii ; and it is a common joke among the red-sbirted brigade tbat sawed sticks 6x6, are often seen with all four corners "waney." In the early days of the industry Michigan lumbermen penetrated the forests no further than would make a short haul necessary to bring the sticks to stream. Af ter tirnber became scarce on short bauls, long hauls were undertaken. At length operations had become so thorough that teams could no longer bring the logs to bank, and there was a pause and a consideration of further appliances. At each stage of denudation the pine was said to be exhausted. Estimate3 of standing pine were always made with reference to the operator's ideas of what constituted available timber, both as tosize and distance from water. When luiuber was cheap it was, of course, impossible to put too much expense iuto logging. The cost of stumpage came in for consideration. At flrst it was worth nothing but the value of the land on which the trees grew, which was obtainable at GovernmQTit: nrino Tn nrOÍUÍSS of time. aS tllO lUÜLiU Vi U" J.-". i w www w- 7 d6mand for lumber increased, stumpage began to rise in value, and passed through the scale from 25 cents a thousanfl to its present average Michigan price of $4.50; that is, the trees are worth that much a thousand as they stand on the stump, or two-thirds the average price of sawed lumber afteen years ago. Stuinpage in Michigan ia now often sold at $5, $6 and $7 a thousand, according to quality and accessibility. Recent estimates of the quantity and value of standing pine have become very different from what they were ten or twelve years ago. Now estimates are made as to quantity on ii basis of ciglit inches in diameter and upvvard, and all the standing pine is reckoned, be it never so f ar from stream or lakeside. The demand for lumber has wrought the change in regard to size, and the new method of logging by pole and iron railroad has brought the remotest pine within reach of milis and market. In the earlier days of the lumbar industry of the north snow was relied upon for moving logs from the stump to the stream or lake, and is still to a large extent. But in Michigan the demand for raw material tof eed the milis has become so urgent that snow and frost are elements too üekle to base a year'g operation3 upon. In the old daya the loggers operated near streams, had au iuvestment of a imited capital, ■veré suppiyiug a ratUer proütless deinand, and did the besttUey couldwith ice ar.d snow. In open winters they brooked the loaa of die oten and teams and unfulfllled contracta as best they could. Latterly lumbering has become a prolitable enterprise. Vast capital ia investeil In lauda, stumpage rni) Is and outfif. Tlie yearly demanrl calis for 7,000,000,000 t'eet of luinber, and itmuat be inet by a supply. The energy f raoney bas grappled tlie logging indnstry, and dispenses wiili the agency oi frost Logging railioads liave largely taken the place of the eled for long haula. Pole roads ar used for sliortr bauis, ''■'■'■■ togrthtr 'hey furnish a menos wbereby logging is carried forward in tlie snowless season as well aa in the winter. The log supply no longer dependa on the character of the season, as was once somewhat the eaae. tr l " í b-m . . 1 , n fci 'i I I lí 11 ItM l 116 lrOu.-iie miinum ui DLiuD unu u pul in to keep Mie inill3 ruiming in iiny ivent. The tole roád i-; ai simple tratnway oL poles, flattenetí for tlio car wheétó, and placed ond to end alafia tifie surface oí Lhe giound. Broad flKnged wbeels run on this rode tr;ick, vd bear np imítense loads oí log and convcy tbeni frora the stump to (.'(' water wiLh a great savlog of power. The cus are drawn by liorses, inu'.es or oxen. This kind of road is mucti used in thü Sauth. But the ron or steel track loggitig railway isUietriuraphüf modern forest industey. By ita agency vast foresta of splendid pine 'm the interior of Michigan have been pentmtet!, ;d thelí crr.de wealth brought oiitto the uianufacturinK centres. But for Uiis meara the annuil foreat product Of Michigan wouhl have been one-thircl less than It is to-day, but regions tlial irt, now deauded wouW slill have been elothed with ;ihe;ivy growMi of pitie. Süil it must be said ttaat the Jogging railroad lias saved h vast imouutof timbér wealth I'iom destruction by flre, It is wc-11 knowu by those familiar wiili torostiy that ia all the piü rcgious, especially in igan, ueviistating íires annuuj awKxy over v.-iiJti áreas, and a large proportion of the meet valuable timbe is scorobed aud killed bei'ove the lumbeitnen caá reaeh it. If piue is not eut and put into the water during the winter followiug its being killed by ftre, the succec-ding season it becomes worui-eaten and "powdei pasted," and nearly or onito usele33 for sawiug into luaiber. Immense iraounts of pine were formerly lost in t,his way. But since capital and enterjnise have promoted the building of logghig railroads, a great saving of burned timber has been made. A pillü UVVlltl liuvrituilja t uuiw w v,V" sidered exceedingly lacking in entepiise iflie ptraitted i Uu-ge Iract of burned plne to go to waste by neglecting I o penétrate it witlt aranroad. The conatruetion of raiiway Unes like the Grand Kapida aad Indiana, the Flint and l'cre Marqaette, the Detroit, Mackii;ac and Marquette, andothers.through northern Michigan, haa greatly developed the lamber íñduatry of the State, by furnishing facilities for couvejing the product to maiket. Like railroad facilities are being extended tlirough northerii Wisconain, and are briuging tlie remotest timber resources of that State withüi reach of the lr.inbermen.