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FORESTRY

Michigan Forestry Commission

CHARLES W. GARFIELD, ..... Grand Rapids

ARTHUR HILL, Saginaw

WM. H. ROSE, Lansing

FILIBERT ROTH, Forest Warden, ... Ann Arbor

Prefatory Note

The Forestry Commission has from its organization
arranged to make a formal report to the Governor
just previous to the biennial session of the State Leg-
islature, for the purpose of calling attention to such
matters requiring legislative action as the Commission
finds necessary or desirable. Ad interim, in the alter-
nate years, something in the way of a report of pro-
gress has been issued. The first brochure of this kind
was entitled "A Little Talk on Forestry." The sec-
ond one was entitled "Steps of Progress in Michigan
Forestry." This little volume is the third one in the
series, issued under the title of "The Advance Move-
ment in Michigan Forestry."

The forestry movement has forged ahead very rap-
idly in 1905, and rather culminated in the organiza-
tion of the Michigan Forestry Association the last days
of August. The report of this convention which led
to the permanent organization, is given in this little
volume, together with the formal report of the Forest
Warden concerning the work in the two Forest Re-
serves.

The demand for literature of forestry has been so
great upon the Commission that the limited number
of reports which is provided for by statute does not
meet the wants, and this volume has for one of its ob-
jects the answering of questions from school men, lit-
erary societies, farmers' institutes and individual in-
terrogations in the simplest and most satisfactory
way. The publication of the State Review, which is
the official organ of the Michigan Forestry Associa-
tion, will aid very materially in the dissemination of
facts and methods worked out under the auspices of
the Michigan Forestry Commission, and we are more
hopeful than at any time since the State took hold
formally of the forestry movement, that rapid advances
will be made in reforestation which will meet the re-
quirements of a progressive State.

In presenting this booklet, the Michigan Forestry
Commission invites correspondence upon any matter
suggested by the text, and will be glad to render any
assistance within its power to either corporations or
individuals who have in mind experiments in forestry
or the planting of large areas of cheap lands to forest
trees having in view commercial results.

CHAS W. GARFIELD,
ARTHUR HILL,
WM. H. ROSE,
Michigan Forestry Commission.

November, 1905.

'

THE MICHIGAN FORESTRY
ASSOCIATION

Initial Meeting at Grand Rapids, Michigan.

For some years the friends of the forestry movement
in Michigan have had in mind the organization of a
body of people who should utilize the Association in the
interests of reforestation in Michigan along the same
lines of work which have been accomplished in the
State by the Horticultural Society and which have re-
sulted in developing such a tremen-
Preparing dous commercial and amateur inter-

the "Way est in horticultural progress. The

work of the State Horticultural Soci-
ety had led up to this by inserting forestry subjects
into its programs from time to time, and even giving
up whole sessions of its conventions to forests and for-
est management. It remained for Mr. Thornton A.
Green, of Ontonagon, Michigan, to actually initiate the
movement which led to the formation of the Michigan
Forestry Association, on the 2gth and 3oth of Septem-
ber, 1905. Mr. Green, through correspondence, acting
as provisional secretary, had canvassed the State for
membership and secured something over 300 members
upon which the society should found its structural
work. The first thought was to hold the initial meet-
ing at Mackinac Island, so as to be
Place of convenient to both Peninsulas. It

Meeting subsequently developed, however, that

so large a portion of the membership
was in and about Grand Rapids, and the season of the
year at a time when it might be difficult to secure a
large attendance from outside the immediate locality
in which the meeting should be held, that Mr. Green
and his associates decided it was best to launch the
organization at Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mr. Chas.
W. Garfield made local arrangements for holding the
day part of the meeting in Park Congregational Church ;
and upon invitation of the Grand Rapids Board of Li-
brary Commissioners, the evening session was held in
Ryerson Library.

Prof. Filibert Roth, of Ann Arbor arranged the de-
tails of the provisional program, and it was printed and
sent out over the State. A literary bureau was opened
at Grand Rapids previous to the meeting, and circu-
lars and letters were sent out in large numbers, the
Grand Rapids newspapers taking hearty interest in the
undertaking and devoting a good deal
A of space in their columns to the work

Literary of advertising the convention. The

Bureau Michigan Tradesman which has a large

circulation in the State, published for
several weeks previous to the Convention articles upon
the subjects which would naturally come before the
Convention, which were prepared by Prof. Roth and
Mr. Garfield.

Mr. Sargent, curator of the Kent Scientific Museum,
kindly consented to make a forest exhibit in adornment
of the vestry at Park Church, with material which had

been a part of the Michigan World's Fair exhibit at
St. Louis, Mo., in 1904. The arrange-
The rnent of cross sections of logs and

Exhibit boards was very artistic and the room

was decorated with numerous photo-
graphs of lumbering scenes. Mottoes upon the walls
indicated the importance of forestry and outlined the
needed work to be accomplished through a Michigan
Forestry Association.

Prof. Bogue of the Agricultural College had brought
very interesting specimens of seedlings of various spe-
cies of forest trees of different ages, to illustrate their
rapidity of growth from the seed.

A local committee from the Grand
Committee Rapids Board of Trade consisting of

on Saml. M. Lemon, Amos S. Musselman,

Reception Jas. R. Wylie, Danl. McCoy and Robt.

D. Graham, was in evidence on the
morning of the Convention greeting friends from out-
side and making people acquainted with each other
who had never met before, and paving the way for the
opening of the Convention.

Promptly at 10 o'clock on the morning of Sept. 29,
1905, Chas. W. Garfield called the Convention to order
in the vestry of Park Congregational Church, and in-
troduced Mr. A. W. Bell who led the congregated peo-
ple in singing America. Every voice
The seemed to be in evidence and the

Opening music put the membership of the

Convention in hearty sympathy with
each other. Dr. R. W. McLaughlin was next intro-
duced and led the assembly in a most appropriate
prayer service. Again Mr. Bell, who had distributed
copies of the verses in advance, led in singing Michi-
gan, My Michigan.

On motion of Prof. Roth, Hon. Arthur Hill, of Sagi-
naw, was made temporary chairman of the meeting,
Mr. T. A. Green, of Ontonagon, acting as temporary
secretary. Mr. Hill, in taking the chair, spoke strongly
of the needs of Michigan in matters of
Mr. Hill reforestation and stated that we were

Chairman ripe for the organization of a society

which should devote its best endeavors
in creating an interest in reforestation and especially
in the matter of rehabilitating State lands which were
not only a menace, but a blemish upon the fair fame of
our State. He stated that there was really no set pro-
gram of speeches, and it was expected that from the
abundance of the heart the work of the Convention
would develop. He then called upon Mr. Green to
make a statement to the Convention
Mr. Green's concerning the preliminary work which
Story had been accomplished through his in-

terest and exertion. Mr. Green in a
very pretty speech, recounted the story of how he be-
came interested in the forest movement and how suc-
cessful he had been in gathering membership for the
opening of this Convention, stating, however, that his
optimism had received something of a check because
he had laid out to start this Convention with the state-
ment that 1,000 people had already enrolled themselves
upon its roster of members. While lie had not reached
this number, he hoped that very soon after the Asso-
ciation should be organized, people would rally to its
support and the thousand names would be in evidence.

""" On motion of Prof. Roth, the chairman was author-
ized to name a committee on permanent organization,
whose duty should be to present articles of association
and nominate a roster of permanent officers; also a
committee on resolutions, who should prepare a state-

ment of principles upon which the organization should
be founded. The chairman named as
Committees the first committee, Messrs. Geo.

Named P. Wanty, Edwin A. Wildey, Wm. H.

Rose, J. S. Porter, W. I. Latimer; and
as a committee of resolutions, Messrs. Geo. B. Hortonr
Walter C. Winchester, Chas. E. Bassett, Saml. M.
Lemon, W. J. Beal. The chairman then stated that he
should take the liberty now to call on various gentle-
men to express briefly their thought with regard to the
necessity of a Michigan Forestry Association in our
State.

Upon his call, Dr. Beal responded and gave a res-
ume of his knowledge of the early forest conditions of

Michigan during his boyhood and the
Dr. Beal gradual changes which had come about

Speaks through the clearing of the land for

farms and the subsequent rapid elision
of timber by the lumberman. He spoke of the early
agitation of forestry in Michigan Horticultural Soci-
ety, and the establishment of a sort of section of for-
estry in the department of botany at the Agricultural
College, saying that it was practically due to his inter-
est in forest matters that the Board of Agriculture took
this action. In connection with his botanical work,
he had gathered a large amount of material for a for-
estry museum and started an arboretum, giving some
class instruction and speaking to the people at various
conventions, upon forestry subjects. He had been
pleased, subsequently, to have an independent de-
partment of forestry organized at the College, thus re-
lieving him of this particular responsibility and carry-
ing on the work in a more systematic way. He
expressed his satisfaction in being able to be a part of
the initial movement which should lead to the organi-
zation of a forestry association in the State.

Mr. Samuel H. Ranck, of Ryerson Library, called
attention to the section of forestry in the library, and
particularly to the beautiful set of volumes, The

American Sylva, edited and published
Ryerson by Sargent, which had been given re-

Library cently to the library by Harvey J.

Invitation Hollister, of this city, and invited the

members of the Convention to be per-
fectly at home in the library and in the use of the for-
estry section during the days of the Convention.

Mr. Geo. B. Horton, of Fruit Ridge, Master of the
State Grange, responded to the call of the chair in a
very interesting talk upon the useful-
Master ness of the farm woodlot in connection
G. B. Morton's with the agriculture of our State.
Remarks He expressed an interest in the prob-
lem of the northern cut over lands,
but said that his larger interest lay in the woodlot as a
factor of Southern Michigan. He had tried at farmers'
clubs, meetings of the Grange, and other rural con-
ventions, to awaken an interest in farm forestry,
and had found many things in the way of a success-
ful promotion of practical forestry, one being our
method of taxation, which was really a premium on
cutting off the forests, rather than preserving them.
While he had no clearly defined method in mind,
he hoped that this Association would crystallize some
form of legislation which would be protective in its
leading features, and which would be an inducement
to have the average farmer in the southern part of
the State make his woodlot a prominent feature in
his farming methods.

Mrs. Francis King, of Alma, Mich., was invited to
say a word and she responded in a very frank way, ex-

pressing her interest in the purposes
A Word of this Convention and saying that

From although she supposed women would

Mrs. King not be very prominent in carrying on

the work of the organization, she
thought they could, in their own localities, awaken an
interest which would be very helpful, and pledging her-
self to take an active part in the work which this Con-
vention should outline.

Regent Loyal E. Knappen, of the Michigan Univer-
sity management, expressed strongly and forcefully

his interest in the formation of an or-
Regent ganization which will take up system-

Knappen atically a very needed work in Michi-

Talks gan, and create public opinion which

shall stand behind the Forestry Com-
mission in its efforts to rehabilitate a large portion of
our State which at present is a menace rather than a
credit.

Prof. Filibert Roth outlined what he expected the
Convention to do, saying that he hoped it would be a
business men's Convention and characterized by per-
fect freedom of expression on the part
Prof. of those interested in Michigan forests,

Roth's as lumbermen, as manufacturers and

Hope as educators. He especially hoped

that during the sessions of the Con-
vention there would be a free interchange of thought
with regard to delinquent tax lands, farm woodlots,
protection from fires and trespass, and a reasonable
system of taxation which should foster rather than dis-
courage reforestation.

Hon. C. J. Monroe, President of the
Pres. Michigan Board of Agriculture, said

C. J. Monroe that he was born about the time that
Says Michigan as a State was born, and he

A Word had been identified more or less with

the clearing up of a portion of it. In
his younger days he did some surveying at a period when
men employed surveyors to run lines for the purpose
of including as large values within their holdings as
possible. He had known of pieces of land which had
been gone over at six different times by lumbermen,
each time cutting a little closer, and each time getting
good value out of the property. He was greatly im-
pressed by the rapidity with which ground would re-
habilitate itself with forest cover if given a fair chance,
and he welcomed a movement which would foster a
State plan of reforestation.

Mr. Porter, of Saginaw, followed Mr. Monroe with
a word concerning the changed attitude of lumbermen

with reference to the volume of forest
Porter products in the State. Only a few

Speaks for years ago the pine was considered

Lumbermen practically inexhaustible, and when

that was nearly gone, the hardwoods
were represented to be sufficient in quantity to last for
generations. Before the woodman's axe, however, the
virgin timber of Michigan had disappeared so rapidly
that even lumbermen were looking for other fields to
conquer, and were beginning themselves to be inter-
ested in some plan of creating a supply in our own
State to fill their demands.

Mr. O. C. Simonds, of Chicago, whose
A interests have been always very largely

Landscape in Michigan, spoke very delightfully off

Gardener's the beauty of our State as expressed!

view in its forest cover, and that any move-

ment which 'would protect it or add to-
it, would be welcomed by the lover of trees. He men-

tioned an incident with regard to the prices of various
kinds of woods used in rebuilding his house which was
very pertinent to the subject of reforestation. The
large prices which were paid for the woods which were
selected to match those already used some years ago in
the original building, indicated how rapidly these pro-
ducts had disappeared in the market. One example
was that of black cherry, which was required to in-
crease the area of a bookcase, the contractor excusing
himself for using as good an imitation of birch as possi-
ble, on the ground that the cherry could not be had at
less than $160.00 per thousand. Forestry has de-
monstrated that these woods can be grown within a
man's lifetime, so as to produce lumber to take the
place of that which has been taken off, and the prices
ought to be attractive to the investor.

Mr. Hill then called upon Mr. Hubbell, of Manistee,
who said that it is practically impossible to preserve

and continue the present stand of vir-
Taxation gin timber of Michigan in the northern

by Hubbell part of the State, at least, under our

present system of taxation, and it is
clearly impossible for private enterprise to attempt a
second growth, if it is to be subject to the same condi-
tions. It is charged that the high assessed value of
timber has been brought about by the special tax com-
mission. That is not so. The high value of timber
was installed many years ago by the local assessor in
the northern part of our State. It has been a practice
for years to put a high valuation upon timbered lands
belonging to lumbermen and non-resident companies,
who were going to cut that timber and the counties and
the townships were going to lose it, and they must be
quick to get anything out of it. If you are going to
bring up the subject of taxation, bring it up for the
whole State, applicable to the lumberman and the
farmer and have it on the same basis.

Mr. Hill then called upon Mr. Rose
Rose and asked him why it was the popula-

Tells of tion in the northern part of the State

State Lands objected to having the barren lands in

that part put into forest cultivation.
Mr. Rose replied that there were a number of reasons
for the obstructions which were thrown in the way of
the Commission in its contention that a large part of
the northern part of the southern peninsula should be
permanently in forest. In the first place, there were
men who were making their living in connection with
handling this land. There were certain emoluments
associated with the keeping of lands upon the tax roll.
There was some misapprehension with regard to the
purposes of the Forestry Commission, and there cer-
tainly was one reason that had a fair basis of fact be-
hind it, and that was the objection made by local resi-
dents to having the State tax lands taken off from the
rolls permanently and with no possibility of securing
any help in connection with local taxation. A rem-
edy in this direction might possibly be instituted by
the State which would really quell all opposition based
upon good reason. At present there was a disposi-
tion on the part of the Auditor General to deed these
lands over to the State rapidly, and in his own mind
there was no question but a very large portion of them
should be in permanent forest growth, owned by the
State^ and the product to be sold as distinct from the
land. Mr. Rose emphasized the importance of pro-
tection from fire, saying that everything depended
upon this in connection with permanent State Forest
Reserves. He spoke of his own second growth that
he had taken care of for more than a quarter of a cen-
tury, and in which he had taken a deep interest, by
keeping out fires and refusing to pasture, so that the
renewal would be unhampered. The question of tax-

ation sometimes bore pretty heavily upon him because
he was getting no income from the property, but it
was growing into value satisfactorily, and if there
could be some modification of taxation upon forest
property which was maintained purely for forest pur-
poses with no income from it, so that men wTould be
stimulated to retain larger areas for this purpose, he
felt that the State would be the gainer thereby.

Mr. Chas. E. Bassett, Secretary of
Secy. the State Horticultural Society, spoke

Bassett of the relationship of his Society to

Approves progressive forestry, calling attention

to the fact that the initial movement
in the agitation of the great question was made by the
State Horticultural Society, and that from the very
outset the Society had fostered the movement ; scarcely
a meeting was held without having a forestry feature
in its program. It maintained a permanent commit-
tee on forestry and regular reports wrere made, and he
felt perfectly safe in saying that he came to this or-
ganization with the backing of all the membership of
the State Horticultural Society, and the new Associa-
tion would find in his Society a strong and active ally.

Mr. Maurice Quinn, of Saginaw, having been called
out, responded with some stupendous figures covering
the output of lumbering for the State of Michigan.
He spoke particularly of the region tributary to Sagi-
naw and to Muskegon, and mentioned the area of pine

in the State which had been the basis
Mr. Quinn of the great fortunes gathered, and

Speaks of called particular attention to the im-

Safeguards providence of the State, while it was

providing for its schools by setting
aside a section to be sold for the endowment of a
common school system, that it didn't also set aside 640
acres in each geographical township as a permanent
forest preserve, the title to remain forever in the town-
ship. The State could well afford, even at this time,
by purchase, to do this in the interests of the long fu-
ture. He dwelt upon the devastation which had fol-
lowed the lumberman's axe, and spoke of the safe-
guards which the State ought to place about its hold-
ings, mentioning particularly how rapidly deforested
areas grow again into value if the fire and thieves are
kept out.

The morning session was closed by a brief resume" of
letters received from prominent people in the State by
Prof. Roth — people who could not be present and ex-
pressed their warm sympathy with the * movement
and a desire to be identified with the organization.

Afternoon Session

Just previous to convening in afternoon session, a
local photographer gathered the members of the Con-
vention together in front of Park Church, and again in
front of the Ryerson Library, and put into a perma-
nent picture the men and women who later in the Con-
vention organized the Michigan Forestry Association.

The session was called to order by Mr. Hill, and
Acting Mayor, Mr. Elvin Swarthout delivered a very

earnest and attractive address of wel-
Address come in which he expressed the large

of interest of Grand Rapids in any plan

Welcome which would further the progress of

forestry in the State. We were going
further and further for the raw material to keep our
manufactures in operation, and a movement which
will create this raw material near at hand will be wel-
comed by our citizenship. Mr. Hill, in responding,

I?,

called attention to the marvellous
Response by growth of timber originally covering
Chairman Michigan, and the rapidity with which

Hill it had been turned into lumber, giving

in large figures the amounts that had
ne out from the various gateways of the State. For
fty years this process had been going on, and nothing
has been done to take the place of this forest cover
which has been removed. He saw more timber and
young pine growing in a trip between London and
Southampton than there is anywhere in this country,
as a result of artificial plantations; and upon a recent
visit in Southwestern France he traversed nearly one
hundred miles through solid plantations of trees rap-
idly growing into mercantile timber. Fortunately
these countries appreciate the importance of refores-
tation and by various means are increasing the area of
forest cover in proportion to the arable land. In our
country we are reaching further and wider now for
timber to support our industries, and still thousands
of square miles 'that might be growing timber are a
barren waste. Considering the needs, it is a crime to
allow these lands to continue not only a waste, but a
menace.

In speaking of natural reforestation, he called atten-
tion to the rapidity with which poplar covered the
land, saying that while this looked very poor and thin
to many people, the fact that poplar is so valuable in
the manufacture of wood pulp, makes this forest cover
of no inconsiderable importance. Poplar has a stable
commercial value at the pulp mills and because of the
rapidity of growth will compare favorably with any
other crop for our northern so called "pine barrens."

He also spoke of the Chandler Marsh near Lansing
and its possibilities in growing a crop of willows, men-
tioning the fact that the willow has fine qualities as a
pulp wood tree. He believed in twenty-five years
that great marsh which is practically valueless today,
under a sytematic planting of willow, would, as a re-
sult of the growth, be worth $200 an acre. The ra-
pidity with which our best spruce is be*ing cut off indi-
cates what an important matter it is to have some sub-
stitute coming on to take its place.

Mr. Hill expressed his pride in being a lumberman.
He considered the business a legitimate one and an
important one. While there had been a great deal of
waste in lumbering operations hitherto, the progress-
ive men who were engaged in lumbering enterprises to-
day, were impressed with the importance of saving on
every hand. The planting to replace original forest is
a long range proposition, and people who are used to
making quick dollars must be educated with regard to
forestry in order to put their good money into it. But
there is no question whatever but there is money in
planting almost any kind of commercial trees. The
lumber famine, at present rates of consumption, is
certain to come, unless reforestation takes a strong
hold of the people, and men with money are induced
to invest their capital in growing timber.

• He thought Grand Rapids an appropriate place to
launch the new Forestry Association because of its
progressive methods and warm interest in industrial
enterprises.

Mr. Alfred Gaskill, representing the United States
Forest Service, addressed the meeting on the relation
of the Bureau of Forestry to State work, and expressed

the warm interest of his Bureau in the
U. S. forestry movement in Michigan. The

Forest Bureau is always ready to assist any

Service commonwealth which makes a move

itself in matters of forestry. It sends
its experts out and is glad to have its representatives

meet conventions and commissions, giving such ad-
vice as is needed along any line which any State un-
dertakes. In speaking of the work that the Associa-
tion can do, he mentioned proper legislation with ref-
erence to fire protection as the most important ele-
ment connected with successful reforestation. Closely
following this is the proper method of taxation, so as
to stimulate planting rather than induce the rapid
demolition of timber areas. He cited the work of the
Pennsylvania Forestry Association as immediately
along these lines. As a result of its work, guided by
Dr. Rothrock, an immense work had been done in the
Appalachian region of Pennsylvania. While the prob-
lems connected with Michigan are entirely different
because we lack the mountains here, the questions in-
volved are fully .as important and require as great
thought and careful business management.

Hon. John Patton was called upon
Other and responded in a very sympathetic,

Men brief address, expressing his desire that

Approve the Association should succeed in what

he believed was a most important work
to be done in the State.

Hon. W. I. Latimer, of Big Rapids, had been con-
nected with State interests for a good many years, and
had watched with sorrow the gradually decreasing
forest area in the State, and was glad to be identified'
with a movement for restoration.

Judge Riley, of Detroit, in response to a call, said
that he had taken an academic interest in forestry un-
der the inspiration of Prof. Roth's effective addresses,
and was surprised to learn of the wonderful things
which had been accomplished in the way of reforesta-
tion in foreign countries, and the opportunities which
we possessed of successfully following similar methods
of activity in Michigan. He had come out here from
Detroit to show his loyalty to Prof. Roth, and the
other gentlemen who were so earnestly advocating
principles in connection with a cause which meant so
much to Michigan.

Jas. R. Wylie, of Grand Rapids, gave a somewhat
caustic criticism of the methods which had been
adopted by lumbermen and the effect of clearing the
lands of valuable timber and allowing them to go back
to the State for taxes, and the effect of this method
upon the morals of the people who had to do with
State lands. In connection with the rapid deforesta-
tion, our drainage laws had in their administration
succeeded in creating a condition the disastrous re-
sults of which had been apparent in the floods at Grand
Rapids during the last few years.

Prof. C. D. Smith, of the Michigan Experiment Sta-
tion, expressed his warm sympathy with the organiza-
tion of a Forestry Association, saying that the Ex-
periment Station was ready to co-operate in any pos-
sible way, indicating that along the line of insect
ravages and the injurious effect of tree diseases the
station could be useful in making observations and
experiments and would be glad to extend to the Asso-
ciation its good offices along these scientific lines.

Mr. H. H. Gibson, of Chicago, representing The
Hardwood Record, expressed in a very effective way
his interest in the reforestation enterprise in Michigan.
His position had rendered it possible to .secure some-
thing of an idea of the rapid defores-
A tation to supply the many demands for

Commercial lumber material in our State. He

Proposition loved trees, and enjoyed the discus-

sion of the sentimental side of tree
growth, but reforestation must be a commercial propo-

sition in Michigan, owing to the conditions of demand
and the immense area of cheap lands that could be
utilized in a movement of this kind.

Mr. Walter C. Winchester, of Grand,
A Rapids, expressed his satisfaction in

Lumberman's becoming identified with the Forestry
Confession Association, saying that he pleaded

guilty to being one of the tree butchers
and had been a party to the devastation of large areas
of splendid timber. He regretted the slipshod meth-
ods of the earlier lumbermen, and was impressed strongly
with the importance of the later movement which util-
ized what had long been considered waste products, in
the manufacture of commercial commodities of great
value. The margins in the purchase of hardwood
lands for lumbering purposes were largely in the utili-
zation of the waste. He didn't know how he could be
of help to the Association, but his attitude of mind was
all right, and he would willingly give time and assist-
ance to any plan which had for its purpose the growing
of timber to supply the great demand.

The afternoon closed with a brief word from Presi-
dent C. W. Garfield, of the Michigan Forestry Com-
mission, who said, substantially:

' ' I have talked trees and forestry in season and out
of season, and buttonholed men and women so much
upon this subject, that I have the name of a forestry
crank, and I am proud of it. I think my forestry in-
telligence dates from the time I was
A Word three years old, when I assisted my

From a father in planting a honey locust tree

Forestry in our front yard in Wauwatosa, Wis.

Crank I have been trying to be a tree-planter

ever since. After I became secretary
of the Horticultural Society, it seemed to me that one
of the things that ought to be taken up in connection
with horticulture was this matter of forestry in its re-
lationship to horticulture and agriculture. And now
when we are gathered together in this first meeting of
the kind in the State of Michigan, I say it is a historic
meeting, it is the beginning of the solution of this prob-
lem, and you will be proud to be a part of it. It
seems to me that there will go out of this convention
an atmosphere which will pervade the whole State of
Michigan."

Evening Session

At the opening of the evening ses-
Agricultural sion in Ryerson Library, a few mo-

College ments were taken by Prof. Bogue, of

Forestry the Agricultural College, who spoke in

some detail of the experiments at that
institution in growing forest trees from the seed, ex-
plaining the handling of conifers and the success which
had been attained in this preliminary field of forestry.
He exhibited seedlings of various kinds, showing the
length of growth in one to two years. He spoke of
the College woods and the plans which had been worked
out with reference to making them useful not only as
an arboretum, but as an example of forestry.

The general subject of the evening, The Business
Management of Michigan's Large Holdings of Delin-
quent Tax Lands, was introduced by
Tax Prof. Filibert Roth, of Ann Arbor.

Land The Professor gave some startling fig-

Discussion ures concerning the volume of these

lands, and compared their quality
with those in Continental Europe which had been set
aside for permanent forest purposes, saying that the
quality of soil was about the same, not being fitted

for successful agriculture, and still it had been demon-
strated that lands of this quality could be economically
used in growing timber. He spoke of the fact that
here was a great investment that the State of Michigan
was simply not looking after; that in it were great pos-
sibilities. By simply keeping out the fires, every acre
of this land would each year add a dollar to its value
in timber growth. He explained that while on so
large an area the expense of successfully combating
the fires seemed a considerable amount, still, consid-
ering the vast results, it was really a very small in-
vestment for the State to make. He put great em-
phasis upon the practical partnership that the State
had with a lot of men who were using these lands for
speculative purposes and defrauding people through
misrepresentations. • In these transactions the State
was in fellowship with what seemed to him to be the
borderland of crime. The importance of dealing with
this problem in a business way could hardly be over-
estimated.

Hon. E. A. Wildey followed, giving
Mr. Wildey's the results of his experience as Corn-
View missioner of the State Land Office and
Secretary of the Forestry Commission,
in connection with "these lands. He thought the de-
linquent tax lands, as soon as they became the prop-
erty of the State under the statute of limitations,
should be reviewed carefully, and all that were mer-
chantable for agricultural purposes, put on the market
in the same kind of a way that an individual land
holder would do, securing as prompt and large re-
sults for the State as possible. The remainder of the
land would far better be permanently in forest than
for any other purpose.

Former Auditor General Perry F.
Perry Powers, spoke from his experience,

Powers' intimating that the volume of land in

Speech round figures which had been given as

delinquent tax lands, might be misin-
terpreted, for there were only 800,000 acres that actu-
ally had' been deeded to the State and were in condi-
tion to be treated with upon some comprehensive
plan. In answer to inquiries, however, he said that it
was true that the volume of lands on the way to the
State as a result of delinquent taxes had not been
materially lessened in a good many years.

Method in Mr. John J. Hubbell, in response to

Taxation a request, reported his plan of taxa-

tion which had been incidentally men-
tioned in one of the earlier meetings. He had some
doubts about the modern forestry method as applied
to lumbering off the virgin forests. He rather thought
from his experience and observation, that it was better
to make a clean sweep of the forest, and then handle
the lands upon the most advanced forestry methods,
by keeping out fire and doing a reasonable amount of
sorting, at a minimum expense. A rapid growth
would result, which in a man's lifetime would be worth
more than the virgin forest, with the appreciation in
prices for forest products. He believed that a system
of taxation could be evolved which would not hamper
local enterprise in the development of the country,
and still would induce people to leave considerable
areas of land in permanent forest growth. By re-
fusing to tax timbered lands at a greater rate per acre
than the average farm land in the vicinity, and then
at the time of harvesting the timber levying a small
specific tax, he felt that the desired result would, be
accomplished. This might require a constitutional
amendment, but some plan should be worked out at
once which would in its development put a premium
upon reforestation.

During the evening many questions were asked and
answered connected intimately with the general topic
of the evening. The session proved to be a very
profitable one.

Adjourned.

Wednesday Morning Session

The final session of this first meeting of the Michigan
Forestry Association convened promptly at 10:00
o'clock, in Park Congregational Church.

Regent B arbour, of the Michigan
State University, spoke briefly upon the in-

University terest which the Michigan University

Will Help had in the organization of this Associa-

tion, and in the general solution of the
problem of forestry in Michigan. He spoke of the or-
ganization of the Department of Forestry in the Uni-
versity, and the desire of the management to co-oper-
ate with the Forestry Commission and the State For-
estry Association in accomplishing the best results
along forestry lines for the State. . , ^ , A LA.£&^ ,*t a& ^ ^

Rev. F. P. Arthur, of Grand
A Minister's j^ Rapids, then addressed the Associa-
Hearty tion briefly and very effectively upon

Interest the moral influence of the practical dis-

cussions of forestry which were now
enlisting the interests of thoughtful people in Michi-
gan. In a similar way he was himself trying to work
out by experiment a little problem in reforestation,
and he had made the subject one of thought and study.
He thought the subject involved questions which
could be very appropriately dealt with from the ros-
trum and the pulpit because their solution had so
largely to do with the development of character among
the people of the commonwealth.

Prof. D. B. Waldo, of the Western
An Michigan Normal School, of Kalama-

Educator's zoo, Spoke of his interest in the work

Word of the Association from the educa-

tor's standpoint, expressing his de-
sire to be identified with the movement, and to as far
as possible engraft its work into the influences of his
own institution.

Mr. T. F. Borst, of Massachusetts, gave a very ear-
nest address upon the practical side of reforestation.
He was engaged in growing seedling forest trees and
in planting out on a large scale in the
Practical Forest East for forestry purposes. He be-
Planting . lieved that we were on the right track

and that it was perfectly practicable
to aid nature in reforestation in a very forceful way.
From his knowledge of Michigan conditions he be-
lieved that the investment in cheap lands for the pur-
pose of reforestation would be a very attractive one
for capital if men could well understand how rapidly
the initial investment would develop into large values.

The committee entrusted with the duty of formu-

lating the articles of association and

Articles of nominating the permanent roster of

Association officers, made the following report of

articles of association, which were

unanimously adopted:

Article i. The name of this association shall be
The Michigan Forestry Association.

Article 2. The object of this Association shall be
the promotion of a rational and practical system of
forestry in Michigan, recognizing it as a most impor-

tant branch of agriculture which furnishes raw mate-
rial for our leading manufacturing industries, regulates
our water supply, grows an endless supply of fuel with-
out impoverishing the soil, gives to our State an em-
bellishment that attracts the most useful citizenship,
and fosters that diversity of industry which is indis-
pensable to progress and contentment in life.

Article 3. The management of the affairs of the
Association shall be in a president, vice-president, a
secretary, a treasurer, and six directors, which shall
constitute an executive board of ten members. The
officers and directors shall be chosen annually and their
term of office shall expire upon the election and in-
duction into office of their successors.

Article 4. The expenses of the Association shall be
met by membership fees and annual dues. Any per-
son may become a member by the payment of one
dollar to the treasurer. This membership shall en-
title to all the privileges of the Association for one year,
and the annual dues thereafter shall be one dollar.
One-half of all the fees and dues shall be expended by
the executive board for giving information at regular
and stated times upon forestry subjects to the members.

• Article 5. The president shall perform the duties
usually pertaining to this office, and shall at the an-
nual meeting present to the Assocaition a message out-
lining his views with regard to the future plans and
duties of the Association. The vice-president shall
perform the duties of the president in his absence.
The secretary shall keep the records of the Association'
and shall have in charge the correspondence and shall
edit all circulars, bulletins and pronouncements of the
Association; he shall make an annual report of the
doings of the Association to the membership at least
one month before each annual meeting. The treas-
urer shall collect all membership fees and dues and re-
ceipt for the same; he shall be custodian of all the funds
of the Association and shall disburse the same upon
order executed by the secretary. He shall be pre-
pared to make a report of the condition of the treasury
at any time when requested by the president or board
of directors. The board of directors shall have charge
of the affairs of the Association, with full power to
act ad interim. The Board, upon its organization
each year, shall select from the membership of the
Association a committee on legislation whose duty
shall be to formulate plans for proposed legislation
and present the same for the approval of the Associa-
tion.

Article 6. The annual meeting of the Association
shall convene on the second Tuesday in November in
each year, at a place to be determined by the board of
directors, provided the first annual meeting after this
date of organization shall occur in 1906.

Article 7. Amendments to these articles of associa-
tion may be made at any regular or special meeting,
provided notice of purpose and scope of any proposed
amendment shall be sent to each member at legist four
weeks previous to the meeting which shall act upon it.

Mr. Garneld, who acted as clerk of the committee,
was asked by the chair if the committee had not per-
formed the balance of the duties imposed upon it and
made recommendations concerning the permanent
officers of the Association. He replied that the com-
mittee did not wish to take the responsibility of nam-
ing a list of officers, but would recommend a number
of names to the convention, as appropriate ones to
consider in connection with the various official posi-
tions.

One by one the following members
Officers of the board of directors were unani-

EJected mously elected:

Mrs. Francis King, Alma; Chas. J.
Monroe, South Haven; Lucius L. Hubbard, Houghton;
Walter C. Winchester, Grand Rapids; H. N. Loud, Au
Sable; Geo. B. Horton, Fruit Ridge.

Following the selection of the board of directors, the
following executive officers were unanimously chosen:

President, John H. Bissell, Detroit; vice-president,
Thornton A. Green, Ontonagon; secretary, T. M.
Sawyer, Ludington; treasurer, John J. Hubbell Man-
istee.

Prof. Filibert Roth, who had acted as clerk of the
committee on resolutions, made the following report,
which was unanimously adopted:

Whereas, The Michigan" Forestry
General Association is deeply impressed with

Resolutions the fact that:

The forests of our State have largely
disappeared and the remnants are rapidly disap-
pearing;

Many millions of capital formerly invested in
lumbering and other wood-working interests have
left and (more) are leaving the State;

The State is paying large sums in importing
lumber and timber, materials which our State
should grow in abundance ;

Large areas of our lands are in a cut or burned-
over wasteland condition involving a loss to our
people of millions of dollars every year;

The present policy and laws of our State act in
a way to discourage the holding and reforesting of
these lands;

Unfair taxation and the lack of proper protec-
tion of forest property have prevented even the
conservative management of the woodlot or farm
forest ;

The State neglects its own lands and thereby
hinders the improvement of lands by private
effort;

The present system of dealing with the Tax
Title. Lands acts in the direction of further timber
denudation ;

And, Whereas, The Michigan Forestry Association
has for its object the promotion of forestry in all di-
rections :

Therefore, be it resolved:

That this Association use its best efforts to secure :

1. Modification of our laws which will enable
the holding and the reforestation of forest lands,
and encourage the conservative management of
our farm forests, as well as the restocking of
denuded lands.

2. The improvement and strengthening of our
Iaw5 for the protection of forest property against
fire and trespass.

3. Modification of our laws dealing writh the
disposition and management of our State lands so
that correct principles of forestry may be applied
to all wooded areas not distinctly agricultural.

4. The continuation and extension of the work
of the Forest Commission, and that it be pro-
vided with ample funds to carry on a more ex-
tensive campaign of education among the people,
in forestry matters, in order that the people them-
selves shall enter into the work of forestry.

Resolved further:

That it be made a prominent part of the work of this
Association to urge the establishment and perpetua-
tion of a general system of farm forestry throughout
the State ; and

That this Association act in harmony with the Amer-
ican Forestry Association and with the National
Bureau of Forestry, realizing that in so doing we will
further the cause of forestry in general and in this
State.

The Michigan Forestry Association

Special expresses its hearty thanks: To the

Resolutions City of Grand Rapids for its generous

hospitality, and its active interest as

shown by its large membership and attendance.

To Park Church for kindly and liberally providing
a comfortable and convenient place of meeting.

To the Library Commission for the use of the Assem-
bly Room of Ryerson Library, and the special expo-
sition of books dealing with forestry and allied subjects.

To the Kent Scientific Museum for the loan of the
beautiful material, and the valuable assistance in the
decoration of the convention hall.

To the United States Forest Service for sending its
able representative, Mr. Alfred Gaskill, to assist in the
Convention.

Especial thanks are due to the members of the press
for their able and active assistance in acquainting the

Eublic with the objects of the Convention and in the
aithful report of its meetings.

Mr. Perry F. Powers, of Cadillac,
Editors spoke of the invaluable work of the

Made press of Michigan in supporting the

Members contentions of the Association, and

assured the membership that the edi-
tors of Michigan could be counted on as a strong ally
in furthering the business of the Association. After
some comments by several members on motion of Mr.
Powers, the editors of Michigan, upon application, will
be made active members of the Association, without
payment of dues.

Complimentary remarks were made by several gen-
tlemen referring to the active work of the temporary
chairman of the Convention, of Prof. Fi4ibert Roth,
Mr. Thornton A. Green and Chas. W. Garfield.

Following which the Association adjourned, sine die.

Opinions of Prominent Michigan Men

Mr. Benton Hanchett, of Saginaw,
The Duty in commenting on the meeting in

of the Grand Rapids said:

State "It was impossible for me to be

present at the organization of the
Michigan Forestry Association, but I desire not to be
understood as indifferent to the objects of the Associa-
tion or to the work of reforestry which the Association,
seeks to promote. The restoring of the same barren,
lands now held by the State from which the former
growth of timber has been removed and which have-
returned to the 'State from the owners who removed
the timber as not worth the State taxes on them, seems
to me to be of very great importance to the people of
the State. That large portions of these lands are unfit
for agriculture is shown by the efforts which have been
made to farm them and which have proved to be fail-
ures. The evidences are certainly satisfactory, that

with proper care to protect from fires, the same lands
will again become covered with valuable timber. It
seems to me to be a work of such interest to the public
at large that the State should adopt a system by which
a proper selection of the lands for reforestation shall
be made and the work carried on as experiments and
experience shall suggest. The work of the Association
should command the generous support of all public-
spirited citizens."

W. G. Mather, President Cleveland
Legislation Cliffs Iron Co., writes:

Needed "Public sentiment must be worked

up in order to bring pressure to bear
upon the legislature to pass proper laws on the subject
of taxation and forest culture. I think among the first
things to be worked for is proper fire warden regula-
tions. In a rough way, I think it would tend to econ-
omy and effectiveness and practicability to have the
offices of fire and game warden consolidated. The
deputy wardens or rangers can easily attend to both
kinds of duties. The members of this service should
have a kind of uniform, be subject to an examination,
in other words, be a select body of men who would be
respected by the community and who would take pride
in their work. They should be self-respecting and as
respected a corps of men as, for example, the firemen
in our cities. In order to do this, the appointments
must be absolutely divorced from political influence,
not only the deputies and rangers, but also the chief
fire and game wardens. It might be opportune, at
this initial meeting, for the Michigan Forestry Asso-
ciation to appoint a proper committee to plan a new
statute or modification of the present statute, which
would put the fire and game wardens and fire and game
laws on a modern and effective basis. Such a com-
mission should study the best provision for such ser-
vice, not only in this country, but abroad, and frame
their law accordingly. They must also see that the
people who serve under 'this law shall be so selected
and adequately protected that they shall be, as it were,
a corps d'elite. There should be, of course, sufficient
compensation for this service. The State of Michi-
gan can well afford to properly pay for such service.
It is well recognized, I think, that the State loses a
great deal of property every year by fire, and conse-
quently the income from taxation on the same, be-
sides much indirect loss which it is difficult for me now
to calculate. Only a portion of this loss, if applied to
the fire service, would thus save much property and
revenue to the State.

"The game laws should also be more effectively ad-
ministered. The value of proper preservation of game
and the income derived by the State and its citizens
from the proper preservation of game, is well known,
and in our country Maine and northern New York are
good examples of this. In Europe it has been recog-
nized as a factor of income for generations. Let the
Commission at least, make a move in this direction.
There is much public opinion already in favor of such
improved regulations and therefore I believe they could
be readily carried through the Legislature."

J. D. Hawks, President D. & M.

Ry. Co., Detroit, Mich., says:

Something "I beg to say that my connection of

Must be over thirty years with railroads hand-

Done ling forest products, has made me very

familiar with the country from which
such products have been taken and the horrible de-
struction and devastation that have followed lumber-
ing enterprises in Michigan. I have seen the pine ex-
hausted in the lower peninsula of Michigan to such an
extent that the railroads running through the so-called
pine country are now getting car sills from Florida and

obliged to use tamarack for car floors. The destruc-
tion of the cedar is so nearly completed that a very few
years more will exhaust the supply of ties, fence posts
and telegraph poles. It is a grave question as to what
the railroads are to do for track and car material — to
say nothing of the effect on the revenue of fhe railroad
companies by the stopping of freight revenue from logs
and lumber which they have depended 011 for so many
years. So far as I know not one single thing has been
done to provide for the maintenance of the forest on
any of the land in lower Michigan. The State seems
to have been content to allow the forest to be stripped
from the land and the fires to follow up the destruc-
tion, so that thousands of acres which should have been
growing timber for the last forty years are now grow-
ing nothing but sweet fern and weeds of various kinds.
It seems to me the State has a duty to perform in this
connection, and that no time should be lost in per-
forming it. Our company had a forestry man from
Washington, who looked over some tracts of country
with a view of giving us advice as to what should be
done in the way of planting trees, etc., so as to get tim-
ber started, both as a commercial proposition and as
an object lesson in getting others interested in timber
culture. After this gentleman looked over lower
Michigan, he advised us that it was the height of folly
for anybody to spend any money in reforestation, as
the danger from loss by reason of fires started on State
land was so great that it would be foolish for private
individuals or for corporations to spend a dollar in
putting out trees. The State should stop fires and
pass a tax law that would not over-tax timber land
and should put a good share of the cut over lands into
forest reserves. It is as easy to raise pine trees from
seed in a nursery as it is to raise carrots in a garden,
and they are cheaply planted and after say ten or
twelve years will grow in height from two to three feet
a year. With the fires stopped ten to fifteen years
would give us a forest cover for our waste land that
would help our climate and our streams. In twenty to
twenty-five years we could begin to get a revenue that
would increase yearly from that time on, and all this
without a cent of expense to the State except for
stopping fires."

Wm. H. White, of Boyne City, writes
Fire and the president of the Forestry Corn-

Stream mission :

Protection "This is a grand and good work

which the Michigan Forestry Asso-
ciation is organized to accomplish, and should have
the co-operation of the lumberman and timber land
holders of the State. There is no individual who can
do anything. It must be done by the State and na-
tion. Our cut-over lands that are not suitable for
agriculture should be cared for. That is, the small
trees that are left after the lumberman's axe has gone
through, should be protected from fire and allowed to
grow. As it is now/ after the land has been logged and
the dry spell comes on, the fire goes through and most
of the small timber is killed before any undergrowth
comes up to check the flames. If the land can only
be cared for a few years after it is logged, it would
then be protected from fire by the undergrowth, and
then the dead brush would rot down. It is the first
year after logging that the great risk comes. I would
also advocate protecting the forests at the heads of
streams so as to protect our water-supply. Anything
affecting our water supply affects everything else,
namely, fish, stock raising, irrigation, etc. We have
a few thousand acres at the head waters of the Boyne
river, and this land should be protected after the saw
timber has been taken off. It would be very necessary
to have this protected on account of the water supply
as there are so many small streams coming out of the

hillsides entering into the one great stream which
forms Boyne river. However, no individual can do
anything with this. It will have to be done by such
strength as the State or nation can give. We have
such lands as are not suitable for agriculture, stock
grazing, etc., which should be owned and protected
by the State, to be held as timber reserves. The dead
timber, brush and logs that are left on the ground by
the iumberman, should be cleaned up so as to give
protection against fire to small standing and growing
timber which in twenty-five or thirty years will be
very valuable to our country. I shall be very glad to
give any assistance I can to this important work of the
Association."

Prof. James Satterlee, formerly of
An Greenville, now of Lansing, gives this

Instance illustration from his recent experi-

Given ence:

"When we bought our new place in
town, there were a couple of Norway spruces standing
where they were a source of discomfort, so I decided
to cut them. They had been trimmed up twelve feet
or more and were far from ornamental. It required
quite a lot of courage, too, to cut a fine tree that you
know someone had set for shade and ornament
and cared for with tenderness for many years. I should
hate very much to see the beautiful pines in the front
yard of our old homestead cut and hauled away for
lumber, which will undoubtedly be their fate sooner or
later. My own remembrance of having watched their
growth from puny seedlings to fine trees of forty-five
years' growth will have no weight with some one that
will come after me and who 'knew not Joseph.' But
laying all sentiment aside, what were these two Nor-
ways worth for lumber? Cutting them a few inches
above the ground I found there were twenty-six an-
nual rings. They had made a fine growth and one
measured fifty feet in length and the other fifty-one
feet. One was fourteen inches in diameter and the
other sixteen where they were cut off. Each made
two twelve foot logs and I had them saw^ed into bill
stuff. The upper logs each made a fine 4x4 and inch
boards, and the butt logs made some fine strong 2x4*5,
besides some inch boards — 162 feet in all. I cannot
buy such lumber in our yards at Greenville for less
than fifteen dollars or sixteen dollars per thousand
feet.

It is easy to compute the value of an acre of such
timber, for on ordinarily good land two hundred such
trees could be grown to the age of twenty-six years on
an acre. Counting the trees at eighty-one feet each,
there would be 16,200 feet of lumber. This at $15.00
per thousand feet would have a value of $243.00. The
firewood obtained in cutting the timber would more
than pay for the work. If one chose to cut but one-
half the trees and leave the balance for another tw^enty-
six years there would be much of the lumber worth
far more than $15.00 per thousand feet, for many of
the outer boards of the lower cuts would be nearly
clear stuff. Could a farmer make any better invest-
ment for his children or grandchildren than the plant-
ing of a few acres of Norway spruce or white pines?
Aside from the money value of such plantations for
lumber, a great scarcity of which we are very soon to
face here in Michigan, there would be the value to the
country in the way of beauty and in lessening the ever
increasing sweep of our winter and spring winds. It
is time for us to look at the matter of tree planting
squarely on its merits as a source of wealth, to our
country, as well as on its sentimental side, and I
thought perhaps the above item might be of value in
your work."

A member of the Michigan Forestry
A Commission gathered this interesting

Practical hit of information upon a visit to Rhode

Example Island:

The forest belonging to Mr. H. G.
Russell, of Providence, R. I., is situated at East Green-
wich and is in charge of James G. Mathewson, of East
Greenwich. Mr. Mathewson is a member of the board
of control of the Rhode Island Agricultural College.
Mr. Russell began these plantations in 1877. The
white pine is the leading species used, although there
are considerable areas given up to spruces, the larch,
the catalpa and locusts. Everywhere young oaks are
springing up throughout the plantation which is per-
haps three hundred acres in extent. These oaks are
from acorns which Mr. Russell has put in from time to
time, scattered through the forest area after the other
trees had attained some size. He is doing some thin-
ning now and the pines which have never been pruned
at all until last year have had all their 4ower branches
removed for about six feet or more from the surface of
the ground. He says that these limbs should have
been removed at a very much earlier period and then
there would have been a considerably larger propor-
tion of the body wood good enough for the better grades
of lumber. The pines are from a foot upward in di-
ameter and are thrifty and promising. It is Mr.
Russell's intention that eventually it shall be an oak
woods, relying on the oncoming young oak to occupy
the area, lumbering off the earlier timber. The soil
is very thin and poor over most of the area covered by
the forest, the forest having purposely been placed
upon this ground for a double purpose. One is to oc-
cupy a poor soil with some cover that would make it
seem more attractive; the other, for the purpose of
protecting the large area of the farm devoted to agri-
culture, which consists of a far better soil and needs
the protecting belt of timber on the coast side in order
to secure the best results in farming.

. In an interview, Mr. C. K. Warren,
Importance of president of the Featherbone Corn-
Timber pany, Three Oaks, Mich., said: "After
giving mature consideration to the
value connected with various crops in our country I am
satisfied that the most important crop is the timber
crop. We have been so careless in our methods of
timber harvesting that we have been unmindful of the
future and we shall understand more and more the
enormous values connected with a crop of timber as
our supply is shortened. In looking to the future, I
know of no form of agriculture more promising than
that of growing timber. Wood, posts and ties are
commodities having a considerable value. They never
will be worth less, and you can bank on these values
in planning your dealings with the land. The utili-
zation of what have been called waste lands in the
production of timber is a very important agricultural
problem. I have a large orchard in Texas on what
has been denominated 'The Staked Plain' and I have
been impressed with the importance of raising fence
posts for that country, and my eyes have turned to-
ward the osage orange as a possible solution of the
question of posts and stakes in connection with cheap
fences upon our cattle ranges. I have also some ideas
with reference to the importance of planting timber
on the sand dunes of Western Michigan. The possi-
bilities are wonderful here for all forms of tree growth
are made rapidly and it will take but a short time under
a rational system to have a forest cover over what is
now a waste that is a menace to the agricultural lands
in the vicinity. I have been planting locusts and I
see no reason why we should not raise basswood and
maple and whitewood and cherry, in truth, all of the
valuable timbers that are indigenous to our climate."

During a recent discussion of the

Growth of question of supplying the demands of

Maples our small wood manufactures, Mr.

Benjamin Wolf, a lumberman of Grand
Rapids, said: "I am impressed with the rapid growth
of young maples. In connection with our Cadillac
factory we desire raw material in the form of second
growth maple, and I made many inquiries as to where
we could get what we wanted. A friend called my at-
tention to the fact that upon the lands in Montcalm
county, from which we stripped the pine some years
ago, there had been a rapid growth of maple, and I
went over these lands and found in the last twenty
years there had developed a crop which today is as
valuable as the original one. I am impressed with the
importance of thinking more about the succeeding
crop when we cut off the timber in lumbering and the
adoption of methods that will comport with rational
forestry, which shall take the place of our careless
methods of slaughter."

Mr. Voorhees, of Oakland county,
Fuel at the Farmers' Institute at Grand

Easily Rapids, gave an illustration of the

Grown value of the white willow for fuel. He

said that on one farm sixty rods of
hedge was planted, with the idea of using it for fencing
as a hedge. This was a good deal of a failure but in-
cidentally the row of willows became of value to the
farm first as a protecting barrier from the prevailing
west winds, and second as a source of fuel for the home-
stead. By gradually cutting off this row of willows
and allowing the sprouts to grow, renewing the hedge
.sufficiently, fuel has been continuously obtained to
.satisfy the wants of the home.

Mr. A. S. Cramer, of Coopersville,
Two suggests that the pathmasters' war-

Forestry rant shall contain a clause embody-

Notes ing the requirements of the law which

protects trees planted or preserved
along the highways ; also that the State in deeding de-
linquent tax lands to homesteaders make some re-
quirements concerning the planting and maintaining
of a certain per cent, say 5 or 10 per cent of the area
.in permanent forest.

James R. Wylie remarked in connection with the
recent Forestry Convention: "We have authority
•enough under our constitution to prevent this great
waste in timber. But authority means nothing with-
out public opininon to enforce it. The whole State
should be aroused on this most important question of
"being saved from ourselves in this forest problem.
The man who is careless with fire must be shown that
he borders on criminality."

The Hon. Henry Chamberlain, a
A Practical leading public-spirited citizen of our

Thought State, in a letter to the president of

the Michigan Forestry Commission,
introduced the following suggestive word: "I am of
the conviction that timber growing can be made profit-
able, but good sense must be put into this as into any
other agricultural product. I have been led to criti-
cise the advice given by some thoughtless people con-
cerning the growth of black walnut. I have cut down
black walnuts sixty years old, that were simply white
walnut because the colored pigments had not been
developed and so the timber was no more valuable than
any other ordinary varieties. On the other hand,
cherry gets its special value as connected with its color,
in the early days of its growth, and is a more promising
species to use for timber purposes. The white pine
grows very luxuriantly in Western Michigan. I know
of specimens fifty or sixty years old that are three feet

in diameter. We have a most serious problem to solve
in Michigan and some individual and some party must
arise to the situation. The immense area of lands
which is owned by the State through tax title ac-
quirement, must be handled with reference to the long
future of Michigan, and it requires a knowledge of
statecraft rather than of politics to take care of this
very important matter."

A resident of the furniture city puts
How to the case ill this way :

Meet the "Forestry is rapidly reaching a po-

Want sition of vital importance in our State.

Men are beginning to appreciate that
it supports industries that stand second in importance
only to agriculture. Men interested in forestry in the
State have learned that the forests furnish the only
crop, the growing of which constantly increases the
fertility of the soil, and the price of the crop itself can
be determined with accuracy as to its minimum.
Forestry means more to Grand Rapids than to the
average city in Michigan because of the large volume
of the industries supported by the products from the
woods. With black walnut lumber worth $100.00
per thousand, and cherry lumber almost impossible
to get at $150.00 per thousand; with the price for rail-
road ties rapidly increasing and post timber growing
rapidly less so that our farmers and telephone and tele-
graph companies are wondering where the future sup-
ply is coming from, the question is of vital importance.
What can we do to recover our forest resources?

It is perfectly practicable to connect with farming
something of forestry so as to add one more means of
securing a farm income. The crop is certain and the
prices are, in advance, a known quantity. The crop
will grow upon the poorest lands, and the only weak
point in the minds of many is the time required to pro-
duce a crop. We are learning, however, that a crop
of fence posts can be grown in twelve years; a crop of
railroad ties can be grown in twenty years; that ash
and hickory and basswood logs large enough for mer-
chantable purposes can be grown in a quarter of a
century. And these crops can be so arranged as to
utilize 'the waste places on the farm. Every man in-
terested in the forestry of our State and in the main-
tenance of our wood industries should take a deep and
abiding interest in the progress of the forestry move-
ment that is now on. A State Forestry Association is
organized and its membership should include thousands
of interested people. The legislature is already pro-
viding for covering the thinner lands of the State with
.a forest cover. Everybody should suuport the
movement."

Secretary I. H. Butterfield says:

The Farm "A forestry plan that provides only

Woods for large forest areas in unsettled por-

tions of the country is far from com-
plete. Such a plan may provide timber for commercial
use, and when forests are located to cover the sources
of streams they may to some extent conserve the water
supply, but the farm woodlot must be maintained to
provide wood for home use, to protect from the sweep-
ing winds, to conserve moisture for the adjacent cul-
tivated areas.

"The farm woodlot maintained on each cultivated
farm would accomplish all these ends, and with no
diminution in production — quite probably an in-
crease. Rough hillsides and low places may be more
profitable for timber growing than to attempt cul-
tivation. It may be that people become too stren-
uous in draining all the lowland, and that some portions
would better be left undrained, or at least drained only
to the extent that timber may be grown on them."

Prof. C. D. Lawton puts the case well
Trees a as follows:

Factor "One of the important facts about

the farmer's life is, or should be, its
independence; is the fact that, beyond any other call-
ing in life, the farmer is sufficient unto himself; that
is, that he can raise upon his farm, cause his farm to
yield to him, so much that is essential for the support
and comfort of himself and family. Eliminate this
fact, have the farmer where others are, and you ab-
stract from his calling one* of its chief charms. The
farmer's life should be an independent one. He
should ever plan that his estate yield him as many of
the necessities and the luxuries of life as the condi-
tions will allow; and among the chief of these is fuel.
His farm should contain a good woodlot. If there is
one on the farm, he should care for it; and if there is
not, it is his duty to raise one. This can easily be
done in Michigan. Trees grow very rapidly. The
years come and go in quick succession, and if but one
takes the initiative and plants young trees, the time
will seem to be but short ere they become of consider-
able size. How fortunate it would be for the people
of our State if the farmers would seriously take hold
of this most important matter of preserving the tim-
ber which they have on their farms and planting out
to supply, when they have it not."

Dr. W. J. Beal, the persistent pio-
How to neer in Michigan Forestry has this

Dolt practical word :

"What is to be done with that
twenty acres which is reserved as a woodlot? Keep
out all grazing animals, encourage young trees to
come in thickly. If necessary, plant seeds or young
trees about the thin places of the margin. Do not be
worried if the young trees crowd each other; this is
necessary to make the stems run up tall. Low beeches,
blue beeches, bass woods, box elders, or shrubbery
are desirable to shade the ground, hold dead leaves in
place, and keep out the sun, but they should not be
permitted to extend their tops as high as the tops of
trees that are to be allowed to remain. A tall beech
is not a tree that any farmer should care to grow. The
timber is not very valuable, the tree grows too slowly,
and the dense shade of the leaves smothers other trees.
"The minute a farmer begins to study and to prac-
tice on his patch of forest trees, that moment he be-
gins to observe what others are doing, and he becomes
interested in the cut-over land that belongs to the
State, and can be depended upon to do his part in se-
curing proper legislation, including appropriations, to
help carry out the improvements. Henceforth, how
many owners of land here present dare commit them-
selves on this question of making a diligent effort to
obtain a woodlot that shall be a perpetual satisfaction
to its owner and a model for the whole neighborhood?
Please think of your woodlot, and do the best you can
to improve it."

The following letter was written by Mr. H. N. Loud,
of Au Sable, to John H. Bissell, president of the Mich-
igan Forestry Association, and was suggested by the
outlCne of work proposed for the Association by the
president :

"The suggestion for a large mem-
Member- bership is entirely in line and this work
ship must be carried on especially in the
forest counties themselves, and the
supervisors and county and township officers should
be interested in the movement and realize that there
is as much benefit to the counties themselves in the
raising of forests where forests alone are to be grown,
as to attempt to induce a farming proposition on sandy

plains where they have seen farmers abandon their
farms after years of fruitless labor, and where nothing
but a meagre existence is to be obtained from the soil.
Many of these counties export nothing, and it will re-
quire all of their labor and produce to support the
forestry proposition itself, furnishing a market for
their^produce and labor for themselves; so that instead
of antagonizing the proposition, they will accept it as
the logical and proper field of labor.

"I would start this movement with
Taxation a plain, straightforward proposition

that anything that the citizens them-
selves of these counties pay for, they should have;
but the proposition that they can levy taxes running
from three to twenty per cent, against forest lands, is
an entirely wrong "one and one which must be entirely
abandoned if forestry is to have any consideration
whatever. Under the present tax laws enforced and
construed by the local officials, the only proposition a
man can consider is to strip the land of its trees as
fast as possible. The Turkish government placed a
tax upon every tree in Palestine; the result was that
the olive and the palm trees were cut down, and the
lands seen by Caleb and Joshua as flowing with milk
and honey, and known as the Garden of Cleopatra,
covered with groves of palm and olive, are almost a
barren waste.

"The question of taxation entirely takes care of it-
self in State forestry, but in the question of personal
initiative, which is considered of greatest importance by
President Roosevelt, the question of taxation becomes
paramount. The assessment of these lands should be,
in their present condition, on absolutely wild lands.
All taxes levied against them, whether special, town-
ship, State or county, should be held in a special fund
devoted exclusively to the protection and preserva-
tion both from destruction and trespass. This could
be devoted to payment of forest wardens. These offi-
cers should all be hired by the State and not local
officers. The farmer's woodlot should be assessed as
wild land, for their protection. This should be
worked out along the lines that have been found most
successful by the General Government and by the
several States.

"The State Tax Commissioner reports the average
rate of taxation in the following counties:

Alcona 4-135 Missaukee 3-363

Alpena 3-265 Montmorency 3-344

Arenac. 3-45° Ogemaw 3 .039

Clare 4-015 Otsego 2.727

Crawford 2.221 Roscommon 4-589

Gladwin 3-341 Iron 4.029

losco 3-I35 Ontonagon 4-324

Lake 3-241 Kalkaska 2.984

In some townships, the rate of five and six per cent is
not uncommon, and the extraordinary rate of twenty
per cent has been assessed and paid.

"The lumberman has paid and is now paying in taxes
ample money to reforest all the lands that he cuts over.
The State with its overflowing treasury certainly does
not need the tax, but it does need the forests. The
townships with the liberal donation of the State
special tax, do not need it for school purposes. The
same or more money could be spent carrying forward
the forestry work, as is now collected in taxes on for-
est lands, in the several counties. Education along
these lines of taxation' would lead to an acceptance of
the proposition of forestry.

"The only land which the State
State owns or has title to through delin-

Forest quent tax, is the land thrown away

Land by the lumberman as worthless and

on which he has refused to pay taxes
for a long period of years, and such lands have been in
the market for forty years without a buyer. It i$ an
absurd proposition and unworthy of the State of
Michigan, to attempt to locate farmers on such lands,
and unworthy of the best business interests of the
State that thousands of dollars should be spent in
advertising and re-advertising, selling and re-selling
these worthless lands. Its tax sales are an abomina-
tion savoring only of Shylock, and the farming out of
the collection of its taxes to men who have absolutely
no interest in the development or sale of these lands;
but merely to get one hundred per cent blood money
from some individual unfortunate enough to have
missed paying his taxes for any special year. If a
person neglects to pay his taxes for five consecutive
years, this land should become the property of the
State. Ten dollars per acre represents only a fair
valuation for farming lands suitable for agricultural
purposes. All other lands should be held by the State
for forestry purposes. The State Land Office, which
in the past has been run for the purpose of selling
lands, should be used for the purpose of acquiring
lands, and forests and forest lands should have a very
large part of its care and consideration. There would
be no less number of State appointees under the new
regime than the old, except that there would be a
change of location. Instead of clerks sitting in Lan-
sing and large fees paid to the press for advertising
and re- advertising worthless lands, this money would
be spent in a small army of foresters.

"This committee would certainly
Publicity have a wide field, and it is one of the

most important. The dense igno-
rance on the forestry proposition of the citizens of
Michigan must be overcome. Michigan was practi-
cally the first State in the Union with its magnificent
forests; it is the last to take any action whatever
looking to the replacing of these forests. A crop of trees
will grow as well as a crop of corn, and is worthy of
the consideration of every citizen in the State, whether
he be located in the forest counties of Michigan, or
whether he be' located in the fertile fields of southern
Michigan. Every farmer's woodlot can be made to
produce at least ten times as much wood as it is at
present doing, with almost no effort on the part of the
farmer; and the consideration and study of the forestry
proposition by the farmer would convince him that
he could raise on the same land, for lumber, trees of
double the value that he is now using for wood only.
A legacy of rough and poor land, covered with growing
forest trees, is just as good a legacy to leave as a de-
posit in the bank."

Annual Report of Forest Warden

By Filibert Roth, Ann Arbor, Mich.

The following report on the conditions of the Mich-
igan Forest Reserves and the work performed on these
Reserves, covers the fiscal year 1904-05; but since the
forester's year, like that of the farmer, really ends with
the growing season, the statments concerning the con-
dition of seed beds, nursery and plantations as well
as the growth of timber on the Reserves, on the whole,
cover all of the growing season of 1905 and thus brings
this matter really up to present date.

Location and general description of the Reserve
lands, as well as the more detailed description of the

forest and forest trees, were submitted with the re-
port of 1904, now published in the report of the Corn-
mission, so that a brief resume must suffice in this
connection.

The Michigan Forest Reserves are located in Ros-
common and Crawford counties. District No. if
about the north end of Higgins' Lake, lies half in Craw-
ford and half in Roscommon, bordering on the west on
Kalkaska and Missaukee counties ; while District No.
2, south of Houghton Lake, forms the southwest cor-
ner of Roscommon county, bordering on Clare and
Missaukee counties. The Reserves form a large ex-
panse of sandy pinery lands, once heavily forested,
but now practically all denuded and largely "stump
prairies" or "plains" and rather slow to settle as
would appear from the following figures taken from
the Census of 1900 and the report of the Auditor Gen-
eral for 1903, and the report of the State Tax Com-
mission for 1903-4.

Ros-
common.

Craw-
ford.

Kal-
kaska.

Mis-
saukee.

a. Area, in 1,000 acres
b. Per cent of all land settled
or in farms

342

368

367

I $%

360
28%.

c. Per cent of land improved
d. Per cent not even settled.
e. Per cent unimproved
f. Per cent of all lands "de-
linquent for taxes" or
reverted to State
g. Average tax rate per
$1,000 assessed

93%
98%

55%
$45 88

92%
98%

46%

$.22 21

85%
93%

53%
$29 84

9%

72%

9i%

53%
$33 63

The Reserves are part of a large plain forming the
divide between the drainage basin of the Muskegon
and Manistee rivers on the one hand and the Au Sable
and Tittabawassee on the other. Practically all of
the Reserve lands are drained by the Muskegon river
and hold considerable part of the headwaters of this
important stream, a fact which alone justifies their
setting aside as forest lands.

Throughout, but more especially in District No. 2,
located south of Houghton Lake, the county is dotted
by swamps which occupy from 8 per cent to 30 per
cent of the area.

The entire area was once a magnificent forest of
white pine and Norway pine, with the swamps stocked
with tamarack, cedar and spruce. None of the land
was real hardwood forest such as occurs throughout
this region on all heavier lands. Today this district is
estimated to have scarcely 10 per cent of forest, so
that we have here a large area in which over 90 per
cent of the land is still wild, unsettled land, and about
98 per cent unimproved and still supplied with less
real forest than some of pur most densely settled
counties in the southern part of the State.

More precisely, the Reserve lands are "all of the
State lands " located in Town 21 N. Range 3 and 4 W. ;
and the N. 1-2 of Town 24, N. Range 4 W. ; and the
S 1-2 of Town 25 N. Range 4 W.; thus all of the
State lands in an area equal to three surveyed town-
ships. Since considerable areas have been "deeded to
the State since the last report, the area now actually
Reserve lands is about 39,000 acres, of which about
9,800 acres are located in District No. i ; and 29,200
acres in District No. 2. The Reserve lands are not in
solid bodies but more or less interrupted by private
holdings and form about 60 per cent of all lands within
the limits of the Reserves. This relation is nearly as,
reported before, or:

InT 2i-R4 75%

T2i-R3 57%

T*5-R4 27%

T i'4-R 4 17%

Only about 190 acres have thus far been added to
the Reserve lands by purchase of desirable pieces. A
number of additional tracts were offered for sale to the
Commission, but a lack of funds made their purchase
impossible even though the prices were for the most
part reasonable. The purchase, especially, of cut-
over swamp forests would certainly prove a good in-
vestment and it seems a pity that more of this class
of lands can not be acquired when offered.

No lands have been sold or exchanged as yet and
the only application to purchase any of these lands
came from a man who does not even live on the farm
he owns, but resides in town and subsists by teaming.

As in the past, the principal work on the Reserve
consists in:

Protection of the land, principally against fire.
Reforestation and improvement.
Survey and classification of the lands.

Protection of the Lands

The question is often asked: "What is the use of
protecting these lands when all the forest is cut and
burned off? " To understand this condition it is neces-
sary to trace the history of these lands since the forest
was cut and also keep in mind the character of the
lands themselves and their value.

After fire followed the lumbering operation and killed
the greater part of the smaller and less valuable mate-
rial left in lumbering, sun and wind had access to the
ground, which, itself was freshly fertilized by wood
ashes and there was still abundance of seed distrib-
uted by the remaining large trees and groves of trees
to seed the land. Soon there sprang up a growth of
aspen or poplar and sprout woods of oak and in many,
probably most places, the thickets of aspen and oak
soon were dotted by thousands of young pine which on
account of their slower growth were hardly observed
at first. In this re-seeded or re-stocked condition these
lands were easily worth $10.00 per acre to the State of
Michigan, but unfortunately the value of these lands
was not recognized, they were given no protection
whatever, and thus in a few years a second, often more
serious fire, swept over the land.

This second fire not only destroyed practically all
young growth but usually burned down what rem-
nants of defective trees survived the first fire and thus
left the ground without seedling as well as without
trees to get new seed from. In addition the second
fire usually burned the organic material on the ground
to a very serious extent and thus sadly impoverished
the soil.

After the second fire re-stocking was quite slow and
yet Nature made renewed efforts. The persistent oak,
though killed back to the very roots, sent up new
sprouts and the light seed of the aspen was blown in
from many miles away, but the pine was no longer to
be found all over the burns, but occurred sparsely and
in only a few spots where even the second fire had not
killed all there was. Even in this condition there was
hope of a new forest cover. There was abundant
growth to warrant protection and care. But the
same policy continued. The State and county did
not see fit or did not feel able to protect the millions of
dollars worth of property. As soon as enough dry
leaves and twigs accumulated on the ground to make
another fire possible, there was plenty of carelessness
to supply the match. This third fire and like it the
fourth and fifth (for many spots on the Reserve have
seen at least that many) was a mere "surface fire"; a
fire which bears hardly a semblance to the regular for-

est fire, and which in the parlance of the district "does
no harm." But like the second, so the third fire killed
the beginning of a new forest cover and left Nature to
"try again."

Nevertheless, the third fire and the later corners of
this sort differ very materially from fire Nos. i and 2.
There is no longer the large amount of material, the
thousands of cords of resinous tops all dried to tinder,
the fire is a mild affair, runs along slowly and fails
to cover large areas at a time, nor any area as thor-
oughly, since it lacks the intense heat necessary to
create the strong draft or accomplish complete de-
struction. It is a matter of a few acres here, a couple
of hundred at some other place and a large proportion
of the lands often remains unharmed for considerable
length of time, say- ten years and more. In such
places Nature succeeds in restoring considerable
cover. After this has continued for considerable time
and a semblance of forest cover is restored, these very
places become danger points and the native of the
region speaks of such places as "needing fire" needing
"burning over' to avoid more serious conditions and
dangerous conflagrations. "I have had practical ex-
perience with these fires all my life and I find that the
only way to fight fire is with fire ; the thick woods need
burning over if you want to make them safe." This
statement was made to the writer only a few months
ago by one of the residents of this section and illus-
trates the perverted notions regarding forest prop-
erty which the indifference on the part of the State
and county have gradually brought about. Here we
have a sane, well disposed, law abiding citizen rec-
ommend in good faith to burn a crop in order to
secure it.

The amount of lands thus saved from fire for a
reasonable time differs with many conditions, notably
wet and dry seasons, length of time since large fires
have occurred, number of people engaged in little
wood cutting operations, berry picking, hunting, etc.

It is in this condition that we find the lands of the
Reserves today. The real forest is gone; the estimate
of 10 per cent forest according to the usual standard is
correct; the country is and looks denuded; a visit in
April reveals a landscape far from inviting; but with
all, there are thousands of acres where a little respite
from fires has led to a partial re-stocking. Accord-
ing to the old standard of estimating timber there is
no merchantable timber on the land; according to the
present standards as set by the inhabitants of these
sorely devastated districts, there is but little merchant-
able material and this is restricted to the swamps.
But there is a new forest cover; there are millions of
young trees from the little seedling to young trees
twenty and even thirty feet in height covering thou-
sands of acres of this Reserve, all growing as fast as a
rugged climate and a sorely impoverished soil permits
them, with thousands upon thousands fast nearing a
size where they will be merchantable.

To replace these millions of young trees would re-
quire many thousands of dollars, to protect them re-
quires but a mere trifle.

It is these trees, it is their growth, it is the wood
which they are making every year, that is to be pro-
tected.

Does it pay?

The survey covering a part of this land indicates
that in District No. 2 the following conditions were
found :

Of 986 acres surveyed, 44 per cent of the land was.
returned as upland woods where the ycung growth
over 5 feet made woods dense enough to cover over-
twenty per cent of the ground. In addition there was

found 12 per cent of the area in swamp woods with dis-
tinctly forest character, forming at present the most
valuable part of the Reserve. We have here then
young growth varying from 5 to 50 feet in height,
from open Jack Pine and oak groves, to dense thickets of
tamarack, cedar and spruce, covering fully 56 per cent
of the total area. Assuming only 50 per cent of the
Reserve area thus stocked with young growth, we
have 19,500 acres of land with about eight million trees
from 5 to 50 feet in height, growing and making wood
as long as they are protected from fire. Assuming
that the yearly growth of these wooded areas is worth
only 20 cents per acre, the value of the total growth per
year sums up to $3,800, or more than four times the
amount of money actually spent in the protection of
the lands. In this estimate the growth on the other
50 per cent of the land, the constant betterment of
the forest, the steady increase in the rate of growth,
the better quality of the material grown on farger tim-
ber and the increase in price of wood, all have been
left out of consideration.

Turning now to the character of the land, it will
suffice to say that these lands have long been logged;
have long been in the market at almost any price ; that
in the fall of 1903 over 80,000 acres of the neighboring
lands were offered by the State Land Office and only
about 10 per cent of the lands could be sold, and even
this picked 10 per cent only brought about $1.20 per
acre, or less than half what the Federal Government
sells arid lands for in New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana
and other remote mountain districts. And after all
these years of effort, Township 2i-N, R 3-W has but a
single settler and he is a bachelor homesteader, having
homesteaded a "Cedar Claim" as he naively admitted
himself. It is land which has remained without settle-
ment, unsightly, blackened, stump waste for a quarter
of a century; which for lack of a little protection has
been unproductive, of no value to town, county or
State. If on such lands it is possible to produce even
but ten cents worth of the much needed timber, does
not this protection promise to pay?

Valuing the land at $1.00 per acre, as is now the
rule, it is necessary only to produce three cents worth
of timber over and above the expense of protection to
make it pay better than the average farm pays in
Michigan. Is this visionary, theoretic or extravagant?

In carrying on the work of protection, all efforts
are made to prevent fire rather than to fight it. The
ranger patrols the district daily and whenever the
season is especially dry and fire risks therefore great,
the ranger is given authority to employ extra help.
The experience of the last two seasons fully demon-
strates that extra effort must be made directly after
the snow leaves in spring and usually after the heavy
fall frosts have browned the great mass of bracken,
sedges and other ground cover. At such times as
many as four men per township are desirable, though
of course, their presence is needed but a short time,
the first rain doing away with extra help.

The results of the protective work were excellent.
There were no fires of any consequence during the fall
of 1904. Early last spring, however, a spell of dry
weather brought abundance of trouble. Numerous
fires were burning all about the Reserves, in a number
of places farm and other property was burned or de-
fended with difficulty and east of Roscommon several
villages were reported in danger. Day after day the
sun was obscured by smoke and would set a deep, red
ball of fire in a haze of smoke. A fire with a front over
a mile in length came from Kalkaska and threatened
to invade District No. i. It was successfully fought
with plough and shovel by the planting crew under
Ranger Hatch, so that not an acre of Reserve land was
scorched.

In the District No. 2 a number of smaller fires were
promptly extinguished by Ranger Emery and only
one fire covered a considerable area and required extra
help in fighting it. Fortunately rain set in the end of
April and put an end to this danger.

The summer and fall of this year (1905) were wet
and therefore practically without any tribulations
from fire.

As suggested in plans formerly submitted, it is the
intention to extend the series of fire lines, thus far
merely begun and thereby make the matter of fire
patrol easier and more effective.

The protection of the Reserves against fire and still
more against trespass emphasize the need of a survey
and a clear demarcation of boundary lines and monu-
ments. A fire may cover twenty acres of land, but it
is impossible for the ranger to know whether the fire is
on Reserve lands or not, and in order that he may
properly report the fire it is necessary that he should
spend no inconsiderable amount of time (exceedingly
precious just about this time) to "locate" this twenty
acres. In many cases where the lines and section cor-
ners have practically disappeared, this location with
ordinary compass is impossible for untrained men and
the report must remain uncertain, unreliable and use-
less.

With regard to trespass, it was hoped that a regular
patrol of rangers would entirely eliminate this mis-
chief, something very much to be desired, for a better
understanding and relation between the Forest Re-
serve and the surrounding people.

As matters stand it is fair to say that seven of the
eleven cases thus far experienced were directly due to
a lack of demarcation of the lands, and were error
rather than bad intention and even those cases where
evil intent was evident would, in all probability, not
have happened had the lands been clearly marked.

Of the six cases which happened within the year,
only one was of a serious nature, involving the de-
struction of a considerable amount of thrifty, live
timber, and this case is now before the court for de-
cision. The other five cases involved but few trees
each and in not case led to the destruction of any
young growth or valuable green timber.

In this connection it seems proper to mention the
change of sentiment and attitude of the people about
the Reserves and to acknowledge the helpful spirit
with which they have assisted in the matter of pro-
tection, notably the protection against fires. Men
who at first bitterly opposed the creation of these Re-
serves have helped for days and free of charge in
preventing and fighting fires. Town officials and other
representative citizens speak their approval of the
protective work of the Commission and have offered
their help. Much of this change for the better in atti-
tude and sentiment is undoubtedly due to a better
understanding of the real objects and methods of the
Reserves; but much also is due to the fact that, at
last, the State of Michigan itself appears to care some-
thing about this matter. As long as the State did not
see fit to even examine the lands and learn what it
had, as long as these lands were a sort of football to
be kicked about any way at all, as long as no value
was placed on the land nor the cover of woods, so
long the people could not help but think these lands
valueless. And years of this kind of carelessness on
the part of the State have developed and fixed a very
serious state of mind among the people of our north
counties, a feeling which sanctions fire and trespass,
much to the detriment not only of the property of the
State but also of private owners. In a district where
State woods are a proper thing to burn and plunder,

the woods of a private owner is not likely to fare much
better.

Reforestation

The work of re-stocking denuded portions of the
lands was continued both along the regular (practical
or commercial) as well as experimental lines. The
idea of re-clothing the lands with a valuable forest has
received first attention but all along it is realized that
much may be gained for the Reserves and for other
enterprises in this region, by trying species not native
to the locality and by various ways of propagating the
species at home on these lands. Plantations were
made in the spring of 1904 and 1905. These planta-
tions, as reported before, were all made in Section 36
ofT25N, R4W, near Higgins' lake. They were
made on ordinary cut and burned over pinery lands,
covered to quite an extent by great quantities of
debris, old rotten logs and stumps and by a broken
ground cover of small shrubbery, together with
patches of larger shrubs and small trees of oak, few
poplar, maple, cherry, etc. Both years the plants
were set out by a crew of men working in pairs, one to
cut open a spot about 18x18 inches and dig the hole
for the tree, and the other man, with the small trees
in a pail to do the planting.

The material used was all purchased from different
nurseries and therefore suffered from handling, count-
ing, packing, shipping, etc. This material consisted of:

PLANTATIONS.

1904.

1,000

plants.

1905-

i ,000
plants*

White t)ine

Scotch pine

10

10

Norway spruce

Black locust »

Austrian pine

j

Catalpa .

Cottonwood

Besides these there were planted in the nursery:

Douglas spruce (red fir) ,

Western yellow pine

Blue spruce

1,000

1,000
500

and a few of the different kinds listed above.

Of the trees set out in 1904, the Scotch pine did best,
full 90 per cent being alive and this year's growth
averaging about six inches for each plant. The white
pine and Norway spruce had suffered in handling and
the harm was increased by a dry planting season. The
white pine made little growth, but still about 60 to 70
per cent are alive at present. The Norway spruce
fared hardest, not over 50 per cent being alive at pres-
ent, but those which survived made generally a pretty
fair growth. Black locust all lives, and though it
killed back during the winter, it promises fair to make
wood. -^ #;4$- . . ... , &:(

The plantation of this year (1905) fared better than
did that of last year, the plant stock with the excep-
tion of cottonwood, suffered less in handling and
the season was better, both for planting and after. In
this year's planting the white pine held its own with
the Scotch pine, the per cent of living plants being
high for both. The catalpa, of special interest here
on account of climate and soil, both being very severe

for this species, did not do well. The plants live, but
the growth and foliage both indicate a severe struggle.
Whether they will improve with time is impossible to
foretell.

The cotton wood was largely a failure in the field,
chiefly due to poor quality of plant stock. Those
planted in nursery fared somewhat better.

In the nursery the black locust made a fine growth
and fully demonstrated what it can do. The nursery-
was intended to serve several purposes, but princi-
pally to furnish larger plants for special cases and to
check the field plantations by showing, in close com-
pass, what the different species may be expected to do
in this region.

In the seed beds, as in the plantation, chief atten-
tion is paid to white pine and other species whose value
for these pinery lands is beyond question.

Thus far twenty-five species of trees are represented
here, namely:

White pine, Norway pine, Scotch pine, Jack pine,
Western yellow pine, pitch pine, sugar pine, nut pine,
Western white pine, Norway spruce, white spruce,
blue spruce, Sitka spruce, white cedar, Western arbor
vitae, silver fir, balsam, hemlock, Deodar cedar,
cryptomeria, big tree, catalpa, black locust, honey
locust, walnut.

Most of these trees are well known, a few need some
explanation. The Scotch pine is used here because of
its enormous range throughout the north of Europe
and its frugal habits on the poorest of sands, would
indicate it to be a valuable tree for this region. The
Western yellow pine is a tree common all over the
West, except portions of the west and northwest of
Oregon and Washington. It is a tree of hot and cold
districts, of dry and moist localities and seems to get
on with a great variety of soils. Pitch pine, the small
pine of the North Atlantic coast, notably New Jersey,
also is a tree of poor sandy soils and may possibly
prove of some value. The sugar pine and Western
white pine resemble our own white pine in size, growth
and wood and may possibly prove of value. The
Norway spruce, white and Sitka spruce have all
proved their worth in the forest districts of North Ger-
many, and the Norway spruce has been demonstrated
by Dr. Beal's experiments at Grayling to make good
growth. The Western white cedar, the Deodar, a
native of Judea, and the cryptomeria, the common
Japanese timber cedar, are all trees of good growth,
good size, fine wood, and used to rugged climate, so
that these, too, may prove valuable.

The catalpa and locusts are intended for quick pro-
ducers of small timber, post and tie material. The
Trig tree is tried here as a curiosity as well as experi-
ment. Should it thrive it could not possibly be ex-
celled for growth or value of timber.

Generally the plants have done well. There has
been but a little damping off among the pines; the
Scotch and white, Norway and pitch pine sown in
1904 are ready to go out next spring. The spruce
needs one more year in seed bed. Catalpa and black
locust did well, honey locust came up sparingly. All
three are ready for the field. Walnut planted in 1903
is still small and with little promise. All conifers are
raised under screens; the hardwoods without. Of
screens various forms are used. Large 4x12 feet
screens were largely used in 1904; this year mostly
lighter frames were" made ; the spruce were grown un-
der overhead screens with bush cover. A pump with
windmill and tank erected in the nursery this spring
has saved almost its entire cost in the first year, the
watering being more regular and satisfactory and
cheap. A conservative estimate places the number

of plants at about 1.5 millions and about half a mil-
lion of these now of two years growth.

The season of 1905 was a most excellent one, not
only for nursery and plantations, but also for the
natural re-stocking which is taking place all over the
Reserve. Young trees are springing up everywhere
in surprising number, though unfortunately the re-
production of pine and other conifers (except Tama-
rack, cedar and other swamp timbers) is still quite
slow owing to the lack of seed trees, practically all of
the old trees having been removed or destroyed by fire.

The growth of existing timber, benefited by the
good season, and acres of land where but a sparse
growth of small, scattering sprouts of oak existed a
few years ago, are fast growing into compact stands
of decidedly "woodsy" appearance.

As offset to the excellent season, came considerable
insect depredation. The oaks suffered from leaf-
eating insects in nearly all parts of the Reserves, and
the Tamarack was seriously infested by the larvae of
the Tamarack saw-fly which practically defoliated
many of the older stands. This latter trouble is
likely to return and steps are taken to begin the ex-
ploitation of such stands as seem especially exposed to
this danger.

The question is sometimes asked, Why plant, why
not sow? Why not leave the matter to Nature alto-
gether? As regards sowing and planting, it may be
said that both methods will be used as soon as good
seed can be had cheap enough to make sowing the
cheaper method. With Norway pine seed quoted at
$7.00 per pound, one is slow to scatter pounds and
pounds of seed per acre with the full understanding
that about 95 per cent of the seed is eaten up or falls
where it can do no good.

As regards the artificial re-stocking, on the whole r
years of observation have convinced everyone at all
conversant with the conditions here dealt with that
the law was wisely framed when it demands that act-
ive effort be made to help Nature. Man has de-
stroyed here long enough; it is time to help. Of the
thousands of acres practically bare of any forest growth,
a large part would remain bare and unproductive for
many decades and yet every section of bare land re-
quires protection against fire, costs money to survey,
to travel over, to build roads through, in short, adds
to the cost of management. It is clear, therefore, that
the sooner these lands be made productive, the better
and the more economical. It is exactly the case of
the farm; neglected fields, patches of wasteland save
lots of money, they cost no plowing, no sowing; but
they also cost no reaping and the farmer owning them
is rarely praised for his economy.

Survey and Classification of the Lands

The lawr creating the forest reserves prescribes that
the lands shall be surveyed and examined. Occa-
sionally the wisdom of doing so is called in question.
"What is the use of spending money to survey lands
that have so little value?" To appreciate this work
it is necessary to keep in mind the present condition
of the lands and the work to be done in their care and
improvement. The survey of most of these lands
was made about fifty years ago. At that time the
lines were amply "blazed"* on the forest trees abun-
dant everywhere. The corners were set and witness
or bearing trees were given the large, conspicuous
marks prescribed by the U. S. Land Office rules and
laws. After this came the era of lumbering, the large
trees were cut, the cutting had little or no regard for
line trees and monuments, for in only too many cases

the matter was left in careless hands, to say the least.
Then came fire, and usually a second fire and by this
time there was but little left of any of the land marks.
Today there is no section line which might be traced
by the land marks or blazes and there is not one cor-
ner in twenty in which is even approximately com-
plete in its marks. The merest remnants must suf-
fice for clues and no spot, no line, no corner can be
located without instruments and considerable skill
and experience. To the ordinary man standing in
the midst of one of the large denuded areas, the idea of
exact location is positively bewildering. Nor does
the initiated fare so much better. "Oh, yes, Mr. X
knows every corner in that town," the writer was in-
formed but when Mr. X was taken out to locate them,
he knew not a single one. Nor did anyone else know
any corner of the town so that one could really be cer-
tain with regard to the matter. But the care of the
Reserves requires that the ranger protect the W 1-2
of Section 6 of T-R-, or it requires that he assign the
timber on the S. W. 1-4 of N. E. 1-4 of Section 7, T-
R-. But how is he to do this if the section lines and
corners are gone? Why, he must survey. After that
it may happen that a fire breaks out, that trespass
occurs on this same section and the question is: Is it
on Reserve lands? To ascertain, he again surveys.
And it is in this way that all of the north of Michigan
has been located and re-located, most of it many times
and no end of money wasted in surveying and re-sur-
veying, to say nothing of the hundreds of lawsuits;
all because there were no land marks kept up by
which people could go. But the Reserve work re-
quires more. The land shall be re-stocked, fire lines
shall be built, roads and trails established, and all
should be planned to do the most good to the lands in
hand. To do any of this work as it should be done,
the lands must be located on the ground and the maps
made to show the land on paper. Such marks are not
in existence and such maps must yet be made; and it
is to supply this most urgent need that the survey is
made.

For three seasons during the months of July, Au-
gust and September this work has been carried on.
Thus far about 28,000 acres have been surveyed at a
cost of about 7 1-2 cents per acre. The work was
mostly done by forestry students of the University
and Agricultural College receiving $20.00 and board
per month, since some training in botany, forest de-
scription as well as mapping is essential and experi-
rienced men of this kind are not easily nor cheaply
procured.

In working, one crew locates the section lines and
corners, blazes and erects monuments along these
lines. This was done with large compass the first
two seasons, with transit in 1905. Two crews do the
interior work of mapping and describing. They work
north and south and each "forty, " or forty acre tract,
is examined along the east and west lines and along a
line running through the middle, jThis covers the
area in such a manner that in mapping and describing
the crew never describes forest or land more than no
yards from the line along which they travel, so that
it is literally true that they "see every acre" (a phrase
so much used and so rarely true). The distances are
measured (not paced) and the changes in level are
taken with a height measure. The lines are run with
sight compass with three and a half inch needle levels
and mounted on Jacob staff.

The section is divided into eight lots by lines blazed
by this mapping crewt each lot forming an 80 acre
tract and either the east or the west half of the regular
quarter section.

The mapping is done on a scale of i to 5,280 (i foot

to i mile), occasionally i to 2,640. The map shows
the boundaries of lots, sections, topography, streams,
roads, buildings, clearings, denuded lands, wooded
lands, bare swamp, wooded swamp, burns; and by
special characters the kind of timber, conifer or hard-
woods, and by figures and letters the quality of the
land, the density of the woods and the proportion of
different kinds, such as pine, oak, poplar, etc.

The description and maps were made in note books
the first two seasons, but special sheets for maps and
descriptions were used this season (1905). The fol-
lowing is a sample and indicates the information col-
lected. The timber is estimated, occasionally meas-
ured.

The final maps are made on a scale of i foot to the
mile (i — 5280) so that the ordinary section appears
as a map of i square foot. The descriptions are copied
and tabulated so that each lot receives its own de-
scription. For convenience, a summary is made for
each section.

Grazing, Grass and Sale of Timber

In view of the fact that a large portion of the Re-
serve lands is still in a truly denuded, non- wooded
condition, covered with a growth of small shrubbery,
notably swreetfern, honeysuckle, huckleberry, etc., to-
gether with bracken, sedges and some weeds and grass,
it was decided that a limited amount of grazing might
be very properly permitted. This seemed all the
more feasible since but a small number of live stock is
kept by the scattering settlers in and about the Re-
serves. Accordingly the rule was established to allow
any settler to graze his stock free of charge, as long
.as the number of animals was twenty or less, and to
charge a moderate fee per head if the number was
greater. The understanding is that the ranger shall
:see to it that a proper distribution of the animals be
made, that they are not "bunched" and thereby
•cause damage; and also that the ranger shall inci-
dentally assist the settlers by keeping an eye on the
.stock and prevent their injury or loss. Only one
large herd of cattle has thus far been allowed on the
Reserves and this largely for the reason that these
animals graze a large part of the time off the Reserves.

So far no evil effects have been noticed from grazing
except in parts of District No. i where the herd just
mentioned were "bunched" in the spring of 1904 in
order to feed them hay hauled in at great expense.
This was a case of emergency, proving a great loss to
the owner and may not repeat itself in many years.
Otherwise the few cattle scattered over the large area
find plenty of feed and have as yet done no serious
liarm. Nevertheless, it should not be inferred that
grazing is harmless to tree or forest growth. Every
•cow on the Reserves injures every year hundreds of
little trees, especially poplar, etc., by browsing and
trampling, and wherever cattle begin to make a regu-
lar run the forest cover suffers. That this is worse on
plantations is self-evident and it is one of the ques-
tions whether any grazing should be allowed in the
vicinity where planting is carried on. Only six per-
mits were issued in 1905, five of them free of charge,
•one for the sum of $100. The time is usually from
April to October and permits are good for one season
only.

The grass growing on the wet, open marshes unfit
for tree growth is occasionally applied for by the
neighboring settlers. This grass is of some value as
feed and if not cut, merely dies down and gradually
develops a dangerous mass of fuel. Moreover, these
marshes are capable of considerable improvement and

it seems desirable to have 'them* utilised aficL Jcut regu-
larly. Accordingly softie , of -this -grass <has.b£on .given
free of charge to nd^hb^mg s&ttltjr^ ;• «jhj G^hW.cases
where competition exists a" small* charge *s made/ and
in one case it was cut on shares. During the year two
permits were issued free of charge and one for a nomi-
nal fee ; and in two cases hay was sold which had been
cut on shares.

Timber has been applied for from time to time by
people of the district, who still look to the forest (or
rather, the remnant still left) for the major part of
their support. The material under consideration con-
sists largely of the dead cedar of the swamps and the
dry old pine "stubs" scattered about the upland.
Both pine and cedar were killed by fire and are now in
all conditions and stages of decay. This material is
exploited in this district in a small way by small
crews, often only three or four men together, and the
work is largely by hand, in a manner suggesting Euro-
pean methods. There is no slashing of broad avenues
to admit the large teams and sleighs; four foot paths
suffice for the little "travois" and everything is car-
ried by hand to these little paths. In this way old
sticks of cedar, dead and blown down, twenty and
more years ago, are carefully picked out of the thickets
of young timber and the woods are left in better shape
and far more safe from fire. The cedar is worked up
into 8 foot lengths, the pine into regular logs.

So far eighteen applications have been made, six
were refused, one abandoned and eleven were granted.
These eighteen applications, eleven fall to the fiscal
year 1904-05, indicating that the people are just be-
ginning to avail themselves of these methods. The
timber is sold in two ways as per regulations ap-
proved by the Commission and contained in the Forest
Reserve Manual. Smaller cases involving values of
$50.00 and less are granted by the warden, larger
cases are approved by the Commission. Full juris-
diction and control is reserved and in cases of violation
of the rules of the Reserves, the forest officer is au-
thorized to stop further cutting.

All timber is scaled or counted and stamped by the
ranger and is paid for before removal. During the last
fiscal year $731.81 were received from this source
from District No. 2, this amount more than covering
the regular expenses of this part of the Reserves.
This fact is very important and suggestive, for it
clearly teaches that if the State had begun fifteen 01
twenty years ago when so much more material was
still on these lands, and handled its tax title lands in
this manner, that the income could easily have paid
for a thorough fire protection and thus saved the
burning of hundreds of thousands of acres of wood-
lands.

Permanent Improvements

The headquarters at Cold Springs was cleaned up
and the tract (over 60 acres) fenced. A frame shed
50x26 was built for the care of wagons, tools and seeds;
and also to serve for seed cleaning; and as "men's
quarters" for the accommodation of planting crews.
A much needed barn has just been completed. In
District No. 2 some money was expended in the im-
provement of the rangers' headquarters and also in
the construction of a piece of road extending south
along the range line between T 21-3 and 21-4, from the
middle of Section 6 southward to connect the rangers'
quarters with the upland to the south and thereby
facilitate patrol work.

The equipment of the Reserves has not been in-
creased materially during the year.

The expenses of the- year were as follows:

, c

Salaries;, of ^wa.jtcigjx', --to^esifiji^an^ tjwo rangers .......... $2,820 oo

Materials and labor 6rvYessryes. .&&.Si&>i5ij>tted in 44 bills . . 3 959 93

The remaining $720.07 of the appropriation ($7,500
per year) were almost entirely expended in printing
the forms of report, contract, permits, etc., and for
the issue of the Forest Reserve Manual.

Classified, the above expenses, exclusive of salaries
of warden and forester, were as follows :

Administration ..................................... $245 1 i

Protection, rangers and extra help .................... 1,284 08

Reforestation, plants, provisions, labor ............... 1,386 94

Survey of lands

Equipment, sleighs, tools, etc

General expenses, horse feed, etc

Permanent improvements, roads, and buildings

506

116 03

360 32

892 19

Purchase of lands 200 oo

The General Plan for the near future as outlined be-
fore and approved by the .Commission, contemplates
the following:

1. Continuation of the protective work and its im-
provement by increase in help and the construction
of fire lines.

2. Continuation of the work of reforestation and
its extension as fast as the funds, thus far needed in
purchase of lands, in building and survey, can be di-
verted to this most important work of re-stocking
and improving the lands.

3. The continuation and completion of the survey
and the gradual improvement of lines and monuments
by the protective force.

Ann Arbor, November i, 1905.

The Prophecy of the Tree

O, thou wondrous being
Made in Jehovah's image
Who calleth thyself man!

With a song thou liftest thy brawny arms
And the axe sinks into my heart.
Know thou, O vain and boastful one
Who laugheth as I fall beneath thy stroke
When thy body shall have crumbled into dust,
I will form the threshold of a home
Where tender woman croons a lullaby
To sleeping babes encradled in my arms.
When the waving grass above thy head
Sighs in forgotten desolation,
My sturdy planks will stand between
Thy sons and the horrors of the deep.
When thy very name is banished from men's lips
From altars hewn from me, will incense rise
To the everlasting God.

— Idah McGlone Gibson.

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