Author:

Title: Forestry and coal mining

Place of Publication: Indiana, Pa.

Copyright Date: 1930

Master Negative Storage Number: MNS# PSt SNPaAg049.4

<288501>*OCLC*Form:mono2 InputAAH Edit:FMD

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035 (OCoLC)38420305

037 PSt SNPaAg049.4 $bPreservation Office, The Pennsylvania State

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090 00 SD144.P4 $bC53 1930 $crb*1 31 08311
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master)
245 00 Forestry and coal mining

260 Indiana, Pa. $bClearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation $c1930
300 [6], 34 p. $bill. $c23 cm.
500 Cover title.
533 Microfilm $bUniversity Park, Pa. : $cPennsylvania State University

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650 0 Forests and forestry.
650 0 Coal mines and mining.
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830 0 USAIN state and local literature preservation project. $pPennsylvania.
830 0 Pennsylvania agricultural literature on microfilm.

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Indiana. Pknnsylvama

C O N T E xV T S

Quantity of Timber Used in Mining Coal
Ample Timber Supply in the Past
Limited Supply of the Present

History of Clearfield Bituminous Coal

Corporation
Coal Land and Timber Land Acquisitions
Forestry Department Plstablished
Tree Planting
Nursery Established
Mills and Treatinjr Plant Installed
Sustained Yield Basis
Taxes on Forest Lands
Fire Insurance on Forest Lands
\'alue of Forest Lands
Chemical Treatment of Luml)er
Tree Nursery
Tree Species (irown
Customers
Tree Plantations
William Cullen Bryant Poem
Lojjging

Manufacture of Lumber
(Governor John S. Fisher Address
Joyce Kilmer Poem

I'AOE

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LIST OP^ ILLUSTRATIONS

Tree Nursery

Tree Nursery — Ornamental Section
Pitch Pine Planted 1924 near Commodore
Scotch Pine Planted 1924 near Clymer
Commodore Reservoir Plantation
Clymer No. 1 Reservoir Plantation
Plantation Near Barr Mine
Virgin White Pine (Peale Lands)
Saw Log Train

Sawmill

Lumber Yard
Sawmill Pond

PAGE

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Forestry and Coal Mining

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Part One

Between the mining of bituminous coal and the
practice or science of forestry there is an apparent
wide gulf. That gulf, however, is only apparent.
As a matter of fact the two are closely related. Mil-
lions of years ago there flourished on the surface of
the earth a dense vegetation which became respon-
sible for the immense deposits of coal at various
depths below the present surface, and now being
mined in such great quantities. Coal mining and
forestry, or coal and wood, are further closely re-
lated, due to the fact that today the production of
one ton of bituminous coal, in accordance with best
modern mining practice, means the consumption of
4 board feet of lumber. Every 50-ton railroad car
leaving the mines loaded with coal may be imagined
to carry with it 200 board feet of timber and lumber.
This quantity of timber and lumber is used in the
mining of coal in the form of props, ties, cross bars,
and the various forms and shapes of manufactured
lumber required to support the mine openings and
the mine roof; or used in the manufacture of mine
cars, the construction of mine tipples, and other
mine structures, as well as miners' dwelling houses,
mining community school buildings, churches, etc.

Obtaining this essential commodity 30 or 40
years ago was a rather trivial and inexpensive mat-
ter. In those days the hills and valleys of Pennsyl-

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Forestry and Coal Mining

vania, in which the mines were located, were largely
covered with virgin forests. The choice trees of such
forests were cut down and prime logs manufactured
into lumber on sawmills in the forests or floated in
rafts down the rivers to lumber manufacturing cen-
ters. The by-products of such forests, in the form
of tree-tops and small trees, were cut into mine
timbers and delivered to the mines at about the la-
bor cost involved. Now that situation is radically
changed, especially in Pennsylvania. Although
timber is not an exhaustable resource, as is coal,
yet the dense forests of Pennsylvania no longer
exist, and have not to any large degree been re-
placed, principally on account of man's failure to
provide for the future. The present timber situa-
tion, although unappreciated by the average man,
is no less acute, as the following facts clearly re-
veal :

In the United States the area where trees once
grew, but where now nothing grows, is as large as
the combined area of New York, New Jersey, Penn-
sylvania, Delaware, and Maryland.

Deforestation greatly exceeds reforestation.

Within fifteen yeai-s we shall feel the pinch of
forest exhaustion; not our grand-children but our
children will suffer grave consequences.

Calvin Coolidge stated rather recently: "This
country has in all about 745 billion cubic feet of
standing timber. We are growing six billion feet
annually and consuming twenty-five billion feet;
therefore, depleting our stock of timber at the rate
of nineteen billion feet each year. Our entire stock

Forestry and Coal Mining

of timber will, therefore, be depleted in less than
forty years and ours will be a treeless and desert
country. We have cut most of our timber not in the
last 300 years, but in the last 75 years. We must
grow wood from the soil like any other crop.''

Honorable John Q. Tilson of the United States
House of Representatives, stated : ''If we would real-
ly have the world be better for our having lived in
it and not materially worse, it is necessary that we
enter not only upon a policy of conserving forests
that have been left but of restoring as far as possible
the forests to the condition in which they should
have been maintained throughout the years that
have passed."

While another authority, speaking from a na-
tional point of view, said : "We cannot adequately
provide for our future forest requirements except
by a great project conceived, adopted, and appro-
priated for, as was the Panama Canal."

^ When the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Company
/ (immediate predecessor of the Clearfield Bituminous
Coal Corporation) began the mining of coal in
V Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, in 1883, it owned
in that field (known as the Peale field), in close
proximity to its mines, about 15,000 acres of timber-
covered surface, which had been purchased at a
nommal cost in connection with coal lands. For
many years its mines in that field were supplied with
timber from this forest reserve at a cost not much
in excess of the cost of cutting and delivering to the
mines. That timber supply seemed so ample that
as late as 1896 and 1897 the timber standing on a
considerable acreage was sold at nominal prices to

Forestry and Coal Mining

Forestry and Coal Mining

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lumber operators, who installed sawmills, cut the
timber down in a most destructive manner, so far as
future growth was concerned, and shipped by rail
away from the mines vast quantities of high-grade
manufactured lumber.

In 1885 the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Com-
pany acquired about 12,000 acres of coal land,
known as the Gazzam field, located in the southern
[t^part of Clearfield County. Included in that field
were about 1600 acres of timber-covered surface,
which eventually shared the same fate as that of
the timber in the Peale field.

In 1886 the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Com-
pany was succeeded by the Clearfield Bituminous
Corporation organized under a charter granted by
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, under which
charter and under which corporate name the Cor-
poration has since functioned.

Prior to 1900 the Clearfield Corporation did an
active commercial business selling on the market the
output of its own mines, as well as that of a number
of other mines on the Beech Creek Railroad. At
that time all of its Capital Stock had been acquired
by the New York Central Pwailroad Company. It
thus became an entirely controlled subsidiary of that
Railroad Company and its product was no longer
sold on the market. Since that year the entire out-
put of its mines has been sold as locomotive fuel to
the New York Central Railroad Company and used
on its lines East of Buffalo.

In 1896 the Corporation acquired in Cambria
County about 2000 acres of coal land known as the
West Branch property. In 1900 it purchased about

r5000 acres of coal lands in the northern part of In-
diana County, known as the Rossiter field, and in
1905 it came into possession of approximately 10,000
acres of coal property located in the central part of
Indiana County and known as the Clymer-Dixonville
field. These several properties were promptly de-
veloped into large economical coal producing fields.
Included in the last three fields were about 1500
acres of surface, a very small portion of which was
timber-covered.

In 1911 the Corporation acquired roundly 90,-
000 acres of coal land, including about 15,000 acres
of surface partially timber-covered. This was known
as the Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Company property
and was located in the Counties of Clearfield, Cam-
bria, Blair and Indiana. A large portion of this ac-
quisition (coal lands, developed mines, mining plants
and towns, and timbered surface) was leased to the
Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Corporation and several
smaller lessees. In 1920 about 4,000 acres of this
property, located in central Indiana County, was
developed by the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Cor-
poration and is known as the Commodore field. At
that time, with active mining operations located in
the following fields: Peale, in Clearfield County;
West Branch, in Cambria County ; Rossiter, Clymer,
Dixonville, and Commodore, in Indiana County
(Gazzam field having been exhausted), the timber
requirements of the Corporation were found to be
costly and somewhat difficult to obtain. It was also
found that there remained, after leasing portions of
the properties above outlined, about 24,000 acres of
surface, a portion of which was covered with fully
matured timber, other portions with immature sec-

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Forestry and Coal Mining

ond growth timber, and a considerable remaining
portion barren, or partially barren, of trees.

For the purpose of properly utilizing the above
described 24,000 acres of surface and supplying
from that surface the necessary timber requirements
of the several operating mines a Forestry Depart-
ment was established in 1920, an experienced tim-
berman was placed in charge and the following
plan outlined :

1st.

2nd,

3rd.

Adequate fire protection for the timber
then on the property, because without
such protection forestry is impracticable,
if not impossible.

To remove from the forest and convert
into suitable mine timber and lumber
(a) undecayed fallen timber, and (b)
fully matured standing timber, perform-
ing both operations with the least pos-
sible damage to growing timber.

Install suitable mills and facilities to*
economically convert into usable form
the timber for proper use in and around
the mines.

4th.

Secure from the several State Tree
Nurseries seedling trees of suitable spe-
cies for the reforesting of the barren and
partially barren acreage.

work of practical fire protection was
promptly started, a system of fire trails, lanes, and
roads was established through the forest acreage,
fire towers were constructed and patrolmen placed
on the property during the fire seasons. This sys-

The

Forestry and Coal Mining

tem is connected by means of telephone to the State
Fire Tower system.

In the same year 65,000 seedling trees were ob-
tained from the State Tree Nurseries and planted on
some of the barren acreage. One small sawmill was
placed in the Peale field ; a second mill, fully
equipped and of large capacity, placed at Clymer,
to which point saw logs were transported by rail
from the Peale field, and by truck from several
small tracts of timber scattered throughout the In-
diana County field.

This program was satisfactorily followed out
until 1924, when it was found impossible to secure
from the several State Nurseries seedling trees in
such quantities and of such species as were neces-
sary to properly and promptly reforest the property.
A tree nursery was then established near Clymer,
Pa., where TV-i acres were set aside for that purpose.
A technical forester, a graduate of the Pennsylvania
State Forest School at Mont Alto, wa^ placed in
charge. The soil was properly prepared, an irriga-
tion system provided, seed was sown and two years
later more than a million seedling trees of suitable
species were taken from that nursery and planted
on the property of the Corporation. There have
now (January, 1930) been planted upon the prop-
erty about 4,000,000 seedling timber trees, and all
of the 24,000 acres of surface are growing timber
in all stages from 2 to 3 year old seedlings up to ful-
ly matured trees. It was further advantageous to in-
stall in connection with the Clymer sawmill a plan-
ing mill and a timber treating plant. The several
mills and treating plant are electrically operated by

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Forestry and Coal Mining

Forestry and Coal Mining

power generated in the central power plant of the
Corporation. The timber and lumber requirements
of the several mines have been, and are now bemg,
advantageously taken from the property of the Cor-
poration, manufactured as above described, and de-
livered to the several mines. As a matter of fact a
considerable number of miners' dwelling houses
have been constructed and all the lumber used m
such construction work (with the exception of fac-
tory-made doors and window sash) taken from the
property of the Corporation and manufactured on
its own mills.

Until within comparatively recent years the
prevailing practice in the lumber industry has been
to organize an operation on a period basis; to con-
struct a plant of a capacity to utilize the amount of
timber within a specified period of years; and to
finance the operation so that when the last tree is
cut the total investment will be liquidated. The
plant, then, and the cut-over land have only a sal-
vage value. The land often must be abandoned.
A Sustained Yield plan of operation recognizes the
fact that timber grows; that with proper care in
logging and protection the land will continuously
produce successive new crops of timber indefinitely.
The investment, then, in plant and land becomes
permanent; it does not have to be written off at the
end of a specified term of years; both plant and
land continue to be productive and valuable.

The forestry department of the Corporation is
operated on a Sustained Yield basis.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania encour-
ages forestry and reforestation, especially by means

of a recent Legislative Act providing for the class-
ification as auxiliary forest reserves of certain tim-
ber bearing lands. Timber lands so classified are
assessed at a nominal value of $1.00 per acre, which
reduces the annual tax burden to an amount not in
excess of 5c per acre. The law provides, however,
that when timber so classified is cut the owner shall
pay as deferred taxes an amount equal to 10% of
the then stumpage value. 4337 acres of timber
lands of the Corporation have been classified as
auxiliary forest reserves.

Within the last two years a reliable fire insur-
ance company has undertaken to cover with fire
insurance reforested acreage at a premium rate of
2%. The principal plantations of the Corporation
are so insured.

It is conservatively estimated that the 24,000
acres now growing timber in all stages has a pres-
ent value of $1,500,000.00. The continuation of the
present forestry and reforestation program will re-
sult in that acreage being always so covered. There-
fore, upon the exhaustion of the coal from the prop-
erty of the Corporation this timbered acreage should
then have a value of from $5,000,000.00 to $7,000,-
000.00. Unlike coal timber resource under this plan
of foreslation does not become exhausted, but is a
perpetual resource constantly increasing in value.

An additional conservation matter is carried
out in the chemical treatment of timbers which go
into the mines where length of life of such timbers
is of great importance. Timber inside of the mines
is subject to damage and destruction by fungi, or
parasitical growth, which feeds on the wooden sub-

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Forestry and Coal Mining

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stance. Such destructive fungi develop rapidly in
the damp atmosphere inside the mines. This men-
ace to mine timber has been overcome by impreg-
nating such timbers with Wolman Salt, or other
preservative such as Creosote, Zinc Chloride, etc.
To accomplish such impregnation a treating plant
has been provided. The timber is placed in a large
cylinder and the chemical forced into the wood un-
der high pressure. It has been found that timber
so treated possesses a length of life of two or three
times that of untreated timber. In one instance
treated timber was placed in a mine and 18 years
later, when the mine was abandoned, 74% of the
treated timber was found sound, was removed and
reused in another mine.

Chief Lambert, of the State Department of
Mines of West Virginia, recently stated : ''With the
removal of such vast quantities of timber from our
hillsides the mine operators could well afford to
give serious study to necessary forestation, and also
to the problem of chemical treatment of timber and
mine tie^, in the interests of both conservation and
economy."

Railroad Data of February 14, 1930, issued by
the Committee on Public Relations of the Eastern
Railroads, carried the following item :

"Use of Treated Wood Saves $145,000 Daily

*A saving of $145,000 a day accrues to the rail-
roads of the country through the present practice
of using chemically treated timber for cross ties and
other purposes,' said C. C. Cook, maintenance engi-
neer of the Baltimore & Ohio, at a conference of

the public utility group of The National Association
of Purchasing Agents, held recently at the Depart-
ment of Commerce in Washington.

Mr. Cook addressed this meeting as a member
of the National Committee on Wood Utilization of
the Department of Commerce.

'Since 1909,' Mr. Cook said, 'the consumption of
treated wood in this country has increased from 75
million to 336 million cubic feet. The railroads con-
sume three-fourths of this quantity at the present
time, largely for ties. The life of chemically treated
ties is frequently treble that of untreated ties.'

The speaker predicted that the average life of
ties will soon be more than 20 years. When this is
true, he said, the railroads will save $287,000 a
day."

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Forestry and Coal Mining

Part Two
(Illustrated)

THE TREE NURSERY

Early in the spring the tree seeds are sown in
prepared beds in the nursery and the beds then cov-
ered with shade racks. After the seeds germinate
and the young tree plant appears above the surface
of the bed the shade racks are elevated two or three
feet above the level of the bed and the tender tree
seedlings thus partially shaded during the first sum-
mer. The following winter the beds are covered
with straw and the shade racks dropped on the
straw. This prevents hard freezing of the ground
and consequent damage to the roots of the tender
young tree plants. The following spring the straw
and racks are removed and thereafter the seedlings
require no further protection, except in the case of
Hemlock and similar species which require partial
shading for the first two or three years.

The cut on the opposite page shows shade racks
in place; also the irrigation system. The building
here shown is the packing house and work shop.

The second summer one-year old seedlings in
the beds in which the seeds were sown stand thick
and compact, and the beds have the appearance of
an exquisitely colored vivid-green rug.

After the trees have grown two or three years
they are removed from the beds, carefully packed
in small bundles, the roots protected with wet moss

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Forestry and Coal Mining

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Forestry and Coal Mining

Part Two
(Illustrated)

THE TREE NURSERY

Early in the spring the tree seeds are sown in
prepared beds in the nursery and the beds then cov-
ered with shade racks. After the seeds germinate
and the young tree plant appears above the surface
of the bed the shade racks are elevated two or three
feet above the level of the bed and the tender tree
seedlings thus partially shaded during the first sum-
mer. The following winter the beds are covered
with straw and the shade racks dropped on the
straw. This prevents hard freezing of the ground
and consequent damage to the roots of the tender
young tree plants. The following spring the straw
and racks are removed and thereafter the seedlings
require no further protection, except in the case of
Hemlock and similar species which require partial
shading for the first two or three years.

The cut on the opposite page shows shade racks
in place; also the irrigation system. The building
here shown is the packing house and work shop.

The second summer one-year old seedlings in
the beds in which the seeds were sown stand thick
and compact, and the beds have the appearance of
an exquisitely colored vivid-green rug.

After the trees have grown two or three years
they are removed from the beds, carefully packed
in small bundles, the I'oots protected with wet moss

INTENTIONAL 2ND EXPOSURE

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Forestry and Coal Mining

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Forestry and Coal Mining

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and the seedlings sent to the location where they
are permanently planted. Or, if better, more ad-
vanced hardy seedlings are wanted, they are re-
moved from the original beds and transplanted in
other beds in the nursery where they grow for an-
other one or two years. The result is a sturdy seed-
ling with a well developed root system known as a
"transplant''. Such transplants are designated **2-l''
or "2-2", meaning two years* growth as a seedling
in the original bed, and an additional one or two
years' growth as a transplant. Transplants are de-
sirable and demand a good price in the commercial
market.

Certain species of transplants, white and red
pine, Norway, white and blue spruce, Arborvitae,
etc., are again transplanted and developed into from
four to six-year-old ornamental trees which com-
mand a good price as such.

In this nursery are grown from seed the follow-
ing varities or species :

Hemlock Scotch Pine

Norway Spruce White Pine

Blue Spruce Red Pine

White Spruce Banks Pine

White Ash Pitch Pine

Douglass Fir
Balsam Fir
Arborvitae
Japanese Larch
Wild Black Cherry

The output of this nursery, in excess of the re-
quirements of the Corporation, for the past few
years has been sold to many individuals, corpora-
tions, institutions, and states, among which have
been the following:

T. Coleman DuPont - Delaware

Clarence D. Bowman - Camp Hill, Pa.

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Forestry and Coal Mining

Forestry and Coal Mining

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and the seedlings sent to the location where they
are permanently planted. Or, if better, more ad-
vanced hardy seedlings are wanted, they are re-
moved from the original beds and transplanted in
other beds in the nursery where they grow for an-
other one or two years. The result is a sturdy seed-
ling with a well developed root system known as a
''transplant^'. Such transplants are designated **2-r'
or **2-2'', meaning two years* growth as a seedling
in the original bed, and an additional one or two
years* growth as a transplant. Transplants are de-
sirable and demand a good price in the commercial
market.

Certain species of transplants, white and red
pine, Norway, white and blue spruce, Arborvitae,
etc., are again transplanted and developed into from
four to six-year-old ornamental trees which com-
mand a good price as such.

In this nursery are grown from seed the follow-
ing varities or species :

Hemlock Scotch Pine Douglass Fir

Norway Spruce White Pine Balsam Fir

Blue Spruce Red Pine Arborvitae

White Spruce Banks Pine Japanese Larch

White Ash Pitch Pine Wild Black Cherry

The output of this nursery, in excess of the re-
quirements of the Corporation, for the past few
years has been sold to many individuals, corpora-
tions, institutions, and states, among which have
been the following:

T. Coleman DuPont - Delaware

Clarence D. Bowman - Camp Hill, Pa.

INTENTIONAL 2ND EXPOSURE

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Forestry and Coal Mining

Forestry and Coal Mining

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F. G. Rice - Monroetown, Pa.

Dr. W. B. Stewart - Bell Vernon, Pa.

Waddington Farm - Wheeling, W. Va.

Walter H. Sheffield, Architect - West Chester, Pa.

Victor Brown, Architect

Dr. J. B. Coeser

Dr. J. Grant Webster

C. E. Sullivan

Elbert Hubbard, II

John M. Eisler, Architect

J. C. Stine

F. W. Kelsey Nursery Co.

Piedmont Forestry Co.

Wm. H. Moon Co.

Madilla Nurseries

Farr Nursery Company

Valley Forge Nursery

Harris Point Nursery

Andora Nurseries, Inc.

Gainsville, Georgia
Scranton, Pa.
Wellsboro, Pa.
Cleveland, Ohio
East Aurora, N. Y.
Butler, Pa.
Tyrone, Pa.
50 Church St., N. Y.
Bound Brook, N. J.
Morrisville, Pa.
Madilla, N. Y.
Womelsdorf, Pa.
Wayne, Pa.
Cambridge, Md.
Philadelphia, Pa.

The Siebenthaler Co. (Nursery) - Dayton, Ohio

State Teachers College - Indiana, Pa.

Bureau of Waters

Grove City Borough

City of Toledo

St. Bernard Catholic Church

Kiski School for Boys

Allegheny Forest Experiment Sta. - Philadelphia

Division of Forestry (State Dep't), Nashville, Tenn.

Department of Forests & Waters of Pennsylvania

Harrisburg, Pa.
Department of Conservation - State of Indiana

Reading, Pa.
Grove City, Pa.
Toledo, Ohio
- Indiana, Pa.
Saltsburg, Pa.

Forestry and Coal Mining

17

F. G. Rice

Dr. W. B. Stewart

Waddington Farm

Walter H. Sheffield, Architect

Victor Brown, Architect

Dr. J. B. Coeser

Dr. J. Grant Webster

C. E. Sullivan

Elbert Hubbard, II

John M. Eisler, Architect -

J. C. Stine

F. W. Kelsey Nursery Co. -

Piedmont Forestry Co.

Wm. H. Moon Co.

Madilla Nurseries

Farr Nursery Company

Valley Forge Nursery

Harris Point Nursery

Andora Nurseries, Inc.

Monroetown, Pa.
Bell Vernon, Pa.
Wheeling, W. Va.

- West Chester, Pa.
Gainsville, Georgia
Scranton, Pa.
Wellsboro, Pa.
Cleveland, Ohio
East Aurora, N. Y.
Butler, Pa.
Tyrone, Pa.
50 Church St., N. Y.
Bound Brook, N. J.
Morrisville, Pa.
Madilla, N. Y.
Womelsdorf, Pa.
Wayne, Pa.
Cambridge, Md.
Philadelphia, Pa.

The Siebenthaler Co. (Nursery) - Dayton, Ohio

State Teachers College - Indiana, Pa.

Bureau of Waters

Grove City Borough

City of Toledo

St. Bernard Catholic Church

Kiski School for Boys

Allegheny Forest Experiment Sta. - Philadelphia

Division of Forestry (State Dep*t), Nashville, Tenn.

Department of Forests & Waters of Pennsylvania

Harrisburg, Pa.
Department of Conservation - State of Indiana

Reading, Pa.
Grove City, Pa.
Toledo, Ohio
- Indiana, Pa.
Saltsburg, Pa.

INTENTIONAL 2ND EXPOSURE

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Forestry and Coal Mining

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Forestry and Coal Mining

Forestry and Coal Mining

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INTENTIONAL 2ND EXPOSURE

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Forestry and Coal Mining

Forestry and Coal Mining

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Tree Plantations

As early in the spring as weather and soil con-
ditions will permit the seedlings or transplants are
taken to the plantation and there carefully and per-
manently planted. Trees are selected and planted
with reference to location and soil condition. On
high elevations where the soil is light and dry are
planted Scotch, Banks, Pitch Pine, and similar var-
ieties. Where more moisture and richer soil obtain
are planted Hemlock, Larch, White and Red Pine,
Spruce and White Ash.

Seedlings are planted at intervals of five feet,
which is much too close for forest trees. Such
planting, however, results in the planted trees
crowding out grass, weeds and scrub growths, thus
reducing the fire hazard. As the plantation devel-
ops the small, weak trees are crowded out. After
twelve or fifteen years the plantation may be
thinned by the removal of the smaller trees, the
timber from which, in the form of ties and props,
may be so used in the mines. Thus the trees which
mature represent "The survival of the fittest''.

;Si!r^s>m*m>m*ii''^-^V!^'^t*^'^^'

. r ■~,*i ■-..jftatjili'Cl

20

Forestry and Coal Mining:

Forestry and Coal Mining

21

Tree Plantations

As early in the spring as weather and soil con-
ditions will permit the seedlings or transplants are
taken to the plantation and there carefully and per-
manently planted. Trees are selected and planted
with reference to location and soil condition. On
high elevations where the soil is light and dry are
planted Scotch, Banks, Pitch Pine, and similar var-
ieties. Where more moisture and richer soil obtain
are planted Hemlock, Larch, White and Red Pine,
Spruce and White Ash.

Seedlings are planted at intervals of five feet,
which is much too close for forest trees. Such
planting, however, results in the planted trees
crowding out grass, weeds and scrub growths, thus
reducing the fire hazard. As the plantation devel-
ops the small, weak trees are crowded out. After
twelve or fifteen years the plantation may be
thinned by the removal of the smaller trees, the
timber from which, in the form of ties and props,
may be so used in the mines. Thus the trees which
mature represent **The survival of the fittest''.

INTENTIONAL 2ND EXPOSURE

I

i

22

Forestry and Coal Mining

Forestry and Coal Mining

23

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Forestry and Coal Mining

INTENTIONAL 2ND EXPOSURE

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Forestry and Coal Mining

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24

Forestry and Coal Mining

Forestry and Coal Mining

25

Trees Surrounding the Mine Opening, Mine Plants

and Tipples

The immediate surroundings of a coal mine are
usually bleak, black, barren of trees or grass and
generally unalluring and unattractive. In marked
contrast the mine openings, tipples, mme plants and
mining towns of this Corporation are surrounded
with evergreen trees, which, in the course of a few
years, will become veritable green forests which will
be both utilitarian and esthetic.

The reservoirs and water sheds of water supply
systems at the several plants and towns have all
been reforested, and in the near future these im-
provements will be surrounded with shade and ver-
dure Thus the water supply will be conserved by
reason of decreased evaporation during the hot
summer seasons, and the danger of polution and
contamination of the several water sheds and
sources of water supply will be materially reduced.

Although the Corporation has planted trees
and is assiduously carrying out a practical forestry
program for practical purposes the following quo-
tation is apropos :

"He who plants a tree has added something of
value and beauty to the world, has made life more
worth while. He becomes a partner with the sun,
the birds, the rain and the minstrel winds, for all of
these are friends of the trees."

Virgin White Pine on the Peale Lands of the Corporation

"Stranger, if thou has learned a truth which needs

No school of long experience, that the world

Is full of guilt and misery, and hast seen

Enough of all its sorrows, crimes and cares,

To tire thee of it, enter this wild wood

And view the haunts of nature. The calm shade

Shall bring a kindred calm, and the sweet breeze

That makes the green leaves dance, shall waft a balm

To thy sick heart."

William Cullen Bryant

24

Forestry and Coal Mining

Trees Surrounding the Mine Opening, Mine Plants

and Tipples

The immediate surroundings of a coal mine are
usually bleak, black, barren of trees or grass and
generally unalluring and unattractive. In marked
contrast the mine openings, tipples, mine plants and
mining towns of this Corporation are surrounded
with evergreen trees, which, in the course of a few
years, will become veritable green forests which will
be both utilitarian and esthetic.

The reservoirs and water sheds of water supply
systems at the several plants and towns have all
been reforested, and in the near future these im-
provements will be surrounded with shade and ver-
dure Thus the water supply will be conserved by
reason of decreased evaporation during the hot
summer seasons, and the danger of polution and
contamination of the several water sheds and
sources of water supply will be materially reduced.
Although the Corporation has planted trees
and is assiduously carrying out a practical forestry
program for practical purposes the following quo-
tation is apropos :

"He who plants a tree has added something of
value and beauty to the world, has made life more
worth while. He becomes a partner with the sun,
the birds, the rain and the minstrel winds, for all of
these are friends of the trees."

INTENTIONAL 2ND EXPOSURE

:.m^^^-^

Forestry and Coal Mining

25

Vircrin White Pine on the Peale Lands of the Corporation

**Stranj;er, if thou has learned a truth which needs

No school of long experience, that the world

Is full of guilt and misery, and hast seen

Enough of all its sorrows, crimes and cares,

To tire thee of it, enter this wild wood

And view the haunts of nature. The calm shade

Shall bring a kindred calm, and the sweet breeze

That makes the green leaves dance, shall waft a balm

To thy sick heart/'

William Cullen Bryant

26

Forestry and Coal Mining

Forestry and Coal Mining

27

11

C9

U

O

Logging

Following the "Sustained Yield'' practice in
timber cutting, the Corporation removes from the
forest only fully matured trees, carefully protects
the younger growth and allows to stand one seed-
bearing tree to each three acres. This, with the
growth from the established root system, results in
natural reforestation promptly following the cutting
operation. Trees are selected and felled, cut into
saw logs, and mine timbers, which are hauled from
the forest to the mill or Railroad siding by gasoline-
driven locomotives over a tram road which extends
into the forest for a distance of four miles. Every
precaution is taken to avoid forest fires on the part
of the woodmen, both while at work and while in
camp. Waste is reduced to a minimum. All por-
tions of felled trees are utilized, from the trunks,
which are cut into saw logs for the mills, down to
the tops and limbs of the trees, from which mine
ties and mine props are made.

When the present supply of fully matured tim-
ber is exhausted the present second growth will be
available ; and upon the exhaustion of the latter, the
reforested acreage will be ready to utilize.

The continuation of such sustained yield sys-
tem, planting cut-over areas, and protecting second
growth, will allow this cycle of cutting timber to
continue indefinitely and thus the 24,000 acres of
timbered surface will be an inexhaustible resource.

26

Forestry and Coal Mining

Forestry and Coal Mining

27

u

O

Logging

Following the '^Sustained Yield** practice in
timber cutting, the Corporation removes from the
forest only fully matured trees, carefully protects
the younger growth and allows to stand one seed-
bearing tree to each three acres. This, with the
growth from the established root system, results in
natural reforestation promptly following the cutting
operation. Trees are selected and felled, cut into
saw logs, and mine timbers, which are hauled from
the forest to the mill or Railroad siding by gasoline-
driven locomotives over a tram road which extends
into the forest for a distance of four miles. Every
precaution is taken to avoid forest fires on the part
of the woodmen, both while at work and while in
camp. Waste is reduced to a minimum. All por-
tions of felled trees are utilized, from the trunks,
which are cut into saw logs for the mills, down to
the tops and limbs of the trees, from which mine
ties and mine props are made.

When the present supply of fully matured tim-
ber is exhausted the present second growth will be
available; and upon the exhaustion of the latter, the
reforested acreage will be ready to utilize.

The continuation of such sustained yield sys-
tem, planting cut-over areas, and protecting second
growth, will allow this cycle of cutting timber to
continue indefinitely and thus the 24,000 acres of
timbered surface will be an inexhaustible resource.

::''-'''^4!^i^". . 'Vl'''!-*'j'"''V'

INTENTIONAL 2ND EXPOSURE

28

Forestry and Coal Mining

Forestry and Coal Mining

29

mm

u

5

Lumber Manufacturing

Two sawmills are operated, one small mill lo-
cated on a railroad siding in the Peale forests. On
this mill only small timbers are sawed into ties,
cross bars, etc. It is equipped with one circular saw
and one small cut-off saw, and is economically oper-
ated by electric power from the mine power system.

At Clymer, which is the central location for the
several large Indiana County operations of the Cor-
poration, are centralized the principal sawmill, lum-
ber yard, planing mill, and treating plant. This
sawmill is well equipped with the various types of
saws and machinery which goes to make up a com-
plete mill. To this mill are transported by railroad
and automobile truck saw logs from the forests of
the Corporation. The logs so delivered are landed
in a mill-pond, from where they are taken by elec-
tric power up an incline and delivered to the saws.
The general practice is to manufacture such sizes of
lumber as are necessary to meet the requirements
of the mines, although certain standard sizes such as
1'' boards, 2'' x 4" studding, common 1'* sheathing,
etc., are sawed and stored in the lumber yard for
general use, when and as required, in connection
with the repairing of miners' dwelling houses and
other structures, brattice boards to be used inside of
mines, and various sizes of sawed lumber to meet
the usual requirements around the mines.

When the sawed lumber leaves the sawmill it
is loaded directly on railroad cars or automobile
truck and delivered to the point where it is used ; or
it is delivered to the treating plant, where, after be-
ing chemically treated, it is similarly loaded and

28

Forestry and Coa! Mininir

Forestry and Coal Mining

29

rs

u

Lumber Manufacturing

Two sawmills are operated, one small mill lo-
cated on a railroad siding in the Peale forests. On
this mill only small timbers are sawed into ties,
cross bars, etc. It is equipped with one circular saw^
and one small cut-off saw, and is economically oper-
ated by electric power from the mine power system.

At Clymer, which is the central location for the
several large Indiana County operations of the Cor-
poration, are centralized the principal sawmill, lum-
ber yard, planing mill, and treating plant. This
sawmill is well equipped with the various types of
saws and machinery which goes to make up a com-
plete mill. To this mill are transported by railroad
and automobile truck saw logs from the forests of
the Corporation. The logs so delivered are landed
in a mill-pond, from where they are taken by elec-
tric power up an incline and delivered to the saws.
The general practice is to manufacture such sizes of
lumber as are necessary to meet the requirements
of the mines, although certain standard sizes such as
r' boards, 2'' x 4'' studding, common 1** sheathing,
etc., are sawed and stored in the lumber yard for
general use, when and as required, in connection
with the repairing of miners* dwelling houses and
other structures, brattice boards to be used inside of
mines, and various sizes of sawed lumber to meet
the usual requirements around the mines.

When the sawed lumber leaves the sawmill it
is loaded directly on railroad cars or automobile
truck and delivered to the point where it is used ; or
it is delivered to the treating plant, where, after be-
ing chemically treated, it is similarly loaded and

INTENTIONAL 2ND EXPOSURE

30

Forestry and Coal Mining

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Forestry and Coal Mining

Forestry and Coal Mining

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INTENTIONAL 2ND EXPOSURE

32

Forestry and Coal Mining

delivered ; or it may be stored in the yard for future
use, while such lumber as requires surfacing and
other planing mill treatment is delivered to the plan-
ing mill and there manufactured into surfaced and
milled lumber for house-construction v^ork or repair
work. This lumber manufacturing plant, consisting
of sawmill, treating plant, lumber yard and planing
mill, is compact, well arranged, and economic and
efficient as to operation.

The forestry and reforestation work of the
Clearfield Corporation has attracted more than lo-
cal attention, as is evidenced by the following from
an address of the Chief Forester of West Virginia:
''Pennsylvania can boast of at least one large pri-
vate coal-land-company (Clearfield Bituminous Coal
Corporation) which has developed private forestry
to the point that not only the Company timber lands
are under adequate protection, but all idle, other-
wise waste, acreages have been planted with tree
stock from this Company's own nursery, and the
Company has now a large excess yearly from its
own nursery, which it sells at market prices to all
inquiring companies."

In an address delivered December 7, 1927 to
the Railroad Protective Forest Conference at Har-
risburg, Pennsylvania, Governor Fisher stated in
part:

"In days of lumbering activity, great forest-
stripped areas were created by the ruthless axe of
the woodman without any thought for the future,
much of it within the memory of men still living.
For the time, thoughtlessness and greed seemed to
hold complete sway. Although it ought to have

Forestry and Coal Mining

33

been perfectly clear that many millions of acres
could never be used for agriculture, no seed bearers
were left, and scarcely anything else above the size
of a fishing pole. The harm may be undone only by
reproduction and a reversal of our former follies.
Tree growth is not the sole duty of the Common-
wealth. It attaches to every owner of any consider-
able acreage of unused lands. While the railroads
themselves may not directly own much surface
lands, there are affiliated business concerns which
do, such as lumber and mining companies. My sug-
gestion is that pressure be brought to bear on such
to induce them to engage actively in tree planting.
I have in mind a coal company (Clearfield Bitumi-
nous Coal Corporation) which took over, more or
less unwillingly, many thousands of acres of surface
along with its mineral purchases. After years of
unprofitable tax payments and neglect, its attention
was directed to the wisdom of fortifying itself with
a future lumber supply. Now it has a fine nursery,
from which it is planting at the rate of a million a
year and is making a nice profit besides in the sale
of plantings. I merely mention this instance in illus-
tration of what can and ought to be done by many
companies similarly situated, in supplementing the
public efforts that are being made to reclaim the
five million acres of denuded forest lands in Penn-
sylvania."

34

Forestry and Coal Mining

n

TREES"

By Joyce Kilmer

"I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as

a tree!
A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed against the

Earth's sweet, flowing breast ;
A tree that looks at God all day and lifts her leafy

arms to pray ;
A tree that may in summer wear a nest of robins

in her hair ;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain, who intimately

lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree/'