| Show LUMBER an industry that la carried on with great economy timber taftt I 1 in great demand all over the country some pact about numbering IQ north m when the railroads first penetrated northern michigan pine was looked upon as the only timber really worth the dignity and efforts of the genuine lumberman the demand for hardwood was comparatively limited and the hardwood interests were left to the little operators to make out of it what they could but there has been a great increase in the demand for bard wood says the chicago journal not only in the form of lumber but also in the manufacture of articles of commerce hardwood lumber is now considered game big enough for the best of the lumbering fraternity As the pine resources of the state have become exhausted the successful operators in that line are turning their attention to hardwoods bringing into it the same methods and energy which characterized their dealings with pine and the increased demand makes their operations financially profitable where a decade ago there was one hardwood mill in northern michigan there are now a dozen and the number is still increasing an important factor in the industry is the small mills scattered all through the country along the railroads on the lakes and in the interior near the standing timber but far from the usual haunts of the traveling public the big mills operate on much the same lines as the modern pine mills and some of them can reel off 1 anywhere from seventy five to one hundred thousand feet of lumber a day while the rural back country mills are often primitive affairs with a capacity of from five to ten thousand feet a day with water for motor power and often with facilities attached for grinding the farmers these small mills are individually insignificant but in the aggregate they add millions of feet of hardwood lumber to the annual product of this section and aid materially teri ally in the development of the country and in bringing prosperity to this section of the state in hardwood lumbering operations arc conducted on different lines than in the early days of pine lumbering of the jine fully as much was wasted as ever reached the market the early lumbermen went into the forests entirely reckless of alie future they I 1 slashed and slaughtered destroying everything in their way and left the country barren and waste and worthless the state has thousands of acres of waste land today to day BO poor and barren that weeds will scarcely grow and it was thus left by the pine lumbermen who abandoned it as soon as the forests were removed the hardwood lumbermen are proceeding with more discretion and wisdom they are sparing the young trees and saplings that they may grow up for future cutting and in some camps young trees are being planted to replace those cut down but the hardwood lands are of a different character than the pine lands when the forest is removed a rich soil is left behind for the farmer to cultivate the farmer is following close in the wake of the hardwood lumbermen and the demand for hardwood logs of all kinds aids him very materially in getting established the timber on his land has a cash value nt the nearest mill or railroad station and the money thus earned will tide him over until he can realize on his crops all through this section will bo found farms many of them new and still thickly dotted with stumps but some that are as rich as well cultivated and handsome in appearance pe arance as will be found in the state this section is especially adapted to potatoes and fruit and has in the last four or five years become famous for its crops every fall commission men come here to buy the crops and ship them out to other parts of the country in the development of the hardwood resources of northern michigan the indian Is a factor that must not be overlooked the indians do not lumber on a big scale nor do they do it systematically the indian farmers often haul logs to market but the largest consumption on their part is to manufacture the indian baskets for the summer resort and export trade these baskets are made of black ash and as they do not know what economy is in the use of the raw material one tree will not go very far the indians are making baskets all the way from traverse city to the straights of mackinaw and each year many monarchs arc they also make baskets of birch bark and many trees are annually stripped of bark to supply them with material A noticeable feature of the hardwood operations of the lumbermen and manufacturers is the strict economy observed in the use of materials in marked contrast with the methods that used to prevail in the pine mills nothing is allowed to i go to waste and the dump pile Is unknown the sawdust is u sed for fuel and the timber that cannot be used is converted into firewood in which form it finds a ready market at profitable prices no kind of timber that grows is looked upon as worthless and any kind of a log the farmer brings in has a value and will bring cash at the mill or railroad station the pine resources of michigan brought many millions of dollars into the state ant in real richness and widespread benefits the hardwood forests will yield far more |
