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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 7, no. 164: May 6, 1871

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Real Estate Record AND BUILDERS' GUIDE. Vol. YII. NEW YORK, SATURDAY, MAY 6, 1871. No. 164. Published Weekly by THE REAL ESTATE RECORD ASSOCIATIOIV. TEEMS. One year, In advance......................§6 00 All communications should bo addressed to 7 AKD 9 Warren Strekt. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by C. W. SWEET, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. ■ —■——— No receipt fx money due the EEAL Estate Eecord vrill be acknowledged unless signed by one of our regular collectors, Henry D. Smith or Thomas i". Cujimikgs. All bills for collection will be sent from the office on a regu¬ larly printed form. PATENT binders for preserving the Eecord can be had at thc'offloe, or will be sent to any address in the city upon the receipt of one dollar. WHITE PINE. The following summary and re-view of the White Pine lumber interest, the conditions that affect it in the present and bear on its future, have been furnished us by a gentleman of this cifcy who has given his attention for a number of years to the study of this question, and who has had large opportunities for obtaining informa¬ tion from intelligent lumbermen in those sec¬ tions and elsewhere. The importance of the trade in white pine lumber, the large amount of capital and in¬ dustry employed in ifc, and the quality of lum¬ ber manufactured in the States of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania an¬ nually, to supply fche consumption of the West- em States and Territories, and in parfc that of New York and the New England States, and the question of future supplies for the require¬ ments of increasing population and increasing wants, and decreasing area of supply, are all subjects of interest alike to the producer and consumer. In 1835 the so-caUed "pine land specula¬ tions " broke out violently in Maine, as a part of the mania that then prevailed in all parts of the United States and in aU kinds of properfcy and merchandise. The pine foirests of Maine were then considered and called inexhaustible, and partly with jus¬ tice when estimated by the dimensions of the trade at that time. But new markets were sought out, and the pine went to South America, the West Indies, Europe, Australia,.and Cali¬ fornia.. In twenty years the lumbermen of Maine were seeking new fields of pine, and found thein in New York, Pennsylyatiia, Michigan, and Canada. Maine is now practically exhaust¬ ed in merchantable white pine, and the same remark applies to all New England. The amount remaining in. the State of New York is small—too small to have any influence on the Albany market. , .New York and New Eng¬ land have to look to Canada, on the north, and Michigan, on the westj fdr -their supplies. In Pennsylvania the Dela-vvare, the Lehigh, the Schuylkill, and the'north branch of the Susquehanna, are atlcut out "clean," leaving but one field of pine—^that of the west branch of the Susquehanna and its tributaries^—now re¬ maining in the ITnited States east of the Alle¬ ghany Mountains. This field has been so large¬ ly cut into that it is reduced to a comparatively smaU area, and if the annual cuttings are con¬ tinued on the present scale—450 to 500 mU¬ lions of feet—six years would nearly clean that section; but as the timber lands are now mostly centred in few hands, pine in decreasing quantities wiU be cut for a longer period, with increasing profit as supplies diminish, to meet an increasing demand. " The AUeghany and its tributaries continue to produce moderately; but Michigan is the great producing State at the present time, and it is highly favored by nature for lumbering, from its numerous rivers and from being surrounded on the east, west, and north by the Great Lakes. The streams heading in the centre of the State flow to Lakes Huron and Michigan, on the east and west sides of the State, bearing the log product of the pine lands of the northern half of Michigan to the mUls which manufacture them for the supply of the Chicago market oh the one side, and the Lake ports and the Eastern markets on the other. The lumber of the Northern Peninsula goes to the same markets by the Great Lakes; but this field, as yet, has not been largely cut upon. Wisconsin possesses large pineries in the northern half of the State. A large amount is annuaUy manufactured on the east side of the State for the Chicago market, which is the largest in the United States or in the world. But the bulk of pine in this State naturaUy determines to the Mississippi River, by the rivers which drain the lands—the St. Croix, the Chippewa, Black River, and the Wisconsin, with other smaU streams. Minnesota has pineries of considerable ex¬ tent, mainly iu the northeastern part of the State. The annual cuttings from them go to the Mississippi River, or by railroad to the farmers of Iowa and Minnesota. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, are destitute of pine, but large consumers in'common with Missouri and Kansas. The production of white pine in the United States, estimated by the statistical data collected, wiU probably not vary very much from the foUowing.figures :— I-EET. Michigan: Average of the years 1868,1860, and 1870, obtained "from the annual reports, made mth great care___................. 1,800,000,000 Wisconsin and Minnesota...................1,250,000,000 Pennsylvania: logs and lon.g timber......... jj fi50,000,COO New York and New England................ 200,000,000 Total................................ 3,900,000,000 Add for long timber not included in above, and cuttings of smaU local miUs.......... 250,000,000 And the total would sum up................ 4,150,000,000 The value of this crop, allowing the value as nlanufactnred.at the miU, withoufcthe addition; of tmnsportation or profit to dealers, t6 be' placed at the Tow average of $15 pesr M., add the total value of shingles, laths, and pickets manufactured, and long timber, and the total •wiU aggregate seventy-five millions of doUars as the minimum valuation at the points of; pro¬ duction; add transportation, yard expenses, and profit, and it wiU amount to ISO.millions to the consumer, ■ The statistics of the State of Michigan have been made up annually, for seven years, from returns gathered from nearly every miU in the State and the different Boom Companies, and they are more complete than those of any other State. These reports have been compUed -with great care by Messrs. Lewis & Headly, of East Saginaw, Mich., and are regarded as a standard authority. A partial summary gives the fol¬ lowing exhibit:— FEET. The lumber manufactured in Michigan was, in 1868................................... 1,650,708,.538 The lumber manufactured in Michigan was, in 1869.................:................1,999,804,431 The lumber manufactured in Michigan was, in_1870..................................1,750,000,000 The amount of lumber manufactured during 1870 in the Saginaw VaUey, on the shore be¬ tween the mouth of the Saginaw and Sheboy¬ gan Rivers—Genesee County, Detroit, Port Huron, Huron County, and other parts in East¬ ern Michigan, hardly varied in the aggregate from the amount cut in 1869 1,000 miUions. The west side differed, as appears by the tables. 18C9. 1870. : 1-EET. FEEl". Muskegon Countv............419.350,555 289,429,673 Ottawa do. "............225;000,00O 176,000,000 Manistee do.............170,000,000 115,800,000 Oceana do.............85,000,000 67,000,000 Mason do. ............72,000,000 59,000,000 Grand Traverse..............19,000,000 26,500,900 South Haven, St. Jo., Holland 21,000,000 • 24,600,000 1,011,330,555 758,329,673 Decrease of amount, on the West Side, of 253,000,883; 7,000,000 of logs, averaging 250 feet to the log, were required for lSxe total manufactured in Michigan in 1870. The business in the Saginaw VaUey proper, from the time of its beginning, in 1858, presents remarkable features of gro-«vfii and importance. In 1^3 the amount manufactured was___ 1,500,000 feet. " 1863..................................133,500,000 " " 1864..................................215,000,000 " "1865..................................250,6.39,340 " " 1.S66..................................349,767,884 " "186r..................................423,963,190 •' "1868..................................457,396,225 " "1869.................................523,500,830 " "1870.................................576,726,606 " showing an increase of over 400 per cent since 1863. The increase in population and wealth is equaUy astounding, hi 1860 the population of six counties tributary to this Vj^ey was less than 17,000. Now they contain 65,000, with three cities of 7,000, 9,000, and 13,000 inhabi¬ tants respectively, in the Valley. ■The number of saw-mills in the VaUey was, in 1868, 89; 1869, 83 ; 1870, 83. Mulay saws, 61; circular, 79 ; gangs, 51—total, 191. Capital invested in mills......... .v___ $3,991,000 Number of men employed in mille...... - 3,124 The largest cutting by any miUs: H. W. Sage & Co........'........'... 34,450,000 feet. W. E. Burt & Co................... 18,047,083 " Bust, Eaton & Co................... 15,500,000 " Sears & Hollaad..................-•. 17,214,580 •' A. W. Wright &.Co................. 16,682,774 " A large number range between 8 and 13 mU¬ Uons. '. The amount of capital invested in timber , lands, and employed in lumbering and holding the lumber untU ready for market counts by miUions. The stock of manufactured lumber left over on dock, Jan. 1871, was 130,^2,190 feet, of which 47,863,000 were sold, leaving a balance unsold, of 83,660,190, a large portion