Vernon County, Wisconsin - Biographical sketches (6 of 6 so headed), 1884 (part 3 of 3)

Magnetic Ores And Specular Hematites

These are taken together here because their geological occurrence in the same, the two ores occurring not only in the same grouj) of rocks, but even intimately mingled with one another. These ores are not now produced in Wisconsin; but it is quite probable that they may before many years become its principal mineral production. In magnetic iron ore the iron is in the shape of the mineral magnetite, an oxide of iron containing 72.4 per cent, of iron wiien pure, and this is the highest percentage of iron that any ore can ever have. Specular hematite is the sime as red hematite, but is crystaliiie, has a bright, metallic luster, and a considerable hardness. As mined the richest magnetic and specular ores rarely run over sixty-five per cent., while in most regions where they are mined they commonly do not reach fifty per cent. The amount of rich ores of this kind in the northern peninsula of Michigan is so great, however, that an ore with less than fifty per cent, finds no sale; and the same must be true in the adjoining Stales. So largely does this matter of richness affect the value of an rre, that an owner of a mine of forty-five per cent "hard" ore in Wisconsin would find it cheaper to import and smelt Michigan sixtyfive per cent, ore than to smelt his own, even if his furnace and mine were side by side.

The specular and magnetic ores of Wisconsin occur in two districts - the Penokee iron district, ten to twenty miles south of Lake Superior, in Bayfield, Ashland and Lincoln counties, and the Menomonee iron district, near the head waters of the Menomonee river, in township 40, ranges 17 and 18 east, Oconto county. Specular iron in veins and nests is found in small quantities with the quartz rocks of the ]5araboo valley, Sauk county and Necedah,Juneau county and very large quantities of a specular quartzschist, charged with more or less of the magnetic and specular iron oxides, occur in the vicinity of Black River Falls, Jackson county but in none of these places is there any promise of the existence of valuable ore.

In the Penokee and Menomonee regions the iron ores occur in a series of slaty and quartzose rocks known to geologists as the Haronian series. The rocks of these districts are really the extensions westward of a great rock series, which in the northern Michigan peninsula contains the rich iron ores that have made that region so famous. In position, this rock series may be likened to a great elongated parabola, the head of which is in the Marquette iron district and the two ends in the Penokee and Menomonee regions of Wisconsin. In all of its extent, this rock series holds great beds of lean magnetic and specular ores. These contain large quantities of quartz, which, from its great hardness, renders them very resistent to the action of atmospheric erosion. As a result these lean ores are found forming high and bold ridges.. Such ridges of lean ores have deceived many explorers, and not a few geologists. In the same rock series, for the most part occupying portions of a higher layer, are found, however, ores of extraordinary richness and purity, which, from their comparative softness, very rarely outcrop. The existence in quantity of these very rich ores in the Menomonee region has been definitely proven. One deposit, laid open during the summer of 1877, shows a width of over 150 feet of first-class specular ore; and exceeding in size the greatest of the famous deposits in Michigan. In the Penokee region, however, though the indications are favorable, the existence of the richer ores is as yet an inference only. The Penokee range itself is a wonderful development of lean ore, which forms a continuous belt several hundred feet in width and over thirty miles in length. Occasionally portions of this belt ai"e richer than the rest, and become al- most merchantable ores. The probability is, however,that the rich ores of this region will be found in the lower country immediately nortli of the Penokee range, where the rocks are buried beneath he.vy accumulations of drift material.

Copper

The only copper ore at present raised in Wisconsin is obtained near Mineral Point, in the lead region of the southwestern part of the State, where small qnanties of ehalcopyrite, the yellow sulphide of copper and iron, are obtained from pockets and limited crevices in the galena limestone. Copper pyrites is known to occur in this way throughout the lead region, but it does not appear that the quantity at any point is sufficient to warrant exploration.

Copper occurs also in the northernmost portions of Wisconsin, where it is found under altogether different circumstances. The great copper-bearing series of rocks of Keweenaw Point and Isle Royal stretch soutwestward into and entirely across the State of Wisconsin, in two parallel belts. One of these belts enters Wisconsin at the mouth of the Montreal river, and immediately leaving the shore of Lake Superior, crosses Ashland and Bayfield counties, and then widening greatly, occupies a large area in Douglas, St. Croix, Barron an Chippewa counties. The other belt forms the backbone of the Bayfield peninsula, and crosses the northern part of Douglas county, forming a bold ridge to the Minnesota line. The rocks of this great series appear to be for the most part of igneous origin, but they are distinctly l)edded, and even interstratified with sandstone, shales, and coarse boulder-conglomerate, the whole series have generally a tilted position. In veins crossing the rock beds, and scattered also promiscuously through the layers of both conglomerates and igneous rocks, pure metallic conper in fine flakes is often found. Mining on a small scale has been attempted at numbers of points where the rivers flowing northward into Lake Superior make gorges across the

Gold And Silver

Small traces of gold have been detected by the writer in quartz from the crystalline rocks of Clark county, but there is no probability that any quantity of this metal will ever be found in the State. Traces of silver have also been found in certain layers of the copper series in Ashland county. Judging from the occurrence of silver in the same series not far to the east in Michigan, it seems not improbable that this metal may be found also in Wisconsin.

Brick Clays

These constitute a very important resource in Wisconsin. Extending inland for many miles from the shores of Lakes Michigan and Superior are stratified beds of clay of lacustrine origin, having been deposited by the lake* when greatly expanded beyond their present sizes. All of these clays are characterized by the presence of a large amount of carbonate of lime. Along Lake Superior they have not yet been utilized, but all through the belt of country bordering Lake Michigan they are dug and burned, fully 50,000,000 bricks being made annually inthis region. A large proportion of these bricks are wliite or cream-colored, and these are widely known under the name oi "Milwaukee brick," though by no means altogether made at Milwaukee. Others are ordinary red brick. The difference between the light-colored and red bricks is ordinarily attributed to the greater amount of iron in the clay from which the latter are burned, but it has been shown by Mr. E. T. Sweet that the white bricks are burned from clay which often contains more iron than that from which the red bricks are made, but which also contains a very large amount of carbonate of lime.

loo, 1,600,000 ; and in smaller quantities at Jefferson, Fort Atkinson, Eilgcrton, Whitewater, Geneva, Ozaukee, Sheboygan Falls, Manitowoc, Kewaunee and other places. In most cases the cream-colored bricks are made from a bright red clay, although occasionally the clay is light colored. At Whitewater and other places tile and pottery are also made from this clay.

Although these lacustrine clays are much the most important in Wisconsin, excellent brick clays are also found in the interior of the State. In numbers of places along the Yahara valley, in Dane county, an excellent stratified clay occurs. At Madison this is burned to a red brick ; at Stoughton and Oregon to a fine cream-colored brick. At Platteville, Lancaster and other points in the southwestern part of the State, red bricks are made from clays found in the vicinity.

The word "kaolin" is applied by geologists to a clay-like material which is used in making chinaware in this country and in Europe. The word is of Chinese origin, and is applied by the Chinese to the substance from which the famous porcelain of China is made. Its application to the European porcelain-clay was made under the mistaken idea - one which has prevailed among scientists until very recently - that the Chinese material is the same as the European. This we now know to be an error, the Chinese and Japanese wares being both made altogether from a solid rock.

True kaolin, using the word in its European sense, is unlike other ordinary clays, in being the result of the disintegration of feldspathic crystalline rocks "in place," that is, without being removed from the place of its first formation. The base of kaolin is a mineral known as kaolinite, a compound of silica, alumina and water, which results from a change or decay of the feldspar of feldspar-bearing rocks. Feldsparcontains silica, alumina, and soda or potash, oiboth. By percolation through the rocks of surface water carrying carbonic acid, the potash and soda are removed and kaolinite results. Mingled with the kaolinite are, however, always the other ingredients of the rock, quartz, mica, etc., and also always some undecomposed, or only partly decompo!;ed feldspar. These foreign ingredients can all, however, be more or less i)erfeetly removed by a system of levigation, when a pure white clay results, composed almost wholly of the scales of the mineral kaolinite. Prepared in this way the kaolin has a high value as a refractory material, and for forming the base of fine porcelain wares.

The crystalline rocks, which, by decomposition, would produce a kaolin, are widely spread over the northern part of Wisconsin ; but over the most of the region occupied by them there is no sign of the existence of kaolin, the softened rock having apparently been removed by glacial action. In a belt of country, however, which extends from Grand Rapids on the Wisconsin, westward to Black river, in Jackson county, the drift is insignificant or entirely absent ; the glacial forces have not acted, and the crystalline rocks are, or once were, overlaid by sandstone, along whose line of junction with the underlying formation numerous watercourses have existed, the result being an unusual amount of disintegration. Here we find, in the beds of the Wisconsin, Yellow and Black rivers, large exposures of crystalline rocks, which, between the rivers, are overlaid by sandstone. The crystalline rocks are in distinct layers, til ed at high angles, and in numerous places decomposed into a soft white kaolin. Inasmuch as these layers strike across the country in long, straight lines, patches of kaolin are found ranging themselves into similar lines. The kaolin patches are most abundant on the Wisconsin in the vicinity of the city of Grand Rapids, in Wood county. They vary greatly in size, one depo.sit even varying from a fraction of an inch to a number of feet in thickness. The kaolin varies, also, greatly in character, some being quite impure and easily fusible from a large content of iron oxide or from partial decomposition only, while much of it is very pure and refractory. There is no doubt, however, tliat a large amount of -kaolin exists in this region, and that by selection and levigation an excellent material may be obtained, which, by mingling with powdered quartz, may be made to yield a fire-brick of unusual refractoriness, and which may even be employed in making fine porcelain ware.

Cement Eock

Certain layers of the Lower Magnesian limestone, as at Ripon, and other points in the eastern part of the Stac, are known to produce a lime which has in some degree the hydraulic property, and the same is true of certain layers of the blue limestone of the Trenton group, in the southwestern part of the State, the most valuable material of this kind, however, that is as yet known to exist in Wisconsin, is found near Milwaukee, and has become very recently somewhat widely known as the "Milwaukee" cement rock. This rock belongs to the Hamilton formation, and is found near the Washington street bridge, at Brown Deer, on the lake shore at Whitefish bay, and at other points in the immediate vicinity of Milwaukee. The quantity attainable is largo, and a very elaborate series of tests by D. J. Whittemore, chief engineer of the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, shows that the cement made from it exceeds all native and foreign cements in strength, excejjt the famous English "Portland" cement.

Quick-lime is made from all of the great limestone formations of Wisconsin, but more is burnt from the Lower Magnesian and Niagara formations, than from the others. The Lower Magnesian yields a very strong mortar, but the lime burned from it is not very white. It is burned largely in the region about Madison, one of the largest quai-ries being on the south line of section 33 of that town, where some 20,000 bushels are produced annually, in two kilns. The lime from this place has a considerable local reputation under the name of "Madison lime." The Trenton limestone is burned at a few points, but yields an inferior lime. The Galena is not very generally burned, but yields a better lime than the Trenton. In the region about Watertown and Whitewater, some 40,000 to 50,000 barrels are made annually from this formation.

The Niagara, however, is the great lime furnisher of the northwest. From its purity it is adapted to the making of a most admirable lime. It is burned on a large scale at numbers of points in the eastern part of the State.

The limestones of Wisconsin are rarely used as a flux, because of their prevalent magnesian character. The stone from Schoonmaker's quarry, near Milwaukee, is used at the Bay View iron works, and is one of the few cases. There are certain layers, however, in the Trenton limestone, widely spread over the southern part of the State, which are non-magnesian, and frequently sufficiently free from earthy impurities to be used as a flux. These layers deserve the attention of the iron masters of the State.

Glass Sand

Much of the St. Peter's sandstone is a purely siliceous, loose, white sand, well adapted to the making of glass. It is now being put to this use at points in the eastern part of the State.

Peat

Peat exists in large quantities and of good quality underneath the numerous marshes of the eastern and central parts of the State. Whether it can be utilized in the future as a fuel, will depend altogether upon the cost of its preparation, which will have to be very low in order that it may compete with superior fuels. As a fertilizer, peat has always a great value, and requires no preliminary treatment.

Building Stones

All the rocky formations of Wisconsin are used in building, and even the briefest synopsis of the subject of the building stones of the State

Granite occurs in protruding masses, and also grading into gneiss, in the northern portions of the Stale, at numerous points. In many places on the Wisconsin, Yellow and Black rivers, and especially at Big Bull Falls, Yellow river, red granites of extraordinary beauty and value occur. These are not yet utilized, but will in the future have a high value.

The handsomest and most valuable sandstone found in Wisconsin, is that which extends along the shore of Lake Superior, from the Michigan to the Minnesota line, and which forms the basement rock of the Apostle islands. On one of these islands a very large quarry is opened, from which are taken masses of almost any size, of a very close-grained, uniform, dark brown stone, which has been shipped largely to Chicago and Milwaukee. At the latter place, the well known court house is built of this stone. An equally good stone can be obtained from the neighboring islands, and from points on ihe mainland. A very good white to brown indurated sandstone is obtained from the middle portions of the Potsdam series, at Stevens Point, Portage county; near, Grand Rapids, Wood county; at Black River Falls, Jackson county; at Packwaukee, Marquette county; near Wau toma, Waushara county; and at several points in the Baraboo .valley, Sauk county. A good buff colored, calcareous sandstone is quarried and used largely in the vicinity of Madison, from the uppermost layers of the Potsdam series.

All of the limestone formations of the State are quarried for building stone. A layer known locally as the "Mendota" limestone, included in the upper layers of the Potsdam series, yields a very evenly bedded, yellow, fine grained rock, which is largely quarried along the valley of the lower Wisconsin, and also in the country about Madison. In the town of Westport, Dane county, a handsome, fine grained, cream colored, limestone is obtained from the Lower Magnesian. The Trenton limestone yields an evenly bedded, thin stone, which is frequently used for laying in wall. The Galena and Niagara are also utilized, and the latter is capable, in much of tte eastern part of the State, of furnishing a durable, easily dressed, compact, white stone.

Commebcb And Manufactures

The material philosophy of a people has to to do with the practical and usefull. It sees in iron, coal, cotton, wool, grain and the trees of the forest, the elements of personal comfort and sources of material greatness, and is applied to their development, production and fabrication for purposes of exchange, interchange and sale. The early immigrants to Wisconsin territory found a land teeming with unsurpassed natural advantages ; prairies, timber, water and minerals, inviting the farmer, miner and lumberman, to come and build houses, furnaces, mills and factories. The first settlers were a food-producing people. The prairies and openings were ready for the plow. The ease with which farms were brought under cultivation, readily enabled the pioneer to supply the food necessary for himself and family, while a surplus was often produced in a few months. The hardships so often encountered in the settlement of a new country, where forests must be felled and stumps removed to prepare the soil for tillage, were scarcely known, or greatly mitigated.

During the decade from 1835 to 1845, so great were the demands for the products of the soil, created by the tide of emigration, that the settlers found a home market for all their sur plus products, and so easily were crops grown, that within a very brief time after the first emigration, but little was required from abroad. The commerce of the country was carried on by the exchange of products. The settlers (they could scarcely be called farmers) would exchange their wheat, corn, oats and pork for the goods, wares and fabrics of the village merchant. It was an age of barter ; but they looked at the capabilities of the land they had come to possess, and, with firm faith, saw

It is not designed to trace with minuteness the history of Wisconsin through the growth of its commercial and manufacturing interests. To do it justice would require a volume. 1 he aim of this article will be to present a concise f view of its present status. Allusion will only be incidentally made to stages of growth and progress by which it has been reached.

Few States in the Union possess within their borders so many, and in such abundance, elements that contribute to the material prosperity of a people. Its soil of unsurpassed fertility ; its inexhaustible mines of lead, copper, zinc and iron ; its almost boundless forests ; its waterpowers, sufficient to drive the machinery of the world ; its long lines of lake shore on two sides, and the "Father of Waters" on another - need but enterprise, energy and capital to utilize them in building an empire of wealth, where the hum of varied industries shall be heard in the music of the sickle, the loom and the anvil.

The growth of manufacturing industries was slow during the tirst twenty-five years of our history. The early settlers were poor. Fre- ([ueiitly the land they tilled was pledged to obtain means to pay for it. Capitalists obtained from twenty to thirty per cent, per annum for the use of their money. Indeed, it was the rule, under the free-trade ideas of the moneylenders, for them to play the Shylock. While investments in bonds and mortgages were so profitable, few were ready to improve the natural advantages the country presented for building factories and work-shops.

For many years quite all the implements used in farming were brought from outside the State. While this is the case at present to some extent with the more cumbersome farm machinery, quite a proportion of that and most of the simpler and lighter implements are made at home,

The northwest was visited and explored by French iioi/ageurs and missionaries from Canada at an early day. The object of the former was trading and gain. The Jesuits, ever zealous in the propagation of their religion, went forth into the unknown wilderness to convert the natives to their faith. As early as !624 they were operating about Lake Huron and Mackinaw. Father Menard, it is related, was with the Indians on Lake Superior as early as 1661. The early explorers were of two classes, and were stimulated by two widely different motives - the voyageiirs, by the love of gain, and the missionaries, by their zeal in the propagation of their faith. Previous to 1679 a considerable trade in furs had sprung up with Indian tribes in the vicinity of Mackinaw and the northern part of "Ouisconsin." In that year more than 200 canoes, laden with furs, passed Mackinaw, bound for Montreal. The whole commerce of this vast region then traversed was carried on with birch-bark canoes. The French used them in traversing wilds - otherwise inaccessible by reason of floods of water at one season, and ice and snow at another - also lakes and morasses which interrupted land journeys, and rapids and cataracts that cut off cummunication by water. This little vessel enabled them to overcome all difliculties. Being buoyant, it rode the waves, although heavily freighted, and, of light draft, it permitted the traversing of small streams. Its weight was so light that it could be easily carried from one stream to another, and around rapids and other obstructions. With this little vessel the fur trade of the northwest was carried on, as well as the interior of a vast continent explored. Under the stimulus of commercial enterprise, the French traders penetrated the recesses of the immense forests wliose streams were the home of the beaver, the otter and the mink, and in whose depths were found the martin, sable, ermine and other fur-bearing animals. A vast trade in furs sprung up and was carried on by different agents, under authority of the French government.

When the military possession of the northwestern domain passed from the government of France to that of Great Britain in 1760, the relationship of the fur trade to the government changed. The government of France had controlled the traffic and made it a means of strengtiiening its hold upon the country it ])0Ssessed. The policy of Great Britain was to charter companies and grant them exclusive privileges. The Hudson Bay Company had grown rich and powerful between 1670 and 1760 Its success had excited the cupidity of capitalists, and rival organizations were formed. The business of the company had been done at their trading stations, the natives bringing in their furs for exchange and barter. Other companies sent their voyageurs into every nooli and corner to traffic with the trappers, and even to catch the fur bearinganimals themselves. In the progress of time private parties engaged in trapping and dealing in furs, and under tlie competition created, tlie business became less profitable. In 1815 Congress passed an act prohibiting foreigners from dealing in furs in the L'nited States or in any of its territories. This action was obtained through the influence of John Jacob Astor. Mr. Astor organized the American Fur Company in 1S09, and afterward, in connection witli the Northwest Company, bought out the Mackinaw Company, and the two were merged in the Southwest Company. The association was suspended by the War of 1812. The American re-entered the field in 181G. The fur trade is still an important branch of traffic in the northern part of the State, and, during eight months of the year, employs a large number of men.

Lead And Zixc

In 1824 the lead ore in the southwestern part of Wisconsin began to attract attention. From 1826 to 1S30 there was a great rush of miners to this region, som^ewhat like the Pike's Peak excitement at a later date. The lead producing region of Wisconsin covers an area of about 2,200 square miles, and embraces parts of Grant, Iowa and La Fayette counties. Between 1829 and 1839 the production of lead increased from 5000 to 10,000 tons. After the latter year it rose rapidly and attained its maximum in 1845, when it reached nearly 25,000 tons. Since that time the production has decreased, although still carried on to a considerable extent.

The sulphate and carbonate of zinc abound in great quantities with the lead of southwest Wisconsin. Owing to the difficulty of working this class of ores, it was formerly allowed to accumulate about the mouths of the mines.' Within a few years past raetallurgic processes have been so greatly improved that the zinc ores have been largely utilized. At La Salle, in the State of Illinois, there are three establishments for smelting zinc ores. There is also one at Peru, III. To smelt zinc ores economically, they are taken where cheap fuel is available. Hence, the location of these works in the vicinity of coal mines. The works mentioned made, from ores taken mostly from Wiscop.sin, 7,510 tons of zinc. These metals are, therefore, important elements in the commerce of Wisconsin.

Iron

The iron ores of Wisconsin occur in immense beds in several localities, and are destined to prove of great value. From their product in 1863, there were 3,735 tons of pig iron received at Milwaukee; in 1865, 4,785 tons; in 18'i8, 10,- 890 tons. Of the latter amount, 4,648 tons were from the iron mines at Mayville. There were shipped from Milwaukee, in 1868, 6,361 tons of pig iron. There were also received 2,500 tons of ore from the Dodge county ore beds. During 1869 the ore beds at Iron Ridge were developed to a considerable extent, and two large blast furnaces constructed in Milwaukee, at which place there were 4,695 tons of ore received, and 2,059 tons were shipped to Chicago and Wyandotte. In 1870, 112,060 tons of iron ore were received at Milwaukee, 95,000 tons of whicli were from Iron Ridge, and 17,060 tons from Escanaba and Marquette, in Michigan. The total product of tlie mines at Iron Ridge in 1S71 was 82,284 tons. The Milwauliee Iron Company received by lake, in the same year. 28,094 tons of Marquette iron ore to mix witli the former in making railroad iron. In 1872 there were received from Iron Ridge 85,245 tons of ore, and 5,620 tons of pig iron. Much of the metal made by the Wisconsin Iron Company in 1872 was shipped to St. Louis, to mix with the iron made from Missouri ore.

The Milwaukee Iron Company, during the year 1872, entered into the manufacture of merchant iron - it having been demonstrated that the raw material could be reduced there cheaper than elsewhere. The Minerva Furnace Company built also during the same year one of the most compact and complete iron furnaces to be found any where in the country. During the year 1873, the iron with most other material interests became seriously prostrated, so that the total receipts of ore in Milwaukee in 1874 amounted to only 31,993 tons, against 69,418 in 1873, and 85,245 tons in 1872. There were made in Milwaukee in 1874, 29,680 tons of railroad iron. In 1875, 58,868 tons of ore were received at Milwaukee, showing a revival of trade in an increase of 19,786 tons over the previous year. The operation of the works at Bay View having suspended, the receipts of ore in 1876, at Milwaukee, were less than during any year since 1869, being only 31,119 tons, of which amount only 5,488 tons were from Iron Ridge, and the total shipments were only 498 tons.

Lumber

The business of lumbering holds an important rank in the commerce of the State. For many years the ceaseless hum of the saw and the stroke of the ax have been heard in all our great forests. The northern portion of the State is characterized by evergreen trees, principally pine; the southern, by hard-woods. There are exceptional localities, but this is a correct statement of the general distribution. I think that, geologically speaking, the evergreens belong to the primitive and sandstone regions, and the hard wood to the limestone and clay formations. Northern Wisconsin, so called, embraces that portion of the State north of forty-five degrees, and possesses nearly all the valuable pine forests. The most thoroughly developed portion of this region is that lying along the streams entering into Green bay and Lake Michigan, and bordering on the Wisconsin river and other streams entering into the Mississippi. Most of the pine in the immediate vicinity of these streams has been cut off well toward their sources; still, there are vast tracts covered with dense forests, not accessible from streams suitable for log-driving purposes. The building of railroads into these forests will alone give a market value to a large portion of the pine timber there growing. It is well, perhaps, that this is so, for at the present rate of consumption, but a few years will elapse before these forests will be totally destroyed. Most of the lumber manufactured on the rivers was formerly taken to a market by being floated down the streams in rafts. Now, the railroads are transporting large quantities, taking it directly from the mills and unloading it at interior points in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin, and some of it in eastern cities. From 5,000 to 8,000 men are employed in the pineries in felling the trees, sawing them into logs of suitable length, and hauling them to the mills and streams during every winter in times of fair prices and favorable seasons. The amount of lumber sawed in 1860, as carefully estimated, was 355,065,155 feet. The amount of shingles made was 2,272,061, and no account was made of the immense number of logs floated out of the State, for manufacture into lumber elsewhere. The amount of logs cut in the winter of 1873-74 was 987,000,000 feet. In 1876 and 1877 the Black river furnished 188,344,464 feet. The Chippewa, 90,000,OCO; the Red Ce- dar, 57,000,000. There passed through Beef Slough 129,384,000 feet of logs. Hon A. H. Eaton, for fourteen years rceiver of the United States land office at Stevens Point, estimated the acreage of pine lands in his district at 2,000,000, and taking his own district as the basis, he estimated the whole State at 8,000,000 acres. Reckoning this at 5,000 feet to the acre, the aggregate pine timber of the State would be 40,000,000,000 feet. The log product annually amounts to an im nense sum. In 1876,1,172,- 611,823 feet were cut. This is about the average annual di'aft that is made on the pine lands. There seems to be no remedy for the wholesale destruction of our pine forests, except the one alluded to, the difficulty of transportation, and this will probably save a portion of them for a long time in the future. At the rate of consumption for twenty years past, we can estimate that fifty years would see northern Wisconsin denuded of its pine forests; but our lumber product has reached its maximum, and will probably decrease in the coming years as the distance to be hauled to navigable streams increases. In the mean time lumber, shingles and lath will form an important factor in our commerce, both State and inter-State, and will contribute millions to the wealth of our citizens.

Grain

Up to 1841, no grain was exported from Wisconsin to be used as food; but, from the time of its first settlement in 1S3G to 1840, the supply of bread stuffs from abroad, upon which the people depended, was gradually diminished by the substitution of home products. In the winter of 1840 - 41, E. D. Ilolton, of Milwaukee, purchased a small cargo of wheat (about 4,000 bushels), and in the spring cf 1841, shipped it to Buffalo. This was the beginning of a traffic that has grown to immense proportions, and, since that time, wheat has formed the basis of the commerce and prosperity of the State, until the city of Milwaukee has become the greatest primary wheat mart of the world.

Up to ] 856, the shipments were almost wholly of V/isconsin products; but with the completion of linos of railroad from Milwaukee to the Mississippi river, the commerce of Wisconsin became so interwoven with that of Iowa and Minnesota, that the data furnished by the transportation companies give us no definite figures relating to the products of our own State.

Dairy Products

Wisconsin is becoming largely interested in the dairy business. Its nnmerdus springs, streams, and natural adaptability to grass, make ii a fine grazing country, and stock thrives remarkably well. Within a few years, cheesefactories have become numerous, and their owners are meeting with excellent success. Wisconsin cheese is bringing the highest price in the markets, and much of it is shipped to England. Butter is also made of a superior quality, and is extensively exported. At the rate of progress made during the last few years, Wisconsin will soon take rank with the leading cheese and butter producing States. The counties most largely interested in dairyihg are Kenosha, Walworth, Racine, Rock, Green, Waukesha, AVinnebago, Sheboygan, Jefferson and Dodge. According to estimates by experienced dairymen, the manufacture of bntter was 22,- 473,000 pounds in 1870; 50,130,000 in 1876; of cheese, 1, .501, 000 pounds in 1870, as against 17,- 000,000 in 1876, which will convey a fair idea of the increase of dairy production. The receipts of cheese in Chicago during 1876 were 23,780,000 pounds, against 12,000,000 in 1875; and the receipts of butter were 35,334,184, against 30,284,247 pounds in 1875. It is estimated that fully one-half of these receipts were from Wisconsin. The receipts of butter in Milwaukee were, in 1870, 3,779,114 pounds; in 1875, 6,625,863; in 1876, 8,938,137 pounds; of cheese, 5,721,279 pounds in 1875, and 7,055,573 in 1876. Cheese is not mentioned in the trade and commerce reports of Milwaukee until 1873, when it is spoken of as a new and rapidly in- roRK AND Beef.. Improved breeds, both of swine and cattle, have been introduced into the State during a few years past. The grade of stock has been rapidly bettered, and stock raisers generally are striving with commendable zeal to rival each other in raising the finest animals for use and the market.

The culture of hops, as an article df commerce, received but little attention prior to 1860. In 1865, 2,864 bales only were shipped from Milwaukee. In addition, a large amount was used by the brewers throughout the State. In 1866, the amount exported was increased, and 5,774 bales were shipped to eastern markets. The price, from forty-five to fifty-five cents per pound, stimulated production, and the article became one of the staple products of the counties of Sauk, Columbia, Adams and Juneau, besides being largely cultivated in parts of some other counties. In 1867, 26,562 bales were received at Milwaukee, and the prices ranged from fifty to seventy cents per pound. The estimated crop of the State for 1867 was 35,000 bales, and brought over $4,200,000. In 1868, not less than 60,000 bales were grown in tlie State. The crop everywhere was a large one, and in Wisconsin, so very large that an oveisupply was anticipated. But few, however, were prepared for the decline in prices, that far exceeded the worst apprehensions of those interested. The first sales were made at twentyfive to thirty-five cents per pound, and the prices were reluctantly accepted by the growers. The price continued to decline until the article was unsalable and unavailable in the market. Probably the average price did not exceed ten cents per pound. Notwithstanding the severe check w^iich hop-growing received in 1868, by the unprofitable result, growers were not discouraged, and the crop of 1869 was a large one. So much of the crop of 1868 remained in the hands of the growers, that it is impossible to estimate that of 1869. The new crop sold for from ten to fifteen cents, and the old for from three to five cents per pound. Hopcultivation received a check from over production in 1868, from which it did not soon recover. A large portion of the yards were plowed under in 1870. The crop of 1869 was much of it marketed during 1870, at a price of about two and one-half to three and one-half cents per pound, while that of 1870 brought ten to twelve and a half cents. During the year 1871 a great advance in the price, caused by the partial failure of the crop in some of the eastern States, and the decrease in prices causing a decrease in production, what was left over of the crop of 1870 more than doubled in value before the new reached the market. The latter opened at thirty-five cents, and steadily rose to fifty and fifty-five for prime qualities. The crop of 1872 was of good quality, and the market opened at forty to fifty-five cents as the selling price, and fell fifteen to twenty cents before the close of the year. A much larger quantity was raised than the year previous. In 1873 and 1874 the crop was fair and prices ruled from thirty-three to forty-five cents, with increased production. About 18,000 bales were reported as being shipped from the different railway stations of the State. Prices were extremely irregular during 1875, and, after the new crop reached market, fell to a point that would not pay the cost of production. In 1876 prices ruled low at the opening of the year, and advauced from five to ten cents in January to twenty-eight to thirty in November. Over 17,000 bales were received at Milwaukee, over 10,000 bales being of the crop of the previous year. Over 13,000 bales were shipped out of the State.

Tobacco

Tobacco raising is comparatively a new industry in Wisconsin, but is rapidly growing in importance and magnitude. It sells readily for from four to ten cents per pound, and the plant is easily raised. It is not regarded as of superior quality. It first appears as a commodity of transportation in the railway reports for the year IiS71, when the Prairie du Chien division of the St. Paul road moved eastward 1,373,650 pounds. During the four years ending with 1876, there were shipped from Milwaukee an average of 5,118,530 pounds annually, the maximum being in 1874, 6,982,175 pounds ; the minimum in 1875, 2,743,854 pounds. The crop of 1876 escaped the early frosts, and netted the producer from five to seven cents per pound. The greater part of it was shipped to Baltimore and Philadelphia. Comparatively little of the leaf raised in the State is used here or by western manufacturers. The crop of the present year, 1877, is a large one, and has been secured in good order. It is being contracted for at from four to six cents per pound.

The cranberry trade is yet in its infancy. But little, comparatively, has been done in developing the capabilities of the extensive bodies of marsh and swamp lands interspersed throughout the northern part of the State. Increased attention is being paid to the culture of the fruit ; yet, the demand will probably keep ahead of the supply for many years to come. In 1851 less than 1,500 barrels were sent out of the State. In 1872, the year of greatest production, over 37,000 barrels were exported, and, in 1876, about 17,000 barrels. The price lias varied in different years, and taken a range from eigiit to fifteen dollars a barrel.

Spirituous And Malt Liquors

The production of liquors, both spirituous and malt, has kept pace with the growth of population and with the other industries of the State. There were in Wisconsin, in 1872, 292 breweries and ten distilleries. In 1876 there were 293 of the former and ten of the latter, and most of them were kept running to their full capacity. Milwaukee alone produced, in 1376, 321,611 barrels of lager beer, and 43,175 barrels of high wines. In 1S65 it furnished 65,

666 barrels of beer, and in 1870, 108,845 barrels. In 1865 it furnished 3,046 barrels of high wines; in 1870, 22,867 barrels ; and in 1875, 39,005. A large quantity of the beer made was shipped to eastern and southern cities. The beer made in 1876 sold at the rate of ten dollars per barrel, the wholesale price of the brewers bringing the sum of $3,216,110. The fame of Milwaukee lager beer is widely extended. This city has furnished since 1870, 1,520,308 barrels which, at the wholesale price, brought $15,203, 170. The total production of beer by all the 293 breweries of the State, for 1876, was 450, 508 barrels.

In 1S76 Milwaukee produced 43,175 barrels of high wines, or distilled spirits, and the State jf VVisconsin, 51,959 barrels. In 1870 the former produced 108,845 barrels of beer, and 22,867 barrels of distilled spirits, and in the same year the State of Wisconsin produced 189,664 barrels of beer and 36,145 barrels of distilled spirits.

Porcelain clay, or kaolin, is found in numerous places in Wood and Marathon counties. The mineral is found in but few places in the United States in quantities sufficient to justify the investment of capital necessary to manufacture it. In the counties mentioned the deposits are found in extensive beds, and only capital and enterprise are needed to make their development profitable. Clay of superior (juality making brick and of fair quality for pottery, is found in numerous localities. The famous '-Milwaukee brick, "remarkable for their beautiful cream color, is made from a fine clay which is abundant near Milwaukee, and is found in extensive beds at Watertown, Whitewater, Edgerton, Stoughton, and several places on the lake shore north of Milwaukee. At Whitewater and some other places the clay is used with success for the making of pottery ware. Water-lime, or hydraulic cement, occurs in numerous places throughout the State. An extensive bed, covering between 100 and 200 acres and of an indefinite depth, exists on the banks of the Milwaukee river, and not over one and a half miles from the city limits of Milwaukee. The cement made from the rock of this deposit is first class in quality, and between 20,000 and 30,000 barrels were made and sold last year. The capacity of the works for reducing the rock to cement has been increased to 500 barrels per day. Stones suitable for building purposes are widely distributed throughout the State, and nearly every town has its available quarry. Many of these quarries furnish stone of fine quality for substantial and permanent edifices. The quarry at Prairie du C'hieii furnished the stone for the capitol building at Madison, which equals in beauty that of any State in the Union. At Milwaukee, Waukesha, Madison, La Crosse and many other place8,are found quarries of superior building stone. Granite is found in extensive beds in Marathon and Wood counties, and dressed specimens exhibited at the "Centennial" last year, attracted attention for their fine polish. Marbles of various kinds are likewise found in the State. Some of them are beginning to attract attention and are likely to prove valuable. The report of Messrs. Foster & Whitney, United States geologists, speaks of quarries on the Menomonee and Michigamig rivers as affording beautiful varieties and susceptible of a high polish. Richland county contains marble, but its quality is generally considered inferior.

Water Powers

Wisconsin is fast becoming a manufacturing State. Its forests of pine, oak, walnut, maple, ash and other valuable woods used for lumber, are well-nigh inexhaustible. Its water-power for driving the wheels of machinery is not equaled by that of any State in the northwest. The Lower Fox river, between Lake Winnebago and Green Bay, a distance of thirty-five miles, furnishes some of the best facilities for manufacturing enterprise in the whole country. Lake Winnebago as a reservoir gives it a great and special advantage, in freedom from liability to freshets and droughts. The stream never varies but a few feet from its highest to its lowest stage, yet gives a steady flow. The Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Company has, during the last twenty five years, constructed numerous dams, canals and locks, constituting very valuable improvements. All the property of that company has been transferred to the United States government, which has entered upon a system to render the Fox and Wisconsin rivers navigable to the Mississippi. The fall between the lake and Depere is 150 feet, and the water can be utilized in propelling machinery at Neenah, Menasha, Appleton, Cedar, Little Chute, Kaukauna, Rapid Croche, Little Kaukauna and Depere. The water-power at Appleton in its natural advantages, is pronounced by Hon. Hiram Barney, of New York, superior to those at Lowell, Paterson and Rochester, combined. The water-power of the Fox has been improved to a c msiderable extent, but its full capacity has hardly been touched. Attention has been drawn to it, however, and no doubt is entertained that ill a few years the hum of machinery to be propelled by it, will be heaid the entire length of the thirty-five miles. The facilities presented by its nearness to timber, iron, and a rich and productive agricultural region, give it an advantage over any of the eastern manufacturing points.

The Wisconsin river rises in the extreme northern part of the State, and has its source in a great number of small lakes. The upper portion abounds in valuable water privileges, only a few of which are improved. There are a large number of saw mills running upon the power of this river. Other machinery, to a limited extent, is in operation.

The "Big Bull" Falls, at Wausau, are improved, and a power of twenty-two feet fall is obtained. At Little Bull Falls, below Wausau, there is a fall of eighteen feet, partially improved. There are many other water-powers in Marathon county, some of which are used in (jropelling flouring-mills and saw-mills. At Grand Rapids, there is a descent of thirty feet to the mile, and the water can be used many times. Each time, 5,000 horse-power is obtained. At Kilbourn City, a large amount of power can be obtained for manufacturing purposes.

Chippewa river has its origin in small streams in the north part of the State. Explorers tell us that there are a large number of waterpowers on all the upper branches, but as the country is yet unsettled, none of them have been improved, and very few even located on our maps. Brunette Falls and Ameger Falls, above Cliippewa Falls city, must furnish considerable water-power, but its extent is not known. At Chippewa Falls is an excellent water-power, only partially improved. 'J'he river descends twenty-six feet in three-fourths of a mile. At Duncan creek, at the same place, there is a good fall, improved to run a large flouring-mill. At Eagle Rapids, five miles above Chippewa Falls, $120,000 has been expended in improving the fall of the Chippewa river. The city of Eau Claire is situated at the confluence of the Chippewa and Eau Claire rivers, and possesses in its immediate vicinity, water-powers almost unrivaled. Some of them are improved. The citizens of Eau Claire have, for several years, striven to obtain Legislative authority to dam the Chippewa river, so as to improve the water-power of the Dells, and a lively contest, known as the "Dells fight," has been carried on with the capitalists along the river above that town. There are immense water-powers in Dunn county, on the Rod Cedar, Chippewa and Eau Galle rivers, on which there are many lumbering establishments. In Pepin county also there are good powers. The Black river and its branches, the La Crosse, Buffalo, Trempealeau, Beaver, and Tamaso, furnish many valuable powers. The St. Croix river is not excelled in the value of its water privileges by any stream in the State, except the Lower Fox river. At St.. Croix Falls, the water of the river makes a descent of eighty-five feet in a distance of five miles, and the volume of water is sufficient to move the machinery for an immense manufacturing business, and the banks present good facilities for building dams, and the river is not subject to freshets. The Kinnekinnick has a large number of falls, some of them partially improved. Within twenty-five miles of its entrance into Lake St. Croix, it has a fall of 200 feet, and the volume of water averages about 3,000 cubic feet per minute. Rock river affords valuable water privileges at Watertown (with twentyfour feet fall), and largely improved; at Jefferson, Indian Ford and Janesville, all of which are improved. Beloit also has an excellent water-power, and it is largely improved. Scattered throughout the State are many other water-powers, not alluded to in the foregoing. There are several in Manitowoc county ; in Marquette county, also. In Washington county, at West Bend, Berlin, and Cedar Creek, there are good water-powers, partly utilized. At Whitewater, in Walworth county, is a good power. In Dane county, there is a waterpower at Madison, at the outlet of Lake Mendota; also, a good one at Stoughton, below the first, or Lake Kegonsa; also at Paoli, Bellville, Albany and Brodhead, on the Sugar river. In Grant county there are not less than twenty good powers, most of them well-developed. In Racine county, three powers of fine capacity at Waterford, Rochester and Burlington, all of which are improved. The Oconto, Peshtigo and Menomonee rivers furnish a large number of splendid water-powers of large capacity. The Upper Wolf river has scores of waterpowers on its main stream and numerous branches; but most of the country is still a. wilderness, though containing resources which, when developed, will make it rich and prosperous. There are numerous other streams of less consequence than those named, but of great importance to the localities they severally drain, that havu had their powers improved, and their waterfalls are singiuir the songs of commerce. On the rivers emptying into Lake Superior, there are numerous and valuable water-powers. The Montreal river falls 1,000 feet, in a distance of thirty miles.

The mechanical and manufacturing industries of Wiscon.sin demonstrate that the people do not rely wholly upon agricultural pursuits, or lumbering, for .subsistence, but aim to diversify their labors as much as possible, and to give encouragement to the skill and ingenuity of their mechanics and artisans. All our cities and most of our villages, support establishments that furnish wares and implements in common use among the people. We gather from the census report for ]870, afew facts that will give us an adequate idea of what was done in a single year, remembering that the data furnished is six years old, and that great advancement has been made since the statistics were gathered. In ISVO, there were eightytwo establishments engaged in making agricultural implements, employing 1,.387 hands, and turning out products valued at $2,393,400. There were 188 furniture establishments, employing 1,844 men, and making $1,542,300 worth of goods. For making carriages and wagons there were 485 establishments, employing 2,184 men, and their product was valued at $2,596,534; for clothing, 263 establishments, and value of product $2,340,400; sash, doors and blinds, eighty-one shops, and value of product $1,852,370; leather, eighty-five tanneries, employing 577 men, and value of products $2,013,000; malt liquors, 176 breweries, 835 men, and their products valued at $1,790,- 273.

At many points the business of manufacturing is carried on more or less extensively; indeed, there is hardly a village in the State where capital is not invested in some kind of mechanical industry or manufacturing enterprise, and making satisfactory returns; but for

The principal commodities only, which Wisconsin contributes to trade and commerce, have been considered. There remains quite a number of minor articles from which the citizens of the State derive some revenue, such as flax and maple sugar, which can not be separately considered in this paper.

Concluding Remarks

Statistics are usually dry reading, but> to one desiring to change his location and seeking information regarding a new country and its capabilities, they become intensely interesting and of great value. The farmer wishes to know about the lands, their value and the productiveness of the soil ; the mechanic about the workshops, the price of labor, and the demand for such wares as he is accustomed to make; the capitalist, concerning all matters that pertain to resources, advantages, and the opportunities for investing his money. Our own people want all the information that can be gained by the collection of all obtainable facts. The sources of such information are now various, and the knowledge they impart fragmentary in its character.

Provision should be made by law, for the collection and publication of reliable statistics relating to our farming, manufacturing, mining, lumbering, commercial and educational interests. Several of the States of the Union have established a "bureau of statistics," and no more valuable rejjorts emanate from any of their State departments than those that exhibit a condensed view of the material results accomplished each year. Most of the European States foster these agencies with as much solicitude as any department of their government. Indeed, they have become a social as well as a material necessity, for social science extends its inquiries to the physical laws of man as a social being; to the resources of the country; its productions; the growth of society, and to all those facts or conditions which may increase or diminish the strength, growth or happiness of a people. Statistics are the foundation and corner-stone of social science, which is the highest and noblest of all the sciences.

A writer has said that, "If God had designed Wisconsin to be chiefly a manufacturing State, instead of agricultural, which she claims to be, and is, it is difficult to see more than one particular in which lie could have endowed her more richly for that purpose." She has all the material for the construction of articles of use and luxury, the means of motive power to propel the machinery, to turn and fashion, weave, forge, and grind the natural elements that abound in such rich profusion. She has also the men whose enterprise and skill liave accomplished most sur|(rising results, in not only building up a name for themselves, but in placing the State in a proud position of independence.

It is impossible to predict what will be the future growth and development of Wisconsin. From its commercial and manufacturing advantages, we may reasonably anticipate that she will in a few years lead in the front rank of the States of the Union in all that constitutes real greatness. Her educational system is one of the best. With her richly endowed State University, her colleges and high schools, and the peoples colleges, the common schools, she has laid a broad and deep foundation for a great and noble commonwealth. It was early seen what were the capabilities of this tlieir newly explored domain. The northwestern explorer, Jonathan Carver, in 1766, one hundred and eleven years ago, after traversing Wisconsin and viewing its lakes of crystal purity, its rivers of matchless utility, its forests of exhaustless wealth, its prairies of wonderful fertility, its mines of buried treasure, recorded this remarkable prediction of which we see the fulfillmcTit: "To what power or authority this new world will Ijecome dependent after it has arisen from its present uncultivated state, time alone can discover. But as the seat of empire from time immemorial has been gradually progressive towaid the west, there is no doubt but that at some future period mighty kingdoms will emerge from these wildernesses, and stately palaces and solemn temples with gilded spires reaching to the skies supplant the Indian huts, whose only decoiations are the barbarous trophies of their vanquished enemies."

Foremost among the industries of Wisconsin is that of manufacturing lumber. Very much of the importance to which the State has attained is due to the development of its forest wealth. In America, agriculture always has been, and always will be, the primary and most important interest; but no Nation can subsist upon agriculture alone. While the broad prairies of Illinois and Iowa are rich with a fertile and productive soil, the hills and valleys of northern Wisconsin are clothed with a wealth of timber that has given birth to a great manufacturing interest, which employs millions of capital and thousands of men, and has peopled the northern wilds with energetic, prosperous communities, built up enterprising cities, and crossed the State with a network of railways which furnish outlets for its productions and inlets for the new populations which are are ever seeking for homes and employment nearer to the setting sun.

If a line be drawn upon the State map, from Green Bay westward through Stevens Point, to where it would naturally strike the Mississippi river, it will be below the southern boundary of the pine timber regions, with the single exception of the district drained by the Yellow river, a tributary of the Wisconsin, drawing its timber chieHy from Wood and .Tuneau counties. The territory nortli of this iin;iginai'y line covers an area a little greater than one-half of the State. The pine timbered land is found in belts or ridges, interspersed with prairie openings, patches of hardwood and hemlock, and drained by numerous water-courses. No less than seven large rivers traverse this northern section, and, with their numerous tributaries, penetrate every county, affording facilities for floating the logs to the mills, and, in rliany instances, the power to cut them into lumber. This does not include the St. Croix, which forms the greater portion of the boundary line between Wisconsin and Minnesota, and, by means of its tributaries, draws the most and best of its pine from the former State. These streams divide the territory, as far as lumbering is concerned, into six separate and distinct districts: The Green bay shore, which includes the Wisconsin side of the Menomonee, the Peshtigo and Oconto rivers, with a number of creeks which flow into the bay between the mouths of the Oconto and Fox rivers; the Wolf river district; the Wisconsin river, including the Yellow, as before mentioned; the Black river; the Chippewa and Red Cedar; and the Wisconsin side of the St. Croix.

Beginning with the oldest of these, the Green bay shore, a brief description of each will be attempted. The first saw-mill built in the State, of which there is now any knowledge, was put in operation in 1809, in Brown county, two or three miles east from Depere, on a little stream which was known as East river. It was built by Jacob Franks, but probably was a very small affair. Of its machinery or capacity for sawing, no history has been recorded, and it is not within the memory of any inhabitant of today In 1829, John P. Arndt, of Green Bay, built a water-power mill on the Pensaukee river at a point where the town of Big Suamico now stands. In 1834, a mill was built on the Wisconsin side of the Menomonee, and two years later, one at Peshtigo. Lumber was first shipped to market from this district in 1834, which must be termed the beginning of lumbering operations on the bay shore. The lands drained by the streams which flow into Green bay are located in Shawano and Oconto counties, the latter being the largest in the State. In 1847, Willard Lamb, of Green Bay, made the first sawed pine shingles in that district; they were sold to the Galena Railroad Company for use on depot buildings, and were the first of the kind sold in Chicago. Subsequently Green Bay became one of the greatest points for the manufacture of such shingles in the woi-ld. The shores of the bay are low, and gradually change from marsh to swamp, then to level, dry land, and finally become broken and mountainous to the northward. The pine is in dense groves that crowd closely upon the swamps skirting the bay, and reach far back among the hills of the interior. The Peshtigo flows into the bay about ten miles south of the Menomonee, and takes its rise far back in Oconto county, near to the latter's southern tributaries. It is counted a good logging stream, its annual product being from 40,000,000 to 60,000,000 feet. The timber is of a rather coarse quality, running but a small percentage to what the lumbermen term "uppers." About ten per cent, is what is known as Norway pine. Of the whole amount of timber tributary to the Peshtigo, probably about one-third has been cut off to this date. The remainder will not average of as good quality, and only a limited jjortion of the land is of any value for agricultural purposes after being cleared of the pine. There are only two mills on this stream, both being owned by one company. The Oconto is one of the most important streams in the district. The first sawmill was built on its banks about the year 1840, though the first lumbering operations of any account were begun in 1845 by David Jones. The business was conducted quite moderately until 1856, in which year several mills were built, and from that dale Oconto has been known as quite an extensive lumber manufacturing point. 'I he timber tributary to tills stream has been of the best quality found in the State Lumber cut from it has been known to yield the extraordinarily higli average of fifty and sixty per cent, uppers. The timber now being cut will not average more than half that. The proportion of Norway is about five per cent. It is estimated that from three fourths to four fifths of the timber tributary to the Oconto has been cut away, but it will require a much longer time to convert the balance into lumber than was necessary to cut its equivalent in amount owing to it remote location. The annual production of pine lumber at Oconto is from 50,000,000 to 65,000,000 feet. The whole production of the district, exclusive of the timber which is put into the Menomouee from Wisconsin, is about 140,- 000,000 feet annually.

The Wolf river and its tributaries constitute the next district, proceeding westward. The first saw logs cut on this stream for commercial purposes were floated to the government mill at Neenah in 1835. In 1842, Samuel Farnsworth erected the first saw mill on the upper Wol f near the location of the present village of Shawano, and in the following spring lie sent the first raft of lumber down the Wolf to Oslikosh. This river also rises in Oconto county but flows in a southerly direction, and enters Winnebago lake at Oshkosli. Its pineries have been very extensive, but the drain upon them within the past decade has told with greater effect than upon any other district in the State. The (juality of the timber is very fine, and the land is considered good for agricultural purposes, and is being occupied upon the lines of the different railways which cross it. The upper waters of the Wolf are rapid, and have a comparatively steady flow, which renders it a very good stream for driving logs. Upon the upper river, the land is quite rolling, and about the head-waters is almost mountainous. The pine timber liiat remains in this district is high up on the main river and branches, and will last but a few years longer. A few years ago the annual product amounted to upward of 250,000,000 feet; in 1 870 it was las, 000, 000. The principal manufacturing points are Oshkosh and Fond du Lac; the former has twent^'-one mills, and the latter ten.

Next comes the Wisconsin, the longest and most crooked river in the State. It rises in the extreme northern sections, and its general course is southerly until at Portage City, it makes a grand sweep to the westward and unites with the Mississippi at Prairie du Chien. It has numerous tributaries, and, together with these, drains a larger area of country than any other river in the State. Its waters flow swiftly and over numerous rapids and embryo falls, which renders log-driving and raft-running very difficult and even hazardous. The timber is generally near the banks of the main stream and its tributaries, gridually diminishing in extent as it recedes from tliem and giving place to the several varieties of liaril woods. The extent to which operations have been carried on necessitates going furtiier up the stream for available timl)er, although there is yet what may be termed an abundant supply. The first cutting of lumber on this stream, of which there is any record, was by government soldiers, in 1828, at the building of Fort Winnebago. In 18.31, a mill was built at Whitney's rajiids, below Point Kass, in what was then Indian territory. By 1840, mills were in operation as high up as Big Bull Falls, and Wausau had a ])opulation of 350 souls. Up to 1876, the product of the upper Wisconsin was all sent in rafts to markets on the Mississippi. The river above Point Bass is a series of rapids and eddies; the current flows at the rate of from ten to twenty miles an hour, and it can well be imagined that the task of piloting a raft from Wausau to the dells was no slight one. The cost of that kind of transportation in tlic early times was actually equal to the present market jirice of the lumber. With a good stage of water, the lenglh of time required to run a raft to St. Louis was twenty-four days; though quite frequently, owing to inability to get out of the Wisconsin on one rise of water, several weeks were consumed. The amount of lumber

Black river is much shorter an.;! smaller than the Wisconsin, hut has long been known as a very important lumbering s'ream. It is next to the oldest lumber district in the State. The first saw mill west of Green Bay was built at Black River Falls in 1819 by Co). John Shaw. The Winnebago tribe of Indians, however, in whose territory he was, objected to the inmvation of such a fine art, and unceremoniously offered uj) the mill upon the altar of their outrage<l solitude. Tlie owner abruptly quitted that portion of the country. In 1S;!9 another attempt to establish a mill on Black river was more successfully made. One was erected at the same point by two brothers by the 'name of \Vood, the millwright being Jacob Spaiihling, who eventually became its possessor. His son, Dudley J. Spaulding, is now a very extensive operator upon Black river. La Crosse is the chief manufacturing point, tliere being ten saw mills located there. The annual production of the stream ranges from 150,000,000 to 2-2."),- 000,000 feet of logs, less than 100,000,000 feet being manufactured into lumber on its banks. The l)alanee is sold in the log to mills on the Mississippi. It is a very capricious river to float logs in, which necessitates the carrying over from year to year of a very large amount, variously estimated at from 150,000,000 to 200,000,- 000 feet, about equal to an entire seas on's product. This makes the business more hazardous than on m:iny other streams, as the loss from depreciation is very great afterthe first jear. The quality of the timber is fine, and good prices are realized for it when sold within a year after being cut.

The Chippewa district probably contains the largest and finest l)ody of white pine timber now standing, tributary to any one stream, on the continent. It has been claimed, though with moi-e extravagance than truth, that the Chippewa pineries hold one-half the timber sup- [)ly of the State. The river itself is a large one, and has many tributaries, which penetrate the rich pine district in all directions. The character of the tributary country is not unlike that through which the Wisconsin flows. In 1828 the first mill was built in the Chippewa valley, on Wilson's creek, near its confluence with the Red Cedar. Its site is now occupied liy the village of MjCnomonee. In 18.37 another was built on what is the present site of the Union Lumbering Company's mill at Chippewa Falls. It was not until near 1865 that the Chippewa became very prominent as a lumber-making stream. Since that date it has been counted as one of the foremost in the northwest. Upon the river proper there are twenty-two saw mills, none having a capacity of less than 3,500,000 feel per season, and a number being capable of sawing from 20,000,000 to 25,000,000. The annual production of sawed lumber is from 250,- 00",000 to 300,000',000 feet; the production of logs from 400,000,000 to 500,000,000 feet. In 1867 the mill owners upon the Mississippi, between Winona and Keokuk, organized a corporation known as the Beef Slough Manufacturing, Log-Driving and Transportation Company. Its object was to facilitate the handling of logs cut upon the Chippewa and its tributaries, designed for the Mississippi mills. At the confluence of the two rivers various improvements were made, constituting the Beef Slough boom, which is capable of assorting 200,000,000 feet of logs per season. The Chippewa is the most difficult stream in the northwest upon which to operate. In the spring season it is turbulent and ungovernable, and in summer, almost destitute of water. About its head are numerous lakes which easily overflow under the influence of rain, and as their surplus water flows into the Chippewa, its rises are sudden and sometimes dam.aging in their extent. The river in many places flows between high bluffs, and under the influence of a freshet, becomes a wild and unmanageable torrent. Logs have never been floated in rafts, as upon other streams, but are turned in loose, and are carried down with each successive rise, in a jumbled and confused mass, wliich entails much labor and loss in tbe work of assorting and delivering to the respective owners. Previous to the organization of the Eagle Rapids Flooding Dam and Boom Company, in 1872, the work of securing tlie stock after putting it into the river was more difficult than to cut and haul it. At the cities of Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls, where most of the mills are located, the Current, under the influence of hish water, is very rapid, and for years the problem was, how to stop and retain the logs, as they would go by in great masses and with almost resistless velocity. In 1847 is recorded one of the most sudden and disastrous floods in the history of log-running streams. In the month of June the Chippewa rose twelve feet in a single night and in the disastrous torrent that was created, piers, booms or 'pockets" for holding logs at the mills, together with a tine new mill, were swept away, and the country below where Eau Claire now stands was covered with drift-wood, saw logs, and other debris. Such occurrences led to the invention of the since famous sheer boom, which is a device placed in the river opposite the mill boom into which it is desired to turn the logs. The sheer boom is thrown diagonnlly across the river, automatically, the action of the current upon a number of ingeniously arranged "tins" holding it in position. By this means the logs are sheered into the receptacle until it is tilled, when the sheer boom, by closing up the "fins" with a windlass, falls back and allows the logs to go on for the nextmill to stop and c.ipture its pocket full in like manner. By this method each mill could obtain a stock, but a great difticulty was experienced from the fact that the supply was composed of logs cut and owned by everybody operating on the river, and the process t)f balancing accounts according to the "marks," at the close of the season, has been one prolific of trouble and legal entanglements. The building of improvements at Eagle Rapids by the company above mentioned remedied the difficulty to some extent, but the process of logging will always be a difficult and hazardous enterprise until adequate means for lioldiiig and assorting the entire log product are provided. lT|)on the Yellow and Eau Claire rivers, two important branches of the Chippewa, such difficulties are avoided by suitable improvements. The entire lumber product of the Chippewa, with the exception of that consumed locally, is floated in rafts to markets upon the Mississippi, between its mouth and St. Louis. The quality of the timber is good and commands the liest market price in the sections where it seeks market.

West of the Chippewa district the streams and timber are trilmtary to the St. Croix, and in all statistical calculations the entire product of that river is credited to Minnesota, the same as that of the Menomonee is given to Michigan, when in fact about one-half of each belongs to Wisconsin. j The important brandies of the St. Croix belong- 1 ingin this State are Apple Clam, Yellow, Namekogan, Toiagatic and Eau Claire. The sections of country through which they flow contain larje bodies of very fine pine timber. The St. Croix lias long been noted for the excellence of its dimension timber. Of this stock a portion is cut into lumber at Stillwater, and marketed by rail, and the balance is sold in the log to the mills on the Mississippi.

Such is a brief and somewhat crude descrij)- tion of the main lumbering districts of the State. Aside from these, quite extensive operations are conducted upon various railway lines which penetrate the forests which are remote from log-running streams. In almost every county in the State, mills of greater or less capacity may be found cutting up pine or hard woods into lumber, shingles or cooperage stock. .Most important, in a lumliei ing point of view, of all the railroads, is the ^Visconsin Central. It extends from Milwaukee to Ashland, on Lake Supi.'rior, a distance of :i51 miles, with a lino to <4ieen Bay, 113 miles, and one from Stevens Point to Portage, seventy-one miles, making a total length of road of 449 miles. It has only been completed to Ashland, within the present season. From Milwaukee to Stevens Point it passes around to the east and north of Lake Winnenago, tluough an excellent iiard wood section. There are many stave mills in operation upon and tributary to its line, together with wooden ware establishments and various manufactories requiring either hard or soft timbei' as raw material. From Stevens Point northward, this road passes through and lias tributary to it one of the finest bodies of timber in the State. It crosses the upper waters of Black river and the Flambeau, one of the main tributaries of the Chippewa. From 30,000,000 to 50,000,000 feet of lumber is annually manufactured on its line, above Stevens Piiint. The Wisconsin Valley railroad extends from 'I'omah to Wausau, and was built lo aiford an ovitlet, by rail, for the lumber produced at the latter point.

The extent of the timber supply in this State has been a matter of much speculation, and is a subject upon which but little can be definilely said. Pine trees cannot, be counted or measured until reduced to saw logs or lumber. It is certain that for twenty years the forests of Wisconsin have yielded large amounts of valuable timber and no fears are entertained by holders of pine lands that llie present generation of owners will witness an exhaustion ol their supply. In some sections it is estimated that the destruclion to the standing timber by fires, which periodically sweep over large sections, is greater tliaii by the axes of the loggers. The necessity for a State sj'stem of forestry for the protection of the forests from fires, has been ui'ged by many, and with excellent reason; for no natural resource of the State is of more value and importance than its wealth of timber. According to an estimate recently made by a good authority, and which received the sanction of many interested parties, there was standing in the State in 1 876, an amount of pine timber, approximating .35,000,000,000 feet.

The annual production of lumber in the districts herein described, and from logs floated out of the State to mills on the Missi.->ippi, is about 1,200,000,000 feet.

If to the above is added the production of mills outside of the main districts and lines of railway herein described, the amount of pine lumber annually produced from Wisconsin forests would reach 1,500,000,000 feet. Of the hard wood production no authentic information is obtainable. To cut the logs and place them upon the banks of the streams, ready for floating to the mills, requires the labor of about 18,001' men. Allowing that, upon an average, each man has a family of two persons besides himself, dependent upon his labor for support, it would be apparent that the first step in the work of manufacturing lumber gives employment and su])port to 54,000 persons. To convert 1,000,000 feet of logs into lumber, requires the consumption of 1,200 bushels of oats, nine barrels of pork and beef, ten tons of hay, forty barrels of flmir, and the use of two pairs of horses. Thus the fitting out of the logging companies each fall makes a market for 1,800,- 000 bushels of oats, 13,500 barrels of pork and beef, 15,000 tons of hay, and 60,000 barrels of flour. Before the lumber is sent to market, fully $6,000,000 is expended for the labor employed in producing it. This industry, aside from furnishing the farmer of the west with the cheapest and best of materials for constructing liis buildings, also furnishes a very important market for the products -of iiis farm. /