Herb Winer, History of the Great Mountain Forest

173mus\"911 leu etflciem, 80 tbat 1t was still aconom!.cal t~ to na1nnear the tlllber-as long u there !!!. timber~ By 18'0, howef'S'• theuea of ol~ stands in and nev the Forest bad been redUeed te anillaignUS.oant lewl, and tb-e iacreaeing]Jr frequent. coppioo outtil.Jp oft ho iron companies and their colliers • de it virtu-1.l;v impos!1.ble forsecCD!-sr~ bardwood-aproat standa to reach aawlog a-:Lse. The s•llaawd.lla were thus <lften taeed nth a local timber tamtm that theyeoul.d not aunt.w. 'nle earllor decline in the mllber of aeti w -.mlllsw._.Gil Lake' Brook, e~ With those on li!)ekertann Bl'ook in Canaan(plate XVI) auggeate that explOS.tation of the Canaan Uountain plateauhad progreued raore r apidly tn th& northern eeotion.Between 190S and 19U, 1'hen the laet najoz- aawlog cuttings werelllMie, a l!Mn&ble •teu-palrend 8Dtllll nade ita first appearance in theFONat. The water-pOleNd mills bad all disappeared. Today the dams a n1llNt1y nah&d away and the •tractures gone1 leaving only 11 f n f~ationdUs and an oocaeional scrap of \"mill iron\" to ark whel'e the Jrinlege2s.had been illpJ'Oftd (figures 26). In an ••lier section or this chapter a brief aceamt ne gtwnof the padual rise and r.elA,,ively sw1tt decline o! the 5a1isbta7 cbareoaluoa industry, 1'hich1 thougb not the only user of cbarQOQl. i b the Fares\naton, cleu-11' made the m&l'ket, A• in other eeotions Gf the ~Where the charcoal ll'on ~ d8ft.loped on a large acale1 there -.• period ill the hiROl\"7 ot the Forest region-api;rCllld.JJBtel;f 16$ \"-

Fi gur e 25. Ruins of t he Man!:1 f 1.el d sawmill on \teekert cwn BrOOk,. The<1an has been compl etel y tia.shod away, l eaving s tone-wark t /'1<at m-i..s probablyp..1l't of the mill f oundat ion. {?hoto 33-6. )Figur~ 26. . Bri dge abutment and wttael -house f ounda t ion of th-0 Hunts Lymansawmi ll on Meekertown !3r ook (s!3e plates XIrt, lIV, and 1\VI}. P'aoto(l7-5. )



1741!>0CJll:ff ,when the iron induatry dom!naiied the anagemnt of tarests to an~led extent. Tbe ei':f'eets of coppice cuttings f or d\areoal woodwill be considered in a subsequent section, otter 3 desorlption of thede?&lopment and practice of eoe.ling in the P'orest. 44 Charcoal making on a small scale was practiood throughout theFO!'G&t region soon after the t il\"at ee'ttlement. With the estAblleh11ent oftorgee in the towns surrounding 8411.sbury during tM eighttnmth century,the need tor charcoal 1nel'eaeed, but 'the demand could still be m t bywoodl.ot oper ,lltione tbat a terr farmers carried on U · a part.-ttme activity. Unt i l about 1840, most coaling was done undel' the direction ofthe landOlfnf!r, who 1'ae Pesponsible ror t ranss:>ort1ng tho charcoal to thetcrge or .turnace Where it was to be used. As t he iron industry grewand charcoal procurement began t o extend further from .3411sbur,:\" and Canaan,coaling operations were taken wtrr by the iron companies, vdlo bought1,and and etumpage and hired full-time chopper s , colllore, und teamstersto 0 cut, coal , and deli ver the wood\" to th~ company' s storage 5hods(figure 21)• Among the earliest purchasers or land i n the Fcrost t'l&re menliktJ the Jqans ot Ooahen,. Whose hol dings became a foundation en Whichthe lat&r l r onma1ters eould :build. It seems clear, hmrewr, that veryhh stout (19))) nade an excellent analysis of the impat?t Of the chaTc-0&1 UQn ·industry upon the econcud.c deYel.opment and tora&t res-ources of the Ranging Rock district of ttle Ohi o Valle7. Far the pt'$oont purpose, tbe ll)08t .al uable s ources &Pe the standard textbook by Svedel.iua (187S) and the paper by na..-r1s (188;) apecifieally descrtbtne coaling practice• in the Salis1.lQnr regton. li'or details or aatual operations on Canaan Mountain during the l ate 1890•s, I am indebted to flesere. Oronr c. C'battleton and f rank Paa:sini, both of C&maan, who were GlftPlo,ed by the Bannua Rlcharde on Co. during the last coallr,.g oper ations to be conducted on the Uountai.n, 5'0 years ago.

17Sl lttle coaling was carried en in tbe f ,oz-est durin~ tho oiff.lteel\th cen-tU1.71 except to suwly nch small eata.blistmenta ae tho Hanchett f orgeao Wangum: Lake (plate X) • · Aft.tu' l.8aO tllft . n.al!lee of membera of the iron dynasty appeared~ fre(luentlt ae grantees of tracts in t he Forest. The coaling COIPtract soon came into WJe~ by which the land~r •wld grant a collier~ ~omaater the right to ~nter his land and coal a.U. t1V.> Mrdweodawithin a gi•en period ot JNJ\"B• Moet of these ~at'ly coaltlllt contracts excluded certain speciestrm ·tbe timber being conveyed. Hend.oek1 ehes tnut, black cherry, Whiteash, and basswood were OO!Imonly reserved, t or di fferent reason.st thehard'Woeds could h.nYe made excellent charcoal, but •t\"e mere v~lunble t f!lr'~ purposes. Metdl.oak, on the other hand, wa8 not a good ccalinRt>peo1ea, beca-nae of its low density, but by 1830 it was al.rend)' i n demandt~ lt.a bar k. The prudent l \"8ndOltller natvall.y pr-0fer.red to harvest thehemlock bark h<i.mse-1.t, r at her than leave it to others. Some coaling &greC!fftt8nt.s oontainod provisions ~biting un-nacessary d&Mge t.o hardwood etumps or sprouts. On the whole, howewr,such concern • • hardly to ~ espeeted:t ror t o most J.a.nd<Mncre an oppor-t.unity to convert their unimproved timber tnto casb was an opportunitybeat seized •1tbout question. An interes ting exception to the rule wasBelljamin r. . Crt1se7, whoso coaling contract wit h Hunts ~n & oo. in18S1 (lilB 16r 518-S20) contained 8$veral noteworthy pl'OV1s1ons. The contract009ered .an area west o.f Crissey Pond• :from whtoh the previous tmner hadreoentl.y out b&!llock t or 9Ul ogs and b:ilrt {NLR l~t ~6&-S69) . Cl\"iosey•ecar.earn t or t he tuture conditi.on of thG woodlot waa re.fleeted in p!\"Ov1.eions

176that the hardWood be out 0 as l ow to tlle ~ound ae t>0$$1bl o 11 antl tha tthe· cel l iere were to avoid damsgl) to tho \"sec ond grG\TtJl., (1.e .J smaller )beml.'Oek. Furt hor, Hunt s Lyman assumed al l responsibility fo1· d~magenoulting from f i re during t he coaling opera-tion. Thero wac also a t,yp1.e a lr eeervati on of all chestnut anrl ash, all bl ack cherry or sawl~ quality.arid all tbe s pruce and he\"!ttl~k (except for 2S oords. o£ aecond-.f}'owth . 45homloek) . Cri ssey cl early intended to favor the devel opment or a thri ftyhaJ\"dlrood coppice, together with a valuable admixture of h&!olook.- Coa.ling contracts became less no!D!OOn a.rter 18601 becaooe theU'on cuapanies owned more and more of the land f r om wtdeh their cbareoaJ.was i;>rodu.ced. More t han 60 percent of the Yoreat was onea ownod b1 on.ear more of the i ron compan!os; an even higher proportion of the i~orestbae been subject to coaling operntiona• o~n repeated several times.Until about 18UO,. acme charcoal was made. i n the F'<>Nst regton.bV eoaliag uns:pllt logs , up to 20 i'·eet. in l ength, in crude lc,~ta(Ha~ 1885) • 'i'bis wa& a crude and t.nef f icient process beOQUs.e ot theditM.oulty or maint.a!lraing unifcrm combustion in the log.pits. Theadvantane of the method, of cOUNJe • was that it did :lot require r:ate.rt alto be aplit or chowed :LAto short l engths . It i s po!>&:lble that a fewe.tir1)~ coaling oper-9 tions in the Foreat involved t his ·oot nOO.. t ar t..'lemQSt. p!D't, boirewr, charcoal was made f rom s11SAll •ood 1n cawont1ona1rooUe.ra, and after 1840 this was virtual.ly the only oothod 'f.&.Sod i n tho45 'fhls ema.llsr hetalock wu probably intended tor use in eonnootion with the c~lt.ng operation, perhaps as material t fW oordurcy eoutru..ctton. Untor tuMtely. tbe locati on ot the tract 1111101-ved bas not been d.e~tned-.

177F.oreet region. 46Coaling operations during the latter half of tho ninetoenthcentury were s1111.lar throughout the FONet ragi.on. Tiley almost alny:s111Y01-.ed two practices t.bat etrcngl 7 1.n.fluonoed tho ce!ZQ08itton andetructure or succeeding stands ~ The f1.rst praot1ce was the outting of hardwood~ of ovorr species.Chestnut and the oaks wore preferred by both colliero and t ho t~onin practice , the other hardwoodo were also used. Hemlock TIQS nel dom,i t ever1 coaled 1n the f oreat re:~on, beoause or its l ow yi old comps.redto that from hardwoods. The second pract.iee waa cutting to an e~ly latl diameterlbdt, usually less than 2 inches at tho s tump. The snallor . tcrial, ofcourse, did not yisld much charcoal, b\lt its prea&nce bet;:;oon largerbil lets in the :ueiler helped t o promote unifor.> coaling. Small stemsand branches were also used as a ! owldatton rar the earth cover on themailer. Charcoal-wood cuttings were thus the oloseat approach toolearcu~~ing, as far u har<hroods were oonoerned, that has over beenpracticed i n t his countey. A coaled &J\"ea would be let-t with only small46 A f~w kilns wore operated in tbe Salisbury ro~1on, Jut tboy .ore never used i n the i'crest, A.ruu:;ient a were often advanced that tho canufactwe of charcoal c ould be ado i:cro efrtctont and profitable 11' by-produeta wore r,ecovered, J.,ewie \" • Norton bad been partially suocoao1'ul i n an early nineteettth-cent\117 venture alon{t tbia line; be produaod a crude pyralipeous acid ueed in meat curin z ( fU.bbard, 189-7). tl<M'O'nr, the firot large-scale attempt at destruct ive di stillation di d not come until shortly before tbc ti.rat \"orld · ar, ll'ben the uonnoot1out Cho::doal eo... a subsidiary of Barnum R1cbardeon1 buil t a distillati.on plc.nt in •t C&naan, designed to u1e 21, 000 cords ot wood a year. Tbe pl.ant closed about 1920, after the decline in prices oi' 1food ale l. and oalciWI acetate, (\"allao•• 1935. )

178eeedlinge or sprouts (which were uncommon i n dense youn.~ coppice irtanda)and o.n occasional snag (tiguro 27}.The principal stepa in building and coa~ a. charcoal mil er'°•4l\"'9 111.ust.Pated in figures 27 t o Though taken in 19011 t hesephot<>(!rapbs ahmr practioes that bad boon t n comon uoc in tho ~arostregion r~ more than 50 years. The n:ljor adTantage of u~ m i l ers wastbnt they m:tnill1.zed the di stance that. wood had to be ~noved . A ain~leceil er seldom r equired wood from more than ) acres ; usually naoh meU er'1D.S suppl iod trom about l . S aeres. u7 Billets were brought to the moilereite by hand or on a whoolbarrOlr or the t ype shOG i n figure 28.Old m i l or sites are a persistent feature of ever y p.l!\"t of theForest that has been coaled. 'they can be r eadi l y r ocog?rl..efld b~~ theirlevel surface, otroular plan, and nn abundance of ehareoal. in the upper2- 3 inchea of the ao1l. The vogetati on of the -ooil or si tos i s oftend1ot t netly dif fere nt t r am that of the surroundin~ aroa, a mtter thatwill be disc us sed belOIJ• Anotbv indicatton of previous coaltna aotirlt71n mny parts ot the 'Forest is th~ network ot rouRb migon trails, over'Tlhioh tho charooal was hauled f rom the milers to the mai.n roads leadi ngt o tho furnaces at Lower City and Fast ~anaan. Many of those tr.llileare still discernible. The great era at co~otal coal1.ntt opel\"ations in the Forestlasted about SO years, beginning in 1850 and r oaohin-: a pea!t between1670 end 1690. During t hto period a new type o-r resident aaro t o the47 On the pooreet sites, tho yield of wood in the ? orest was as l ow as 10 cords per a.er., but the average ns about 20 cords, and older stands on the beat s i tes often UOffded 40 cords per acre. none average meUer contained .from 20 t<> )0 cords.

F'ieure 27. Buil dine a mailer,. Wood has been <*1 opped into l e.\"leths ofabo·. t 4 feet and pil ed ..ir ound t~o l eveled mdl fl't' s ite for dr.r:tn;; tlltdstorage. 1'he ool li.,r 18 stacking the t wo t iers so as to mnt mtze ~irsps...\"'e- ~Jost of the bUl ets l..\"lreer than vbout 6 incheA i..\"l cttrurnter navebeen split . 'l'he rooil er is of t.he si ze and t ype of conatruetion ~nf:I,$ the Horz st,and lr\l meil er (t.vedelius , 1675: 9) - 100)1 11!.lich tro.salmost unive rsall;y employed thr~\"\"fhout the Forest region.This ph otogra~ wat7 taken '.ln 1901 near L1.me Rock, in sout.t-iooi:rtorn Salis-bury. Cboto by u. s . -;:-oroat Service, No. 21627. )figure 28 . A compl eted rooilor ready for coaling. The ladcler at ther ieht will en.abl e the collior to r each the vont near the top and t o!Jjijint.,\"tin the ear th cover clur·tng coaling, Tho wood arrant;ed S{:\"!ainst thesides of the mei l ar is intended to nnntndze sl umping ot the earth cover,a:'ld to provide a T-1al.kway for •.he col lier.17':iD photograph and too next two \Yer e taken in 1901 no :.r West Cornwall.(1-'hoto by u . c:> • Foreot Service, tfo. 21631 . )



Fi eurf' 29. Fi lling a :i\eil er during coali ng. The collier ts: addingbill~ts from th<; t op t o 'Lill ca.vitie s created by irregular shr inkage ,r:1l·ich i\SS l ike l y t o be troubl t isome \Then green wood vms coaled.(\"hot.a by ll • .s. \"'orest Service, No. 216JJ. )?ie-ur o JO., A coaled ooiler, l:.rt er 2 weeks, the s'\Wl.Ulkan nwiler ha.sooen all owed to eool , and t he collier i s now raldn~ off t h0 c~ngo! o.ai··L:1 and l ea ves. Care at th.is stage was necessary to obtain ael oan product wi thout unnecessary loss of cbareoal. {.Photo by n. s.r.orost \"lervice, No. 21638. )



179FCll'est - the .choppers and colller e who otten 11Yed 1n the 11oods t ar muchot the year. Their crude shaca nre set up in mall¥ pl.aces, on Canurnl!ountain, i ncluding the tiiddle Block ot the Fcrest, whi.cb hae alwayebeen the most r emote and least populated block. Seme of these oen wereltnigrant colliers, brought to the region by the iron coapanios becauseot tbeU- previous oxperf.•nce {Crteaey, 1900t 426) . Others preeentedthe rougher el ement s of th0 nat i\"Je !)OpDl &tton. Liko th&tr prodeces1<Jr\"ai n v.oe~ the \"1'ount41n crosd\" did not al ways behave in a mannerthat excited the admiration of thei r fel low townspeoole. u8Ut111satlon of Hemlock Tbe use ot healook f or l 'Wllbffr and tan.bartc bas alroacly beencont.toned 1n ooonectton •1th &af111d.lls (PP• 151, 171) and tan ·oriel(pp. 156-1$6) . At thie point additional endence WU.l be prosented t oi ndic!lte that a l though hetioek 11as pa:.l~ed over i n eoal.1.n& o rations,it wa s the object ot intensive cut ting t or other purposes. flellllock was almost alwa1'8 excl uded fr om the t i.J.nber convoyedin coaling leaees or contract s. This fact al one, of oourse, does not proveth3t the r&set'ftd hellloclr n s cut f or bar1< or l umber, but it docs suggestthat hei:dock had Yal.ue that :!JILde i t Worth reaem ng. 'lbe fact thntthere artJ onl7 • few oontraota 1n the land records dealing With theh8 The \"11.ountain or o>Yd\" wae pi-obably a faotor in tb:s division ot Canaan in 1858. tn t he words or a co~te<::pora.ry pi l l ar of the cO'!!r.IUllity, you c ould \"r a ke hel l with a fine- tooth cO!n-b1 searcb the alum With a microscope, go throu~h the jails wlth a scoop-net, and you coul dn't find another such a croilrd as ••• from the :.fountain ••• • 11 Since thu appraisal rol lo•ed a hotly cont •?sted electi.ont it should doubt- l ose be accepted at S0.\".'18 discGUnt (Rodemeyer, 16'7h

180utilisation cf resened hemlock may appeFU\" pusallng• Tho oxplonat1on,l believe, llos naainly 1n the d-1ffer&nce between tanbark opowtions,Wblcb remained rel atively small and simple unt.11 the ond of.' tho n.tneteent -hcentury. and ~onling oper~rtlons, which wore :nore cong>lex ant:l could notreadily be undertaken by an individual landowner. 7ihen a. la.nd<.mner ,lncluding one f>f the il\"on companies, arranged to sell hemlock logs orbat'-k .from his own lands, there was no need to enter int.o a f ormal oontl\"acttor Ne:ord. 'l'Me r.eaeoning is admittedl7 speeulative and i fl offeredll8t'ely an the least unlikely explo.nat.100\" t or the relattve dearth or infor-- - -mation tn the l and reoOl'de on the disposition of heml.oo!c reserved incoaling oper ations. There ts no doubt, however, that most of tho m rchantable-hemloclt in the Fore.st was cut. Thi s is erident froo t ile fact that onlya wry small proportion of the Forest supports fttands -nore than 8o yea.rsold. Indications Of the probable Mt.lll\"e Of these c utt i ngs may be Obtai.MdfrQI those l and rec~s that do deal 'Wi t.b t.he exploitation ot hemlock. The earliest sueh record for a part of the Ferest 1.s the sawmilllease at 1812• alroady ment ioned on page 171, Which provided f or a rentalte be paid in hemloek boards (!M 7t 528) . Later instances 0£ the useOf hemlock f o:- l umber alone include a sale 1n 18$3 of tha hemlock saw-t~ on an 6)...acre l ot i n Meekertown (?Jl.R l 7i 26413). A lo-acre parcelin the North Bl ock •aa eold in 18$0 With the reservation of 11the h811llookt imber on said land tit f ar saw loqs1 \" and a ebd.lar ?\"eserva.tion wasmade when Warren Crisse1 sold tbe Crissey farm to &l.rnnm Rich~son in166h ( NLR 161 78J 18a 787- 786).

181t4nnaJ'1.eQ were probably' dil\"octed chiefiy or entirely to obttdning bark(Jn.R 161 48.3-484; 17t S2) . It is also possibl e, ho:\"7CVGr1 th!lt tbeeepurchases, like those d1ecueff'd in the next section, involved thG use orhemlock f or l umber ae well•t1plo Utilization When large-scal e cO!mlerctal expl oitation of the ~~st began,a.boat ie;o, most of tho area •as s till cover~d by irregular otanda ofold-growth t 1.mber, rather than by tho young, even-31\0d CO?l>ice st.andsthat booame typical at tbo end of tho century. Under these conditions,and l'f'ith good markeu f or different r arest products, it mir,ht be expectedthat ~ atands were worked over f or l UJlbe.r, charcoal wood; and tanbark.Two r3tbCI' detailed t illber sales ap,roemnte SUR~st tnat tbi::i practicewas not unknOlm. Tbe .first of these an-ecn:neots concerned a 7s-acz.e lot Oll'Md by!letry f1a1nea (plate XTI) on the nort b s\ de of ekertcmn !l~. In 18u8'lat.nee l eased the lot for l years to one Timot.hy Parmalee_, Un,dor theprovi.si.one or the leatte (MLR 15• SlJh), Galnea agreed to furnish ParmaleeWith 0 a ocafortabl e dW'elH.ng house, \" a barn, a yol<e 0£ oxen, a wagon, ands cart, together with cutting rights for ft~ood. !n return Parmaleeagreed i (1 ) to \"cut, coal, & deliv.Jr ~u tho wood su!tablo f or coaling on eai d land, \" sharlns equally with 'lain ~s the 'ClOl'O'!l reeeiYtl<i ror too charcoals (2) to peel all the hemlock bark suitable t or that purpose, deliwring halt to Oaine&J (3) to cut and deliver \"all timber on aaid land suitable tor aawtng• to the Hunt.a Iqrman & eo. aawmill on Ueekeru.tl ook

182 (plate XIII}, ab4ring equally with Gaines the cost.$ of eaw1ng and the value or the lumbera and (4) to out and {SPlit \"such wood ••• as may be suitabl e f or puddling wood. \"18This ~t did not. apeCifical l7 nt1on uwin~ he::tlock ludber, buttbio eeeu to be implied, provided t he he!llloek was usui'bbl o f or S81fi ng. \" ethc>r or not the beuoolc was uaed tor ltmber, t he Nault or t his ti'lb&raale wae the cut ting of virtually the entire stand. '!he second ar.reement wae e11en !IOl\"e cor:ipl ete, and t t s pronetonsro al\"ding sawing l u:B>er fro\"!l hemlock wve quite explici t . The l aa•e :wasdl'cmn in Att~st 18Sl between ~rastus Lyman and a Ste\"phan a:m, cov ring allot Iqwm•a holdings in Meekertairn, which uounted to about 300 4cres.The text of the agreement, ae recOl\"ded, ie eomnha.t doi'eet 1vo1 but itia still worth quotation in parts [BrOlln] ahall cut and peel at a suitable season Llll the hemlock t imber now standing on t he l 3ll<1s or !1r ast\lS Lyraan l 7'\.D3 i n lileeker town (ao called ) . But no timber i s to oo cut from t he land where t he coal wood has not been C\"ut unt i l t he aoal wood has f t rst been out off. The conditions G>f thls contract are that t he party of t he f irst part (Lyman) shall be paid by the party or the second part rnrown ) one dollar per cord f ar oach and ev~ry cord of bark teil e d (peel ed?) from the ti.ml:>er of said l ands. And al s o t he said [Bra-n] •• • shall out or saw al l the t i mbnr aforesaid [1. e ., t~ hemlock timber] i nto suitable length l ogs tar eawtn~ and deli.v• r t tte:1 at the sam:d1l near tho turn- pike in CO!\"l'JWall ~follow e a st of i:.·sq. 3 . Sedgwick 's and shall have th•• all suitably snn • i n suitabl e season drawn h-om the mil l and stuck up well. • •• And r urther:tlOll\"G [Rr~] • • • shall pay ••• twel ft & OM-hal f eente oer load for al l the omal.l hemlocks that wt.11 not answer tar sartng. ••• (WLR 16~ r;JQ.?Jl. }For unknown r easons, Broen was apparently unable to ca:rr-1 out his parto! the agreement, be.cause! i n F!ovemo-.,r 18~1 t he hemlock on this t r act wasl8 Pudo'li ng YrOOd wo.a tuelwood used ii: puddling furnaces , i n which pig iron wa.JS conwrted to wrought iron.

183ooaweyed eeparateJ.7 to the Watet\"bury Leat her Manu1'act,ur1ru? Co. , 'nbichoperated tanning taclllt.tes tn South lfortolk and at Dudley- Pond (pl atettI) (NIB 16t h83-h8h) . The same com. ny aleo parohased he:'ll.ook fromother land01mera Who aold t.\"le res1dunl hardlroode to iron ccczptmiea f orcoaling (NLR 161 S07-'>09J 18t 640-6Ul) . Tanbar k operations appear to have been coneent.ratcd 1n theeutcrn parts of the South and &fiddle Blocks, which wero most aeeossi.bleto the tanneries at South Norfolk. There were only a few sal.oo recor<Mdinvolving tanbark in the Horth Block, and virtually none in canaan.Because of the br1et and erratic history ot the t annorios at South Norfolk(pp. 156-lSS), it t e impossible to estimate batr much of the hemlock inthe Forest was cut for tanbark, but the area involved probably did notexceed half of th.e total. 1'ost of the hemlock cut during t.~e nineteenthcentury waa usod tor l tlllbert sawed at suoh mills as t he ono operated byffunts Lyman on the kertown Rrook.~ PTog!'!ss ! ! Cutt ing Op!l!t10l'l8 As the pnced~ pages have eha-n, exploit.ation of aomo partsof the Forest began wry sbOl'\"tl.7 attAr the firet aettlcnents. mrl.1e onecannot determine exaot.17 the rate at which cutting o~.iti=s progressed,it nems el.ear that moat or the Forest waa et.ill easenttol.ly undisturbed1n 184S and that despite the rapid lat<tr progress or lumber1.ng and coalingoperation~ a •ignificant amount of older timber was left as late as 1895.These conclusions stem boom a qualltati w considerat ion of t ho land r ecords( including ~hundred• of deode not cited bore ) and r.tore p.'.lrt!cularlTfrcn two lines ot addit i onal evi.-Oence Which •y be presented here-the

18Jiaccount. of ac~ivities of \"raund own and Benjamin Criosoy, and stat1st.1ceon 103-&verages t ar 1aw lla 1n and near the Forest in 18$0. Rdmand Brown operated a eawmill nellr B1ge1oir Pond rar ~)'9m'8 beforo bi• deat., in 18S9 (plate XIV) . According to Cptsooy (1900r624)1 Brown \"cleared and eade productive land out of tho rocky, pnmvalforest\" for ~t of hie lUe, •Pt>B\"ntly wtthout ever running out ofold--growth t ' iaber. 1be same was tTue or Benjamin Crisoey, Whose effortsat clearing land have boen mentioned previously (p. 167J Crissey, 1900sSJ5-$36). If these man, operating on tho edges of tho F~st, were stilldealing largely with old-O\"Olrth .1tande about 18501 it 13 unlikol.¥ thatexploitation had progressed VW7 far 111 the interi<Jl\"• loss o.ccoosibleparts of the Forest. Thia bypotheete is c onfirmed by data trom t.'lo 1850 con.sue returnsfor Canaan. so The intoriaati on tllnliehed included tho nuni>or or lo~s saweddur1ne t.be year ending June i, 18So, and the t otal output or tho mill inboard feet . By divio1on1 an estimate of average log size r:Nly be obtained.The tbNe sawmill• in or near the Forest !<Sf' which re-turns were sub.'llittedwore the Hunts Iqman tllll on Seekert~ Brook, tneoland J . '!unson'a millat the outl et ot trangum Lake, and the Root ti ~olabird mill on •angum LakeBrook (plate XIII). Ccaputed log avera es to:r tbc:.re m l.ls were 400, 333,and 2$0 bi:Mard feet, reapeotinly. The number of lfrtS and lur.i>cr outputwre almoet. al wa79 r eparted in rwnd numbers, ao that these figures -.ycontain moderate errors. Xet even allOlfine for such error, wG can only50 Original u. s. 09D8118 returns, Gannecticut State L!hrtlrT• unfartun- ately, no ~ate on nuaiber o! loPa nre reported at ant ti.al f r o:a Nor- fclk ~ on later returns !rem canaan.

18Sinter that tbe.ee mills were outttng old-grotftil t imber. At the end o£ th.e n1.neteenth century some ol~ helockln and near the Forest had sUl'Vi.v.U C'oali ng and l~ne. On 1-anda thatha,d been owned by the i ron companies, t his he.mlocx ex:tsted mostly aan stdual trees lef t by t he collier s. In 1897 the Runts ~n Iron Co.dis-posed ot all the \"hemlock. apruoe, and pine sawtimbel\"' r e.itnin:tng onits lsnda 1n the Forest between Crissey and Meelc~rtc:ll'ltl Roa.do by a l S·ye,o, timber lease to F . R. Buckley , a. Wi nsted l umbcrJDan ( NL~ 241 795) .Buokloy also bought timber right.a t o oth.,r lots in the lfo~fol!'t ~tionof the Forest tcbat had escaped the c0illier •e ue (NLR 2lu 792). Allthe lands owned by the Runts Lyman Iron Co. i n r:anaan we-re carweyed to thetam t or baek taxes in 190) (CLR 251 147- 15) ), an<l 1.1'1 1'917 they Wf.1r e allpurcliased by I'lat ld t . Heady, an.other l UllOOnnn f rom :/{inated. Heady andhis sorut lierritt and Wilber were able t-0 tak~ soe sawloge ~ theseland&, t:Qlir& t han 420 acres ct which have e1nce become pa:-t of the Forest. gowca !lanae!!nt ~ l l i Results The itlportanoe or lt.mlber and ~nbal'k as products ot the Foreetfihould not obacUH th~ tact that 1n the f oreet, a.a e1sewhere in the ironl'e~on; charcoal wae the major product and the copptoo system the mostW'ide-ly applied f Gl'Q of silv1culture. Coppicing b.ad been widely practiced in the older settletllentsof New' ~ngla.nd, Where fuelwood was t\M principal or~.~ In the ForestS1 T.futmel.owtloQo'd'Oawe'igsbhtal(\"1t8a21s-2lh21 11 107-108) described coppice rotations far the y'1ars, and he waa generally illlpl\"&Ssad b7 eptem, \"aithough1 it must be cmtessed, there are difteront opinions eNl. praotic:ea concerning the subjeo-t.\"

186reglon1 ~e • • Norton (1949• 8) obsened 1n 181.2 tha't \" tho best methodor tncrea 111ing th• quantity of timber t or fuel and other use&, mare par-ticulnrly the foreer, 1• t hougllt to be to cut orr the 'Whole (Jrcwth atcnce, llM b7 keeping cattle from tt1 a thick gr01fth nay 9Pltodi4' be Later t.n the nineteenth century there was little doub~ as tothe des1rabU1ty ot the coppice systems the only question concerned t heoptimum length of t he rotation. 52 In the Forest r egion rotations .viedfrom 20 to lS years, bllt then were some eaae1 in wh1ch landOlln1ers yieldedt o th& pressure& that oOIJl!lOnly lead to premature eutttnc;s under aiv formof f ores t manageaent.5l The reeult of theae extene1ve, repeated cop.:>i.ce cuttings waatbat 1i>)r' 1909, When acquiai tlon of the present Forest began, young h&rdtrood•~t stands predolld.nawd and t1P1£1ed tbe region as a whole. The foreBtBl.ll'VGY of Litchfield County made by ffnee (1909) shO'fed that ebout 7S~ I nfcxnaation on rotation l ength was pre sented and diecm.ssod by Rough (1882), Coffin (1880), Akei-man (190~ ) ~ and Fer now (1882). \"'et'Mlf was among tho f irst to advocate a 25- to JO-year rotat ion instead or the shorter rotatione -oractf.ced l n some regions.. Oard41iilfeod yield tabl e s t or the FCNet ragton were prepared by Sob\'mrz (1907), who found that the culmt.natton point t or ao:pptee eiands on rstddle and l•er sl opes came at. about 30 years. The mean annual :lne1\"ement was o.~ cords per acre pel' ,._,., drtng a total yteld t or the rotation of 19. S eords per acre. Thus, as long as wood f ar fuel and charcoal 1'U· tlle ma jor product, the practice or coppici ng on short rotat\"a.ons was entirely logical. Given similar markets and labor eo.'ldit!.ona today, high-order !'oreet MMgement woul d probably foll~ a stnd.lar pcllcy.S) Ttte existence o! such pressures to ren ected tn a c(li.1.ling lease 1n- \"1Tlnn a 36-&cre lot now in the Soutn n oc1c. The loo$e (UIA l St SJJ) r an tar • lG-year term, And tho owner conetdered i t p:udent to bind the coll ier \"not to cut the wood owr a second tine. \"

1871eo than ho yeare old. Almost all the etanda tn thia eateno,ry bad beeneopptced during the preceding ho years. or the re1D&.ining f'orest area,21 percent was listed merely as \"abandoned f1cl da1 \" 3 percon't es mixedhardwoods older than 40 years, and 1 pereent as pmte lrbit e ptoo. Althoughthe.re· are no contempoPary data f or the Forest itself at t his peri.od, anexamination of l ater surve75 euggea.ts that the proportion o-f ooppioedQt.ands in the Forest wae as hi(~ as f ar Li tchf iel d County as a whole.SU The beet coate~ deeal\"iption of tbeee coppice f o:ruta waswritten by Samrarz (1907). Ht. studi..•s of hardwood-eprout at.ands i n theffouaat onic Val ley included some areas that had been coppiced f i ve tiE s .S~z di atinguisbed three rna.jor coppiee types, associated \"1.th topo-arapblc podt1ona (1) rtdgc-top, dominated by oaks and hiokorles, withwry little cheetnutJ (2) mlcldle. al.opes , compris ing 6$ percent Gt thef oreot ana, Where oalts •we 29 percent of the total nunilet' of trees,maples 2S per eent, chestnut ll pereent, hickories 10 percent, and thebalance wbi te ash, birches, and shrub-like speoiee>J and (l) l ouer slopes,Where chestnut had an avenge abundamie of 4S percent . Allonng f or thet i m coincide closel y with tho.ae made during the pt\"(l&ent invest igation. Tree• of eupertcr sprout i ng ability, notabl y chestnut and theoaks, 110re t aTOl\"ed by the l ong h1atory 0£ coppice cutting. Thtdr relative~4 BJ adjuning the ages o! s t ands as sh09'1l on tho nap made from the 1931fOl\"eet survey of L1tcbf1eld Count,. (Hawes, 1933), an ostimate tras !3l&deof areas in the FOl\"eat by type and age elase a.a Of 1911. · According to 73 perc•nt of t oo Forest wae in bal\"dwood ata.ndsth is •tb o d1 leea than ,ears old. Ttda eatimate is .subject to errors of ~ td.nda, buthott is gewal.17 confitmed by t he 1943 orutee or the Forest:, riade undertbe d1\"ctiao ot Proteaacr Walter H. Meyer.