" I had heard considerable about Minnesota lumber, it is true,
but I was not prepared to see the pine timber so valuable and heavy as
it is above and about here. The trees are of large growth, straight
and smooth. They are not surpassed by
"The tallest pine,
Hewn on Norwegian hills to be the mast
Of some great admiral."
Cujus est solum ejus est usque ad caelum-- whose the soil, his to the
sky-- is a maxim in these pine regions of literal importance. There is
something besides utility also to be mentioned in this connection.
With the exception of swamps, which are few and far between, the
timber land has all the beauty of a sylvan grove. The entire absence
of underbrush and decayed logs lends ornament and attraction to the
woods. They are more like the groves around a mansion in their neat
and cheerful appearance; and awaken reflection on the Muses and the
dialogues of philosophers rather than apprehension of wild beasts and
serpents.
The relative importance of the lumber business would hardly be
estimated by a stranger.
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