States from 1873 to 1906. It is certain that the remarkable decline in the cut of white pine which these figures show will continue still farther.
| 1873 3,993,780,000 |
| 1874 3,751,306,000 |
| 1875 3,968,553,000 |
| 1876 3,879,046,000 |
| 1877 3,595,333,496 |
| 1878 3,629,472,759 |
| 1879 4,806,943,000 |
| 1880 5,651,295,000 |
| 1881 6,768,856,749 |
| 1882 7,552,150,744 |
| 1883 7,624,789,786 |
| 1884 7,935,033,054 |
| 1885 7,053,094,555 |
| 1886 7,425,368,443 |
| 1887 7,757,916,784 |
| 1888 8,388,716,460 |
| 1889 8,183,050,755 |
| 1890 8,597,659,352 |
| 1891 7,879,948,349 |
| 1892 8,594,222,802 |
| 1893 7,326,263,782 |
| 1894 6,821,516,412 |
| 1895 7,050,669,235 |
| 1896 5,725,763,035 |
| 1897 6,233,454,000 |
| 1898 6,155,300,000 |
| 1899 6,056,508,000 |
| 1900 5,485,261,000 |
| 1901 5,336,000,000 |
| 1902 5,294,000,000 |
| 1903 4,792,000,000 |
| 1904 4,220,000,000 |
| 1905 3,777,000,000 |
| 1906 3,032,000,000 |
Second to the white pine among the coniferous lumber trees of the Northern forest is the hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). It is used chiefly for construction purposes and furnishes a comparatively low grade of lumber.
The spruce (Picea rubens) is used chiefly for lumber, but it is in large and increasing demand in the manufacture of paper pulp. For the latter purpose hemlock, poplar (Populus tremuloides and P. grandidentata) and several other woods are also employed, but on a smaller scale. The total consumption of wood for paper in the United States for 1906 was 3,660,000 cords, of which 2,500,000 was spruce. Of this, however, 720,000 cords were imported from Canada.
2. The chief product of the Southern forest is the yellow pine. This is the collective term for the longleaf, shortleaf, loblolly and Cuban pines. Of these the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.), called pitch-pine in Europe, is the most important. Its timber is probably superior in strength and durability to that of any other member of the genus Pinus, and in addition to its value as a timber tree it is the source of naval stores in the United States. The average size of the mature longleaf pine is 90 ft. in height and 20 in. in diameter. Shortleaf (Pinus echinata) and loblolly (P. taeda) are other important members of this group. Their wood very closely resembles that of the longleaf pine and is often difficult to distinguish from it. The trees are also of about the same size and height. Loblolly is, however, of more rapid growth. The total cut of yellow pine in 1906 was 11,661,000,000 board ft.; it has perhaps not yet reached its maximum, but is certainly near it.
Another important coniferous tree of the Southern forest is the bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), which grows in the swamps. The cut in 1906 was 839,000,000 board ft., a gain of 69% over 1899.
3. But the great supply of coniferous timber is now on the Pacific Coast. The Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia), also known as Douglas spruce, red fir and Oregon pine, is the foremost tree in Oregon and Washington, and the redwood in California. When mature the Douglas fir averages 200 ft. in height and 4 ft. in diameter, and the redwood 225 ft. in height and 8 ft. in diameter. Other important trees of the Pacific Coast are sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), western red cedar (Thuja plicata), western larch (Larix occidentalis), Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and western yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa). These trees will all be of increasing importance.
Logging on the Pacific Coast is characterized by the use of powerful machinery and by extreme skill in handling enormous weights. This is especially true in California, where the logs of redwood and of the big tree (Sequoia Washingtoniana) are often more than 10 ft. in diameter. Logging is usually done by wire cables operated by donkey-engines. The journey to the mill is usually by rail. The mills are often of great size, built on piles over tide water and so arranged that their product is delivered directly from the saws and dry kilns to vessels moored alongside. The products of the Pacific Coast forest make their way over land to the markets of the central and eastern states and into foreign markets. Among the lumber-producing states, Washington has in seven years jumped from fifth place to first, and its output has increased from 1,428,000,000 board ft. in 1899 to 4,305,000,000 ft. in 1906. Oregon and California have increased their output from 734,000,000 each in 1899 to 1,605,000,000 and 1,349,000,000 ft. respectively in 1906. Of the total output of these three states (7,259,000,000 ft.) 4,880,000,000 ft. is Douglas fir and 660,000,000 redwood.
4. The important lumber trees of the Rocky Mountain forest are the western yellow pine, the lodgepole pine, the Douglas fir and the Engelmann spruce. The Douglas fir, here extremely variable in size and value, reaches in this region average dimensions of perhaps 80 ft. in height by 2 ft. in diameter, the western yellow pine 90 ft. by 3 ft. and the Engelmann spruce 60 ft. by 2 ft. Mining, railroad and domestic uses chiefly absorb the annual timber product, which is considerable in quantity, and of vast importance to the local population. The lumber output of the Rocky Mountain region is, however, increasing very rapidly both in the north and in the south-west. One of the largest mills in the United States is in Idaho.
The following table summarizes the cut of the important coniferous species during the years 1899–1906:
| Kind. | 1899. | 1904. | 1906. | Per Cent Increase (+) or Decrease (−) since 1899. |
| Million ft. |
Million ft. |
Million ft. |
||
| Yellow Pine | 9,659 | 11,533 | 11,661 | + 20.7 |
| Douglas Fir | 1,737 | 2,928 | 4,970 | + 186.2 |
| White Pine | 7,742 | 5,333 | 4,584 | − 40.8 |
| Hemlock | 3,421 | 3,269 | 3,537 | + 3.4 |
| Spruce | 1,448 | 1,304 | 1,645 | + 13.6 |
| Western Pine | 944 | 1,279 | 1,387 | + 46.9 |
| Cypress | 496 | 750 | 839 | + 69.3 |
| Redwood | 360 | 519 | 683 | + 83.2 |
| Cedar | 233 | 223 | 358 | + 53.7 |
| 26,040 | 27,138 | 29,664 | + 14 |
Hardwoods.—The hardwood supply of the country is derived almost entirely from the eastern half of the continent, and comes from each of the three great Eastern forest regions.
The following table shows the cut of the important species of hardwoods for 1899 and 1906:
| Kind. | 1899. | 1906. | Per Cent Increase (+) or Decrease (−). |
| Thousand Feet. |
Thousand Feet. |
||
| Oak | 4,438,027 | 2,820,393 | − 36.5 |
| Maple | 633,466 | 882,878 | + 39.4 |
| Poplar | 1,115,242 | 693,076 | − 37.9 |
| Red gum | 285,417 | 453,678 | + 59.0 |
| Chestnut | 206,688 | 407,379 | + 97.1 |
| Basswood | 308,069 | 376,838 | + 22.3 |
| Birch | 132,601 | 370,432 | + 179.4 |
| Cottonwood | 415,124 | 263,996 | − 36.4 |
| Beech | (a) | 275,661 | · · |
| Elm | 456,731 | 224,795 | − 50.8 |
| Ash | 269,120 | 214,460 | − 20.8 |
| Hickory | 96,636 | 148,212 | + 53.4 |
| Tupelo | (a) | 47,882 | · · |
| Walnut | 38,681 | 48,174 | + 24.5 |
| Sycamore | 29,715 | (a) | · · |
| All other | 208,504 | 87,637 | − 58.0 |
| Total | 8,634,021 | 7,315,491 | − 15.3 |
{a) Not separately reported.
Oak, which in 1899 furnished over half the entire output, has fallen off 36.5%. Yellow poplar, which in 1899 was second among the hardwoods, has fallen off 38% and now occupies third place; and elm, the great stand-by in slack cooperage, has fallen 50.8%. On the other hand less valuable species like maple and red gum have advanced 39 and 59% respectively.
The decrease is largely due to the fact that the hardwoods grow naturally on the better classes of soil, and in the eastern
