748 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



tiveness, were: Washingfton, Louisiana, 

 Mississippi, North Carolina, Arkansas, Vir- 

 ginia, Texas, Wisconsin, Oregon, Michigan, 

 Alabama, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, West 

 Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Cali- 

 fornia, and Maine. 



CROSS-TIES 



In 1909 the total number of cross-ties re- 

 ported as having been purchased, was 123,- 

 754,000, costing $60,321,000 at the point of 

 purchase, as compared with 112,463,000, cost- 

 ing $56,281,000, in 1908, and 153,700,000, cost- 

 ing $78,959,000, in 1907. The latter year does 

 not, however, represent the true standard of 

 comparison, as it was one of unusual rail- 

 road development. The decrease in 1908 was 

 about 26.8 per cent., but in 1909 the balance 

 swung back to 80.5 per cent, of the 1907 rec- 

 ord, and was, as stated, an increase of about 

 10 per cent, over 1908. While there was con- 

 siderable variation in the number of cross- 

 ties purchased during the three years, the 

 average cost per tie remained close to 50 

 ♦ents. 



A significant feature is the fact that in 

 1909 there were 16,437,000 cross-ties re^ 

 ported as purchased for new track, as 

 against 7,431,000 in 1908, and 23,557,000 in 

 1907. 



The purchases by steam railroads formed 

 about 93 per cent, of the total in 1909 as 

 compared with approximately 94 per cent, 

 in both 1908 and 1907. 



The principal kinds of wood used in the 

 manufacture of cross-ties in the ranking or- 

 der in 1909, are: Oaks, southern pines, 

 Douglas fir, western pine, cedar, chestnut, 

 cypress, tamarack, hemlock, redwood, white 

 pine, lodgepole pine, gum, spruce, and 

 "beech, and the remaining varieties are 

 grouped together in an "all other" class. 



WOOD PULP 



There were 253 wood-pulp mills in opera- 

 tion during the whole or part of the calen- 

 dar year 1909 in the United States, as 

 against 251 in 1908. The consumption of 

 pulp wood in these mills during 1909 was 

 4,002,000 cords, as against 3,347,000 cords in 

 1908, an increase of about 19 per cent. Since 

 1907 there has been a decided decrease in 



the consumption of the best known and 

 highest priced pulp wood, namely, spruce, 

 this species contributing 68.1 per cent, of 

 the total in 1907, 64.5 per cent, in 1908, and 

 60.5 per cent, in 1909. There has also been 

 a slight decrease in hemlock, whereas cor- 

 responding increases have occurred in the 

 consumption of woods heretofore little used 

 as pulp material, such as balsam, white fir, 

 and several hardwoods, including birch, 

 beech, maple, gum, and basswood. This in- 

 crease is especially marked in the case of 

 balsam, the quantity of this species consumed 

 in 1909 being more than double that reported 

 for 1908. 



The steady decrease in the annual con- 

 sumption of spruce has been accompanied 

 by a substantial increase in the average cost 

 per cord of this species. As indicated by 

 the figures, this was $8.90 in 1907, $9.33 in 

 1908, and $9.96 in 1909. 



The tendency to use the woods less highly 

 considered in pulp making becomes more 

 marked as the cost of spruce increases and 

 the available supply is reduced. White fir, 

 which is separately shown for the iirst time 

 in 1909, is one of the woods of good quality 

 for pulp which has been utilized only during 

 recent years. It is very common in the na- 

 tional forests, and at present has a rather 

 low value, due both to the lack of knowledge 

 of its pulp* value and to the lack of other 

 uses for it. The development of the use of 

 this wood for pulp will mean much for the 

 national forests' management, for it will 

 make it possible to dispose of much material 

 for which there has hitherto been little de- 

 mand. 



The advancing cost of pulp wood of all 

 species is clearlv brought out in the report. 

 The total consumption in 1909, though ex- 

 ceeding that of 1907 by less than 40,000 

 cords, cost over $2,000,000 more. 



The quantity of slabs and other mill waste 

 consumed as pulp material was substantially 

 the same in 1909 and in 1908, about 2=;o,ooo 

 cords in each year, which, however, was a 

 material increase in the consumption of this 

 character of material over 1907 when 193,- 

 000 cords of it were reported as used. 



The reported total production of air-dry 

 pulp in 1909 was 2,491,406 tons, as against 

 2,118,947 tons in 1908 and 2,547,879 tons in 

 1907. 



