708 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



the United States is spruce, chiefly red spruce, the re- 

 mainder being made from some 6 or 8 other species. 



The most desirable qualities in a pulpwood are length 

 and toughness of fiber. Long-fibered woods mat down 



PILE OF FOUR-FOOT PULPWOOD FOR TRANSPORTATION TO THE 



PULP-MILLS 

 The chief use of spruce-wood is as a source of wood-pulp for paper. Seventy 

 per cent of the paper manufactured in America is made from spruce-wood. 

 The industry gives employment to thousands of men both in woods and mill. 

 It is lioped that the present extraordinary demand for pulp and consequent 

 high prices will not induce over-cutting of pulpwoods and consequent grave 

 reduction of the future supply. 



well into paper, and make strong paper. Likewise, 

 strength and toughness of fiber make for strength and 

 toughness of paper. There are woods having longer fibers 

 than spruce, but when length and toughness are com- 

 bined it is one of the leaders. Another desirable quality 

 in a pulpwood is a light color. Red gum, a dark colored 

 wood, makes an excellent pulp, but the cost of bleaching 

 it is said to be prohibitive. Lastly, a pulpwood must be 

 abundant and not too valuable for other use, else the pulp 

 man cannot compete with the lumberman for it. Spruce 

 meets all these requirements and is worthy of its rank 

 as a leading pulpwood. Most of it is used for the 

 manufacture of print papers, and the larger part of our 

 newspapers are printed on paper made from spruce 

 pulp. For newspaper it is common to mi.x sulphite or 

 " chemical " pulp with ground wood, the former having 

 more body and the latter being cheaper. 



Spruce lumber can be used acceptably as a substitute 

 for white pine in most cases. It is chiefly used for 

 dimension timbers of small sizes, house frames, sash 

 door, and blind manufacture, and box shooks. Because 

 of its light weight and moderate strength it is a very 

 desirable wood for framework and dimension lumber 

 of smaller sizes, and possesses some advantages for these 

 uses over stronger but heavier woods such as southern 

 yellow pine and oak. Its weight is but little more than 



half of oak and 35 per cent less than that of yellow pine. 

 Spruce clapboards, side boards and other forms of lum- 

 ber for exterior finish are also manufactured in consid- 

 erable amounts, since spruce lasts well when exposed to 

 the atmosphere. Most of the spruce lumber cut in New 

 England, New York and the Maritime Provinces is sold 

 along the seaboard, chiefly at Boston and New York. 

 Much of it is shipped by water directly from mills located 

 at tidewater in Maine and New Brunswick. A small 

 amount also goes abroad from those localities, chiefly 

 to Europe and the West Indies. West Virginia spruce is 

 sold chiefly in and about Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. 



Much spruce is sawed to order at the mills, dealers 

 frequently sending in specifications as to size and length 

 and receiving lumber all ready to be placed in building 

 without the necessity of cutting it to length from standard 

 sizes and wasting the trim. 



.spruce has many uses aside from building finriioses. 



PULPWOOD ox THE BANKS OF STREAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE 



Most spruce is still cut in remote regions and driven down the streams to the 

 pulp- or saw-mills. Four-foot spruce bolts are harder to drive than saw-logs. 



It ranks high as a box wood and in the spruce region 

 and the territory adjacent to it, which is one of the largest 

 box making sections of the LTnited States, spruce ranks 

 second to white pine, which, as a box wood, is the leader 

 for the whole country. 



Musical instruments involving the principle of the 

 sounding board, such as the violin and the piano, require 

 wood of a highly resonant nature. For this spruce has no 

 superior. The resonance of wood increases with its age, 

 so the makers of violins take extraordinary precautions 

 to obtain old, well-seasoned wood. Seven years is not 

 too long for it to season for their purposes. Often they 

 seek old beams, table tops, and other pieces which have 

 been in service for manv vears, and collectors go where 



