414 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



cover lumber, lath, shinojles, crossties, poles, pulp, tanbark, cooperage, 

 veneers, and wood distillation. 



Studies of the wood-using industries of various States were com- 

 pleted in Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Kentucky, Wis- 

 consin, Oregon, Illinois, Louisiana, New ^fexico, Arizona, Colorado, 

 Utah, Wyoming, Washington, and Nevada. In a number of cases 

 the reports have been published by the States concerned. Investi- 

 gations were begun but not completed in Arkansas, Wisconsin, 

 Michigan, Virginia, New Hampshire, and California. 



The collection of wholesale lumber prices, f . o. b. market and f. o. b. 

 mill, was continued with the assistance of 5,000 cooperating lumber- 

 men. Early in the year the record of market prices was changed 

 from a monthly to a quarterly basis. This compilation of statistics 

 is expected to serve as a continuous record of prices; to show what the 

 manufacturers of lumber receive for their product at the mill, and 

 what the final cost of lumber is to the retailer and consumer; and, 

 finally, to set forth the important part which freight and selling 

 charges play in the final cost of lumber. 



Substitution of other materials for wood is steadily gaining in this 

 country. A summary of answers to inquiries sent by the Forest 

 Service to 3,000 retail lumber dealers in 10 central agricultural States 

 shows that substitution has occurred in certain classes of wood prod- 

 ucts to the extent indicated by the percentages following: Finish, 0.9; 

 sheathing, 2.4; lath, 3; fence posts, 3.7; siding, 4.1; common lumber, 

 5.3; dimension stuff, 5.4; flooring, 6; pickets, 9; fencing, 13.7; 

 shingles, 16.2; average, 5.4. These changes have occurred in the last 

 three years. Iron and cement are the chief substitutes. The study 

 of this subject is not yet complete. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Nine hundred and fifty books and pamphlets, obtained either 

 through the department library (of which the Forest Service library 

 is a branch) or by gifts or exchange, were added to the working library 

 maintained in the Washington office, making a total of 14,963. By 

 far the greater number of new books were free publications. The 

 library receives regularly 60 forest and trade journals. 



There are now small field libraries in the supervisors' offices, the 

 district offices, the forest experiment stations, the Forest Products 

 Laboratory, and the Office of Wood Utilization at Chicago. The 

 district libraries average about 750 books each and the supervisors' 

 about 88. To these field libraries there were sent out during the year 

 3,676 publications, of which the majority w^ere free publications, 

 either Government or State. The amount spent for the purchase of 

 books for the field during the year was $2,000. 



There are now 25,098 classified and tabulated photographs in the 

 collection, 1,846 of which were added during the 3^ear. 



Over 200 microsections, covering 150 species of native hardwoods, 

 were added to the collection which is used in the study of the struct- 

 ural characteristics of wood and in the identification of wood samples. 



The reference collection of native and foreign woods was aug- 

 mented during the year by the addition of 460 specimens. The 

 entire collection now includes about 6,000 specimens. Approxi- 

 mately 3,000 forest-tree specimens were added to the forest herbarium, 



