Februiiiy 10, 1816 



S ygog>aam^aw■^.^K>roKli^ai^:i;iOTi^^^ 



The Forest Service has condensed in tabular form the figures from 



all parts of the United 'States showing the annual employment of 



birch for manufacturing jiurposes in the various industries which 



use wood as raw material. Forty-eight industries are included and 



that may be accepted as practically complete for the whole country. 



The table which follows lists the industries separately and shows how 



much birch each consumes in the operations covering one year, and 



the average price paid for the wood delivered at the factory: 



Use of Birch in United States by Vabious Industries 



Quantity used Average Total cost 



annually cost per f. o. b. 



Industry feet b. m. Per cent 1,000 ft. • factory 

 P. M. I'., S. I). & B. and 



general mill work 133,867.989 2T.80 $26.86 $3,596,248.11 



Boxes and crates 90,787,900 18.86 14..S9 1,306,273.80 



Furniture 54,677,450 11.36 25.02 1,367,919.24 



Shuttles, spools and bob- 

 bins .•)3,in2,000 6.89 22.00 730,229.00 



Chairs and chair stock. . . 30,114,332 6.25 21.12 636,106.90 

 AVoodenwarc, novelties and 



D. I'. & .\. supplies 29,547,890 6.14 15.87 468,861.00 



Fixtures 15,255,129 3.17 40.87 023,550.10 



Vehicles and vehicle parts 14,227,125 2.95 44..{9 G.!l,5',)3.Sfi 



Instruments, musical 12,349.0.")5 2.!59 28.66 353.950.12 



Handles 9,908.250 2.06 16.80 106,479.40 



Dowels 8,149,000 1.69 17.02 13.s.(>97.50 



Boot and shop findings. . . 7,483,000 1.55 15,65 117,124.50 



Car construction 5,830,429 1.21 17.80 103,765.00 



Agricultural implements. . 4,704,000 .98 25.48 119,853.00 



Laundry appliances 3,876,500 .81 14.70 56,968.28 



Kefrigerators and kitchen 



cabinets 3,628,106 .75 21.77 78,982.00 



Matches and toothpicks... 3,575,000 .74 27.77 99,275.00 

 Frames and mouding, pic- 

 ture 3,133,700 .65 36.65 114,860.00 



Toys 3,123,950 .65 20.31 63,444.40 



Plumbers' woodwork 2,404,500 .50 29.26 70,355.00 



Brushes 1,913,000 .40 17.90 34,237.25 



Instruments, professional 



and scientific 1,062,050 .22 24.47 25,985.00 



Ship and boat building... 1,055,167 .22 24.43 25,782.00 

 Sporting and athletic 



goods 983,233 .20 29.22 28,733.10 



Machinery and apparatus, 



elec 804,200 .17 28.83 23,187.00 



Pullevs and conveyors 745,000 ' .15 28.47 19,720.00 



AVfigfiing apparatus 675,000 .14 18.11 12,225.00 



AVhips. canes and um- 

 brella sticks 580,000 .12 22.31 12,940.00 



Brooms and carpet sweep- 

 ers 530,500 .11 26.58 14,100.00 



Machine construction 470,406 .10 18.93 8,905.00 



.Artificial limbs 353,000 .07 22.74 8,027.00 



Mine equipment 336,075 .07 24.23 8,143.00 



Bungs and faucets 305,000 .06 18.87 5,755.00 



dates and fencing 300,000 .06 40.00 12,000.00 



Printing material 242,200 .05 42.16 10,210.00 



Butchers' blocks and skew- 

 ers 240,000 .05 13.17 3,160.00 



Sewing machines 206,000 .04 20.87 4,300.00 



Excelsior 200,000 .04 8.50 1,700.00 



Caskets and coffins 191,000 .04 22.34 4.266.00 



Equipment, playground . . 147,500 .03 18.69 2,757.50 



Rollers, shade and map.. . 93,000 .02 16.13 1,500.24 



Trunks and valises 71,500 .01 29.68 2,122.00 



Pumps and wood pipe. . . . 55,500 .01 17.31 960.50 



■Clocks 52,044 .01 46.13 2.401.00 



Elevators 28,000 .01 34.39 963.00 



Saddles and harness 10,000 • 12.00 120.00 



Patterns and flasks 7,000 * 77.86 545.00 



Pipes, tobacco 2,000 • 50.00 100.00 



Total 481,493,680 100.00 $23.09 $11,119,380.86 



•Less than 1/100 of 1 per cent. 



Wide difference is seen in the average prices paid by difEerent 

 industries. This is not due so much to region and the freight paid 

 on lumber as to the class of lumber used. For example, pattern 

 makers pay the highest price, and excelsior makers the lowest. The 

 latter industry takes round logs of medium or low grade, while the 

 former must have seasoned lumber of the best grades. Naturally, 

 there is wide difference in the cost. Hegion, of course, has some- 

 thing to do with prices paid ; but as an industry, particularly if it 

 is a large one, consists of shops and factories in many regions, the 

 average is not much influenced by geographical considerations. Some 

 industries are more local, like that which makes spools. Paper birch 

 is employed chiefly for these articles, and the present supply of 

 wood comes from New England and New York, and the principal 

 factories are located there. 



The makers of doors, blinds, and interior finish are the largest 

 users of this wood, and the center of the industry is in the Lake 

 States. 



Species op BmcH 



The birch which goes to factories to be converted into the numer- 

 ous commodities incliided in the list beginning with house finish and 

 ending with shoe pegs, is not all of the same species. There are 

 more than half a dozen kinds, but three only are of commercial 

 importance, though the others are occasionally put to use. 



Sweet birch (Betitla lenta) is unsurpassed by any member of the 

 birch group in the fine quality of its wood. Its name is due to the 

 fine odor given off wlien the fresh wood is cut or broken. It is the 

 birch who§e inner bark is good to eat in early summer. The heart- 

 wood is red, for which reason the tree is sometimes known as cherry 

 or mahogany birch. It ranges from Newfoundland to Minnesota, 

 and extends along the mountains southward to Georgia. It is lum- 

 bered principally in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New "Sork, 

 but it is occasionally cut in all parts of its range. 



Yellow birch (Betula lutea) probably yields more lumber than 

 sweet birch. It does so, at least toward the western part of its 

 range, in the Lake States. Its range and that of sweet birch arc 

 nearly coextensive. Its name is due to the yellow color of the bark 

 of medium-sized and young trees. Very old trunks have rough, 

 dark-colored bark. The lumber sawed from yellow and sweet birch 

 is so much alike that one is distinguished from the other with 

 difficulty. 



Paper birch {Betula papyrifera) is probably the most abundant 

 of the American birches; but the trunks average small and they do 

 not contain much colored heartwood, and for that reason the tree is 

 not much valued for ordinary lumber. The wood is white and its 

 principal use is for spools, shoepegs, toothpicks, shoeshanks, and 

 wooden heels. A comparatively large quantity goes to excelsior mills. 

 This is the tree whose bark once made most of the Indians' and 

 traders' canoes on northern waters. When a trunk contains heart- 

 wood it is of a rich red color and is valuable for brush backs. The 

 tree grows in the northern part of the United States and throughout 

 most of Canada. 



ErvER BIRCH (Beinla nigra) is a subst;intial wood, but it is plain 

 and it has few places to fill other tlian common lumber. It grows 

 both north and south, and it deligl.ls to lean over the banks of rivers. 

 The bark of young trees and on the branches of old is very ragged, 

 and hangs in rolls and tatters, and it is often of a reddish bronze 

 color. 



White of gray bibch (Betvla popuUfolia) is small and is usually 

 looked upon more as a nuisance than as an asset. It grows in New 

 England and some distance westward, and the name "poverty birch" 

 is an allusion to its habit of growing in wornout and abandoned 

 fields. Little of it finds its way to factories. 



There are some birches in the far western country which amount 

 to little. 



October Lumber Exports 



Statistics of lumber exports for October, 1915, have been pub 

 lished. Some items exceed corresponding figures for October, 1914, 

 and others fall below. The total value for last October is larger 

 than for the same month in 1914 by more than a million dollars. 

 Value of all wood exports from the United States in October, 

 1914, was $3,593,757 and for last October $4,991,524. Some of the 

 items constituting these totals follow: 



1914. 1915. 



Hewed and sawed timber $ 255.812 $ 296,948 



Lumber 1,867,532 2,450,253 



Railroad ties 100,125 116,055 



Box shocks 84,231 128,146 



Barrel shocks 76,591 84,531 



Staves 169,227 287,333 



Heading 9,098 12,795 



Doors, sash and blinds 38,260 25,763 



Furniture 236,228 245,307 



Woodenwarc . .- 46,358 33,004 



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