AMERICAN LUMBER 361 



goods for the market and hardly counts among the lumbering 

 states. Pennsylvania is in the same condition, hemlock being 

 its main staple, although some white pine and hard woods 

 still furnish the basis for its large sawmill capacity. Williams- 

 port once was the great lumber market of the United States, 

 but by the beginning of the seventies this prestige had been 

 transferred to Chicago, which drew its supplies of white pine, 

 the greatest staple of the American market, from Michigan, 

 Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The great lumber industries 

 which made Saginaw, Mich., famous all over the world reached 

 their climax of production in 1882. Now the cut in Michigan 

 has sunk from two and one half billion feet board measure in 

 1882 to less than one billion. Wisconsin reached its max- 

 imum cut in 1892 with over four billion feet, which has now 

 come down to less than two and one half; while Minnesota's 

 cut is still on the increase. These figures refer to white pine 

 and show plainly that this our greatest staple is rapidly near- 

 ing the end of supplies. Then when this great source of 

 wealth has ceased to flow, what remains of hard woods in these 

 great lumbering states will perhaps be more carefully handled. 



The great hardwood market to-day is, however, at St. 

 Louis, to which are tributary the magnificent hardwood for- 

 ests of the Mississippi bottom and its affluents. Here the 

 white and red oaks are kings of the market, as the white pine 

 in Chicago, ash and hickory, sycamore and cottonwood — for 

 this last species too has become an important material for 

 boxes, etc. — and the long despised, but lately highly appre- 

 ciated red gum, or liquidambar, are supplying the furniture, 

 carriage, cooperage, and other woodworking trades. 



The southern pineries have not developed any one great 

 center of distribution for their matchless ware of hard yellow 

 pines, longleaf and Cuban, which both go under the name of 

 Georgia pine, although they are found from North Carolina to 

 Texas; shortleaf pine, which goes in the trade as North Caro- 

 lina pine although it is as well developed in Missouri and 

 Arkansas, and loblolly or Virginia pine, which accompanies 

 the other two to Arkansas and Texas. Here, too, the bald 

 cypress, most fine grained and durable of conifers, grows in 

 the swamps, having its greatest development around New 



