12 BULLETIN No. 82. 



None of the 70 per cent of improved land is wooded, and not all of 

 the 30 per cent unimproved can be classed as woodland. The value of 

 land has greatly advanced since 1900, and now it is nearly double what 

 it was then. There are considerable areas of cut-over forest land or 

 slightly improved land in southern Delaware which can be bought for 

 $5 to $15 an acre, on which timber growing could easily be made to 

 pay good interest. 



The following statistics on the lumber industry in the State are 

 also taken from the census of 1900 : 



Number of mills 76 



Total capital invested $354,464 



Total value of product 471,482 



Total value of rough sawed lumber 395,828 



72 per cent from pine and the rest from hardwoods. 



Total amount of rough sawed lumber, 35,955 M board feet, 88 per 

 cent of which is pine and only 12 per cent hardwood, mostly oak. 



Figures collected by the Forest Service and the Census Bureau, in 

 co-operation, show a total cut for Delaware in 1906 of 44,487,000 board 

 feet. This amount was divided among species as follows : 



Board Feet. 



Yellow pine 33,990,000 



White pine 1,900,000 



Oak 4,233,000 



Maple 365,000 



Cypress 56,000 



Yellow poplar 25,000 



Red gum 50,000 



Chestnut 338,000 



Cedar 251,000 



Beech 326,000 



Ash 3,000 



Hickory 116,000 



All other hardwoods 2,834,000 



In proportion to its size, Delaware in 1900 cut more timber than 

 either Maryland or New Jersey, and in 1906 it actually cut more than 

 New Jersey. The timber is very closely utilized, and the average 

 amount of waste less than in New Jersey or Maryland, due to the fact 

 that forests everywhere in Delaware are very accessible, and also be- 

 cause better market conditions prevail than in the two States men- 

 tioned. 



