The Forest Industries 65 



although some of these, like basswood and poplar, 

 are not at all hard when treated with cutting tools. 

 Several species of hard wood are widely used in 

 building, for floors, wainscoting, and interior finish 

 in general. But the larger portion of this branch 

 of lumber is consumed in the various manufactur- 

 ing industries, such as furniture making, carriage 

 building, and the like. The other great division of 

 lumbering is the production of building timber, 

 obtained principally from coniferous trees and in- 

 discriminately called soft wood, although some 

 kinds are harder and heavier than many woods 

 from broad-leaved trees. Of this the American 

 people consume larger quantities than any other 

 nation, for the reason that houses built mainly of 

 wood are still the rule with us, while in Western 

 and Central Europe wooden houses are practically 

 unknown. On account of our prevalent fashion of 

 building " frame " houses, we consume most of our 

 lumber in the shape of boards. In Europe, so far 

 as wood enters into the construction of house walls, 

 at all, it is used in the shape of beams, while the 

 use of boards is confined principally to floors and 

 other interior work. These facts are important to 

 know when one attempts to compare the lumber 

 industries of two countries, and their neglect would 

 lead to very erroneous conclusions. 



It may be said here that while we have much to 

 learn from several European countries with refer- 

 ence to the continued maintenance of forests, and 

 proper methods of silviculture, we need not go to 



