IMPORTANT FOREST TREES AND THEIR USES 47 



leather has been extracted in large amounts from 

 the bark of hemlock trees. 



One of the most pleasing uses to which the 

 balsam fir is put is as Christmas trees. Some- 

 times it is used in making paper pulp. The 

 balsam fir seldom grows higher than 50 feet or 

 thicker than 12 inches. The leaves of this tree 

 have a very sweet odor and are in demand at 

 Christmas time. Foresters and woodsmen often 

 use balsam boughs to make their beds and pillows 

 when camping in the woods. 



Our native supplies of hardwoods and soft- 

 woods are used for general building purposes, 

 for farm repairs, for railroad ties, in the furni- 

 ture and veneer industry, in the handle industry, 

 and in the vehicle and agricultural implement 

 industries. On the average each American 

 farmer uses about 2,000 board feet of lumber each 

 year. New farm building decreased in the sev- 

 eral years following the World War, due to the 

 high price of lumber and labor. As a result of 

 this lack of necessary building, millions of dollars 

 worth of farm machinery stood out in the 

 weather. Livestock lacked stables in some sec- 

 tions. Very little building was done in that 



