AMERICAN LUMBER IN FOREIGN MARKETS. 201 



American oak is largely used in the construction of railway car- 

 riages, and is chiefly cut into scantlings. 



Oregon timber is chiefly fir. It is very large and, in the opinion of 

 local timber merchants, has valuable properties, but they say it is too 

 expensive for general use in consequence of the high freight. 



Fancy woods from the United States, such as birch and walnut, are 

 largely used, and there is nothing in England to compete with them. 



Canadian yellow-pine timber and deals are largely consumed, but not 

 to the extent of former years. Baltic woods are being greatly substi- 

 tuted for them by reason of their nearness and hardness, and the 

 increased cost during late years of the Canadian pine. Canadian birch, 

 walnut, elm, and oak are used to a considerable extent. 



The substitution of iron for wood in shipbuilding has interfered 

 very much with the use of North American shipbuilding woods. This, 

 however, applies almost altogether to Canada, inasmuch as the quan- 

 tity of American wood for shipbuilding purposes is very small, so 

 small that the leading timber merchant in Hull spoke of it as scarcely 

 worth mentioning. 



The use of pitch pine has now become so general that the trade in 

 balk timber with the Baltic has shrunk into comparatively small com- 

 pass. The import of pitch pine is entirely from the United States, and, 

 as it is now used in building and for a variety of purposes, there is 

 every likelihood of an increased consumption. 



IMPORTS OF LUMBER. 



The import from the United States is very much larger than formerly, 

 and continually increasing, whilst from Canada it is not so large as it 

 used to be. This latter fact is accounted for by the use of Baltic woods 

 in place of the more expensive Canadian woods. The forests in the 

 northern districts of Canada, which consist almost entirely of pine 

 timber, have been so much thinned that timber has become more valu- 

 able as standing trees. 



The Baltic, the White Sea, Canada, and the United States are the 

 great sources of supply for the timber market in Hull and the district. 

 The United States are holding their own, displacing the Baltic timber, 

 and the Quebec red pine, which has almost ceased to come. The latter 

 of all other woods is most like the pitch pine. 



The woods most commonly used in this district by English timber 

 merchants are ash, oak, and elm. As before stated, in East Yorkshire 

 the country has been almost cleared of wood, and the same remark 

 would apply to North Yorkshire. The chief imports are from the Bal- 

 tic, and consist of red and white wood. These woods are generally 

 used for building purposes all over England. The imports of Ameri- 

 can pine and spruce are much larger on the west coast than on the east 

 coast the latter being small in comparison. As far as pine is con- 

 cerned, its qualities and uses have been already indicated. Spruce is 



