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FORESTRY BRANCH BULLETIN No. 63 



Poplar includes four species: balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera), aspen 

 (Populus tremuloides) , cottonwood (Populus deltoides), large-toothed aspen, 

 (Populus grandidentata) , which are all represented in the wood-using industries 

 of the province. Poplar trees are largely distributed over Canada and more so 

 throughout the northern portion, where aspen and balsam poplar are the only 

 species of the genus to be found. 



Balsam poplar and cottonwood are considered the best material of the 

 four for lumber, while aspen is preferred for pulp and excelsior. In general 

 the wood of poplar is weak, soft, light, perishable; its fibre is tough; it is colour- 

 less and tasteless. It is easy to work but difficult to season, and is subject to 

 shrinking, swelling, and warping. Aspen is the toughest and strongest of the 

 poplars, but the most difficult to season. 



In the wood-using industries poplar comes twelfth in the list, forming 

 0-5 per cent of the total. In the output of logs this species comes tenth with 

 approximately 4,500,000 feet board measure. The wood-using industries 

 consumed nearly 77 per cent of this production. 



With the development of the making of pulp by the soda process, aspen 

 is bound to become a more popular wood material and to attain a much greater 

 economic value, more or less in proportion to the decreasing quantity and in- 

 creasing value of spruce and balsam fir. 



It appears by the reports received that Ontario sells 950,000 feet of poplar 

 to manufacturers in Quebec, which quantity is equal to 27 per cent of the total 

 consumption. 



TABLE XIII ASH 



*Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent. 



-Ash is one of the most valuable hardwoods of Eastern Canada. At one 

 time it was quite plentiful, but now most of the choice ash trees have been cut. 



