322 THE FORESTS OF GARRETT COUNTY 



The coniferous lumber comes from Hemlock, Spruce, and White 

 Pine. Oak and Maple furnish most of the hardwood lumber, while 

 smaller amounts of Beech, Birch, and Basswood are manufactured. 



LATH, SHINGLES, BARRELS AND EXCELSIOR. Some of the large lum- 

 ber mills also manufacture lath and shingles from their softwood 

 slabs, while a few small mills in the county make nothing: but shingles. 

 The annual output of the shingle mills is small compared with the 

 lumber produced and the run of the mills is irregular owing to the 

 scarcity of suitable material. 



* A barrel factory operated in connection with one of the large mills 

 uses all of the good White Oak on the company's tract. 



A small mill at Blaine is engaged exclusively in the manufacture 

 of excelsior. Small but entire logs are used. 



PULPWOOD. The trees commonly used for pulpwood are Spruce, 

 Basswood, Cucumber-tree and Tulip-tree. There is, however, no 

 extensive cutting in the county for pulpwood alone. Only small 

 inferior trees and tops reach the pulp mills. Softwood slabs from 

 the saw-mills are sometimes used for certain grades of pulp. The 

 annual cut of pulpwood varies and is never large. The nearest 

 market for this material is at Luke, Allegany county, on the Potomac 

 river. 



MINING TIMBERS. The demand for these materials is a growing 

 one and of considerable importance. The mines of the Georges Creek 

 valley in Allegany county and those surrounding Piedmont are the 

 principal users of mine timbers. Savage Mountain is being stripped 

 of its timber to furnish these mines. Any sound tree six inches in 

 diameter may be used for props. The culled forests and other sprout- 

 lands yield a fair amount of prop timber. Further growth of the 

 mining interests of the county will probably create a large demand 

 for mine props and lagging, so that in the future the production of 

 this timber is likely to be an industry of great importance to the 

 county. 



SPARS. Spruce is the only timber in the county used for spars. 

 Formerly in cutting a tract of Spruce the spars were the first material 

 removed, as only the very best of the trees could be used. The spar 



