WESTERN YELLOW PINE. 61 



boxes in the manufacturing districts of the East. Cheaper woods 

 grown near by supply the boxes in which merchandise is sent to 

 market. 



Pattern makers have drawn suitable material for their wares from 

 western white pine. It meets the requirements fairly well, being 

 soft, light, and easily cut across the grain as well as with it ; but it is 

 not usually considered the equal of the white pine of the East for 

 this purpose, nor has it been able to compete as a pattern wood in the 

 Pacific coast region with redwood, sugar pine, and western red cedar. 



WESTERN YELLOW PINE (Pinus ponderosa). 

 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. 



Weight of dry wood. 29.4 pounds per cubic foot (Sargent). 



Specific gravity. 0.47 (Sargent). 



Fuel value. 63 per cent that of white oak (Sargent). 



Breaking strength (modulus of rupture). 10,100 pounds per square inch, or 

 63 per cent that of longleaf pine (Sargent). 



Factor of stiffness (modulus of elasticity). 1,209,000 pounds per square inch, 

 or 57 per cent that of longleaf pine (Sargent). 



Character and qualities. Rather light, not strong, grain fine, even, often 

 twisted ; annual rings variable in width, summerwood broad or narrow, resin- 

 ous; resin passages medium and rather numerous; medullary rays not numer- 

 ous, prominent ; color light to reddish, thick sapwood almost white ; not durable 

 in untreated condition, but readily receives treatment. 



Growth. Height, 100 to 200 feet; diameter, 3 to 7 feet. 



SUPPLY. 



The total stand of western yellow pine in the United States in 1909 

 has been estimated at 275 billion feet b. m. Douglas fir was the only 

 species showing a greater total, and the southern longleaf pine was 

 next below. The four southern yellow pines together were estimated 

 at 110 billion feet more than western yellow pine. White pine and 

 Norway pine together amounted to only one-fourth the quantity of 

 this western timber. In amount it is more than half the estimated 

 combined stumpage of all the hardwoods in the United States. 1 



Few trees have a commercial range as wide as that of the western 

 yellow pine. It has its best development on the Pacific coast, but it 

 covers one-third of the United States. It is cut in Arizona, Cali- 

 fornia, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, 

 South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, and is found to a 

 smaller extent over a considerably wider area. In 1908 the largest 

 output was in California, followed by Oregon and Montana in the 

 order named. It is not always possible to separate the cut of this 

 species from other pines of the region, because in many cases they are 



1 Forest Service Circular 166, The Timber Supply of the United States ; also report of 

 the Bureau of Corporations on the Lumber Industry, 1911. 



