44 WHITE PINE TYPE 



top the pine and whip off the buds and leaves of the upper 

 branches when there is much wind stirring. Furthermore, a 

 mixed stand of gray birch and pine furnishes ideal conditions for 

 the spread of gypsy moths. Hence it is generally worth while 

 to cut it out of immature pine stands even if the cost of removal 

 exceeds its value as cbrdwood. 



Black birch is an entirely different species. It reaches large 

 size, so that its wood can be used for all purposes to which yellow 

 birch is put, but it also has a special value of its own for furni- 

 ture. The dark heartwood is most highly esteemed for this pur- 

 pose and commanded a price of $50 per M at the woodworking 

 estabhshments in 1914. Its stumpage value is also high, $5, as 

 the Forest Service figures for 1907 show. This is true in spite of 

 the high cost of logging due to the impossibility of finding this 

 species in pure stands. 



Yellow birch has already been fully discussed under the hard- 

 wood type. 



Oak is the only native hardwood which cuts an appreciable 

 figure in the total lumber cut of the United States. It ranks, in 

 fact, third, but even then only makes up 8 per cent of the total. 

 Nevertheless, it is an important group of species for which the 

 stumpage price ranged in 1900 from $1 to $6 with an average of 

 $3 for the United States as a whole. Its main uses are for furni- 

 ture and cooperage altho it meets a multitude of other demands 

 where strength, beauty and durability are factors. Thirty-eight 

 per cent of all the lumber used in the United States for furniture 

 and fixtures is oak while it furnishes 80 per cent of all the tight 

 barrel staves and a high percentage of the slack staves. Still 

 another important use is for cross ties, 44 per cent of the covmtry's 

 annual output being from this genus alone. 



High grade furniture oak, especially that which is to be quar- 

 tered, has the most stringent specifications. The logs must be 

 of large size, at least 10 inches in diameter inside the bark at the 

 top end, and free from all defects. Plain oak furniture stock is 

 only slightly less perfect. For tight cooperage staves perfect logs 

 must be employed but on account of the short lengths used the 

 utihzation can be somewhat closer than for furniture lumber. 



