as over onr-half of the retail dealers in New Hampshire, Vermont and 

 Massaehusetts report stocking it. Canadian spruce hoards are stocked by 

 about two-thirds of the yards in all states except New Hampshire. 



Dimension Lunil)er 



The volume of dimension lund)er sold in the region is nearlv twice 

 the volume of l)oards. Despite this fact eastern sawmills tend to produce 

 more jjoards than dimension. Although eastern species will make satis- 

 factory dimension, sawmill owners have seemed to be unaware of this 

 market. Western species comprise 74 percent of the dimension lumber 

 sales in the region; further. 60 percent of the total lumber sales are west- 

 ern dimension. Imports of Canadian lumber are two-thirds dimension 

 stocks. 



Less than one-half of the dimension lund)er from eastern sources is 

 sold graded. A previous study ^ showed that ahont 40 percent of the soft- 

 wood lumber sold by sawmills was graded before selling. Thus, pur- 

 chases directly from sawmill firms are likely to be ungraded. Eastern 

 dimension lumber purchased through wholesalers and all dimensions 

 from other regions is graded before sale. 



All retail yards in all states sold graded Canadian dimension with 

 the exception of Maine. In that state about 50 percent Canadian dimen- 

 sion was sold ungraded. This may be due to the particular source of 

 Canadian lumber and to the competitive price of Maine produced east- 

 ern spruce. 



Species of Dimension Lumber 



Western species of dimension lumber dominate most markets in the 

 Northeastern region (Figure 14). Douglas fir is the most important spe- 

 cies and is carried in stock bv two-thirds of all regional retail vards. 

 Western heudock. spruce and firs are stocked by half of these yards. 



In general, each state follows the regional pattern: however, west- 

 ern species are stocked by a smaller percentage of the yards in the more 

 northerly states. Only about one-third of Maine r<'tailers stock Douglas 

 fir as most of their yards stock eastern species for dimension. Canadian 

 spruce dimension is stocked by one-third of all yards. However, over 50 

 percent of Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts yards stock it. while less 

 than 20 percent of tlu' yards in the otluM- states carry it in stock. 



Eastern dimension species are of relativelv little importance region- 

 wide, altiiough they receive considerable use in some areas. parti«ularly 

 Maine. Eastern hemlock and spruce, are stocked by about one-fifth of all 

 yards but they are stocked by over three-fourths of Maine retail yards. 



riie advantages of western species are manv com])ared to eastern 

 species. Western dimension is well manufactured. availai»le in long 

 lengths and large sizes, and in volume. It is also carefully graded and 

 grade marked. 



1 M;irkftin<: of IhiiiIkt prfKluced hv >a\\ni!ll> in the Northeust. Phase 1. Bull. 478, 

 1962. W e.-l \ a. A};ri<-. Exp. Sta. 



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