146 AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



inches long. They are green and lustrous above and silver white below, 

 the whitiiu-ss due to stomata on their undersides. On young twigs 

 the leaves bristle out on all sides and are very numerous and crowded 

 together, but on older branches the leaves are more scattered, due to the 

 dropping of some of them. It is their habit to adhere to the stems about 

 eight years. 



The leaves of balsam fir possess a pleasing and characteristic odor 

 which is turned to account in a practical way. The small needles are 

 stripped from the branches in large quantities, cleaned, dried, and are 

 used for stuffing sofa pillows, cushions, and other kinds of upholstery. 

 The odor persists a long time. Much of the collecting of the needles is 

 done in summer as a pastime by summer campers in the northern 

 woods. The needles are sufficiently tough to stand much wear in pil- 

 lows, and they are still odorous when long use has ground them to 

 powder. 



The cones of balsam fir follow the fashion of all species of fir, and 

 stand erect on the branches. Seeds are one-fourth inch in length and 

 are winged. The wood is of approximately the same weight as white 

 pine, but it falls considerably below white pine in strength and stiff- 

 ness. It is of moderately rapid growth when conditions are favora- 

 ble, and the annual ring has a fair proportion of summerwood. The 

 yearly rings are quit distinct. The medullary rays are numerous, and 

 for a softwood they are prominent. When a log is quarter-sawed, and 

 the surfaces of the boards are planed, the wood presents a silvery appear- 

 ance, but it is too monotonous to be very attractive. The heartwood 

 is pale brown, streaked with yellow, the thick sapwood much lighter 

 in color. It is perishable in contact with the soil. 



Pulp manufacturers are the largest users of balsam fir. About 

 three per cent of all the pulp wood cut in the United States in 1910 was 

 from this species. Its use is on the increase, or appears to be ; but recent 

 statistics relating to this wood cannot be safely compared with returns 

 for former years, because the custom of mixing fir with spruce and other 

 pulpwoods formerly prevailed in New England, and it was then not 

 possible to determine exactly how much fir reached the market. At the 

 present time fir goes under its own name, and the output exceeds 132,000 

 cords, which is equivalent to 105,000,000 feet, board measure, yearly. 



Eleven states contribute to the balsam fir lumber cut, but most 

 is supplied by Maine, Minnesota, Vermont, Michigan, and Wisconsin. 

 The total for 1910 was 74,580,000 feet. Much of it is employed in rough 

 form for fences and buildings, while other is further manufactured by 

 planing mills and factories. Car builders employ it in several ways. It 

 serves as doors, siding, lining, and roofing for freight cars. It is not a 





