442 



LUMBER PRODUCTION OF NEW YORK. 



around the waters tributary to tlie Susquehanna, especially the Canisteo, 

 "which found a market by rafting down to Chesapeake Bay. The com- 

 pletion of the line now known as the Erie Railway, and the Chemung 

 and Genesee Valley Canals, opened other avenues to market, so that 

 now a very considerable part of the pine of this region most convenient 

 of access has been cut, and the lumber business has declined or ceased 

 altogether in many places where it was once important. 



The recent measures taken for the relinquishment of these canals by 

 the State is a significant proof that there are no longer any great busi- 

 ne?s interests along their line that demand their continuance. The ex- 

 j)ortation of boards and scantling at Dansville had declined from nearly 

 10,000,000 feet to less than a tenth of this amount ; that of shingles 

 from 2,000,000 to 150,000, and staves from over 1,000 tons to nothing. 

 The timber business on the Genesee Valley Canal was most imiDortant 

 at Mount Morris and Caneadea, and the lumber and stave business at 

 Glean, which still remains a prominent lumbering point. The rafting 

 of timber on the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers is still continued, 

 but greatly reduced in amount, and every year less. The largest lum- 

 bering point on the Chemung River is at Painted Post, near Corning. 



The whife-oak timber of Western New York was, in the early years 

 of canal navigation, an important object of industry, and the supply is 

 still considerable, but much less is done in this business than formerly. 

 The quality of this timber was very superior for stave and ship timber, 

 for which uses it was best adapted. 



Lumher production of the State of New YorJc. 



For the local consumption of lumber in this State there are no data 

 for estimate. The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 opened an 

 avenue for market which stimulated production in many places, and the 

 statistics of tonnage published annually by the State government ena- 

 ble us to know with much certainty the amount thus shipped, and might 

 be used in specifying the quantities received and delivered at each point 

 on the lines of the canals. These statistics are generally given in tons 

 of 2,000 pounds and in values; and for the conversion of tons to meas- 

 ured quantities, rules have been established for the guidance of inspect- 

 ors and collectors. From these we have prepared the following table, 

 adding, from such information as we have, the botanical names of the 

 different kinds of timber that usually pass over the canals. The quan- 

 tities designated as feet will be understood as superiicial or board 

 measure. 



Weight of green and dry lumler. (Canal rej/ulations.) 



Kind of lumber. 



Ash 



Basswood 



Beech 



Black walnut . 



Cedar 



Cherry 



Elm , 



Ilemlock 



Hickory 



Maple.". 



Oak 



Spruce 



Sycamore 



White pine . .. 

 "Whitewood .. 



Botanical species. 



Fraonnu8 (various species) 



Tilia Americana 



Fair's ferriujinea 



Juglanx nigra 



Thuja occidentalism 



Oerofnts serotina 



VliMis (variou.s species) . . 



Abies Canadensis 



Carya (various species).. 

 Acer (various species) ... 

 Quercus (various species) . 



Abies nigra 



Plaianus occidentalis 



FiniLS strobiis 



Liriodendron iulipifera . . 



Weight per foot 



Dry. Green. 



3.5 



2.0 



3.5 



3.5 



2.25 



3.5 



3.0 



2.5 



3.5 



4.0 



4.0 



2.25 



3.0 



2.5 



2.25 



Feet per ton 

 (2,000 lbs.). 



Drv. Green. 



571.4 



1, 000. 



.571. 4 



571.4 



888.9 

 571. 4 



(,m. 7 



HOO.O 

 571.4 

 500.0 

 500.0 

 888.9 

 Ct;6. 7 

 800.0 

 888.9 



444.4 

 571.4 

 444.4 

 363.7 

 800.0 

 3()3. 7 

 500.0 

 571.4 

 444.4 

 363.7 

 363. 7 

 571.4 

 500. 

 571.4 

 571.4 



WeightperMfeet. 

 (Tons, 2,000 Ib.s.) 



Dry. 



1.125 

 1.75 

 1.50 



L75 

 2 00 

 2.00 



2.25 

 1.75 

 2.25 

 2.75 

 1.23 

 2.75 

 2.00 

 1. 75 

 2.25 

 2.75 

 2.75 

 1.75 

 2.70 

 1.75 

 1.75 



' White Cedar." In much less quantity, the Juniperus Virginiana, or " Eod Cedar.' 



