248 FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



principles the pulpwood operator should have an advantage 

 owing to his ability to utilize small and poor material. Where 

 neither are thinking of conservative treatment the lumberman is 

 apt to leave the lands in best growing condition. 



Special Woodworking Industries. — A record of the indus- 

 tries using forest products which are characteristic of the spruce 

 region would not be complete without mention of those using 

 paper birch. This tree has a restricted commercial range, ex- 

 tending through the southern portion of this region in Maine, 

 and the eastern side of the White Mountains in New Hampshire.^ 

 Within this range it is a commercially important species, being 

 used for the manufacture of spools, shoe pegs and shanks, tooth- 

 picks, toys, and novelties of various sorts. For many of these 

 articles no other wood so far tried has given as good results as 

 paper birch, owing to its clean white color, relative softness, ease 

 of turning, and even texture. The amount used annually is not 

 large, but practically the entire cut of the species occurs here, 

 and the industries using the wood have not as yet developed 

 extensively elsewhere. The annual cut of the species has been 

 estimated at 80,000 cords, or 32,000,000 feet, board measure. 

 The location of the belt of paper birch near the southern limit 

 of the spruce region brings it into a more settled country, with 

 better transportation facilities than the average. As a result, 

 partly of this condition and also of the scattered nature of the 

 paper birch timber with a low average stand per acre (see map),^ 

 the mills handling the wood have a small average capacity. 



There are four chief products into which the paper birch is 

 manufactured, named here in order of size of annual output: 

 spools; novelties, toys, etc.; shoe pegs and shanks; and, of least 

 importance, toothpicks. The manufacture of toothpicks, shoe 

 pegs and shanks, and spools requires wood of high grade, the 

 highest quality being needed for the former and the poorest for 

 the latter. Even for spools, however, the wood must be white 

 (which excludes the reddish heartwood), sound, free from rot 



^ In Circular No. 163 of the United States Forest Service can be found a map 

 showing the commercial distribution of paper birch. 



