THE WHITE PINE REGION 329 



sometimes as low as twenty years for timber, and even lower 

 for some special product like willow wood for powder (cut on a 

 rotation of seven to nine years). 



Industries. — The white pine region is a great manufacturing 

 and commercial region. These pursuits rank first, with agri- 

 cultural interests second in importance. Strictly forest indus- 

 tries hold a subordinate position. Among the latter the lumber 

 industry leads, the greater part of the timber cut being sawn 

 into lumber of some sort rather than used for ties, pulpwood, 

 telegraph, and telephone poles, etc. 



The total lumber cut of the region exceeds one billion feet, 

 being estimated at 1,085,402,000 feet,^ board measure. Of this 

 amount 935,000,000 feet,- board measure, was white pine and 

 the balance, 150,402,000 feet, board measure, was mainly chest- 

 nut and hemlock with a variety of other woods. As the total 

 amount of white pine cut in the United States in 1909 was 

 3,900,034,000 feet, board measure, this region is evidently an 

 important producer, ranking second to the Lake States, which 

 cut considerably over 2,000,000,000 feet, board measure. 



The region is well equipped with numerous wood-working 

 plants, in this respect leading the other New England forest 

 regions. A large per cent (probably less than fifty per cent) of 

 the lumber cut is worked up by these special wood-working 

 plants into a variety of products. The most important of such 

 products, both in amount of native grown lumber used and in 

 value of the output, is the wooden-box industry. In fact the 

 white pine region is characterized by the extent to which the 

 box industry has developed within its borders, deriving its main 

 source of supply from the white pine. The boundaries of the 

 region correspond closely with the territory in New England 

 covered by the box industry. The large number of manufac- 



1 The figures given here are based on the cut for the year 1909, as computed by 

 the United States Bureau of the Census. 



2 This is approximately the amount of white pine cut in the New England States. 

 A small per cent of it was undoubtedly cut in the other New England forest regions. 

 Just how much it is impossible to determine and it has all been credited to the 

 white pine region. 



