THE SPROUT HARDWOODS REGION 365 



ing, such as for furniture, tools, etc., the local forests provide 

 a limited amount of material, though they by no means provide 

 the entire supply. Most of the locally grown lumber is consumed 

 for bridges and car construction and in the construction of 

 buildings. 



Minor wood-using industries and special wood-working plants 

 are not so numerous as in the white pine region. The large 

 number of manufacturing plants create a demand for wooden 

 boxes, but the wooden box making industry is not developed 

 in the sprout hardwoods region, because the native timber is 

 not so well adapted for use in boxes as is the leading species 

 of the white pine region. 



Chestnut and oak are cut extensively for railroad ties, for 

 steam and electric roads. It is impossible, from the census re- 

 ports, to obtain the number of ties cut in the region. However, 

 if the tie output were figured as lumber, it is probable that the 

 results would show not over half the amount of material used 

 for ties as is used for oak and chestnut lumber. In many 

 sections of the region the cutting of chestnut for telephone, 

 telegraph, and trolley and electric lighting poles takes consider- 

 able timber each year though much less than for ties. Piles of 

 chestnut, oak, hemlock, and sometimes other species are cut in 

 sections accessible to the coast. 



A much larger amount of material is each year put into cord- 

 wood than into lumber. A great part of this is material cut in 

 connection with tie and lumber operations, and which had to 

 be cut in logging these more valuable products. A portion of 

 the cordwood cut comes from situations on which the hardwood 

 species can produce only cordwood, and which are stocked 

 with inferior species. Allowing for all this, however, there still 

 remains a large share of the cordwood output which comes 

 from young and middle-aged stands cut especially for this 

 product. This early cutting of stands for cordwood, instead of 

 waiting for a yield of ties or lumber, is an economic waste which 

 should be remedied. The cordwood cuttings should be con- 

 fined, first, to utilizing the tops and inferior trees left after log- 



