286 RURAL NEW YORK 



lumber cut have changed and the poorer qualities have 

 attained relatively greater importance. Hemlock 

 leads, with spruce and white pine next in order. In 

 spite of the large decrease in timber products, the 

 planing mills contribute 65.9 per cent of the product 

 in the countr}^ from 674 plants. New York furnished 

 20.7 per cent of the product of saw-mill and logging 

 plants with 1,389 establishments and 200 packing-box 

 factories contributed 13.4 per cent of the business of 

 that industr3^ The customs and portable saw-mill 

 adapted to cut-up farm tracts of timber is still a 

 common sight, there being 211 establishments. 

 They employ only 452 persons and have a capital of 

 less than $500,000, their product being valued at less 

 than $250,000. 



The cooperage business still has a distinctly rural 

 aspect, there being many small plants in the' apple- 

 producing region. Many of them operate only in 

 the fruit season. Here, also, the tendency is to trans- 

 fer the industry to the larger concerns and machine- 

 made barrels are taking the place of the hand-made 

 ones. The bulk of the cooperage product is made in 

 the larger cities, New York with thirty-five plants 

 contributing 45 per cent, Rochester 9 and Buffalo 

 8 per cent. The total value of the product, including 

 some secondary forms of wood work, was $7,500,000. 

 Doubtless a large part of these packages was required 

 for the products of manufacture such as sugar in 

 New York and flour in Rochester. There were 364 

 cooperage and other wood-working plants in the 

 State employing an average of nine persons each. 



