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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



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Contribution from the Forest Service 

 HENRY S. GRAVES, Forester 



Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER 



January 24, 1917 



POLES PURCHASED, 1915. 



By Arthur M. McCreight. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The Forest Service, through its Ofhce of Industrial Investigations, 

 has compiled statistics on the number of poles purchased during 

 1915 in the United States by the telephone and telegraph companies,, 

 steam and electric raih-oads, and electric light, heat, and power 

 companies. The census was taken exclusively by correspondence^ 

 with approximately 17,000 purchasers, representing practically all 

 the pole users in the country. About 12,000 concerns returned 

 schedules in reply to either the first or the second request for data. 

 This was 70 per cent of the total number of concerns to which inquiries 

 were sent. Actually, however, the figures given in this bulletin rep- 

 resent between 90 and 95 per cent of the poles purchased, because 

 the nonreporting companies were principally the smaller ones. 



Information regarding the prices paid for the various species of 

 poles was not requested. 



Table I shows the number of poles purchased each year from 1907i 

 to 1911 and for the year 1915, by kind of wood. Figures for 1911 

 and previous years were taken from reports compiled in cooperation 

 with the Bureau of the Census. Statistics were not obtained for the 

 years 1912 to 1914. 



Table I. — Poles purchased, by kind ofivood, 1907 to 1911 and 1915. 



Kind of wood. 



1915 



1911 



1910 



1909 



1908 



1907 



All Idnds 



4,077,964 



3,418,020 



3,870,694 



3,738,740 



3,249,154 



3,283,268 





Cedar 



2,521,769 



651,643 



546, 233 



199,442 



67,644 



91,233 



2,100,144 

 693,489 

 161,690 

 199,590 

 72,995 

 190, 112 



2,431,567 

 677,517 

 184,677 

 265, 290 

 75,459 

 236, 184 



2,439,825 

 608,066 

 179, 586 

 236,842 

 77, 677 

 196,744 



2,200,139 

 516,049 

 116, 749 

 160, 702 

 90, 579 

 164, 936 



2,109,477 

 630, 282 

 155,960 

 76,450- 

 100,368 

 210, 731 



Chestnut 



Pine 



Oak 



Cypress 



All other 





A total of 4,077,964 poles was reported as purchased during 1915^ 

 which represents an increase of 659,944, or 16 per cent, as compared 

 with the number reported purchased in 1911. It is the largest 

 number of poles reported in any single year. 



72667°— Bull. 519—17 



