UTILIZATION OF ASH. 



11 



Table 7. — Number of mills reporting lumber cut of ash in the different States — 



Continued. 





1905 



1907 



1908 



1909 



1910 



1911 



1912 



1913 



1014 



1915 



B hode Island 







17 

 12 



18 



20 



1 



510 



36 



221 



181 



4 



288 



514 



13 



20 



1 



3% 



27 



221 



158 



3 



250 



408 



8 



18 



1 



378 



25 



231 



154 



2 



226 



338 



10 

 20 



6 

 13 



8 

 15 



4 



South Carolina 



South Dakota 



12 





15 



Tennessee 



154 



347 



384 

 18 

 210 

 100 

 6 

 207 

 443 



366 

 26 

 238 

 122 

 2 

 224 

 344 



170 

 20 

 90 

 38 



82" 



184 



237 

 22 



133 

 58 

 1 

 86 



187 



193 



Texas 



29 



Vermont 





223 



* 151 



Virginia 





51 



Washington 







1 



"West, Virp-inifi. 





209 



382 



1,349 



135 



Wisconsin 



203 

 922 



213 



All other States . . . 























The out]3ut of ash lumber by States for the year 1899 and the 

 years 1904 to 1911, inclusive, and the average price ^ received for the 

 product f . o. b. mills in the United States, are shown in Table 5 ; and 

 the average f. o. b. mill values in different States for 1906 to 1911, in- 

 clusive, in Table 6. The figures for 1899 and 1909 are the most com- 

 plete, as they are based on decennial census returns ; those for 1904, 

 1905, and 1906 are the least complete. The comparative complete- 

 ness of the figures for each year is indicated to a certain extent by the 

 total number of mills reporting, as given in Table 5, and the number 

 of mills reporting lumber cuts of ash in the different States, as given 

 in Table 7. There are a number of important points to be observed 

 in these tables. First, that the annual production of ash was main- 

 tained or somewhat increased during the decade from 1900 to 1909, 

 but since that time it has considerably decreased. Again, in average 

 f , o. b. value per thousand board feet there was an increase of 54 per 

 cent in 1909 over 1899. That this increase was not maintained during 

 succeeding years is due largely to an increased proportion of lower 

 grades in the total output. A general survey of the present supply 

 of ash timber leads to the conclusion that the high-water mark in 

 the production of ash lumber in the United States, both in regard to 

 quantity and quality of output, has been passed, and it is not likely 

 that either the amount or value of the 1909 cut will ever again be 

 equaled. 



Table 8 indicates the constant shifting in rank of the ash-produc- 

 ing States. In 1899 the cut in Michigan (which was from virgin 

 forests) was greater than in any other three States, while in 1911 

 Michigan had dropped to seventh place in the production of ash 

 lumber, with an output one-sixth as great as that of 1899. Ohio and 

 Indiana, where the cut is now entirely from second growth, ranked 

 third and fifth, respectively, in 1909, but rose to first and third places 

 in 1911 and 1912, although in each case there was considerable de- 

 crease in the actual amount of the output. 



1 United States census reports. 



