﻿2 BULLETIN 24, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



A special study has been made of cottonwood by the Forest Service, 

 to determine more definitely its characteristics and the general prac- 

 ticability of forest management. The investigations were confined 

 largely to the Mississippi Valley region, where cottonwood is com- 

 mercially important. The conclusions reached in this bulletin, there- 

 fore, apply chiefly to this region, and more particularly to the south- 

 ern part of the valley. The conclusions in regard to planting, how- 

 ever, apply wherever cottonwood can be grown. 



ANNUAL CUT AND PRESENT SUPPLY. 



The lumber cut of cottonwood for 1911 approximated 198,630,000 

 board feet. In addition a considerable amount of cottonwood was used 

 for other purposes. Slightly over 25,000 cords, or 14,000,000 board 

 feet, were used in 1911 for pulpwood, much of which, however, prob- 

 ably came from the black cottonwood. The veneer industry con- 

 sumed another 35,000,000 feet, and over half as much more is reported 

 to have gone into slack cooperage, while nearly 62,000 cords were 

 used for excelsior. The total cut, therefore, was somewhat over 

 300,000,000 feet, board measure, exclusive of firewood. 



As compared with important timber trees the cut of cottonwood 

 is small, yet considering its limited commercial range and its 

 restricted local occurrence it must be regarded as a tree of consid- 

 erable commercial importance. The demand for its lumber is, in 

 fact, in excess of the supply, as reflected by the rise in its mill-run 

 value from $10.37 in 1899 to $18.12 in 1911. The value of the total 

 cut of cottonwood for 1909, the last year for which values of products 

 were obtained by the Bureau of the Census, was over $6,000,000, 

 of which the lumber cut represented $4,794,424. Table 1 shows the 

 cottonwood lumber cut for 1911, together with the estimated average 

 value f. o. b. at the mill, arranged by States. 



Table 1. — Amount and value of cottonwood lumber cut in 1911. 



State. 



Number of 

 active mills 

 reporting. 



Quantity. 



Thousand 

 board feet. 



Per cent. 



Value. 



Total. 



Average per 



thousand 



feet. 



Total 



Arkansas 



Louisiana 



Mississippi 



Missouri 



Tennessee 



Iowa 



Wisconsin 



Michigan 



Minnesota 



Washington . . . 



Maine 



Ohio 



Texas 



Alabama 



Allother States 



1,950 



198, 629 



100.0 



$3,599,157 



80 

 41 

 51 



265 

 55 



130 

 63 



147 



72 



8 



64 



154 

 11 

 16 



793 



52,457 



48,037 



32, 687 



11,545 



8,308 



5,452 



4,339 



3,713 



3,082 



3,056 



2,620 



2,288 



2,248 



2,015 



16,782 



26.4 

 24.2 

 16.5 

 5.8 

 4.2 

 2.7 

 2.2 

 1.9 

 1.6 

 1.5 

 1.3 

 1.2 

 1.1 

 1.0 

 8.4 



967,307 

 900, 694 

 659,624 

 188,876 

 129, 854 

 106, 532 

 62, 178 

 54,952 

 42,008 

 53, 025 

 37,833 

 41,527 

 39,902 

 25, 691 

 289, 154 



$18. 12 



18.44 

 18.75 

 20.18 

 16.36 

 15.63 

 19. 54 1 

 14.33 

 14.80 

 13.63 

 17.35 

 14.44 

 18.15 

 17.75 

 12.75 

 17.23 



