THE EASTERN HEMLOCK. 



UTILIZATION OF HEMLOCK. 



Though hemlock first came into use because of the growing scarcity 

 and increasing value of better trees, it can no longer be considered 

 merely a substitute for these species. In the three large industries 

 to which it contributes — lumber, pulp, and bark — it has become prac- 

 tically indispensable. 



LUMBER. 



Small quantities of hemlock lumber were produced locally in the 

 northeast during the early days, but not until the bulk of the pine 

 had gone was it able to find a wider market. As long as the best 

 grades of pine lumber could be had for very little more than the cost 

 of production, hemlock could not be disposed of profitably. As late 

 as 1880 hemlock lumber of the first quality had so little market value 

 in New York and Pennsylvania that it could be shipped only at a loss, 

 and was often sold at the mill to local consumers for as little as $4.50 

 per thousand board feet. Hemlock logs, cut and peeled for tanbark, 

 could not be hauled with profit even for short distances, and large 

 numbers of them had to be left in the woods to rot; When peeled 

 and well dried, hemlock logs float nearly as well as pine, and because 

 of their slipperiness are useful, when driven with pine and spruce 

 logs in breaking jams. Peeled logs check badly in drying, however, 

 and necessitate heavy and wasteful slabbing. In spite of this draw- 

 back hemlock formed an average of about 10 per cent of all lumber on 

 the Penobscot River in Maine from 1851 to 1895, with a steady rise of 

 from 7 per cent in 1851 to 15.3 per cent in 1895. 1 



During the last five years hemlock has ranked fifth in importance 

 among the lumber trees of the United States, being exceeded only by 

 yellow pine, Douglas fir, white pine, and oak. Table 2 shows the 

 annual production of hemlock lumber during recent years, and its 

 proportion in the. total annual lumber production. 



Table 2. — Hemlock 2 lumber production during recent years, from census reports. 



Year. 



Annual cut. 



Proportion 



of total 



lumber 



cut. 



Year. 



Annual cut. 



Propor- 

 tion of 



total 

 lumber 



cut. 



1899... 



Thousand 

 board feet. 

 3, 420, 673 

 3, 268, 787 

 3,537,329 

 3,373,016 

 2, 530, 843 



Per cent. 

 9.9 

 9.6 

 9.8 



8.4 

 7.6 



1909 



Thousand 

 board feet. 

 3, 051, 399 

 2, 836, 129 

 2, 555, 308 

 2,426,554 

 2, 319, 982 



Per cent. 

 6.9 



1904 



1910 



7.1 



1906 



1911.. 



6 9 



1907 



1912 



6.2 



1908 



1913 



6.0 









1 From statistics contained in the Third Annual Report of the Forest Commission of the State of Maine, 

 1896, Appendix, p. 7. 



including western hemlock, an entirely distinct timber tree, which increased from 0.02 per cent of all 

 hemlock cut in 1S99 to over 12 per cent in 1913. 



