24 



BULLETIN 845, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



SPRUCE. 



The particular need for spruce for specific war purposes stimulated 

 the production of this species in the Pacific northwest, with the result 

 that the output is slightly in excess of the cut for 1917. Maine has 

 been the leading spruce-producing State for a number of years, the 

 annual output being approximately one- third of the country's entire 

 cut, but the State dropped into third position in 1918 with its pro- 

 duction amounting to but about one-fifth of the total cut. The 

 scarcity of labor probably had something to do with this condition, 

 since but 252 mills reported operating in 1918 in comparison with 298 

 mills in 1917. Washington's cut was 78,000,000 feet and Oregon's 

 cut 95,000,000 feet in excess of 1917, or an increase of 39 per cent and 

 79 per cent, respectively. The combined cut of the two States formed 

 one-half of the aggregate cut of the country. West Virginia's output 

 declined 34 per cent. 



The high price paid for airplane stock was offset by the lower prices 

 which were necessary to move the large volume of lower grades, so 

 that the average value reached but $28.65 per 1,000 feet, an advance 

 of $4.24 per 1,000 feet, or 17 per cent over the 1917 figure. 



Table 14. — Reported 'production of spruce 1 lumber, 1918. 

 [Computed total production in the United States, 1,125,000,000 feet.] 



State. 



United States . 



Washington 



Oregon 



Maine 



West Virginia. . . 

 New Hampshire. 



North Carolina. . 



Vermont 



New York 



Minnesota 



California 



Colorado 



Wisconsin 



Idaho 



Michigan 



All other States (see Summary, p. 42). 



Number of 

 active 

 mills 



reporting. 



60 

 35 



252 

 16 



109 



10 

 197 

 141 



72 



Quantity 

 reported. 



Feet b. m. 

 980,561,000 



275,826,000 



215,828.000 



206,208,000 



45,258,000 



44,779,000 



31, 912, 000 

 31,530,000 

 25,433,000 

 18,907,000 

 16,663,000 



16,269,000 

 13,009,000 

 12,820,000 

 7,523,000 

 18, 596, 000 



Per cent. 



100.0 



28.1 

 22.0 

 21.0 

 4.6 



3.3 

 3.2 

 2.6 

 1.9 

 1.7 



1.7 

 1.3 



1.3 



value per 



1,000 feet 



f. o. b. mill. 



$28. 65 



23.91 

 27.03 

 33.26 

 38.27 

 33.01 



36.25 



30.67 

 33.92 

 28.13 

 20.75 



20.72 

 30.88 

 23.20 

 29.79 

 25.38 



1 Red spruce (Picea rubra) is the principal species cut in the Northeastern States and the Appalachian 

 region. 

 Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) is the principal species cut in Oregon and Washington. 

 Black spruce (Picea mariana) is cut in limited quantities in the Northeastern States. 

 White spruce (Picea canadensis) is cut in the Lake States. 

 Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmanni) is cut in the Rocky Mountain region. 



