2 BULLETIN 1003, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Removing the stumps is arduous and costly (8), and so far they 

 have been considered to be worthless after removal. Any process 

 which may serve to reduce the cost of clearing the land or lead to 

 the discovery of a profitable use for the stumps is, therefore, worthy 

 of careful consideration. Observations on the methods of utilizing 

 the more resinous portions of the yellow pine of the South in the 

 manufacture of wood-distillation products suggested the possibility 

 that the western species might serve the same purpose, as these trees, 

 especially the stumps, are often quite resinous. 



It is well known that western yellow pine was used in California as 

 a profitable source of turpentine during the Civil War (13). In 

 speaking of turpentine obtained from western yellow pine, Schorger 

 (7) says: "There is no reason to suppose that both the California 

 and the Arizona oils will not serve the purposes for which ordinary 

 turpentine is commonly used." According to Betts (2), nearly as 

 much turpentine and rosin was obtained from western yellow pine 

 as from the pines of the Southeast. Wenzell (5) states that the odor, 

 specific gravity, and boiling point of oleoresin from Pinus ponderosa 

 correspond with those of the common oil of turpentine. It is there- 

 fore reasonable to suppose that turpentine operations in the large 

 tracts of virgin pine timber in the West will be undertaken within a 

 few years, because of the rapid cutting of the yellow pine of the 

 South. 



DISTRIBUTION OF WESTERN YELLOW PINE. 



For convenience the chief areas of western yellow pine may be 

 grouped as follows : 



(1) Arizona and New Mexico. 



(2) California. 



(3) Oregon and Washington. 



(4) Idaho, Montana, and Utah. 



(5) Colorado, South Dakota, and Wyoming. 



For want of accurate data, no estimates covering the quantities of 

 this species annually cut for fuel and uses other than for lumber are 

 given, although this amount is known to be considerable. Neither 

 is any account taken of the distillation material to be derived from 

 " fat " limbs and " pitchy " butts. 



The estimates of stands, and therefore of stumps, in many of the 

 States are low because the results of the cruises of much privately 

 owned timber were not obtainable. 



The problem of the better utilization of this species is by no means 

 confined to Idaho. Tables 2 to 12 and the map (fig. 1) furnish con- 

 clusive proof of the enormous quantities of yellow-pine stumps to be 

 had in several Western States. It will not be profitable to work up 

 by distillation methods any but the more resinous of the stumps, 

 " fat " limbs, and " pitchy " butts. A complete field survey of each 



