10 



BULLETIN 683, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGKICULTUEE. 



Lakes region. The southern ehn is darker, usually reddish, and 

 often variable in color, in contrast to the more uniform and lighter- 

 colored northern elm. The darker and more variable color is not 

 sought in the manufacture of some products, such as high-grade 

 baskets, in which a white, clean appearance is desired. The south- 

 ern elm also seems to be more defective, so that there is greater waste 

 in manufacture. It has the reputation of being more brash and less 

 strong than the northern elm, although probably considerable vari- 

 ation in these qualities would be found in material from any one region. 

 The stand of privately owned elm timber in Michigan, Wiscon- 

 sin, and Minnesota was estimated by the Bureau of Corporations in 



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^»m 













I^M 







1 1"^ 



Fig. 4. — Distribution of wing elm (Jllmus alata). 



1907 to 1909 1 to be 3,700,000,000 ^ board feet. These three States 

 yield nearly one-half the elm saw timber produced in the United 

 States. Assuming that the annual cut throughout the country is in 

 proportion to the stand, it follows that there is a total stand of approx- 

 imately seven and one-half billion feet. This would furnish a supply 

 for approximately 30 years at the present rate of cutting. This does 

 not take into account the manufacture of products other than elm 

 lumber, such as slack cooperage, which are made directly from the 

 log. Economic conditions in manufacture change so largely from 

 year to year that any estimate regarding the probable exhaustion of 

 the supply is unsafe. It is estimated that about three-fourths of the 



1 Report on the Lumber Industry, Part I, Standing Timber, 1913, page 78. 

 » Michigan, 2,100,000,000; Wisconsin, 1,500,000,000; Minnesota, 100,000,000. 



