10 



APPALACHIAN AND "WHITE MOPNTAIN WATERSHEDS. 



and that of softwood lumber nearly 16 per cent. During the same 



Keriod the wholesale prices of all classes of hardwood lumber advanced 

 •om 25 to 65 per cent. Almost every kind of hardwood has been put 

 on the market, and hardwood is now being cut in every State and in 

 almost every locality where it is found. All possible substitutes are 

 being put into requisition. The demand is stronger than ever, but 

 the supply is faUing off. A notable slirinkage has occurred in some 

 of the most popular woods, as shown by the following table: 



Table 1. — The cut of hardwood lumber, by kinds, 1899 and 1906. 



a Not separately reported. 



Oak, which in 1899 fm-nished more than half the entire output of 

 hardwood lumber, has fallen off 36.5 per cent. Yellow poplar, which 

 in 1899 ranked second among the hardwoods of the country, fell off 

 37.9. Elm, the great standard in slack cooperage, went down 50.8 

 per cent. Cottonwood and ash, used largely in many industries, 

 lost, respectively, 36.4 and 20.3 per cent. Of the woods which show 

 increases, hickory and walnut are cut scatteringly over a very large 

 territory. The increases shown are probably in large part, if not 

 entirely, due to more complete %ures in 1906 than in 1899. The 

 other woods which show increases are those which up to a few years 

 ago were considered so inferior that they had no market value. 

 Only within the past seven years have maple, red gum, birch, beech 

 and tupelo begun to replace the better woods, such as oak, poplar, 

 elm, and ash. When the inferior substitutes are gone there will be 

 nothing with which to replace them. 



While we know the hardwood supply is rapidly running down, it 

 is unfortunate that we can not tell how long tte supply will last. 

 The hardwood which annually goes into the manufactvu-e of lumber is 

 approximately 7J bilHon feet. Other uses, such as railroad ties, poles, 

 piles, fence posts, fuel, and the vast amount of waste bring the figure 

 to at least 25 bilhon feet. By the largest estimate our supply of stand- 

 ing hardwoods does not exceed 400 bilhon feet. This means a six- 

 teen years' supply. 



