POLES AND PILING 301 



cut for pole purposes. The cedars are used throughout the country, but 

 especially in the Northeast, North and Northwest. It is likely that, in 

 the future, the Northwest will be called upon to supply more and more 

 of our pole timbers. Most of our cedar poles are cut on large logging 

 operations. 



Chestnut is the next most prominent pole wood. It has long been a 

 favorite pole timber in the Northeast and especially along the Atlantic 

 Seaboard from New Hampshire to Georgia. Chestnut contributes from 

 12 to 20 per cent of our annual supply of poles. It makes an excellent 

 pole timber on account of its durability and light weight, but it is inferior 

 to the cedars both in the properties of shape and durability. It is a 

 rapidly growing wood and reproduces so thriftily that it would be an 

 important pole timber to encourage in forestry practice for the future 

 were it not for the chestnut bark disease (Endothea parasitica) which has 

 rapidly depleted much of the native chestnut in the past nine years. 

 Chestnut is found in many of the woodlots in the Northeast and in the 

 southern Appalachian section, where it is cut and marketed largely by 

 small owners. 



Oak poles have been coming into more common use in recent years for 

 rural telephones, the extension of which has been remarkable. They 

 are chiefly used in short lengths. Many species of oak are used and they 

 are widely distributed, the particular kind being largely determined by 

 the locality in which they grow. White oak is, of course, preferred on 

 account of its durability. Oak poles are very heavy, however, and, 

 therefore, are not shipped to great distances on account of prohibitive 

 freight rates. In 191 1 oak furnished 199,590 poles or about 6 per cent 

 of the total pole supply. In 1907 only 76,450 oak poles were cut and 

 used. 



Pine, including chiefly longleaf pine with a limited amount of other 

 southern pines such as loblolly and shortleaf and a small quantity of 

 western yellow and lodgepole pines, is next in order of quantity. Al- 

 though most of the pine poles are used in the round form, many southern 

 pines are sawed into souare, hexagonal and octagonal forms. Pine poles 

 are not as durable as cedar poles and are much heavier, so they are used 

 to a very large extent, locally. They cannot compete as pole woods 

 without preservative treatment. The longleaf pine is far superior to 

 the other pines for pole purposes when used in the untreated condition. 



Cypress poles are used next in order of quantity, but they have de- 

 creased in amount from over 100,000 in 1907 to about 73,000 in 191 1. 

 This condition is largely due to the fact that the wood brings a higher 



