22 



and heading, the most important being red gum, pine, elm, beech, 

 and maple. Because of its strength and toughness elm is almost 

 the only wood used for hoops, and probably as much of this wood 

 is used for staves and hoops as for lumber. 



TANBARK AND EXTRACTS. 



The tanneries of the United States in 1907 used nearly 1,200,000 

 cords of hemlock and oak bark and more than 400,000 barrels of 

 tanning extracts made from domestic bark and wood. Two-thirds 

 of the bark was hemlock, and the rest oak. Two-thirds of the 

 extract was made from chestnut wood, and most of the remainder 

 from hemlock and oak bark. Nearly 130,000 cords of hemlock and oak 

 bark were also used in making extract. The manufacture of tanning 

 extract from chestnut wood has increased rapidly in recent years, 

 and at least 250,000 cords of that wood were used for that purpose 

 in 1907. In the earlier days of the tanning industry a great deal 

 of hemlock was cut solely for its bark and the wood was left to rot 

 in the woods. This was also true, to a lesser extent, of oak. These 

 practices are not general at the present time, however. 



As the domestic supply has diminished there have been marked 

 increases in the importation of tanning materials, the most striking 

 being that of the wood and extract of quebracho, a South American 

 tree. More than 290,000 barrels of quebracho extract were used by 

 the tanneries of the United States in 1907. 



ROUND MINE TIMBERS. 



Statistics collected by the Forest Service and the Geological 

 Survey in 1905 show that the annual consumption of round mine 

 timbers exceeds 165 million cubic feet, and that hardwoods consti- 

 tute more than half the total. Like the making of hewed cross-ties, 

 the cutting of round mine timbers takes large quantities of young 

 timber, and in many localities constitutes a serious drain upon the 

 forests. 



NAVAL STORES. 



The production of naval stores in 1908, according to data recently 

 gathered by the Forest Service, exceeded 36 million gallons of tur- 

 pentine and 4 million barrels of rosin, of which Florida and Georgia 

 supplied two-thirds. About one-half of the product is exported. 



While the production of naval stores does not necessarily destroy 

 the forests, the methods so far used in the majority of the turpentining 

 operations, coupled with subsequent fires and windstorms, have 

 resulted in the destruction of a great deal of saw timber. 



[Cir. 166] 



