Principal Uses of The Forests. 



25 



PRINCIPAL USES OF THE FOREST. 



The most important use of the forest, here, as elsewhere, is for 

 Lumber. The production for 1914 amounted to 229,027,500 board 

 feet, 129,105,500 board feet being hardwood, and 99,922,000 pine, 

 with a very small proportion of hemlock. This represents a value at 

 the mills of $3,823,463. There are only a few large stationary mills 

 in the State, the bulk of the lumber being cut by portable mills of 

 varying size and kind, whose capacity usually runs from 4,000 to 12,- 

 000 board feet daily. These mill operators engage in buying timber 

 lots, and move from place to place as new tracts are found. Most of 

 the pine lumber is cut in the eastern shore and southern sections of 

 the State, while the bulk of the hardwood comes from central and 

 western Maryland. 



The lumber production of the State bas decreased in the last few 

 years because of the exhaustion of large stumpage holdings in the 

 western part of the State, so that now the lumber business is more 

 generally distributed but not so important. It is believed, however, 

 that a more stable condition has been reached, and that the present cut 

 may be continued for many years, or actually increased under better 

 systems of forest management. With reduced supplies of stumpage 

 and increased prices, there is a strong tendency toward closer cutting 

 and utilization to a smaller diameter limit. 



Pulpwood. — -While the pulpwood business ranks next in import- 

 ance to that of lumber, with a value of $444,029 and a cut of 74,002 

 long cords as reported in 1914, its field of activity is much more local- 

 ized, as two-thirds of the production is from five southern Maryland 

 counties — Prince George's, Charles, Anne Arundel, St. Mary's and 

 Calvert. Fully nine-tenths of the pulpwood is furnished by three 

 species. Scrub Pine, Red Gum and Tulip Poplar. 



Scrub Pine, a tree which comes in quickly on abandoned fields in 

 southern Maryland, and which up to twelve years ago had no value 

 except for cordwood, is now the most extensively used for pulpwood, 

 making up practically two-thirds of the total production. The trees 

 are generally cut during late spring and summer, when they peel 

 most readily. The bark is removed, and the stems are cut into five- 

 foot sections. After remaining piled in the woods until they have be- 

 come partially seasoned, the wood is hauled to railroad or water ship- 

 ping points and sent to the various pulp mills, generally to be shipped 

 outside of the State. Practically all of the wood is handled by dealers 

 who usually buy it on the stump, having the cutting and piling done 

 by day labor or by contract. 



Red Gum, a timber tree growing in swampy land in the southern 

 part of the State, is also extensively used for pulpwood, and with tulip 



