36 BULLETIN 683, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Slack-cooperage factories afford a good market for elm in the log. 
They demand sound, straight-grained timber with clear boles and 
few knots. Hoop makers in the lower Mississippi Valley generally 
pay from $12 to $18 per thousand board feet for delivered logs, 
depending on the quality. A good grade of elm logs delivered at 
the railroad in Arkansas should bring $15 a thousand board feet log 
scale. Manufacturers are often able, however, to secure their elm 
at a lower figure. Factories along the Mississippi River can usually 
secure mixed hardwood logs in rafts, including elm, gum, cotton- 
wood, sycamore, and ash, for from $8 to $10 a thousand board feet. 
A good grade of elm logs when sold alone will usually bring from $13 
to $14 per thousand feet. Slack-cooperage firms are often able to 
buy mixed timber, including elm, on the stump at a low figure and 
transport the logs to the factory at a total cost of $8 a thousand, 
including the stump age price. In Michigan and Wisconsin about 
$20 per thousand is the usual price for good-quality logs delivered. 
Hoop factories can use the logs as small as 12 inches in diameter at 
the small end, and the usual lengths are 12, 14, and 18 feet. 
Factories making baskets and fruit and vegetable packages con- 
sume large quantities of elm in the log and generally pay on the 
average about $18 a thousand in southern Michigan and Wisconsin. 
Cheese-box factories get practically all their wood in the log, and 
the elm is purchased at an average price between $15 and $16 per 
thousand. Such factories can utilize low-grade material. These 
prices are for soft elm logs f . o. b. factory. Where there is a demand 
for rock elm in the log, a better price should be secured than for the 
soft elm. A good quality of practically clear rock elm in the log 
may bring a high price where it is necessary for the manufacture of 
certain products, as for parts of vehicles. 
There was formerly a good demand for high-grade cork elm in the 
log or bolt by wheel makers for hubs, but this demand is now com- 
paratively small. Pieces in the round as small as 4 inches are util- 
ized, and material must be practically clear. 
Elm logs are often sold according to grade. The Hardwood Manu- 
facturers' Association of the United States specifies three grades of elm 
logs: No. 1, select, and No. 2. No. 1 logs are 24 inches and over in 
diameter, select are 18 inches and over, and No. 2 are 16 inches and 
over. The grade is otherwise determined, in each diameter, by the 
number of defects. Bright sap is not considered a defect. Pur- 
chasers often have log specifications of their own, which are altogether 
different from those just given, and are suited to their own require- 
ments. 
Where there is a considerable amount of elm and other good saw 
timber, it may be more profitable to convert it into lumber than to 
dispose of it in the log. It should be remembered, however, that 
