10 
BULLETIN 683, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Lakes region. The southern elm is darker, usually reddish, and 
often variable in color, in contrast to the more uniform and lighter- 
colored northern elm. The darker and more variable color is not 
sought in the manufacture of some products, such as high-grade 
baskets, in which a white, clean appearance is desired. The south- 
ern elm also seems to be more defective, so that there is greater waste 
in manufacture. It has the reputation of being more brash and less 
strong than the northern elm, although probably considerable vari- 
ation in these qualities would be found in material from any one region. 
The stand of privately owned elm timber in Michigan, Wiscon- 
sin, and Minnesota was estimated by the Bureau of Corporations in 
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Fig. 4. — Distribution of wing elm (Ulmus alata). 
1907 to 1909 x to be 3,700,000,000 2 board feet. These three States 
yield nearly one-half the elm saw timber produced in the United 
States. Assuming that the annual cut throughout the country is in 
proportion to the stand, it follows that there is a total stand of approx- 
imately seven and one-half billion feet. This would furnish a supply 
for approximately 30 years at the present rate of cutting. This does 
not take into account the manufacture of products other than elm 
lumber, such as slack cooperage, which are made directly from the 
log. Economic conditions in manufacture change so largely from 
year to year that any estimate regarding the probable exhaustion of 
the supply is unsafe. It is estimated that about three-fourths of the 
1 Report on the Lumber Industry, Part I, Standing Timber, 1913, page 78. 
J Michigan, 2,100,000,000; Wisconsin, 1,500,000,000; Minnesota, 100,000,000. 
