UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF eee 
BULLETIN No. o19 
Contribution from the Ferest Service 
HENRY S. GRAVES, Forester 
Washington, D.C. PROFESSIONAL PAPER danuary 24, 1S17 
POLES PURCHASED, 1915. 
By Artur M. McCreicut. 
INTRODUCTION. 
_ The Forest Service, through its Office of Industriai Investigations, 
has compiled statistics on the number of poles purchased during 
1915 in the United States by the telephone and telegraph companies, 
steam and electric railroads, and electric light, heat, and power 
companies. The census was taken exclusively by correspondence 
with approximately 17,000 purchasers, representing practically all 
the pole users in the country. About 12,000 concerns returned 
schedules in reply to either the first or the second request for data. 
This was 70 per cent of the total number of concerns to which inquiries 
were sent. Actually, however, the figures given in this bulletin rep- 
resent between 90 and 95 per cent of the poles purchased, because 
the nonreporting companies were principally the smailer ones. 
Information regarding the prices paid for the various species of 
poles was not requested. 
Table I shows the number of poles Sian each year from 1907 
to 1911 and for the year 1915, by kind of wood. Figures for 1911. 
and previous years were taken from reports compiled in cooperation. 
with the Bureau of the Census. Statistics were not obtained for the. 
years 1912 to 1914. 
TABLE I.—Poles purchased, by kind of wood, 1907 to 1911 and 1915. 
Kind of wood. 1915 1911 1910 | 1909 1908 1907 
INMigkinidhss teen 4,077,964 | 3,418,020 | 3,870,694 | 3,738,740 | 3,249,154 | 3,283 268 
Ongiie) ca ee eee ee nae ea 2,521,769 Sea 2,431,567 2,490,805 | 2,200,180 | 2,109, 7 
ou 2 ce 51,643 | 693,489 | 6 7,517 608,066 | 516,049} 630, 282 
a peeear ptee cae 546,233 | 161,690 | 184,677] 179,586] 116,749} 155,960 
Ree ee 199,442 | 199,590 | 265,290] 236,842} 160,702 76, 450° 
CUMDXSSS Se ae eee ee ee 67, 644 72, 995 75, 459 77, 677 90, 579 100, 368 
Ditters esr 91,233 | 190,112 | 236,184 | 196)744| 164,936 | 210, 731 
A total of 4,077,964 poles was reported as purchased during 1915, 
which represents an increase of 659,944, or 16 per cent, as compared 
with the number reported purchased in 1911. It is the largest 
number of poles reported in any mel? year. 
72667°—Bull. 519—17 
