6 BULLETIN 544, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
According to the census, 1 the reported production of spruce lumber 
remained practically stationary during the 10 years prior to 1909. 
The cut of 1909 was only slightly greater than that of 1907, and had 
the 1907 canvass been as complete it is probable that the 1907 pro- 
duction would have been found the greater, which indicates that the 
production of spruce lumber had then already passed its maximum. 
This assumption is borne out by subsequent figures, since in 1910 
there were but 1.449.912.000 board feet produced, in 1913 but 
1,046,816,000 board feet, in 1914 but 1,245,614,000 board feet, and 
in 1916 but 1,129,750,000 board feet. 
In the consumption for pulp in 1907 spruce showed a decline in 
amount and in proportion to the other woods used. In 1910 there 
was a still further decline, followed by a slight recovery in 1911 to 
not quite so much as was consumed in 1909. In 1914 there was an 
increase over 1909 spruce pulpwood consumption of approximately 
10 per cent with a total of 2,665,974 cords of which 1,957,487 cords 
was domestic spruce. By 1916 this gain amounted to approximately 
30 per cent with a total of 3,143,793 cords of which 2,399,993 cords 
was domestic spruce. In both years the consumption of imported 
spruce was below that in 1909, which had to be made good by the 
domestic spruce supply. This was done at the expense of spruce 
lumber production which in 1909 made up 63 per cent of the com- 
bined total of pulp and lumber supplied by domestic spruce which 
in 1914 was but 56 per cent and in 1916 only 48 per cent. Notwith- 
standing this material increase in consumption of spruce for pulp the 
combined total of pulp and lumber supplied by domestic spruce 
decreased from 2,575,172,000 board feet in 1909 to 2,224,358,000 
board feet in 1914 and 2,329,747,000 board feet in 1916. It is very 
evident that spruce lumber production was curt ailed and a larger 
percentage of this high-grade material put into pulp notwithstanding 
that during the last two years European buyers of American forest 
products have increased then orders for spruce for all purposes 
abroad. Its accessibility in the east and its general all-round prop- 
erties, including lightness, have made it much in demand. 
In the use of spruce for slack cooperage and veneers in 1909 there 
was also a decrease, while in the number of railroad ties there was 
an increase due to the increasing use of chemical preservatives which 
made the less durable woods, such as spruce, more largely available 
for this purpose. 
1 Forest Products of the United States, 1909, Bureau of the Census in Cooperation with the Forest Sen ice, 
Government Printing Office, 1911. This contains the latest complete enumeration covering minor as well 
as major forest products, which accounts for its use here in place of more recent data covering but a part 
of the field. 
