2 BULLETIN 299, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
This bulletin aims to make clear the economic status of ash; to 
differentiate the species, in regard to which there is considerable 
confusion, and to indicate their relative importance; to describe 
the characteristics of the more important- species; and to outline 
methods of forest management for commercial growing of ash timber. 
THE LUMBER CUT OF COMMERCIAL SPECIES. 
The census returns for the past decade indicate an annual cut 
of from 200 to 300 million feet of ash lumber, less than 1 per cent 
of the total cut of all species and between 2J and 3 per cent of the 
total cut of hardwoods. In rank in lumber production ash stands 
twentieth or twenty-first among all species and tenth or eleventh 
among hardwoods. In addition to the lumber cut the census returns 
show 25 to 35 million board feet of ash used annually in slack cooper- 
age for staves, heading, and hoops. The total annual cut in lumber 
and cooperage appears to be about the same as for hickory or for 
cottonwood. Ash does not figure in the census returns for poles, 
ties, and other products. 
The census figures indicate further that the annual production 
of ash lumber was maintained or somewhat increased during the 
decade from 1899 to 1909, but since that time it has considerably 
decreased. In average f. o. b. value per 1,000 board feet of ash 
lumber there was an increase of 54 per cent in 1909 over 1899. This 
increase in price was not maintained during succeeding years, how- 
ever, which is due largely to an increased proportion of lower grades 
in the total output. A general survey of the supply of ash timber 
leads to the conclusion that the high-water mark in the production 
of ash lumber in the United States, both in quantity and quality 
of output, has been passed, and it is not likely that either the amount 
or value of the 1909 cut will ever be equaled. 
Another interesting point to be observed in the census figures is the 
constant shifting in rank of ash-lumber-producing States. In 1899 
the cut in Michigan, which was from virgin forests, was greater than 
in any three other States combined, while in 1911 Michigan had 
dropped to seventh place, with an output one-sixth as great as that of 
1899. Ohio and Indiana, where the cut is practically all from second 
growth, ranked third and fifth, respectively, in 1909, but rose to first v 
and third places in 1911, although in each case there was considerable 
decrease in the actual amount of the output. Arkansas, on the other 
hand, where the cut is from old-growth forest, dropped from first to 
second place in 1911 and decreased 40 per cent in amount of produc- 
tion from 1909 to 1911. If the production of ash for cooperage stock 
were added to the lumber, cut, however, Arkansas would still be far in 
the lead. These figures indicate the waning importance of old as com- 
pared with second growth. The decline in total production is due to 
