WOOD USED AS FUEL.
Moline, Ill.
How does the amount of wood used as fuel in Illinois compare with the quantity used in Pennsylvania, New York State, Iowa, and Kansas? State the average for each inhabitant, and tell the average price of such fuel in each of these States, so far as the market prices can be ascertained.
D. Morgan.
Answer.—The extent to which wood is used as fuel in the United States, and the estimated value of the same, are among the subjects investigated by the present Census Bureau. The special agent in charge of this investigation estimates that there were 32,375,000 persons in the United States in 1880 using wood as fuel for domestic purposes, consuming 140,537,439 cords, valued at $306,950,040. Besides this, there were about five and a quarter million cords consumed for other purposes, making a total of nearly three hundred and twenty-two million cords, as follows:
| Uses. | Cords. | Value. |
| Domestic use | 140,537,439 | $306,950,040 |
| Railroads | 1,971,813 | 5,126,714 |
| Steamboats | 787,862 | 1,872,083 |
| In mining and amalgamating precious metal | 358,074 | 2,874,593 |
| Other mining operations | 266,771 | 673,692 |
| Manufacture of brick and tile | 1,157,522 | 3,978,331 |
| Manufacture of salt | 540,448 | 421,681 |
| Manufacture of wool | 158,208 | 425,239 |
| Grand total | 145,778,137 | $321,962,273 |
The amount of wood used for domestic purposes is given by States as follows:
| States. | Cords. | Value. |
| Alabama | 6,076,754 | $8,727,377 |
| Arizona | 170,017 | 724,572 |
| Arkansas | 3,922,400 | 5,095,821 |
| California | 1,748,062 | 7,693,731 |
| Colorado | 426,719 | 1,638,783 |
| Connecticut | 525,639 | 2,371,532 |
| Dakota | 422,948 | 2,028,300 |
| Delaware | 177,306 | 751,311 |
| District of Columbia | 26,902 | 80,706 |
| Florida | 609,046 | 1,230,412 |
| Georgia | 5,910,045 | 8,279,245 |
| Idaho | 09,910 | 383,689 |
| Illinois | 5,200,104 | 14,136,662 |
| Indiana | 7,059,874 | 13,334,729 |
| Iowa | 4,090,649 | 14,611,280 |
| Kansas | 2,095,438 | 7,328,723 |
| Kentucky | 7,994,813 | 13,313,220 |
| Louisiana | 1,944,858 | 4,607,415 |
| Maine | 1,215,881 | 4,078,137 |
| Maryland | 1,152,910 | 3,170,941 |
| Massachusetts | 890,041 | 4,613,263 |
| Michigan | 7,838,904 | 13,197,240 |
| Minnesota | 1,669,568 | 5,873,421 |
| Mississippi | 5,090,758 | 7,145,116 |
| Missouri | 4,016,373 | 8,633,465 |
| Montana | 119,947 | 460,638 |
| Nebraska | 908,188 | 3,859,843 |
| Nevada | 155,276 | 972,712 |
| New Hampshire | 567,719 | 1,964,669 |
| New Jersey | 642,598 | 2,787,216 |
| New Mexico | 169,946 | 1,063,360 |
| New York | 11,290,975 | 37,599,364 |
| North Carolina | 7,434,690 | 9,019,569 |
| Ohio | 8,191,543 | 16,492,574 |
| Oregon | 482,254 | 1,254,511 |
| Pennsylvania | 7,361,962 | 15,067,651 |
| Rhode Island | 154,953 | 706,011 |
| South Carolina | 3,670,959 | 11,505,997 |
| Tennessee | 8,084,611 | 10,674,722 |
| Texas | 4,883,852 | 10,177,311 |
| Utah | 171,923 | 418,289 |
| Vermont | 782,338 | 2,509,189 |
| Virginia | 5,416,112 | 10,404,134 |
| Washington | 184,226 | 499,904 |
| West Virginia | 2,241,069 | 3,374,701 |
| Wisconsin | 7,206,126 | 11,863,739 |
| Wyoming | 40,218 | 224,848 |
From the above data we have prepared the following table showing the average number of cords consumed for domestic purposes only (stated in cords and hundredths of a cord), the average price per cord, and total consumption for each man, woman, and child in each of the States named in the above question:
| States. | Cords per capita. | Value per cord. | Cost per capita. |
| In Pennsylvania | 1.72 | $2.05 | $3.52 |
| In New York | 2.22 | 3.32 | 7.37 |
| In Illinois | 1.70 | 2.27 | 4.90 |
| In Iowa | 2.45 | 3.57 | 8.75 |
| In Kansas | 2.14 | 3.50 | 7.49 |