Every important lumber market in the United States handles Douglas fir, and its uses are so many that it would be easier to list industries which do not use it than those which do. It is manufactured into more than fifty classes of commodities, in Illinois alone. Among these are boats, railroad cars, electrical apparatus, farm machinery, laundry supplies, ladders, refrigerators, musical instruments, fixtures for offices, stores, and banks, and sash, doors, and blinds. This list of uses shows that its place in the country’s industries includes much more than rough construction. It may be stained in imitation of valuable foreign and domestic woods, including walnut, mahogany, and oak. The natural grain and figure of the wood may be deepened and improved by stains, and this is much done by manufacturers of interior finish, panels, and store and office fixtures. There is practically no limit to the size of panels which may be cut in single pieces. It is easy to procure planks large enough for whole counter tops. The best grain of Douglas fir is not brought out by quarter-sawing. The figures desired are not those produced by the medullary rays, but by the rings of annual growth. Therefore, the sawyer at the mill cuts his best logs--if intended for figured lumber--tangentially, as far as possible. In the state of Washington, which leads all other states in the production of Douglas fir, its chief use as a manufactured product is for doors, sash, and blinds, and the annual consumption in that industry exceeds 50,000,000 feet. It is cut in veneers, and it is likewise used as corewood to back veneers. Crossarms for telegraph and telephone poles demand 35,000,000 feet yearly in Washington alone, and many thousands of poles are of this wood. It is third among the crosstie woods of the United States, the combined cut of oaks standing first, and the pine second. It is rapidly taking high position as material for large water pipes and for braces, props, stulls, and lagging in mines and for paving blocks for streets.