The cones of balsam fir follow the fashion of all species of fir, and stand erect on the branches. Seeds are one-fourth inch in length and are winged. The wood is of approximately the same weight as white pine, but it falls considerably below white pine in strength and stiffness. It is of moderately rapid growth when conditions are favorable, and the annual ring has a fair proportion of summerwood. The yearly rings are quite distinct. The medullary rays are numerous, and for a softwood they are prominent. When a log is quarter-sawed, and the surfaces of the boards are planed, the wood presents a silvery appearance, but it is too monotonous to be very attractive. The heartwood is pale brown, streaked with yellow, the thick sapwood much lighter in color. It is perishable in contact with the soil.
Pulp manufacturers are the largest users of balsam fir. About three per cent of all the pulpwood cut in the United States in 1910 was from this species. Its use is on the increase, or appears to be; but recent statistics relating to this wood cannot be safely compared with returns for former years, because the custom of mixing fir with spruce and other pulpwoods formerly prevailed in New England, and it was then not possible to determine exactly how much fir reached the market. At the present time fir goes under its own name, and the output exceeds 132,000 cords, which is equivalent to 105,000,000 feet, board measure, yearly.
Eleven states contribute to the balsam fir lumber cut, but most is supplied by Maine, Minnesota, Vermont, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The total for 1910 was 74,580,000 feet. Much of it is employed in rough form for fences and buildings, while other is further manufactured by planing mills and factories. Car builders employ it in several ways. It serves as doors, siding, lining, and roofing for freight cars. It is not a durable wood when exposed to weather. The largest reported use of the wood in New England is by box makers. Massachusetts alone works nearly 15,000,000 feet a year into crates and shipping boxes. Its uses in the Lake States are more varied. The makers of berry, fruit, and vegetable baskets draw supplies from the wood. Some of the product is of thin split slats, and other of veneer or sawed material.