THE FORESTER. 185 



individuals. One thousand and ninety-three field measurements were 

 collected and worked up into 20 volume tables and 38 miscellaneous 

 tables. Eighteen hundred new range records were added to the forest 

 distribution files, and nearly 650 specimens of native and exotic spe- 

 cies were identified. A preliminary report on the shrubs of the genus 

 Ceanothus and a publication on junipers and cedars of the Kocky 

 Mountains were completed. 



STUDIES OF FOREST PRODUCTS. 



Sttjdt of the lumber industry. — Conservation of the forest re- 

 sources of the United States is linked inseparably with the economic 

 conditions controlling the exploitation and marketing of forest prod- 

 ucts. The duties placed upon the Forest Service by law require an 

 understanding of conditions in the forest-using industries in two 

 important particulars, namely, promoting the practice of forestry 

 and the wise use of all forest resources and disposing intelligently of 

 the timber on the National Forests. 



During the past five years unstable and more or less destructive 

 tendencies in the lumber industry have become apparent. They have 

 been reflected not only in an uncertain and haphazard demand for 

 National Forest stumpage but also in overproduction of forest prod- 

 ucts, actual or threatened, in fluctuating market values, and in in- 

 creasing rather than diminishing waste of raw material in the process 

 of manufacture. At the same time the belief has been widespread 

 that lumber costs the consumer too much. 



The prevalence of these upsetting conditions in nearly all of the 

 principal lumber-producing regions led to a proposal in June, 1914, 

 that a joint study of the situation be made by all of the Federal agen- 

 cies concerned. This was arranged in cooperation with the Bureau of 

 Corporations and the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. 

 During the progress of the study the Federal Trade Commission took 

 over the work of the Bureau of Corporations, and the cooperation 

 begun with that bureau has been continued with the commission. 

 The purpose is to determine the important facts regarding the owner- 

 ship of timber, the manufacture of lumber, and its distribution to the 

 consumer. The cost of every step from the purchase of standing trees 

 to the delivery of finished boards, the market value of lumber in dif- 

 ferent periods and the returns realized by producers, tendencies 

 toward overproduction, the effect of conditions in the industry upon 

 the economical use and renewal of its raw material, the relation of the 

 ])ublic timber to the utilization of private holdings, and the bearing 

 of all these factors upon the policy followed in selling National 

 Forest stumpage are receiving careful consideration. Technical 

 studies have also been undertaken to show how more profitable utili- 

 zation of timber and better methods of manufacturing and grading in 

 relation to specific uses may be brought about. 



The primary object of this inquiry is to give the Government and 

 the public an understanding of the actual conditions in this great 

 industry and their effect upon practical forest conservation in the 

 United States, to the end that, if possible, constructive proposals may 

 be offered for protecting the interests of the public in an assured 

 future supply of timber available at a reasonable price. The study 

 should also disclose how more stable and liealthy conditions can be 

 secured in the forest-using industries. The governing consideration 



