86 FOREST commissioner's report. 



raw materials, the question of available water power becomes 

 significant. The important relation between forests and con- 

 tinuous water power is now generally vmderstood, and it is a 

 fact that in Maine the forests themselves are an important 

 factor in controlling the power for the manufacture of their 

 own products. 



Forest conservation has long received the serious considera- 

 tion of the people of Maine, and the State was one of the first 

 to establish a State forest service. 



Purposes and Methods of the Study. 



This report deals primarily with timber consumption in the 

 manufacture of wood products in the State of Maine. Maine 

 has long been accustomed to an abundant supply of many kinds 

 of wood and is industrially organized as a wood manufacturing 

 State. Yet the demand and supply are changing from year to 

 year so that knowledge of the kinds and amounts of woods 

 manufactured and of the quantity supplied by the State and by 

 outside sources is of special value as a basis for judging future 

 conditions. Previous investigations and reports have had to do 

 mainly with conditions in the forests and their protection from 

 fire ; the present study represents the first attempt to ascertain 

 the extent to which the lumber produced in Maine is further 

 manufactured within the State, and how much of the lumber 

 consumed by woodworking establishments has to be brought 

 from the Canadian provinces or other States. Aside from 

 generalities, little information of this character has ever been 

 available. 



In the spring of 1912 the United States Forest Service, co- 

 operating with the Maine Land Agent and Forest Commims- 

 sioner, undertook a study of the wood-using industries of the 

 State. Complete lists of manufacturers engaged in the conver- 

 sion of lumber or timber into finished products were compiled, 

 and blank forms were sent to them, together with requests that 

 they be filled out and returned. The inquiry sought to ascer- 

 tain the kinds of wood used, the products manufactured, the 

 amounts required annually, the cost f. o. b. factory, and the 

 source of the raw material. A second request was mailed to 

 those who did not reply to the first. Later, members of the 



