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One Source of Flagrant Waste 



It is a ■nell-known fact that the supplj- of good white oak is 

 becoming decidedly restricted. This is reflected in the constant in- 

 crease in prices. A prominent member of the Tight Barrel Stave 

 Manufacturers' Association recently stated that "standing timber 



WASTE IX CUTTING WHITE OAK STAVES. ARKANSAS. 



has advanced at least fifty per 

 cent in price vrithin the last year, 

 and when you find a virgin tract 

 the advance is more than one 

 hundred per cent. * « » 

 In addition to this we are com- 

 pelled to go back fifteen or 

 twenty miles from the railroad, 

 and in some cases more, to get 

 suitable timber for making staves, 

 whereas a few j-ears ago timber 

 could be had eight or ten miles 

 from shipping point, which makes 

 our haul bill from fifty to 

 seventy-five per cent more. * * * 

 Several years ago it was a com- 

 mon occurrence to work a tract 

 of timber and get from fifty to 

 sixty per cent prime staves. I 

 venture to say at present the av- 

 erage of prime stock produced does not exceed twenty-five per cent. ' ' 



With this decrease in the supply of available timber the necessity 

 of better utilization becomes apparent if the industry is to be 

 supplied. While the consumer may dislike the idea of paying higher 

 prices for his supplies, nevertheless such increases are inevitable 

 and are the natural outcome of the law of supply and demand. 

 Everyone regrets to have timber wasted in any manner but not 

 everyone is willing to pay the price which will make complete 

 utiUzation possible. Not until the scarcity of timber reflected in 

 high prices makes it absolutely necessary for every concern which 

 operates to utiUze completely all merchantable material, will lumber- 

 men practice strict economy of the forest resources of their timber- 

 lands. The statement is proved by conditions in European countries 

 todav. Utilization is complete in those countries where prices are 

 high^ but where prices are low, as is the case in northern Norway, 

 utilization is no closer than it is in 1;he United States. 



The amount of timber that has been left in the woods to rot because 

 it would not Bay to take it out is enormous. Most of this, however, 

 was necessary^ waste. To have saved it would have involved a still 

 greater loss in energy and capital. It has been, and still is to some 

 extent, a common failing of many well-meaning but misinformed 

 enthusiasts to denounce the lumberman for destroying the forest. 

 Such persons do not realize that enormous waste would result if 



timber were not cut. In a, virgin forest growth is virtually at a 

 standstill, for while individual trees are growing all the while, 

 others are dying off just as fast. It is only by removal of some of 

 the timber that growth of the remainder is possible. Before the 

 advent of the lumberman the trees died from natural causes or were 

 blown do^vn or were killed by fire. Tlie forests as a whole were 

 rai-ely destroyed but only certain of the trees composing it. The 

 lumberman has hastened the process of the removal of old timber 

 and while his methods were wasteful they are usually less so than 

 those of nature. 



It is not sufficient that the owner of timber should be opposed 

 to all waste, for if his lands are poorly situated as to market or 

 topography or transportation facilities waste will result whether he 

 lets his timber stand or cuts it. Good intentions alone will not 

 prevent waste. No owner could be more anxious to secure complete 

 utilization of every forest product than is the United States Forest 

 Service and yet some of its timber sale areas reveal little if any 

 better conditions than are to be found on neighboring private lands. 

 There is usually this difference, however, that the government tries 

 to leave the forest in the best possible condition for subsequent 

 growth of timber. Until the price of timber exceeds the cost of 

 growing, it is going to be difficult to get many private owners 

 interested in forestry. That time is rapidly approaching, for our 



virgin supply of timber is be- 

 coming decidedly restricted and 

 as we must depend almost wholly 

 on our own forest resources for 

 the future supply it is very evi- 

 dent that timber values are 

 lx)und to increase sufficiently to 

 cover the cost of production. 

 Nothing seems more certain. 



The wastes referred to above 

 have for the most part been un- 

 avoidable. There are other kinds 

 of waste which can be avoided 

 and that they are allowed to 

 exist is an evidence of extrava- 

 gance, inefficiency or carelessness. 

 The stave manufacturer quoted 

 above states further: "I do not 

 think there is any line of busi- 

 ness handled as carelessly as the 



WHITE ClAK W.VSTED IN THE MANUFACTIKE IJI' SPLIT STAVES: 

 IN THE OZARKS. 



WASTE IN CUTTING WHITE OAK STAVES. ARKANSAS. 



stave and cooperage business. We are very careful in selecting a tract 

 of timber, and after agreeing on the price, we pay our good money 

 for this timber. We then turn the valuable tract of timber over 

 to a man or a crew of men to have it worked into staves and 



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