November 25, 1916 



Oak is the most imjiortaiit American hardwood, both in quantity 

 and in the jjosition it fills. Estimates place the amount still avail- 

 able in this country at 200,000,000,000 feet, which at the present 

 rate of cutting will suffice for about sixty years, without taking 

 into account the young growth which will reach maturity within 

 that time. It is belieVed that about one-half of the total consists 

 of the common white oak, and the remainder is made up of fifty-' 

 one other species of oak. Most of these species are of little im- 

 portance because of scarcity or poor quality. 



Two general classes of oak are recognized by lumbermen, white 

 and red. Each class consists of a number of species. The cut of 

 this wood is reported by thirty-nine states. It grows in every 

 state, but in several of them it is not abundant and is not reported 

 in the output of sawmills. All oaks, when sawed into lumber, have 

 certain characteristics in common, and in appearance they are quite 

 similar, although there are enough differences to give some oaks a 

 value much above others. 



The distribution of oak over the United States is well shown by 

 the figures of production: 



Cut of Oak Lumber in 1912 



Quantity, Quantity, 



State. Feet, B. M. State. Feet, B. M. 



West Virginia 404,637.000 Illinois 59,125,000 



Maryland 48,707,000 



Texas 39,758,000 



Georgia 38,125,000 



Wisconsin 29,504,000 



Oklahoma 



New York 



Connecticut . . . 



Michigan 



New Hampshire 

 All other states. 



25,885,000 

 24,590,000 

 20,250,000 

 18,124,000 

 15,134.000 

 88,672,000 



Tennessee 378,747,000 



Kentucky 321,656,000 



Virginia 279,580,000 



Arkansas 260,397,000 



Ohio 222,704,000 



Pennsylvania 2&9,473,000 



Missouri 206,147,000 



North Carolina 187,006,000 



Indiana 166,637,000 



Mississippi 102,431,000 



Louisiana 98,271,000 



Alabama 73,316,000 Total 3,318,952,000 



Oak lumber goes to its final use in one of two forms. It is either 

 rough, or it is further manufactured. The latter is that which 

 goes to factories and shops to bo converted into commercial prod- 

 ucts. Rough oak lumber fills many places, the largest single de- 

 mand being for sawed railroad ties. Rough oak is in demand also 

 for bridge floors, frames, fencing, sidewalks, scaffolds, and uses of 

 similar kind. The annual use of oalc lumber in its rough form in 

 the United States is approximately 1,.33.5,000,000 feet. This varies 

 from year to year, but the above figure is an average based on 

 the most authentic statistics. 



Oak Fon Factory Use 



The best employment of oak lumber is not usually in the rough 

 form, but is in sending it to shops and factories where it is manu- 

 factured into furniture, flooring, finish, vehicles, agricultural im- 

 plements, and many other commodities which are indespeusablo to 

 the welfare of the people. The best of oak goes, or ought to go, 

 into such commodities; while, as a general thing, the oak that 

 reaches its final use in its rough form is of lower grade. The manu- 

 facturers of first class oak lumber should be interested in getting 

 their product to factories which will put it through further proc- 

 esses of manufacture, thereby increasing its value. 



The total quantity of oak consumed annually in shops and fac- 

 tories of the United States is stated by the Forest Service to be 

 1,983,584,491 feet. The quantity is not the same from year to year, 

 but the above figure resulted from an investigation by the Forest 

 Service of all the wood-using industries of the country. Shops and 

 factories in every state use oak, and the quantities in all the more 

 important states are shown in government reports; but such re- 

 ports covering the minor states have not yet been published. The 

 table which follows gives the annual use of oak in factories in the 

 states listed: 



Amount Used Annually, Qrovm in State, 

 State. Feet B. If. Percent. 



Illinois 258,009,000 0.8 



New York 190,326,000 29 



—24^ 



Ohio 163,013,000 41 



Pennsylvania 161,987,881 36 



North Carolina 145.059,000 96 



Tennessee 112,602,550 



Arkansas 105,393,000 92 



Kentucky 88,828,000 70 



West Virginia 82,364,133 94 



Michigan 78,249,000 51 



Virginia 55,460,000 70 



Wisconsin 55,349,000 29 



Missouri 48,435,000 32 



Maryland 27,860,000 21 



Minnesota ; 25,270,000 23 



Massachusetts 24,698,000 6 



Alabama 19,563,000 



Iowa 19,408,000 12 



New Jersey 16,470,800 7 



Texas 13,232,000 74 



Louisiana 10,139,000 97 



Mississippi 10,102,000 99 



New Hanipsliire 8,682,000 47 



Maine 0,335,000 



Vermont 5.423,000 31 



South Carolina 4,131,000 



Washington 1,800,000 



Oregon 1,676,000 



Florida 740,000 



Idaho . 74,000 



Total 1,739,689,814 



Transportation op Oak 



An examination of the third column of the foregoing table gives 

 an insight into the complex movements of oak lumber. Every state 

 that uses it procures some outside of its own border. Illinois, the 

 largest user, grow.^ less than 1 per cent of what its factories 

 demand, and the rest must come from elsewhere. Kentucky fur- 

 nishes 35 per cent of it, Arkansas 34 per cent, Mississippi 11, Lake 

 states 3.5, Louisiana 6, while most of the remainder comes from 

 Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri, West Virginia and Ohio. Even 

 Kentucky draws a little oak from the Lake states, but much more 

 from Tennessee and Indiana. North Carolina, which has so much 

 oak of its own, has occasion to buy from Tennessee, Virginia, Ken- 

 tucky and Georgia. 



The states might be examined one by one and it would be found 

 that no matter how much oak grows within the borders of any 

 particular state, its factories buy some of their oak in other states. 

 Mississippi enjoys the distinction of coming nearer supplying all 

 the oak used by its home factories than any other state. Little 

 more than 1 per cent comes from without, while iu the case of 

 Illinois less than 1 per cent comes from within. 



This incessant and remarkable movement of oak lumber to and 

 fro all over the country teaches the lesson that this wood is uni- 

 versally sought after and that it is called upon to fill exacting 

 places. It moves east, west, north, and south. A factory that 

 needs a certain kind or class will send across several states to get 

 it. Distance is not a serious handicap in the marketing of this 

 wood, for the manufacturer who needs it will have it, in spite of 

 distance. 



Chance to Widen Markets 



The situation suggests opportunities to widen markets for oak 

 at home, without counting upon a somewhat doubtful foreign de- 

 mand. Those who use oak in factories like it, else they would not 

 use so much of it or send so far to get it. It is a pertinent ques- 

 tion whether they woukl not use more if placed within their easy 

 reach? 



As already stated, there are 1,335,000,000 feet of oak lumber 

 yearly used in its rough form in this country. • Some of this doubt- 

 less is of too low a grade for profitable factory use, and it must 

 continue to find its final place in coarse construction; but of the 

 more than a billion and a quarter feet a year which does not go 

 to factories, there must be a large percentage of good grade that 

 ought not to be sacrified in its rough form. Doubtless there are 



