November 25, 1916 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



25 



factories that would like to have it. Apparently an opportunity 

 is here presented to enlarge the best uses of oak, to take it from 

 the common use and send it to the factorj'. More than one-third 

 of the total oak lumber cut in the United States never sees the 

 inside of shop or factory. That is too high a percentage of this 

 king of the hardwoods to go to plebeian uses, when it is fitted for 

 a higher destiny. 



More precise information as to the industries in which oak is 

 demanded may assist in pointing the way for larger use. To that 

 end the following table has been compiled from data contained 

 chiefly in government reports. Both the amount of oak and the 

 amount of other woods used in the industries are given. If the 

 quantity of oak seems smaller than it should be for a particular 

 industry, it will suggest to the seller of oak lumber that he might 

 dispose of more of his product in that industry. It will at least 

 furnish a starting point for the oak lumberman who is looking for 

 a chance to increase his business. The following figures may be 

 accepted as approximately correct, though not in all cases official: 



Oak and Other Woods Used in Certain Industries 



Oak Used Other Woods 



Industry Yearly, Feet Yearly, Feet 



Planing mill products and milhvork 490,000,000 12,938,000,000 



Furniture 435,000,000 409,000,000 



Car construction 300,000,000 902,000,000 



Vehicles 215,000,000 524,000.000 



Chairs 136,000,000 153,000,000 



Agricultural implements 70,000,000 251,000,000 



Store and office fixtures 63,000,000 124,000,000 



Boxes and crates 57,000.000 4,490.000.000 



Boat building 33,000,000 166,000,000 



Refrigerators 32,000,000 105,000,000 



Musical instruments 20,000,000 240,000,000 



Sewing machines 20,000,000 39,000,000 



Picture molding 17,000,000 4.5,000,000 



Plumbers' woodwork 14,000,000 , 6,000,000 



Handles 13,000,000 267,000,000, 



Machine construction ^ 8,000,000 61,000,000 



Coffins '. 8.000,000 145,000,000 



Woodenware 8,000,000 397,000,000 



Pulleys and conveyors 7.000.000 28.000.000 



Tanks and silos 5,000,000 220,000,000 



Electrical machinery 5,000,000 ] 3,000,000 



Sporting and athletic goods 3,000,000 22,000,000 



Patterns and flasks 3,000,000 21,000,000 



Clocks 2,000.000 5,000,000 



The above list of industries accounts for 99 per cent of the oak 

 that goes to shops and factories. The lines along which sales might 

 be increased are there specifically laid down. 

 The Future Supply 



There is no danger that the oak supply will fail in the near 

 future. This timber is doubtless decreasing, but not very rapidly. 

 Second growth makes up some of the cutting loss and will con- 

 tinue to make up more and more of it, as better methods of con- 

 trolling forest fires are put in practice. Oak occurs in nearly all 

 parts of this country, but the commercial supply now comes, and 

 may be expected to continue to come, from the region bounded by 

 Texas on the southwest. New England on the northeast, and extend- 

 ing in a broad, somewhat irregular zone between these two limits. 



It is difficult to determine whether the cut of oak lumber is 

 diminishing or standing still. There is no reason to believe that 

 it is increasing. On the face of the returns, the output is not so 

 large now as it was seventeen years ago; but, unfortunately, the 

 returns are not such as to inspire much confidence in their correct- 

 ness. "With 10,000 sawmills omitted from the count one year, and 

 included the next year, and omitted the next, it is apparent that 

 the basis for comparison is questionable. That is what has hap- 

 pened, as the following figures show: 



Xumher of Mills Oak Output^ 

 Tear Reported Feet 



1899 31.833 4,438,027,000 



1904 18,277 2,902,855,000 



1906 22.398 2,820,393,000 



1908 31,231 2,771,511,000 



1909 48,112 4.414,457,000 



1910 31,934 3,522,098,000 



1911 28,107 3,098,444,000 



1912 29,648 3,318,952,000 



The government's reason for omitting so many mills from the 

 count some years is that the mills are small and would not greatly 

 affect the total output. The small mills' cut of some kinds of 

 lumber may not be large, but for oak it is considerable, because 

 this wood is the principal product of many portable mills in the 

 hardwood region. On the face of the returns it seems probable 

 that the output of oak lumber has about held its own in recent 

 vears. 



Slight Improvement in Southern Car Situation 



The hearing before the Interstate Commerce Commission at Louis- 

 ville, together with the pressure being brought to bear from other 

 directions, is already resulting in some slight improvement in the car 

 situation in Memphis and surrounding territory. Shippers of lum- 

 ber, however, are free to admit that they are still having a great 

 deal of difficulty in securing cars and that they do not expect any 

 decided change for the better until the season is somewhat ad- 

 vanced. Some do not think that there will be much improvement 

 until after the first of the new year, because they do not believe 

 that the efforts being made by the railroads to get their cars re- 

 turned from other lines will meet with much success before that 

 time. The railroads and the lumbermen are co-operating to the 

 best of their ability in dealing with present trying conditions, but 

 they all say that the results are far from satisfactory. 



The Valley Log Loading Company reports that it is operating 

 about seventy per cent of its machinery for tlie loading of logs and 

 that it cannot do more because cars are not available. These figures 

 apply to the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley line of the Illinois Central 

 System. In Arkansas there is a distinct shortage of cars and this 

 company reports that, on the Memphis-Marianna cut-off on the St. 

 Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern, it is not able to operate at more 

 than 25 per cent of capacity notwithstanding the fact that there 

 are plenty of logs awaiting loading. Some mills in Memphis and in 

 Mississippi and Arkansas, particularly in the latter ■ state, are un- 

 able to work at anything like capacity because of this car scarcity 

 which makes the handling of an adequate log supply wholly im- 

 possible. This is only another way of saying that the shortage of 

 cars is not only bringing about some delay in the movement of lum- 

 ber but that it is also resulting in not a little check to production 

 itself. 



There is one hopeful sign ahead in the fact that some of the 

 big railroad systems south are placing large orders for new equip- 

 ment. Included in the list are the Louisville & Nashville and the 

 Southern EaOway, both of which are placing orders involving $10,- 

 000,000 or more. The southern lines, it developed at the car short- 

 age hearing held in Memphis October 20, have not been increasing 

 their equipment in proportion to the increase in their business and 

 all of them are suffering from failure on their part to keep their 

 rolling stock up to anything like standard requirements. It is an- 

 nounced that the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company will build 

 a large number of cars at its various shops and that the forces em- 

 ployed at these will be largely increased in order that there may 

 be as little delay in finishing them as possible. The Southern Rail- 

 way has ordered 2963 additional freight cars and it has another 

 large order which is now being filled. It is also increasing its mo- 

 tive power and will be in far better position for handling business 

 when the new equipment is received. Some of the other southern 

 roads are likewise adding to their present equipment and car-re- 

 pair and car-building plants in the South are now more active than 

 thev have been for several years. 



Ash stumpage seems to be rather scarce and hard to get out, 

 because notwithstanding the active demand that has existed for 

 ash for some time now the production has not materially increased. 



The one great complaint coming up from the sawmill men of 

 tho south country is scarcity of help. From present indications 

 this will be the one serious problem with the industry through- 

 out the year. 



