HARDWOOD RECORD 



25 



Damages Awarded the Government 



In an action for fire trespass in the Black Hills ><ational Forest 

 brought by the United States against the Missouri & Northwestern 

 railroad, the government has been awarded damages not only i'ni- the 

 loss of merchantable timber, but also for the destruction of uumer 

 chantable young growth. 



This decision is regarded as establishing a very important prece- 

 dent, as it is the first time that any court has recognized what 

 foresters call the "expectation value" of young growth as a basis 

 for the award of damages. The amount awarded on the young growth 

 burned is twelve dollars an aero, wliich was llic full amount claimed 

 by the government. 



It is recognized by foresters that the cost of artificial reforestation 

 will not always furnish a fair basis for establishing the damage to 

 forest reproduction. Where a new growth can be expected from 

 natural sowing of seed trees on the ground within a short time, 

 artificial planting is an unnecessary expense. To meet such cases 

 yield tables are prepared, by the use of which the land can be shown 

 in terms of the final crop and the time necessary to produce it. 

 Thus, if it is known that 10,000 feet of timber per acre can be cut 

 once in seventy years, it is easy to calculate the value of the crop 

 when it is ten years old, or twenty years old. This method is regu- 

 larly applied in selling, condemning or establishing damages on 

 forestry property in European countries. It is also employed in 

 insurance, which would be impractical if- there were no accepted 

 basis for the determining of loss suffered and a reasonably accurate 

 knowledge of the hazard involved. 



A Study in Hardwood Distribution 



In an interesting report made by the secretary of the Northern 

 Hemlock & Hardwood Manufacturers' Association, covering the 

 lumber distribution of manufacturers of Wisconsin during the last 

 year, it is shown that nearly a third of the total hemlock output is 

 shipped and consumed within the state of Wisconsin. The city of 

 Chicago absorbs nineteen per cent of the output; other Illinois 

 points a little more than nine per cent; Minnesota about eight per 

 cent; Iowa, eight per cent; the remainder being consumed in South 

 Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania 

 and the East. In hardwoods the distribution shows more than thirty 

 per cent as being sold in Wisconsin ; more than twenty-nine per cent 

 in Chicago; nearly eight per cent in other Illinois points; eleven per 

 cent in Minnesota, and the remainder is distributed in Iowa, South 

 Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana, lower Michigan, Ohio, and 

 the East. 



The report shows that the total shipments of members of the 

 association during 1910, which includes perhaps seventy-five per cent 

 of the total output of the state, will approximate 400,000,000 feet of 

 hemlock and about 200,000,000 feet of hardwoods. 



Tills report of lumber distribution of northern producers, taken 

 together with the financial history of lumber operations in that 

 region, shows conclusively the high value of local markets. The 'iis- 

 tribution of Michigan hemlock and hardwoods is similar to that of 

 Wisconsin and very likely well towards one-half of Michigan 's pro- 

 duction is consumed within that state. On the whole the hardwoods 

 and hemlock of these two states are what is regarded as cheap woods, 

 comparatively, and still the operators of these states succeed in . 

 securing a better profit per thousand than manufacturers of most of 

 the high type woods growing in sections remote from points of con- 

 sumption. Lower freight rates enable northern manufacturers to 

 market their low-grade product with profit, which today is practically 

 impossible for the hardwood manufacturers of the South. 



The situation, which is a permanent trade condition, contributes to 

 a constant accretion of stumpage value even on indifferent woods 

 that grow in Wisconsin and Michigan. 



Another feature that tends to augment profit for northern manu- 

 facturers is the skill with which the forest offal is converted into 

 money. Hemlock bark constitutes a considerable source of revenue. ' 



Chemical wood and cordwood are other important adjuncts to profits, 

 and pulpwood is still another. As a matter of fact, in no region of 

 lumber production is forest conservation — i. c., the value of the 

 forest — practiced so closely and with such good net results as obtains 

 in the states of Michigan and Wisconsin. 



Again, hemlock stumpage lands on which very little or no value 

 has been jdacod have been found to be valuable agricultural lands, 

 and in many lascs lumbermen find that they can market their 

 stumpage lands for a good deal above the original cost of land and 

 timber. The northern portion of Wisconsin, the upper peninsula of 

 Michigan and the northern peninsuja of Michigan are rapidly being 

 settled by farmers who are almost uniformly successful in the growing 

 of crops. 



Cross Tie Industry in United States 



Eeports of the Bureau of the Census state that there was an in- 

 crease of about ten per cent in the number of wooden cross-ties pur- 

 chased for consumption by the steam and electric railroads in the 

 United States in the calendar year 1909, as compared with the num- 

 ber purchased in 1908. In 1909 the total number of cross-ties of 

 all kinds of wood, reported as having been purchased, was 123,754,000, 

 costing $60,321,000 at the point of purchase, as compared with 112,- 

 463,000, costing .$50,281,000, in 1908, and 153,700,000 costing $78,- 

 959,000, in 1907. The latter year does not, however, represent the 

 true standard of comparison, as it was one of unusual railroad de- 

 velopment. The decrease in 1908 was about 26.8 per cent, but in 

 1909 the balance swung back to SC-'j per cent of the 1907 record, 

 and was, as stated, an increase of about ten per cent over 1908. 



While there was considerable variation in the number of cross- 

 ties purchased during the three years, the average cost per tie re- 

 mained close to fifty cents. A significant feature is the fact that 

 in 1909 there were 16,437,000 cross-ties reported as purchased for 

 new track, as against 7,431,000 in 1908, and 23,557,000 in the pre- 

 ceding year. 



The oaks continued in 1909 to lead by a wide margin all the 

 other kinds of cross-tie material. Moreover, in the general returu 

 of the industry toward the 1907 record, owing to renewed activity 

 in railroad extension, the oaks have come back faster than any other 

 species. In 1907 the total number of oak cross-ties reported was 

 61,757,000; in 1908 it was 48,111,000, and in 1909 it wis 57,132,000. 

 During those years the proportion of oak cross-ties in the total num- 

 ber purchased ranged from 40 to 46 per cent. Southern pines, which 

 numbered more than half as many as the oaks in 1907, dropped to 

 considerably less than half in 1908 and decreased a little further in 

 1909. The figures are 34,215,000 in 1907; 21,529,000 in 1908, and 

 21,384,000 in 1909. In each year the oaks and southern pines to- 

 gether formed about two-thirds of the total number purchased. Doug- 

 las fir, while showing a material gain over 1908, was in 1909 stilt 

 short of the number purchased in 1907, which was 14,524,000. Ire 

 1908 the total was 7,987,000, and in 1909 it was 9,068,000. From 

 third place in the ranking order in 1907, Douglas fir dropped to. 

 fifth in 1908, but came back to third in 1909. In 1907 cedar, withi 

 8,953,000, was fourth in rank; in 1908 it rose, with 8,172,000, to third: 

 place, displacing Douglas fir; but in 1909, with 6,778,000, it gave 

 way to western pine, and took fifth rank. In 1907 chestnut was 

 fifth, with 7,851,000; in 1908 fourth, with 8,074,000; and in 190* 

 sixth, with 6,629,000. Cypress held the sixth position, with 6,779,000: 

 in 1907; seventh, wMi 3,457,000, in 1908; and seventh again, witk 

 4,589,000, in 1909. Western pine was seventh from the top, with 

 5.019,000, in 1907; ninth, with 3,093,000, in 1908; and fourth, with 

 0,797,000, in 1909. Tamarack was eighth in rank in 1907 and 1909, 

 but sixth in 1908. Hemlock was ninth in 1907 and 1909, but eighth 

 in 1908. Redwood has held tenth place each year. 



A marked increase is noticeable in the use of gum and beechi 

 woods. Of tlie former, there were 15,000 cross-tics purchased in 1907, 

 262,000 in 190S, and 378,000 in 1909. The total number of beech 

 cross-ties purchased was 51,000 in 1907, 193,000 in 1908, and 195,000' 

 in 1909. 



