HARDWOOU RKCORD 



The Waning HardWood Supply. 



Tbf lianlwooil luiiilier ciii in Isyw, aiTOiil- 

 ing to tho ciMisus. was S.HrU.oil.OOO feet; 

 in ]9iHi it lia.l fallen to T.31o.491.000 feet, a 

 •Ifcrease of 15.3 per cent. This ileereasc 

 •Ilk plaee during a period when American 

 industries sprang forward at a pace unparal- 

 leled: when there was the strongest demand 



• ver known for every class of structural 

 Miaterial: when the output of pig iron in- 

 ■ reased 15 j)eT cent, that of cement l.'?2.17 

 |.iT cent, and even that of softwood timber 

 l"i.(i per cent. 



That the decn ase is due to diminished 

 -iipply rather than to lessened demand seems 



• be ]>roved beyond question. During the 

 -luie period the wholesale price of various 



i.isses of liardwooii lumber advanced from 

 -1 to 65 ])er cent; ^'very kind of hardwooil 

 found in quantity suHicient to make it use- 

 ful has been put on the market, and hard- 

 wood timber is now being cut in every 

 state and every locality where it exists in 

 quantity large enough to be cut with profit. 

 These conditions could not prevail were the 



• lecrease in production due to a falling off 

 in demand. 



The most notable shrinkage has been in 

 the leading hardwoods to which the public 

 has been long accustomed. 



Oak, which in 1899 furnished over half 

 the entire output of hardwood lumber, fell 



• itT .'W.S jier cent. Yellow poplar, which in 

 1S99 was second among hardwoods in quan- 

 tity produced, fell off 37.9 per cent. Elm, 

 the great standard in slack cooperage, went 



• lown 5().S per cent. Cottonwood and ash, 

 largely used in many -industries, lost, re- 

 ■*l>ectively. 36.4 and 20.3 per cent. 



Statistics show clearly three important 

 ixiints: First, several of the most impor- 

 tant hardwoods are fast being exhausted. 

 ■Second, the cut has increased in less known 

 and less abundant woods. Maple increased 

 •■i9.4 per cent and rose to second place in the 

 list. Red gum gained 59 per cent and ad- 

 vanced from seventh to fourth place. Chest- 

 nut and birch have increa.^ed tremendously, 

 and beech and tupelo have been jirominently 

 introduced. Third, alth<iugh almost all pos- 

 sible new woods have been brought into use 

 there has been a shrinkage in the total out- 

 |Mit of 15.3 per cent. 



.\n examination of figures from certain 

 ~>atos in which hardwood production has 



■ntered in the past shows a condition al- 

 most startling. Ohio, with a cut of 918 

 M^illion feet in 1S99, had fallen to 433 million 

 in 1906; Indiana, with 97ii million feet in 

 1899, had fallen to 44ti niilliiiu. and Tennes- 

 -'••'s 8t)2 million fell to 535 million. 



The supply in Indiana and Ohio, the orig- 

 inal center of hardwood production, will 

 soon be practically exhausted; the cut is 

 now widely distributed and is heavy in 

 every state where there are even small 

 bodies of hardwoods. 



Together with Illinois, Ohio and Imliuna 

 |iroduced 25 per ceut of the hardwood in 

 H99. Ill I9IPH they ]irrtdiic.-il i.nly 14 per 



iM-nt. They can never regain their lead, or 

 even maintain the standing they have. Their 

 many wood-using establishments, which are 

 now hard pressed for supplies, will exhaust 

 their remaining remnants within a few- 

 years. The land which bore this timber, as 

 fast as it was cleared, was turned to agri- 

 cultural use. for which most of it is well 

 suiteii. The improved farm lands of Indiana 

 increased H1.4 jier cent between 1890 and 

 19IIII; those of Ohio, 4.9 per cent. In both 

 states there is some waste land which will 

 continue in timber and turn out local sup- 

 plies, but not enough to have any consider- 

 ."ible effect on iiie country's hardwood 

 supply. 



States not thought of in former years for 

 their hanlwoods are now turning out con- 

 siilerable quantities. Maine, with a cut of 

 29 million feet in 1899. went to 73 million in 

 190ii; \ew Hampshire turned out lid million 

 in 19mi as against 23 million in 1899. Even 

 Oregon. Montana, and other western states 

 i-ame into the list with unexpected amounts. 

 In all of the states west of the Mississippi 

 valley the sujijily is small and i-an never 

 become much of a factor. 



The impressive thing is that we are bring- 

 ing hardwoods from far and near, and still 

 the cut is going down. 



The main production is now in the lake 

 states, especially Michigan and Wisconsin, 

 the lower Mississippi valley, and the Appa- 

 lachian mountains. What are the condi- 

 tions in these regions? 



The three lake states furnished IS per 

 cent of the hardwood cut in 190(5, as against 

 16 per cent in 1899. This percentage in- 

 crease does not mean a real increase. On 

 the contrary, every one of the lake states 

 fell off, though altogether their cut did not 

 decrease in proportion to that of the rest of 

 the country. The figures seem to indicate 

 unmistakably that their maximum produc- 

 tion has been reached. If this is true, then 

 their decline in the future is likely to be 

 almost as rapid as that of Ohio ami Indiana, 

 because of the nearness of many large hard- 

 wood-using inilustries which will make 

 heavy demands upon the supply. This is 

 now the supply nearest to nmny of the 

 great jdants in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. 



The hardwoods in the lake states stand 

 U{>on good loam soil which, though stony in 

 places, produces the finest of grasses. 

 Where arable, this soil yielils good crops of 

 hay and potatoes, and in some localities 

 grain and fruit. So invariably do the hard- 

 woods indii'ati' good soil that they are one 

 of the most common means of land classifi- 

 cation. And since hardwood laml always 

 means good soil, laud from which hanlwoods 

 .are cut does not revert to the state, as has 

 been frequently the case with ]>ine laml, 

 especially in Michigan. The hanlwood laml 

 is held until it lan be sold to farmers who 

 clear it and turn if jiermanenfly to agricul- 

 tural usi\ fur which, as in Ohio and Indiana, 

 it is fundaini'ntallv suited. 



I'll!' soiithirii part nf .Mulligan, wia.li 

 originally bori' magnificent hardwoods, was 

 the first purt of the state to be cleared, and 

 is now the backbone of Michigan's agricul 

 ture. .Just as fast as the hardwooils, even 

 in the northern peninsula, are cut the land 

 will be settled for farming. The same is 

 true of Wisconsin and Minnesota. The al- 

 most complete exhaustion of their timber 

 sujqdy and the transformation of their hard- 

 wooil lands into farms are apparently the 

 only results to be expected. 



The states of the lower Mississippi valley, 

 including Missouri. Arkansas, Texas, I^ouisi 

 ana and Mississippi, produced in 1899 l,2i>3,- 

 914,000 feet, or 14 per cent of the entire 

 output, of hardwood lumber. In 1906 they 

 .produced 1.252,tii 14,00(1 feet, or 17 per cent 

 of the rountrv's output. The percentagf 

 gain, it will be seen, represents a very slight 

 absolute gain. Missouri and Texas declined 

 somewhat, while .Arkansas, Mississippi and 

 Louisiana made considerable increase. The 

 figures indicate that this group of states has 

 nearly, if not quite, reached its maximum 

 cut. In these states, following the rule al- 

 reaiiy noticed, the hardwoods are found on 

 very fertile st>il. They center in the low- 

 lands — the river bottoms and the swamps. 

 (Jn aci-ount of their great fertility these 

 lands are now desired for farming, and clear 

 ing, and even drainage where necessarj-. are 

 being hastened in order to turn them to the 

 production of cotton, corn and other crops. 

 An exception, of course, exists in the Ozark 

 mountains of Missouri and .\rkansas, ct-r- 

 taiii ]>ortions of which are better adapted to 

 hardwoo.! timiier than to other uses. Such 

 areas are relatively small. In the main, 

 those moun'ains have a climate and a soil 

 which adapt them to fruit growing, for 

 which the Ozark section has already become 

 noted. In common with the whole lower 

 Mississippi valley, this region must be ex- 

 |iected to change largely from a timbered 

 to an agricultural condition. 



The states which are here considered to 

 form the .Vjipalachian group are as follows: 

 Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont. Massa- 

 chuseftsi! Xe»- York. Pennsylvania. Mary- 

 land, West Virginia, Virginia. Kentucky. 

 Tennessee. North Carolina, South (T'arolina, 

 lieorgia and .\labania. They turned out in 

 IN99, 3.()ii7,495.i"Ml fei-t of hardwood, which 

 was 42 per cent of the total cut. In 190(i 

 they produced 3.54(>,H6S,00fi feet, or 48 j^H'r 

 cent. They thus increased their proimrtion 

 1) per cent, although they actually fell off 

 121 million feet. 



While but small |iarts of several of these 

 slates lie in tin- mountains, it is true of the 

 region as a whole that the bulk of their 



hardw I timber is now to be found in the 



inoiinlains. The .\ppalachian mountains 

 must have fully half of the country's pres 

 ent supply of harilwood, in spite of the fact 

 that heavy cutting has been going on in 

 them for over a liundred years. 



There are two main reasons why this re 

 gion has borne such heavy cutting and *'i|i 

 contains so iiiiicli of the supply. 



