.ur- 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



The Drain Upon the Forests. 



ABSTRACT OF A I'AHEK BV K. S. KELLOG(i, OF 



Every American wbo is abreast of current 

 affairs is aware that the forests of the coun- 

 try are being cut down mudi faster than they 

 are growing, but few have any very definite 

 idea of just liow much more wood is being cut 

 tlian is being produced, nor of how long it 

 may be, under present conditions and meth- 

 ods, before certain woods, now abundant, will 

 he used up. Such information is not easy to 

 obtain, aud it is impossible to give more than 

 estimates of the yearly growth. 



BILLIONS or BOARD FEET 



Fig. 1— FOREST PRODUCTS, 1906. 



The data given in this circular are based 

 upon statistics of forest products in 1906, 

 compiled by the Bureau of the Census and 

 I he Forest Service, with the exception of 

 those upon mine timbers, which were collected 

 by the Forest Service and the Geological Sur- 

 vey for the year 1905. 



Figure 1 shows the output of forest prod- 

 ucts in 1906, all classes being reduced to 

 equivalent board feet for more ready com- 

 parison. Roughly, three times as much tim- 

 ber is used for lumber as for all the other 



BILLIONS OF BOARD FEET 



■ 

 ■ 

 ■ 

 ■ 

 I 

 I 

 I 



I 



Fig. 2— LUMBER PRODUCTION BY KINDS, 

 1906. 



items combined. The total quantity of tim- 

 ber used annually for lumber and the other 

 jiroducts shown in the table is equivalent to 

 approximately fifty billion board feet. 



The cut of lumber by species in 1906 is 

 shown in figure 2. Yellow pine is far in the 

 lead, furnishing 31.1 per cent of the total 



THK r. .s. FOKK.ST SERVICK. 



amount. The first seven kinds of timber fur- 

 nish over four-fifths of the total, and no 

 other kind readies one billicui feet of lunibi'r 

 ;ninually. I'nder hnnber is iiii'ludod sawed 

 railroad erossties. 



The three kinds of lumlier which arc most 

 largely exjiorted are yellow pine, reilvvood ancl 

 Douglas fir, the first going principally In 

 Europe and the others most largely to .-Vus 

 tralia, the Orient, and South America. Tii 

 1906 the exportations of yellow pine amountecl 

 to about 8 per cent of the total cut of yellow 

 ]iine lumber, that of redwood to over 6 per 

 cent, and that of Douglas fir to nearly 8 per 

 cent of the cut. Cousidering all kinds, the ex- 

 ports of hewed and sawed timber and lumber 

 amounted to about .5 per cent of the total 

 lumber production in 1906. 



The lumber cut by states in 1906 is shown 



BILLIONS OF BOARD FEET 



12 3 4-5 



Washington 



Louisiana 



Wisconsin 



Michigan 



Mississippi 



Arkansas 



Minnesota 



Texas 



Pennsylvania 



Orego n 



Californfa 



North Carolina 



Maine 



Virginia 



Alabama 



West Virginia 



Floi-1 da 



Georgia 



New York 



Kentucky 



Tennessee 



South Carolina 



New Hampshire 



Missouri 



Indiana 



Ohio 



Idaho 



Massachusetts 



Vermont 



Montana 



Maryland 



Iowa 



Illinois 



Connecticut 



Colorado 



New Mexico 



Arizona 



IndianTerhtory 



All Others 



Fig. a— I.I'.Ml'.IOi; I'itiilUCTION P.Y ST.\TES. 



];iiii;. 



in figure 3. Washington leads, with 11.5 per 

 cent; Louisiana is second, with 7.4 per cent; 

 Wisconsin third, with 6.2 per cent, and Mich- 

 igan fourth, with 5.6 per cent. The fifteen 

 states which cut over one billion feet each in 

 1906 supplied nearly three-fourths of the 

 total production. 



The proportion of the total lumber pro- 

 duction of the United States furnished by 

 nine states in 1880 and in 1906 is shown in 

 figure 4. In 1880 these states produced 52.8 

 per cent of the total amount, and in 1906 



51.5 per cent, practically equal proportions, 

 but the changes which have taken place in 

 the output of individual states are very 

 striking. The cutting out of the virgin tim- 

 ber in the Xorth and East has been followed 

 by increased drains upon the forest resources 

 of the Soutli and West, as shown by the state 

 of Wasliington, for instance. 



.1ICH .H^HI 



230* 5 6* 



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6 2"^ 

 ..N V ^1 



H TEX ^^H 



I 6<, 4 i<^, 



m ARK HUH 



I 0°^n 4 9 '^0 



I WASH ^^^^^I^HH 



9"^o 1151^. 



I MISS ^^H 



9<i 4 St, 



I ...XA HHl 



Fig. 4— CO.MI'.\I!IS<).N OF THE I!i;i..\TI \ i: 

 PRdUFCTIOX OF I.i .MliEll IIY .MM': 

 STATES I.\ l.SSi) A.Nii 1'.MI6. 



The hardwood and softwood lumber produc- 

 tion in 1906 is shown in figure 5. the softwood 

 cut being over four times the hardwood cut. 

 There has been a very decided change in the 

 ratio of hardwoods to softwoods in recent 

 years. In 1S99 the hardwoods furnished nearly 

 25 per cent of the total, against less than 

 19.5 per cent in 1906. This has been caused 

 by a greatly increased cut of certain soft- 

 woods, together with a strong decrease in 

 leading hardwoods. In- the last seven years 

 yellow pine has increased 20.7 per cent, west- 

 ern pine 46.9 per cent, cypress 69.3 per cent, 

 redwood 83.2 per cent, and Douglas fir 186.2 



Fig. .^— HAI!D\VO0D AND SOFTWOOD LUM- 

 BER PRODUCTION, 1906. 



per cent, which far more than counterbalance 

 the decrease of 40.8 per cent in white pine. 

 On the other hand, the cut of the two most 

 important hardwoods, oak and poplar, has 



