24 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



lishments are willing to pay the differeuee in price. KednooJ makes 

 a very attractive appearance in a number of commodities, such as 

 dairymen's and apiarists' supplies, tanks, silos, and general mill- 

 work. Possibly the western sawmill men are shipping into the state 

 a carefully selected stock, but however that may be, redwood is in- 

 creasing in favor even with the heavy handicap in price. The quan- 

 tity of cypress bought in 1911 by Iowa manufacturers, liowever, was 

 nine times that of redwood. In the same way, Douglas fir from 

 Washington and longleaf pine from Louisiana meet in active com- 

 petition in Iowa woodworking factories. The southern wood i.s pur- 

 chased in considerably larger amounts, but the fir is higher in price, 

 and there is not much difference in the total cost. 



Though from a lumbering standpoint, Iowa is properly classed as 

 a non-producing territory, probably twenty-five per cent or more of 

 the raw material it consumes reaches the factories in log form. 

 This is due to the fact that Minnesota forests supply a large amount 

 of the pine by rafting it down the Mississippi to the large manufac- 

 turing establishments at Davenport, Dubuque, and Keokuk. One 

 establishment alone receives annually 18,000,000 board feet in log 

 form. These mills, however, which depend on the rivers to bring 

 them logs from the northern forests, report a gradual decrease in the 

 supply of logs in recent years. The falling off in river shipments 

 is due to the activities of the railroads and to the diminution of the 

 accessible timber immediately on tlie water fronts about the uiijier 

 Mississippi and its principal tributaries. 



Though Iowa supplies its factories with less than three per tent 

 of the wood they use, there is in the state an up-to-date sawmill 

 running regularly and sawing daily 125,000 feet of logs. Tliis 

 shows that the prairie area is a good consumer of raw material iu 

 its roughest form. The owner of this large mill reports that he has 

 a great advantage over mills located a long distance from, the cen- 

 ters of population when it comes to disposing of waste material, 

 such as slabs, sawdust, odd lengths, and inferior low-grade lumber. 

 In the prairie districts all such material can be disposed of at more 

 or less of a profit, for kindling if for nothing else, but in lumber- 

 ing districts proper it finds few buyers, and most of it goes to waste. 

 It can be made profitable, therefore, to transport logs long distances 

 in order to reach a market for what would otherwise be waste. 



The state of Iowa is making rapid progress toward earing for and 

 developing its natural timber resources. The Iowa State College 

 of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts at Ames is well equipped for and 

 is carrj-ing on a large number of experiments for the guidance nf 

 those interested in forestry, in anticipation of a time when the region 

 must depend upon itself for a large part of its timber. There are a 

 score or more of important manufacturing centers, including Des 

 Moines, Dubuque, Davenport, Keokuk, Cedar Kapids, Sioux City, 

 and Clinton, each of which has a number of large wood-working 

 plants which claim to be in a position to compete successfully with 

 establishments in remote but heavily-wooded districts. It is claimed 

 that the cost of shipping the raw material in the rough form is more 

 than offset by the closer utilization possible around cities situated 

 in the non-timbered belts. The Mississippi is a great aid in cheap 

 transportation from the North. Contemplated locks and dams to be 

 built between Iowa and Illinois by the federal government, should 

 add much to the stream's value in that respect. It is further antici- 

 pated that the development of water-power, now in process, will 

 greatly stimulate manufacturing. 



The table which follows shows the woods used, the annual amount 

 of each, and the average cost. 



SCMMARY OF KiN'DS OF WOOD USED IN lOWA 



Quantity used Average 



annually cost per 



Species — Feet b. m. M feet 



White pine 74,254,888 $28.63 



Shortleaf pine 20,228,869 29.05 



White ash 19,827,442 28.09 



Longleaf pine 19,720,700 28.04 



Cypress 16,961,472 31.50 



Douglas fir 15,873,300 33.58 



Norway pine 12,643,175 24.31 



White oak 10,861,350 46.86 



Red oak S.546,600 45.98 



Western yellow pine 7,384,000 42.10 



Red spruce 6,520,300 3J.71 



Red gum 4,845.690 23.70 



White elm 4, 792. .'527 27.67 



Yellow and sweet birch 4,49S.>j00 30.47 



Hemlock 4.327.000 23.13 



Jack pine 4,250.000 18.59 



Cottonwood 3,985,122 24.13 



Sugar maple 3,949,000 33.96 



Hickory 3,624,500 53.01 



Basswood 3,237.040 26.88 



Chestnut 2.730. (JiMi 21.93 



Yellow poplar 2.088,400 52.57 



Tupelo 1.819,032 17.68 



Redwood 1,750.200 42.20 



Sugar pine 1,019.300 45.06 



Loblolly pine 530,100 27.45 



Western red cedar 500,000 20 00 



Tamarack '. :)34.300 24.98 



Butternut 123.200 35.02 



Balm Of Gilead .SG.OOU 1 7.22 



Northern white cedar 85.000 70.00 



Sycamore 78,000 16.03 



Mahogany 72.400 155.55 



Hackberry 70,000 15.36 



Western white pine 70.000 39.29 



Red cedar 00.500 32.20 



Western larch 48.000 29.00 



Spanish cedar 40.250 120.00 



Black willow 40,000 14.00 



Black cherry 28,000 44.96 



Aspen 25.000 15.24 



Osage orange 15.000 125.00 



Black walnut 11.500 70.70 



Circassian walnut 5,000 300.00 



Totals 202.596,757 $30.92 



Less than three per cent of this wood was grown in Iowa. The 

 other was gathered from the four points of the compass, and from 

 hundreds of miles and in some instances from thousands of miles. 



The working of wood in the state is divided into twenty-three 

 principal industries, and a group of minor industries tabulated as 

 miscellaneous. Iowa clearly belongs among the states where wood- 

 using industries are diversified. For comparison, it may be shown 

 that Louisiana has only eight industries to Iowa's twenty-three, but 

 Louisiana 's annual use of wood is five times that of Iowa. Though 

 the state 's wood-using industries are diversified w hen compared with 

 some regions, it falls short of others. It is much behind Missouri 

 in that respect, and much further behind Illinois, the two states on 

 the south and east. It has less than half the number of industries of 

 Illinois and it uses only one-seventh as much T\ood as raw material. 

 The table which follows shows the industries, the amount of wood 

 demanded yearly by each, and the average price paid by each for the 

 wood bought as raw material. 



SoMMARr OF Woods Used by Ixdcstries 



Quantity used .\verage 



annually cost per 



Industries — Feet b. m. M feet 



Sash, doers, blinds, etc 68,863.800 $37.39 



Planing mill products 56,879,000 29.60 



Boxes and crates 31,320.476 13.58 



Tanks and silos 23,833.000 31.25 



Vehicle and vehicle parts 17,010.500 42.70 



Woodenware and novelties 16,955,000 26.70 



Agricultural implements 6.989,000 34.33 



Furniture 6,266,840 32.16 



Fixtures 5.608,600 38.59 



Laundry appliances 5.541,000 26.54 



Caskets and coffins 5.000,500 24.89 



Car construction 4,146,600 25.92 



Refrigerators and kitchen cabinets 3,354,691 29.13 



Dairymen's poulterers' and apiarists' supplies.... 3,065,000 29.89 



Handles 2.049.000 35.42 



Elevators 1,775,000 24.44 



Chairs 1,086.000 27.53 



