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Ontario'' s Wood-Using Industries 



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A \fiv i-uinploto ;iiul i\ull iiir(.;iica n-iHiit lias bi'i'ii iiuMislii'il at 

 Ottawa by tlie Canadian Uovernniout Printing Bureau on the wood- 

 using industries of Ontario. It was I'ouipiled by R. G. Lewis and 

 W. (iny H. Boyce, under directions of R. H. Campbell, Director of 

 Forestry, and is supplemented by a summary issued some time ago. 

 The indu.strial conditions and forest resources of Ontario are much 

 like those of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michi<;an, Ohio, Pennsylvauia, 

 and New York, and for that reason the report should have particular 

 value on this side of the international boundary. The certainty that 

 the new tariff measure will pass Congress and receive the President' s 

 signature adds an interest to whatever our Canadian neighbors are 

 doing in the line of manufacturing lumber or other forest jiroducts. 

 There will be free trade in many articles and a reduction in duty on 

 most or" the others, and there is no doubt that trade will be turned 

 into new channels in a number of particulars. Whether the Can- 

 adians will buy more from us than they have bouglit heretofore, or 

 pay more for their purchases; or whether they will sell us manufac- 

 tured articles or raw material more cheaply than we have been able 

 to buy them in the past, remains to be seen; but in the meantime 

 business men will study trade relations between the two countries 

 with more care than has been customary in recent years. The 

 breaking up of old trade habits is bound to cause new alignments. 

 The report recently published includes statistics collected from 1,200 

 firms engaged in various kinds of wood-manufacturing. Thirty-six 

 separate industries are listed and are presented with considerable de- 

 tail. The annual demand for wood aggregates 807,456,000 feet board 

 measure, at an average cost of $23.73 jier thousand, and a total cost 

 of $19,161,384. Thirty-four separate species of wood are listed, 

 besides numerous otiiers which are considered as groups only. White 

 pine, which apparently includes Xorway pine, leads all other woods in 

 quantity, and is twice as much as any other in total cost. The finest 

 remaining stands of white pine in the world are in Ontario, though 

 the quality is not superior to this wood in the Lake states. The 

 average value of the white pine delivered at the Canadian factories 

 is $25.60, which is from three to eight dollars higher than the aver- 

 age cost of this wood at factories in Vermont, New Hampshire, 

 Massachu.setts, and Michigan. It would not, therefore, appear rea- 

 sonable that any change in tariff laws will enable buyers of white 

 pine in this country to get it any cheaper in Canada. However, that 

 is one of the problems to be worked out. 



The wood used in next largest quantity is spruce at an average 

 cost of $14.21. This includes pulpwood, which is the largest item 

 at $12.4.5 per thousand feet. Maple is employed in larger amount 

 than any other hardwood, and at an average price of $21.13. The 

 average cost of this wood at New Hampshire factories is $20.73, in 

 Michigan $17.53; consequently there is little likelihood that maple 

 logs or lumber will come from Canada into the United States, because 

 commodities do not usually move from a region of high value to a 

 region of low. Elm in Ontario costs the factories $23.52, and in 

 Michigan $22.98. The difference is small, but is in favor of manu- 

 facturers in the Lake states. Ash is about a standoff between the 

 two countries. In Ontario it costs $35.05, in Xevv Hampshire $33.17, 

 and in Michigan $39.47. Hemlock, the third in quantity of the 

 softwoods bought by Ontario manufacturers, costs $16.34 in that 

 province, $14.98 in New Hampshire, and $13.31 in Michigan. On- 

 tario has large amounts of hemlock timber, but judging from the 

 prices manufacturers are jiaying for it on the Canadian side of the 

 line, there is small likelihood that hemlock logs or lumber will be 

 shipped to factories in the United States. 



It holds with mo.st of the important woods whicli are used for 

 manufacturing purposes in Ontario and en this side of the line, that 

 this wood costs more in Ontario. Following arc examples in addition 

 to those given above: 



Post In Cost In 



Wood — Michisan dntnrlo 



Basswood $20.79 %'ri.''l 



Balsam 11. OS 1-1. L'3 



Cli.-snmi -L'.rj7 28.77 



Doughis lir 37.eo 42.05 



Oottonwoiid 30.83 51.00 



Tamarack 13.91 18.89 



Sycamore 26.41 34.81 



The difference in cost for all of these woods is sufficient to bar 

 their shipment as raw material across the line into the United States 

 in large quantities. 



The average cost of all the wood used in Ontario is slightly above 

 the average in Michigan, ijut the difference in the average cost for 

 a number of industries is decidedly in favor of Michigan. That is, 

 the Michigan manufacturers are able to buy their material for less 

 than it can be bought in Ontario. Among such industries are the 

 following : 



Cost of wood Cost of wood 



Industry — in Ontario In Michigan 



Boxes .1S18.53 $15.25 



Flooring 24.86 18.94 



Vehicle supplies 52.13 34.27 



Musical instruments .'(8.22 34.37 



Cars 33.12 25.18 



Handles 29.99 13.3G 



Woodenware 17.86 15.62 



Sporting goods 37.48 30.49 



Laundry appliances 28.84 23.93 



Ships and boats 45.60 44.08 



In a few industries the cost of raw material appears to be in 

 favor of Ontario as compared with Michigan, which is shown as 

 f ollow s : 



Cost of wood Cost of wood 



Industry — in Ontario in Michigan 



Sash, doors and blinds $24.59 $27.78 



Furniture 30.59 41.13 



Agricultural implements 35.43 38.99 



Coffins 23.84 31.10 



The manufacturing of wood is much more highly developed and 

 concentrated in Michigan than in Ontario. Michigan's area is only 

 one-fourth that of the Canadian province, but its annual output of 

 manufactured forest products is more than fifty per cent greater, 

 both in feet and in cost of materials. 



Ontario procures eighty-two per cent of its raw material at 

 home, and four per cent of the remainder from other Canadian prov- 

 inces, while less than fourteen per i-ent is imported from foreign 

 countries. Most of the imports are drawn from the United States. 

 In speaking of the increasing cost of certain woods the report says: 



"The scarcity of wood and its rapidly increasing price is being 

 felt by every industry using wood. In the case of some of the hard- 

 woods, such as white oak and hickory, the native supply is practi- 

 cally exhausted with the exception of odd trees and groups of trees 

 in farmers' woodlots. The prices of these two species have increased 

 at an alarming rate and even in the United States where the bulk 

 of the supply comes from, a shortage is being felt and the center 

 of supply is constantly shifting to new regions. It is probable that 

 the price of each kind of wood will continue to increase until it equals 

 or exceeds the cost of growing that particular wood in the forest." 



The policy which Ontario should pursue is clearly and forcibly 

 explained in the following paragraph: 



"A forestry policy for the province, which has as its aim the 

 management of forest lands to produce a steady supply of wood is 

 the only solution of the problem of how to perpetuate the wood-using 

 industries of Ontario. Canadians cannot count on foreign countries 

 to supply them forever. The economic balance of exports and im- 

 ports must be insured by the growing of trees adapted to this climate, 

 and in sufficient quantities to supply the local demand and provide 

 a surplus for exiiortation to other countries. There are millions of 

 acres of land in Ontario that are unfit for agriculture and still are 

 suitable for growing forests. Such land should be withheld from 

 homestead entry and managed as forests. In some parts of the 

 province large areas of deserted farmlands are found, and lands 

 that are not suitable for growing crops but which are being held 

 bv farmers who are too poor to move to more fertile regions." 



