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Minnesota s Wood-Using Industries 



Miniio-iita is one of the latest states tu piihlisli .-i rc|>urt of it.>< 

 wood-using inilustries. The report comes from the press of the State 

 Forestry Boanl at St. Paul, and is haiulsomely printetl, adequately il- 

 lustrated, and its apiiearauce creates a favorable impression. 



The field work on which the report is based was carried out by 

 John T. Harris, statistician iu the United States Forest Service; and 

 a chapter on the state's timber resources has been added by William 

 T. Cox, forester for Minnesota. It is, therefore, a work done under 

 a co-operative agreement between- the federal government and the 

 state of Minnesota. Its purpose was to collect data on the uses of 

 woods by factories. The output of sawmills did not fall within the 

 scope of the investigation. It is an account of what becomes of 

 lumber after it leaves the sawmills, or so much of it as may be con- 

 verted nto products by further manufacture. Lumber and timbers 

 used in the rough for building purposes are not included. 



The state is rich in both softwoods and har.dwoods. The former 

 predominate in quantity, the latter e.xcel in variety. The last 

 primeval forests of white pine in the United States are iu Minnesota. 

 The areas where this valuable softwood is found contain large 

 amounts of Norway or red pine, jack pine, spruce, tamarack, and 

 lesser quantities of other softwoods. Further south in the state are 

 situated the hardwood forests. The regions where timber of this 

 type abounds in largest quantity are known as the ' ' Big Woods. ' ' 

 Clay soil prevails there and the land is being cleared for agriculture 

 as the stands of timber are removed. The principal hordwood mills 

 in Minnesota are situated in that region. 



The state forester estimates the value of Minnesota's timber re- 

 sources at .$975,000,000, which does not take into account the pros- 

 pective value of second growth which will be cut in future years. 

 The state 's area is 84,282 square miles, of which 5.637 are water, 

 and 52,000 forest. There are 8,000 lakes. These are rapidly silting 

 up; 2,000 former lakes have already disappeared, and it is predicted 

 that 3,000 others will disappear in the next fifty years. 



The annual demand for lumber for further manufacture is 958,- 

 025,398 feet, as is shown by statistics in the report. Approximately, 

 125,000,000 feet of this consists of hardwoods, of which nearly half 

 is made.up of birch and basswood, but twenty-three other hardwoods 

 are listed. The total number of woods reported is forty-five. The 

 accompanying table lists these woods, together with amount of each 

 used, and the average cost of each. 



.Sc.MMARV OF Woods Used .^xni-ai.i.t in Minnesota 



Feet b. m. 



White pine 463,208,450 



Norway pine 169,192,979 



Jack pine 65,241,422 



Spruce 46,312,000 



Tamarack 31,575,301 



Birch 30,780,044 



Basswood 24,278,769 



Douglas fir 19.597,271 



Balm of Gllend 13,118,000 



Red oak 12,773,189 



W^hlte oak 12,487,106 



Hemlock 10,004,168 



Sitka spruce 9,457,020 



Aspen 8,236,500 



Balsam fir 7.491.600 



Sugar maple 7,414,287 



White ash 5,342,189 



Shortlcaf pine 3,480,647 



"White elm 2.984.337 



Western -white pine 2.227,000 



Cottonwood 1,594,519 



Western yellow pine 1,533,800 



■Chestnut 1,041,850 



Western red cedar 943,231 



Black ash 938,403 



Kcd gum 872,880 



Western hemlock 872,600 



Yellow poplar 821,187 



<:jT)ress (bald) 819,862 



Cost per 

 1,000 feet 

 ?16.31 

 15.74 

 13.91 

 16.45 

 15.91 

 21.76 

 15.30 

 25.72 

 15.15 

 36.71 

 42.47 

 12.22 

 22.40 

 12.77 

 15.08 

 26.92 

 32.30 

 .31.61 

 18.08 

 29.18 

 26.17 

 29.53 

 24.08 

 27.00 

 29.58 

 29.10 

 15.41 

 54.07 

 36.14 



i-""si™f i""" .;'H,.7.;:i lio.ui 



t-'ork elm 504.604 1S.33 



Mahogan,- 481,405 152.47 



.Northern white cedar 350,000 13.71 



Silver niiiple 339.532 22.05 



Hickory 244,400 56.42 



Black walnut 161,639 104.08 



Cherry (l)lnck) 155,540 92.96 



Redwood - 135,505 27.12 



Butternut 120,000 35.61 



Sugar pine 75,000 40.00 



Western iareh 61,249 30.09 



Spanish cedar 5o!oOi) 35.00 



Beech 20,000 22.00 



Circassian walnut 15.00U ,300.00 



Post oak 10.000 40.00 



Total 958,025,398 $17.58 



The raw material docs not all roach the factories in the form of 

 lumber, .though most of it does. Some arrives as bolts and billets, 

 and some as saw logs. In the latter case the whole process of manu- 

 facture from the log to the finished product is carried out in the 

 same e.staVjlishmont. 



Twenty important and many minor industries in Minnesota use 

 wood is some form as raw material for further manufacture. The 

 smallest industry which is separately considered in the report is boat 

 building which demands only 107,000 feet of lumber a year; the 

 largest is planing mill products with a total demand of 667,021,508 

 feet. The others range between, as is shown in the accompanying 

 industry table. The total cost of all reported raw material was .$16,- 

 844,033. Approximately 133,000,000 feet, of the total of P.i^.nnn,- 

 000, was grown in the state. 



SUMMARY OF WOODS USED BY INDUSTRIES OF MINBESOIA 



Quantity used Avera¥;p Total Grown in Grown out 



annually cost cost .Minnesota Minnesota 



Induscries Feet li. m. Per cent 1,000 ft. factory Feet b. m Feet b. m 



Planing mill products 657.021.508 09 62 $15,70 $10,473,303 652,097,508 14,924,000 



.Sa^h doot, blinds and gen- 

 eral miUwork 99,346,475 10.37 26.22 2,604,539 64,900,4.';7 34 4.39 0.18 



lioxes and crates 77,854,600 8.13 13.26 1,032,674 61,690,700 16 163 900 



(ar construction 29.519,111 3 08 23,17 683,889 4,351,668 25.167 443 



Woodenware and novelties. 26,703,17(1 2 79 17.19 458,917 15,733,523 10,969.647 



Purniture 9,875,448 103 28 59 282,373 2,411,560 7,463,888 



I'ixtures 7,178,986 75 35 65 255.941 2,542,000 4,636,986 



Vehicles and vehicle parts 6,940.700 . 72 34 37 238,577 .380,400 6,560 300 



Paving materials 6,425,000 67 17 88 113,600 6,425,000 



.Miscellaneous 5,926.000 .62 23 72 140,577 3,&I0,000 2,286,000 



.\gricultural implements... ,5,823,600 61 31.71 181,654 ■2.,551,100 3,272 500 



Gates and fencing 4,570,000 .48 19.95 91,170 4,570,000 



Refrigerators and kitchen 



cabinets 3,850,1100 40 28.08 108,100 375,000 3 275,000 



('a.sliets and coffins 2,864,000 :» 25.85 74,030 1,459,(X)0 1405 000 



Tanks and silos 1,898,800 .20 24 32 46,172 735,800 1,163|000 



Dairymen's, poulterers' and 



apiarists' supplies 1,165,000 12 21 65 25.220 400.000 765,000 



Handles 430,000 04 12 80 5,500 400,000 30000 



Musical instruments 280,500 .03 43.45 12,188 27,000 253 500 



Trunks and valiaes '245,500 1)3 26 18 6,427 137,.'>00 108,000 



Rnals and sliip building . 107,000 01 57.78 6,182 24,000 83,000 



Tulal . 9.58,025,398 lOO 00 $17 58 $16,844,033 825,059,196 132,966,20 



The waste problem in the woods and at the mills is still serious in 

 .Minnesota. No such headway as Iowa has shown has been made in 

 solving it. The latter state wastes little, because sawdust, bark, 

 chips, and all kinds of wood scraps and refuse find market near the 

 place of production. Wood is scarce in Iowa; but in Minnesota it 

 so plentiful that waste finds little sale except in the towns of larger 

 size. In the forests, where most sawmills and many factories are 

 situated, nobody will buy what can usually be had for the asking. 

 Consequently, large amounts of refuse material go to waste, which 

 could be sold at a profit in more thickly settled regions. It cannot 

 be profitably shipped where markets exist, because transportation 

 charges are prohibitive on that class of material. 



The lumber statisical department of the government seems to 

 have lost quite a string of sawmills in compiling figures of the 

 lumber cut in 1912. 



Borrowing money and running in debt are t'wo familiar roads to 

 trouble, yet without these business would shrink more than it ever 

 baa in panic times. 



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