HARDWOOD RECORD 



59 



i:!C |)or cent: Columbus. 174 per cent; Onkhind, lOS jjur ciut : St. Tuul. 

 I'JO per cent ; Toppka, 114 por cent. 



The returns from «!) cities show total liulldlni; permits to the value of 

 J722.37.S.100 for the entire year ini.'i. compared with SS62,20n.34S, for 

 the .vear 1!>12, a loss of IC per cent. If the December report Is any 

 Indication the pendulum has begun to swing again towards Improvement, 

 lii'talls are a« follows : 



The Year The Tear 



'■lly— 1013. 1»12 Gain. Loss. 



ron 



Balllmore 



BIrmlnKham . 



Boston 



Buttalo 



Cedar Rapids. 

 Chattanooga . 

 Chicago 



Cln 

 Cleveland 

 Columbus 

 Dallas ... 

 Tlayton . . 



.«l Or 



llle 



nge 



r..243.Sl.-. 



.Mi-.'.im 



N.'.ISS.il.'o 

 li.4-.'!l.7;tT 

 17.4»i3.331l 

 13.UP0.UOII 

 4.22».OI(0 

 1,033.880 



8n.4»5.aoo 



8.348.432 

 28.841.100 

 5.508.400 

 8.480..-8O 

 r).0»0.»74 

 2.707.148 

 1.75-1.759 

 30.432.380 

 4.0211.011 

 1.712.981 

 1.870.437 

 4.169.000 



Grand Rapids 



Harrlsburg 



Hartford 0.784.751 



Indianapolis 9.301.973 



Kansas City 10.578.102 



Lincoln 1.678.350 



Los Angeles 31.641.021 



Louisville 4.054.180 



Manchester 1.052.889 



Memphis 3.949.368 



Milwaukee 13.647.624 



Minneapolis 12.857.935 



Nashville 1.666.602 



New Haven 4.790.151 



New Orleans 4.087,261 



New York — 



.Manhattan 8.5. 403. 2.54 



Bronx 21.701.4.-.3 



Brooklyn 34.7B2..';(>fi 



Boro of Richmond 3.377.109 



Bnro of Queens 17.514.955 



Total 162.759.277 



Oakland 9.106.101 



Omaha 47110.733 



Paterson 1.476.660 



Peoria 2.359.124 



Philadelphia 38.703.8.50 



Pittsburgh 15.470.055 



Portland 12.950.915 



Richmond 3.630.476 



Rochester 9,042.124 



Salt Lake City 2.153.860 



San Antonio 



San Francisco 21.037.264 



St. Joseph 870.003 



St. Louis 1.5.340.112 



St. Paul 9.441.221 



Scranton 1.486.305 



Seattle 9.321.115 



Shreveport 1.332.590 



Sioux City 2.056.072 



South Bend 890.405 



Springfield. Ill 799.514 



8yracu.«e 5.206.768 



Tacoma 2.4J4.364 



Toledo 5,986,079 



Topeka 028.767 



Troy 2..564.178 



Washington 8.396.701 



■Wichita 1.083.465 



Wllkes-Barre 1.922.348 



Worcester 4.000.313 



: 4.799.927 

 9.987.444 

 8.04M.5V5 

 3.813.079 



21.101.341 



12.992,0011 

 2,344.550 

 1.41«.,'.55 



8S.1 13.8011 

 8.902.214 



1S.1KI1.07S 

 4.ll7."i.:io3 

 4.Hl!!l.r,3H 



4.2.sr.,.-,4l 

 .5.332.r,75 

 2.139.301 

 25.588.470 

 2.680.543 

 1.591.470 

 1.531.460 

 2.456,510 



7.379.525 



0.150.407 

 12.390.338 



1,182.035 

 31.307.995 



6.552,770 



49 



1.411.114 

 4.761.311 

 3.490.320 



190.295.S2n 

 36.049.870 

 40.537.784 

 3.412.103 

 19.042.322 



289.937 



».00! 



733 



37.173.035 

 11.137.043 

 14.652,071 



li.25.-..7n 

 12.03.-,. 4r,c; 



5.202.3S'.I 



Total $722.378. 100 



23.33S.503 

 1,119.897 



20.675.803 

 8.151.417 

 1.590.861 

 8.415.325 

 1.522.692 

 2.225.802 

 896.664 

 1.422,227 

 4.487.861 

 1.870,437 

 5,321,790 

 944.199 

 1.425.872 



21.708.483 

 1.195,700 

 2,335,217 

 (i,,557,120 



$862,209,348 



16 



Michigan Forestry Students Study Operations 

 Prof. F. II. Sanford. head of the forestry dep.Trtmont of the Michigan 

 Agricultural College, accompanied by Instructor Gilson and a number of 

 college students of forestry, has just returned from Davis, W. Va,. 

 where they have been .studying the methods of mountain logging and 

 lumbering as employed by the Babcock Lumber & Boom Compan.v. The 

 men roomed In a small hotel at Davis, but took their meals at the com- 

 pany'.s camp. 



The Babcock concern showed every courte.s.v to the Michigan men and 

 provided them with a special train for visiting the two camps main- 

 tained. The methods of logging by cable, boom operations and every 

 phase of mountain lumbering and logging were gone Into during the trip. 



The Lumber Output for 1912 



Final statistics of the production of lumber, lath and shingles in the 

 United States for the year 1012 are presented In detail In n bulletin Issued 

 by Director Harris of the Bureau of the Census. Department of Commerce, 

 and dated .January 20. 1!)14. It was prepared under the supervision of W. 

 M. Steuart. chief statistician for manufactures. 



The report shows that a total of 2!).C48 mills was reported as having 

 been In active operation In the T'niled States during the year 1912, as 

 compared with 28.107 for the year 1!)11. and ;il,9.'!4 for 1910. 



The total amount of lumber produced. In M feet board measure. In 1912 

 by these mills was 39,l.'j8,414. as compared with 37,003.207 In 1911, and 

 40.018.282 In 1910. 



The showing for the year 1912 Indicates generally Improved conditions in 

 the lumber Industr.v. Although the total reported cut was slightly less 



than in llllii. tin' average yield per mill was u.3 per cent greater than in 

 that year, while the total production over 1911 was 2,155.207 M feet board 

 measure, or nearly C per cent. The degree of activity in the lumber Indus- 

 try during 1912 as reflected by the figures Is especially noteworthy, the 

 output exceeding that of four years earlier— 1908 — by nearly 6,000,000,000 

 feet board measure, or 17.9 per cent- 

 Increases among the Individual states were quite general, slight excep- 

 tions appearing in certain of the eastern states and a few of tlie western 

 mountain states. The usual decrease In the output of the Lake states 

 which has characterized the showing for several years was due directly to 

 the rapidly decreasing -supply of lumber material in that region. While 

 both the principal lumber-producing centers, namely, the southern states 

 and the PtteiBc Coast states, reported larger cuts In 1912 than in the pre- 

 ceding .year, the increased production In the first named group was sub- 

 stantially greater than for the United States as a whole. The development 

 of the lumber industry in the soutbcrn states during recent .vears has been 

 rapid. .\t the census of 1900. 38.T per cent of the total production In the 

 United States was reported from that region, while in 1907 it contributed 

 45.7 per cent of the output, and In 1912, 51.4 per cent, or more than one- 

 half of the total. 



The production reported from Washington In 1912 was the largest re- 

 corded since 1906. Although for nearly a decade this state has led all 

 others in the production of lumber and shingles. In 1912 it contributed 

 more than one-tenth of all the lumber and nearly two-thirds of the shingles 

 manufactured in the United States. The state of Louisiana ranked sec- 

 ond ; Mississippi, third ; North Carolina, fourth ; and Oregon, fifth. 



Of the reported total lumber production softwoods contributed .30.526.416 

 M feet board measure in 1912. as against 2S.902.3S.8 M feet In 1911. and 

 31,160.850 M feet in 1910. The reported cut from yellow pine timber In 

 the territory comprising the Atlantic and Gulf Coast states from Virginia 

 to Texas, inclusive, together with Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma, dur- 

 ing the year amounted to 14.737.052 M feet board measure, or about ninety- 

 eight per cent of the total output from this species in the United States. 

 Douglas fir. the species which ranked next to yellow pine among the 

 conifers or softwoods, supplied material for 5.175.123 M feet board meas- 

 ure. The production from both of these species was greater in 1912 than 

 in the preceding year. White pine ranked third among the softwoods in 

 1912. though the cut from this wood was smaller than in the preceding 

 year and has been declining steadily for several .years. 



The reported cut of hardwood lumber in 1912 was 8.631.998 M feet 

 board measure, as .against S.100.819 M feet in 1911. and 8.S57.42C M feet 

 in 1910. To this total, oak. the leading hardwood species, contributed 

 3.318.952 M feet, or 38.4 per cent, and showed an increase over the output 

 for the preceding year oC 220.508 M feet, or 7.1 per cent. Maple, red 

 gum. tulip, poplar, chestnut, beech and birch followed oak in the order 

 named. 



The production of lath and shingles in 1912 did not differ materially 

 from the output of these products during the preceding calendar .vear, 

 although each was reported in slightly smaller quantities than in 1910. 



Forest Fire Losses in Michigan 



Losses by forest fires in Michigan which have approximated upwards 

 of $1,000,000 annually for 50 years, dropped from .?3.400.000 in 1911 to 

 ?67.000 In 1912 and to less than ?23,000 in 1913. according to the an- 

 nual report of State Forestry Warden William It. Oates which was sent 

 to Gov. Ferris recently. 



Warden Oates says that his department cannot in fairness claim more 

 than a nominal credit in the diminution of forest fires. It submits that 

 the curbing, suppression and prevention of forest fires and the resultant 

 reduction of loss is due to a systematic and thorough organization of the 

 township supervisors of the forest district as local fire wardens and the 

 educational posters and literature on the suppression of forest fires, placed 

 through them before the township communities. 



The improvement and standardization of locomotives and rights-of-way . 

 inspection helped materially, while the moral enlistment of 3.000 school 

 boys of the forest district as Michigan Forest Scouts, with the prime 

 purpose of prevention of forest fires and reforestation, was an important 

 factor. 



Among the other Important agencies in preventing fires was the pro- 

 tective service instituted by the public domain commission on its reserves 

 of state lands : the practical and energetic field work of the several inde- 

 pendent lumbermen's protective associations: the splendid publicity given 

 by the city and country press of Michigan on all matters pertaining to 

 forestry and the prevention and suppression of forest fires. 



Notable in view of the marked reduction of loss by forest fires Is the 

 fact that many more were reported to the department in 1913 than 

 were reported In 1911. when the loss on merchantable timber and other 

 readily estimated property was stupendous. 



Following the disastrous fires of 1911, culminating in the destruction 

 of the populous towns of Oscoda and Au Sable, the forestry warden ex- 

 ploited the organization of the school bo.vs of the district for forest fire 

 service. In 1912 there were 1.500 enrolled as auxiliaries to the state 

 fire warden's department under the title of Jllchignn Forest Scouts. 

 Besides extinguishing 509 fires, some of which were of considerable magni- 

 tude, the scouts did effective work as messengers for the regular wardens 

 and supervisors and as educators in forest fire prevention. In 1913 the 

 Forest Scouts Increased to a niemhershlp of 3.000. They more than 

 duplicated the work of the previous year with a record of 731 fires ex- 



