36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



mere estimate by so many square miles is rather vague. Fortunately 

 it is possible to be more explicit. The Bureau of Corporations has 

 coUecteJ masses of statistics tlealiug with southern timber; and 

 while these figures may not be wholly accurate in every essential, 

 they are worthy of careful consideration. They are the best to be 

 had at this time, and those who have criticized them have done so 

 by declaring that the figures are too small rather than too large. 

 H.^BDWoons 

 Taking into account only the sixteen states listed above, and sum- 

 marizing the elaborate statistics representing their stands of mer- 

 chantable timber, it is found that their hardwoods total only a little 

 short of three hundred billion feet, which is about seventy-five per 

 cent of the estimated hardwood stand for the whole United States. 

 The items follow: 



Koet. 

 Oak l.J2.0:!9.OO(),00r) 



I ;um 4G.4-t;:,(ioo.ooo 



Hickory 14,971.000.000 



Ash 9.920,000,000 



Miscellaneous 7.'!,17.3,000,000 



Total 297.4152,000.000 



SOFTWOODS 



The hardwoods are only one of the forest resources of the South, 

 and constitute less than half of the total timber supply. There are 

 half a dozen kinds of pine, but they are grouped, for brevity's 

 sake, under two heads, longleaf and shortleaf. It is not necessary 

 to be more explicit in the present instance. Cypress is the only 

 other important softwood. Of course, there is much cedar in some 

 localities, and considerable hemlock and spruce, but they are omitted, 

 ami the softwood resources appear as follows: 



Feet. 



Longleaf pine 2.'!2,."?00,000,000 



Shortloaf pine 152.100.000,000 



C.vprcss 40,400,000,000 



Total 424,800,000,000 



The whole commercial stand of timber in the South, including 

 softwoods and hardwoods, amounts to 722,252,000,000 feet. 



This is enough to last nearly forty years at the present rate of 

 cutting in the South, though that rate is enormous; and in the next 

 forty years a lot of young timber, not counted in the above total, 

 will be ready for the ax. It is therefore evident that the investor 

 in southern factories which use wood has a long time in which to 

 operate his mills. Factories might use twice as much as they are now 

 using without necessitating any increase in the sawmill output, pro- 

 vided the southern lumber were used in southern factories only. 

 However, there will always be trade in rough lumber between the 

 South and the rest of the country and with the world. 



The South is particularly fortunate in its accessibility to the 

 best markets. Manufacturers naturally scrutinize that phase of the 

 situation very carefully. Kailroads thread the country in all direc- 

 tions. They connect with the West, North, and East, while in the 

 direction of the coast there are numerous roads with one terminus 

 at the harbors and the other far in the interior. Shipping facilities 

 by land and sea are unexcelled. The land routes lead to all parts 

 of North America, including Mexico which will become a good 

 buyer sometime. The sea routes connect with every seaport of earth 

 where there is any trade, either present or prospective, worth going 

 after. 



Industrial conditions in the South are favorable. Investors iloubt- 

 less give much weight to that factor in planning for tMt future. It 

 is not a factory population like much of that in the North is, but it 

 is competent and capable, and training will come naturally. 



Other economic considerations favor the development of the South 's 

 forest resources. One of these is the advantage of having the fac- 

 tory close to the raw material. This advantage holds with nearly all 

 classes of manufacturing, but especially in converting the rough ma- 

 terial of the forest into finished commodities. Fortunately, the wood- 

 using factory can go to the forest. The steel mill cannot always go 

 to the iron mine. The closer the factory is to the woods whence 

 comes the raw material, the less will be the waste, the smaller the 

 amount of useless hauling, the less the profitless handling of what is 



unsalable. The old-time sawmill took the best logs and left the 

 rest. It had to do it, because the poor stuff couUl not be sold. The 

 modern factory, if sufliciently near the timber tract, can make nearly 

 a clean sweep, because diversified manufacturing calls for sizes and 

 shapes which could not be profitably moved to a distant factory. It 

 is poor policy to haul waste stuff far. To avoid that, the factories 

 get closer and closer to the woods. That is why they arc springing 

 up all over the South. 



Car Statistics 



Regular report of the American Railway Association, dated March 

 15, shows surpluses and shortages on that date as compared with 

 previous dates. 



On March 15, 1914, there was a surplus throughout the country 

 of 102,010 ears. The surplus on March 1 was lo9,4SU cars. March 

 15, 1913, the surplus was but 57,998 cars. 



On March 15, 1914, there was a total shortage throughout the 

 country of 7,145 cars as against a shortage on March 1 of 5,573 

 cars. Shortage on March 15, 1913, was 20,223 cars. 



Thus it is seen that while as compared with conditions a year ago 

 the activity of .shipments for the first two weeks in March of this 

 year was disappointing, there seems a slightly increased activity 

 since the first of the month. This is shown in the reduced surpluses 

 and the increased shortages. 



The Manufacture of Excelsior 



Approximately a quarter of a million tons of excelsior are made 

 every year in the United States. Expressed in board feet, the ma- 

 terial consumed is equivalent to about sixty million feet of lumber. 

 In this country the manufacture of excelsior does not proceed beyond 

 the point of converting the flood into material suitable for packing 

 glass and metal ware, eggs, flowers, perfumery and similar purposes, 

 for filling cheap mattresses, for cheap upholstery and for filtering. 

 In foreign countries, however, they go further and include a number 

 of uses that are not attempted here. For instance, excelsior rope is 

 sometimes woven, while by the use of vari-eolored dyes, fancy pack- 

 ing and material for window displays are made, particularly for the 

 Easter and Christmas holidays. Excelsior of special grade is also em- 

 ployed to some extent for surgical dressings, and flesh bruises. 



The principal requirements of a wood for excelsior manufacture 

 are softness, straightness of grain, freedom from knots, good fibre, 

 and ability to work well under the knife. The broadleaf species 

 represented by poplar, basswood, whitewood or tulip and willow 

 are the best. In the South and jNIiddle West, considerable quanti- 

 ties of pine are used for this purpose, but the product is not of the 

 highest grade. In Europe the principal excelsior woods are fir and 

 spruce, but their product does not rank as high in resilience and 

 toughness as that of the broadleaf trees mentioned. 



There are several grades of excelsior, the finest and softest being 

 known as wood wool. The strands or filaments composing this grade 

 are very narrow, and this can be made from only the best material. 

 In the medium and coarser grades, the filaments are thicker and 

 range in width from one-sixteenth to one-thirty-seeond of an inch. 

 For special purposes the filaments are sometimes made as wide as 

 one-third inch. 



Excelsior wood should be reasonably straight and free from large 

 knots. It is usually sawed into lengths of four and one-half feet and 

 peeled. The smallest diameter advantageous to use is four inches, 

 since the excelsior knife is from five and a half to six inches wide, 

 and the use of small sticks materially reduces its cutting capacity. 

 At the mill, each of these longer bolts is sawed into three blocks a 

 foot and a half long, ready for the machines. 



The machines for making excelsior vary in design from an up- 

 right form taking one or two blocks at a time, to an eight knife 

 horizontal machine taking as many blocks. The latter type is used 

 largely in the South. The output of these machines depends upon 

 the kind and condition of the wood. The capacity of an upright 

 type under the best conditions is about eight hundred pounds of 

 medium grade excelsior in ten hours for each knife. 



