December 10, 1917 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



35 



complainants. The latter alleges that unreasonable and discriminatory 

 rates on wood pulpboard shipments from Cornell, Wis., to Illinois points, 

 Iowa and other states, arc charged and seeks reparation on that account. 

 The case was taken under advisement by the commission. 



The commission has received au application from E. U. ISoyd, agent, for 

 approval of advanced rates on lumber and other forest products from 

 Mlonesuta, Wisconsin and Canadian producing points to points of desti- 

 nation shown In tarltt W. T. L. — I. C. C. No. COO (W. T. L. No. 739) 

 predicated on Increases from 11 to 12 cents per 100 pounds previously 

 established from St. Paul and Dulutli to Chicago, and due also to cor- 

 rection of improper rate alignment now published In individual Issues of 

 the Northern raclflc, Great Northern and Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault 

 Ste. Marie railroads. 



The unusual happened when the Department of Agriculture, for the 

 Korest Service, filed a brief as intervener In the complaint of Willamette 

 Valley Lumbermen's .Association against the Southern Paciflc. The case 

 is pending before the Interstate Commerce Commission. J. N. Teal rep- 

 resents the complainants. 



The government's brief stated that 47.300.000,000 feet of standing tim- 

 ber Is In the national forests of the Willamette valley, besides other bil- 

 lions in the forfeited land grant of the Oregon & California Railroad. The 

 aale of the government timber, it is declared in the brief, will be retarded 

 by the rates attacked In the complaint, which. It Is said, exclude com- 

 plainants from territory consuming 40 per cent of the fir timber produc- 

 tion. .\ttentlon is called by the government to the fact that the timber 

 resources of the country must be developed for war purposes, and it is 

 said that the Willamette valley rate situation binders this work. Much 

 of the government timber. It is stated, is overripe, and it is declared to be 

 necessary to develop new markets for the product. 



Hardwood Planting Recommended 

 The planting of various hardwood trees to form windbreaks for the 

 protection of farms, etc., is recommended by the Forest Service in a 

 special bulletin on the subject. In the Middle West, where the soil is 

 reasonably moist, it Is recommended that Cottonwood be planted. Osage 

 orange, green ash, mulberry or locust may also be used. Cottonwood 

 should be underplanted with green ash or red oak to fill in the gaps as the 

 Cottonwood grows big and the lower part becomes bare of branches. In 

 the Southwest sagebrush is suggested. Eucalyptus is suitable for Cali- 

 fornia windbreaks, and in the Paciflc Northwest it is said that Lombardy 

 poplars and cottonwood are very efficient. Even small willows can be 

 used to advantage in that section. Besides the benefit derived by the 

 farms from the protection of crops by windbreaks, the bulletin tells of 

 direct returns from planting hardwood trees In windbreaks. 



The estimates are for annual income per acre, discounted at the rate 

 of 4 per cent from the final value of the timber when cut. No allow- 

 ance, however, is made for the cost of planting, which it is thought should 

 be charged against the farm crops. 



Policy for Water Power Development 



An important change in policy regarding the development of water power 

 on government land is suggested in the report of the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture, just issued. The secretary says : 



The present Industrial situation, and particularly the scarcity and high 

 cost of fuel and construction materials, have increased the cost of steam 

 power and make it highly important that action be taken at the next 

 session of Congress. Legislation which wUl make it possible to safeguard 

 the public interests, and at the same time to protect private investors, 

 should result in securing cheaper water power and in conserving the coal 

 and fuel oil supply. Since three departments of the government are 

 vitally concerned in water-power legislation and its possible terms and 

 would be vitally affected by the administrative handling of matters under 

 such legislation, it would seem desirable to consider whether it is feasible 

 to devise an executive body on which the three departments will be repre- 

 sented and which will be able to utilize to the best advantage all their 

 existing agencies. 



The three departments which will be Interested In the development of 

 tic power are Agriculture, Interior and War, and the proposed commission 

 would represent all three. Heretofore, the Forest Service, which belongs 

 In the Department of Agriculture, has had most to do with the water power 

 bnslne.ss. 



Business Must Not Lag 



"In time of war prepare for peace" was the slogan that Charles A. 

 Wacker, chairman of the Chicago Plan Commission, carried to the home 

 defense committee of the Chicago City Council In asking that certain 

 public Improvements be carried on In spite of the war. The essence of 

 Mr. Wacker'8 lengthy argument was that the preliminary work on public 

 Improvements is comparatively Inexpensive, that all other countries at 

 war. Including German.v are either going ahead with public and industrial 

 work or planning for work after peace that will prevent idleness and an 

 abnormal demand on charity and that other countries have learned the 

 lesson of conservation of human life. 



Mr. Wacker Quoted from a New York authority as to wlint was being 

 done In Europe and asserted that even today France Is demolishing tene- 

 ment houses, so that in the future men will live under more sanitary 

 conditions. England, he said. Is planning the improvement of thousands 

 of miles of streets to keep the soldiers busy after the war ; planning to 



build thousands of homes for worklngmcn. Germany, he said, was going 

 ahead with the construction of subways, even though women have to be 

 employed. 



Positive assurances have already come from Washington, through a 

 member of the newly enlarged Council of National Defense, that the pas- 

 senger automobile will come so far down in the list of non-essentials as 

 not to restrict seriously the present output of pleasure cars. 



Howard E. Coffin, now chairman of the vitally important aircraft produc- 

 tion board, frankly points out the danger of cutting down industries 

 which are economically non-essential only In tlic snap Judgment of a few 

 officials. Weak Industries will not give the nation pep to beat Germany. 



Southern Railroad Outlook 



Southern lumber interests sec hope of relief from serious car difficulties 

 during the coming winter months In statements from Washington that 

 hundreds of cars loaded with export materials will be shortly converted 

 from the congested eastern, districts and routed through New Orleans. 

 This decision is said to have been reached by the railroads' war board. 

 With empties plentiful In this section, mills will have no difficulty in 

 handling northern orders. 



The railroads' war board flnds Atlantic ports congested with export 

 cargo. The order provides that "immediate measures be adopted to trans- 

 fer the movement of foodstuffs and otlier export materials to Southern and 

 Gulf ports." A Washington dispatch says : 



As a result hundreds of cars consigned to eastern ports alreadv have 

 been rerouted to New Orleans. The centralization of authority In tlie rail- 

 roads' war board makes such prompt action possible, but it Is an entirely 

 different matter to Insure the presence In New Orleans of the requisite 

 ocean tonnage to keep this freight moving. Some thought, however, has 

 been given to the matter as the war boards' instructions advise that In 

 order to avoid congestion at seaports and regional gateways, the prompt 

 use of embargoes which. It says, "should be established immediately on 

 signs of trouble, without waiting, as has frequently been done, until con- 

 gestion actually has occurred." 



Enormous Building Program 



That Great Britain will erect within the first two j'cars after peace 

 halt a million or more houses for workingmen, to relieve congested con- 

 ditions now existing, especially in industrial centers, is forecast in the 

 report of an American consul at London recently received by the State 

 Department, which says : 



One of the most important questions in Great Britain for several years 

 past, and one which has assumed political prominence at many electoral 

 campaigns, is that of the housing of the working classes. This subject 

 is now being taken in hand by a departmental committee appointed by 

 the government. It is admitted by the board that 500,000 houses are 

 now urgently wanted, but other authorities estimate that not less than 

 1.000,000 houses are necessary, costing $1,216,025,000. On the question 

 of finance, government aid has been promised. In the meantime a grant 

 of $97,330,000 has been asked for by some housing organizations. The 

 government in November, 1914, decided In favor of a free grant from the 

 exchequer, as well as loans, to permit of local councils charging cus- 

 tomary interest without incurring loss ; and while that policy Is still In 

 force It has, so far, only affected certain munition areas. 



Figures on World Crops 



Six world crops make a record with corn in the lead. Bumper crops 

 of corn, oats, potatoes, rice, sugar beets, and tobacco for this year are 

 shown by estimates compiled by the International Institute of Agriculture 

 at Rome. Wheat, r.ve, barley, and flaxseed, however, have fallen below 

 the five-year average of production from 1911 to 1015. 



The production of wheat in seventeen countries, not including the cen- 

 tral powers, will be 1,868,000,000 bushels, 83.6 per cent of the five year 

 average. Corn raised will amount to 3,312,000,000 bushels, which Is 14.1 

 per cent greater than the average production for the last five years. Other 

 crops are estimated as follows : 



Per cent. 



Rve, 147.000.000 bushels 92.2 



Barley. 587,000,000 bushels 96.0 



Oats, 2,682.000.000 Inishels 113.9 



Rice, 70.000. OOO Inishels 115.5 



Flaxseed, 38,000,000 bushels 69.8 



Potatoes, 719,01)0.000 bushels 112.4 



Sugar beets, 10,000,000 short tons 106.C 



There Is something almost beyond belief In the colossal totals of crop 

 values in this season's results of farming. It would seem that, after 

 twenty .years' rise of purchasing power on the part of the farmer, the 

 tendency had at least reached a climax. Some preliminary estimates place 

 the aggregate worth of crops and animal products at the unprecedented 

 sum of $18,000,000,000 as the American farmers' addition to the national 

 wealth at current prices for the year 1917. Last year it was placed at 

 between thirteen and fourteen billion dollars. But both prices and yields 

 have, as a rule, vastly Increased for the current year. .\t the October 1 

 price wheat had a record value of $1,324,000,000, or $452,000,000 more 

 than the crop of 1910. Oats were worth $427,000,000 more than that of 

 a year ago. And corn at $1.75 a bushel had a farm value of $.".020,000,000. 



The Red Spruce 



Louis S. Murphy, of the Forest Service, has written a !•• purt on red 

 spruce which has been published as Bulletin 344. The scope is not con- 

 fined to red spruce but Includes all of the commercial spruces of the 

 United States, and deals with them from both the lumberman's and the 

 forester's standpoint. It Is stated that the total stand of all spnices In 

 the country exceeds 118,000,000,000 feet, board measure, and this Is located 

 In the far northwestern states, among the Rocky Mountains and In the 

 eastern states. The red spruce Is found In the latter region, chiefly from 



