April 10, 1918 



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The Country^s Supply of Oak 



The war has created new demands upon the forests of the United 

 States for oak, and the question which is foremost in the minds 

 of many is whether there is any danger that the demand cannot 

 be met. That question is not being asked by persons who are 

 informed on the oak situation so far as available timber is con- 

 cerned, for they know that there is enough oak in our forests to 

 furnish all needed for war purposes, though the war continue for 

 years; and at the same time it can meet all possible demands for 

 this wood for domestic needs. 



That statement is based on the supply of oak trees growing in 

 the woods at the present time; and takes no account of the labor 

 situation. The oak is there; but whether sufficient labor to cut the 

 logs and saw them is to be had is another matter. There appears 

 to have been some timidity of late among persons who feared that 

 our oak was short, that the forests are depleted, and that the gov- 

 ernment might have difficulty in procuring what it needs. It is 

 difficult to account for such a notion getting a foothold anywhere, 

 and particularly among persons who claim to have information 

 concerning the country's oak resources. 



On April 25, 1913, Hardwood Record published elaborate statis- 

 tics, in an article of several pages, covering the country's timber 

 supply, with special emphasis on hardwoods, and oak the most 

 prominent of all of them. The figures contained in that article 

 set at rest any doubt and dispelled any scare regarding the oak 

 supply. 



The figures then published were based on the elaborate report 

 of the Bureau of Corporations, by Luther Contant, which had then 

 been recently made public. The bureau's data were official, and as 

 accurate as they could be made with the facilities at the govern- 

 ment's disposal for collecting information on that subject. The 

 report covered more than 1,000 printed pages and no one ever 

 claimed that it was unsatisfactory because of its brevity. It went 

 into the most minute details concerning the country's forests, and 

 no report of standing timber comparable with it was ever pub- 

 lished before, and none since. It superseded the Herbert Knox 

 Smith report of a date two years earlier, and that of C. S. Sargent 

 thirty years earlier. 



Oak in Particular 



The Bureau of Corporations' report dealt with all commercial 

 timbers in the principal producing districts; but oak is the only 

 one calling for special attention now, because of the challenge made 

 by misinformed persons that there is not enough of this wood to 

 meet government needs. 



The figures on oak which are here given are taken from the 

 government report of 1913, so far as the states are specifically 

 included in that report, and where not specifically included, sup- 

 plemental estimates are made, pro rata, on the basis of output. The 

 Bureau of Corporations sent agents into the various regions and 

 they consulted with timber owners and made use of all available 

 data in reaching totals, and the final figures are worthy of accept- 

 ance as approximately correct. 



The table which follows gives the oak stand of timber in the 

 leading states producing this timber: 



State. Stand of oak, feet. State. Stand of oak, feet. 



Arkansas 26.765,000,000 Missouri 3,818,000,000 



West Virginia 25,000,000,000 Illinois 3,700,000,000 



Tennessee 25,000,000,000 All New England. . . 3,700,000,000 



Kentucky 22,500,000,000 Georgia 2,875,000,000 



Ohio 13,500,000,000 Maryland 2,700,000,000 



Pennsylvania 13,300,000,000 Virginia 2,184,000,000 



Louisiana 10,920,000,000 New York 2,000,000,000 



Indiana 10,400,000,000 South Carolina 1,780,000,000 



Mississippi 10,023,000,000 Florida 328,000,000 



Alabama 8,145,000,000 



Texas 6,897,000,000 Total 199,539,000,000 



North Carolina 4,004.000,000 



Four years have passed since the government's estimate was 

 made, and of course some oak has been cut since then. The total 

 so cut is approximately 18,000,000,000 feet, and that deducted from 

 —35a— 



the reported stand four years ago leaves in round numbers 181,000,- 

 000,000 feet of oak now standing in the forests of the United States. 

 That figure is conservative, for the growth of this wood since the 

 estimate was made has amounted to half of the cut. It is still more 

 conservative because the accompanying table takes no account of 

 oak in several states, among which are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Mich- 

 igan, New Jersey, Iowa, and the whole western half of the United 

 States. It would be conservative to place the remaining stand of 

 commercial oak in this country at this time at more than two hun- 

 dred billion feet. 



At the present rate of cutting there is enougli of it to last forty 

 years; and at the end of forty years enough more will have come on 

 to last twenty years longer. 



No Scarcity in Supply 



In face of these figures it is ridiculous to claim that oak cannot 

 be had in suflScient quantities to meet the government's war 

 demands. Jt is true that the government wants a pretty high grade 

 of stock, but even at that there is enough many times over. 



The only trouble is in getting it out of the woods, through the 

 saw mills, through the dry kilns, and into the factories where it is 

 to be converted into vehicles and other stores wanted by the govern- 

 ment. It will cost money to do this, with labor and supplies at their 

 present high level; but it can be had if the proper steps are taken 

 to get it. 



It is estimated that the common white oak, Querous alba, nearly 

 equals in quantity all the other oaks combined, and this white oak 

 heads the whole oak list in point of quality, and it grows in one- 

 half of the area of the whole United States. There can be no ques- 

 tion that this single species could much more than meet the govern- 

 ment 's whole demand for oak in its war program. 



New Export Items 



There are some new items separately classified for the first time 

 during the last six months of the calendar year 1917 in our export 

 business, which are of particular interest to the hardwood trade. 

 Among these new items to receive recognition by separate classi- 

 fication are handles, boat oars, chairs and office furniture. 



Implement and tool handles have been separately listed for the 

 first time and this separate classification gives us the first concrete 

 idea of the exact value of our handle exports, which run now to a 

 little better than a million dollars a year. It has been known for 

 some time that we export something near half of our hickory 

 handles, but exact figures on the export trade were not available 

 because of no separate classification. Now there is a separate 

 classification of implement and tool handles, of which we exported 

 during the half year from July 1 to the end of 1917 a total of 

 $554,258 worth, which would indicate a million dollars or more 

 for the year's trade in those handles included in this specification. 

 There are evidently many others classed as woodenware, and still 

 others go along with tools sent abroad. 



Boat oars and paddles were exported during the last six months 

 of 1917 to a total value of $126,356. 



Two interesting sub-classifications of furniture are made, one 

 of chairs and one of office furniture. The result shows that chairs 

 are perhaps the most important single item in furniture. The chairs 

 exported during the last half of 1917 were valued at $741,240, which 

 would indicate a total of a million and a half dollars during the 

 calendar year. When we consider that the total furniture trade 

 for the year was only a little above $4,000,000 this chair item 

 becomes quite interesting. 



Office and store furniture, showed for a six months' period a total 

 of $256,154, which would indicate a half million dollars for the year. 

 It appears that chairs and office furniture constitute items of Amer- 

 ican manufacture that make a particularly strong appeal in other 

 parts of the world, and the setting forth of these items separately 

 should serve as an encouragement to this branch of the export trade. 



