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Chaiiges in Utilization of Wood » 



It wnulil t>o intorcstint; to kiu>« t-xacllv in wliiil \v:i_v iiii'i lu wiml 

 estcDt the UBC8 of wood nrc clinn(;in(j; wlint proportion of tlio lumber- 

 cut of reoont years hns gone to factories to bo further innnufnctured 

 before the ultimnto consumer RCts it, nnd what chnnges this propor- 

 tion is undernoinc. A great deal is beinp; said these days concorninK 

 the better utilisation of the products of the forest, ond the necessity 

 of putting wood to its best uses. As a matter of fact, a great deal of 

 this talk is not based on exact knowledge. It is taken for granted 

 that wood is not being put to its best use, but it is hard to speak 

 with authority on the subject, because of meager information. We 

 know pretty accurately what is being done with lumber now, but there 

 are few p.ist figures by which to compare present results with those 

 of a few years ago. 



Haphazard statistics of lumber output were collected from time to 

 time in early years; but not until 1899 was this work commenced sys- 

 tematically, and since that time it has been regularly done. Wo know 

 how much lumber has been cut each year since then, but know next 

 to nothing of what was the earlier output. We don't know, for 

 instance, and cannot find out, whether the per capita use of lumber 

 is greater now than it was in 18C0, or 1840, or 1800, or any other 

 early year. Scattered through early census returns are lumber 6gurea 

 here and there; but they convey very little information. 



It is commonly supposed, and is probably trfle, that the per capita 

 use of lumber has increased steadily for the last hundred years. But 

 it is extremely doubtful if the per capita use of wood has increased. 

 It is almost certain that it has not. The difference is that formerly 

 wood was used in its rough form, while of late years it has been more 

 and more used in some manufactured form. Once the farmer lived 

 in a log house with few sawed planks in it; now his house is of 

 sawed and dressed lumber. Once his fields were fenced with split 

 rails requiring 75,000 board feet to a mile of fence; now they are 

 fenced with boards or wire. Once he burned wood in open fireplaces; 

 now with stoves and furnaces he heats his rooms better with one- 

 tenth of the fuel. There has been steady progress toward a better 

 use of wood. 



Manupactuked Products 



Up to about five years ago no reliable and detailed information 

 existed regarding the manufacture of wood into what may be called 

 finished products, such as furniture, cars, boxes, vehicles, and the 

 like. Nobody knew what became of lumber after it left the sawmilL 

 Nobody could say how much of it was put to its final use in its rough 

 form and how much was sent to shops and factories to be further 

 manufactured. Nobody was in a position to decide the question as to 

 what industry called for the largest amount of lumber. It illustrates 

 the amazing lack of information on that important matter to know 

 that a very general belief then existed among lumbermen that furni- 

 ture was the largest wood-using industry. Those who did not believe 

 this had no figures to prove the contrary. Yet, it is now proved by 

 statistics that instead of furniture ranking first among the industries 

 in the use of wood that has passed through -shop or factory, it ranks 

 fourth. Car builders use more, box makers nearly five times as much, 

 and planing mill products call for fourteen times as much. 



This illustrates how great is the chance for serious errors in guess- 

 work ; and guesswork has prevailed to a large extent in matters relating 

 to forest products. 



About five years ago the United States Forest Service took up the 

 work of collecting reliable and accurate information relating to the 

 consumption of wood in shops and factories. The scope of the investi- 

 gation included not only figures showing the amounts used yearly, 

 but also the proportions furnished by different species, and the 

 articles manufactured, and the cost of the different woods delivered 

 at the factories. Before the work was undertaken, there was abso- 

 lutely no systematic information to be had along these lines. 



The Forest Service took up the work state by state, making each 

 state a separate unit. In a number of instances the states, or some 

 strong business organization in the states, co-operated; and as soon 

 —18— 



UH iuiy |>iirticuliir btjiK v<.,- iii,.r-i,>.i, ii,, n.-nill »ii.'< |<ul>Iinlii'<i lu a 

 report which the government distributed. 



The field was not fkinnod over in collecting tho material. Details 

 worked out in tho moft thorough manner, and many thousand shops 

 and factories were personally visited, in all parts of the United States, 

 in order to make authentic the statistics of tlie manufacturing of 

 wood beyond tho rough lumber stage. 



WUAT Is SUOWN 



The lumber output in 1912 for the whole country was 39,l.'i8,414,000 

 feet. Tho exports of sawed timber, lumber, and sawed railroad ties 

 last year totaled in round numbers 3,000,000,000 feet, or eight per 

 cent of the lumber output. Taking this from tho totiil cut, there is 

 left 36,158,414,000 feet of rough lumber in this country. This lum- 

 ber is either used in its rough form, or it is further manufactured 

 before it reaches its final user. 



A summary of tho quantities further manufactured in the several 

 states shows a yearly total of 24,673,846,004 feet in the United States. 

 That much wood passes through shops and factories to reach its final 

 stage of manufacture. It is thus shown that 11,484,567,936 feet of 

 lumber, or approximately that quantity, is annually used in its rough 

 form in the United States. More than twice that much goes to 

 factories. It may be summarized thus: 



Lumber exported 8 per cent 



Lumber used roui,'h 20 per cent 



Lumber to shops and factories 63 per cent 



Total 100 per cent 



Certain factors are present in the statistics which were ignorsfl in 

 calculating tho foregoing percentages, because it was not practicable 

 to give them their correct values. The most important of these is 

 the wood which reaches factories without having passed through saw- 

 mills or being counted in the total lumber output, such as rotary-cut 

 veneers; hickory and ash handle and vehicle woods; and birch spool 

 bars.' If correctly valued in the percentages given above, the result 

 would appear in a slightly larger percentage for rough lumber, and a 

 correspondingly smaller for shop and factory wood. These factors 

 will be further analyzed in the discussion of the table given below. 



Uses by Species 



Factories which manufacture commodities of wood do not always 

 buy the nearest and most convenient lumber. Its suitability for the 

 purposes intended must be considered. For that reason a factory 

 operator will pass by yard after yard of lumber in order to secure 

 a kind that meets his requirement. If that were not true, cypress 

 would not go to California cooper shops or western yellow pine to 

 Maine door factories. The table which follows lists twenty-one 

 important species, and gives figures concerning the uses of the wood: 



Lumber Annual Per cent 



cut, 1912, factory use, golnR to 



Wood. feet. feet. factories. 



Yellow pine 14.737,0.%2,000 8,62.S.3.')2,000 6» 



Douglas flr 5,054,243.000 2.273.788,000 44 



Oak 3,318.052,000 1,083,584.000 89 



White pine 3.138,227,000 3,115.701.000 90 



Hemlock 2.420,554.000 708,752,000 2U 



Spruce 1,238,000,000 8a5, 150,000 85 



Western yellow pine 1,210,444.000 501,438,000 40 



Maple 1,020,864,000 922,337.000 00 



Cypress 007.227,000 608.353.000 63 



Red gum 004,200.000 707,604,000 115 



Yellow poplar 623.280,000 683,023,000 109 



Chestnut 554,230,000 298,854,000 64 



Redwood 406,706,000 122.326,000 25 



Larch 407.OC4.000 114,620.000 28 



Birch 388.272,000 481,403,000 124 



Cedar " 320.000.000 102.338,000 SO 



Bnsswood 200.717.000 383,.'j78.000 129 



Hickory 278.757.000 380,004,000 118 



Elm '. 202.141,000 218,210,000 S3 



Ash '. 234.548.000 205,401,000 125 



Cottonwood! 227,477,000 376,842,000 166 



