12 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



the face of an active and concrete evidence of accelerated buying, 

 and it is hardly likely it will take care of the increased amount of 

 business placed. It is also to be remembered that the lumber out 

 now will not be ready for shipment for several mouths so that 

 anything that might develop in tlic meantime will not be affected 

 by increased producing capacity. 



The Cover Picture 



A WILD, TREED BE.VK is not phi)t<)f,'raphed every day. The 

 subject in proper pose is not easily found, and when at last he 

 is found, tho photographer and his camera are apt to be elsewhere, 

 consequently it is a combination somewhat rare. 



The cover picture which ilhistrates this jnunber of Hardwood 

 Record was caught at the psychological moment in the mountains of 

 California in Sacramento county. The only criticism that can be 

 directed against tho picture is that the bear does not stand out from 

 the trunk of the tree in relief as bold as the ai-tist might desire. 

 The animal presents a somewhat flat appearance: but it should be 

 borne in mind that tlie bear was trying to accomplish that very effect. 

 He did not climb that tree for the purpose of exhibiting himself, but 

 he was endeavoring to "make himself scarce." The jiieture shows 

 how \\ell he succeeded. 



Notice the patches of light and dark on tlie tree trunks in the 

 vicinity of the bear, and notice how admirably his body mimics one 

 of these dark patches. The counterfeit is not perfect enough to 

 enable tho animal to escape discovery, yet it contributes to that end. 

 The tree which the bear lias undertaken to climb appears to bo a 

 fir — probably Abies concolor of tho botanists. The bark is black. 

 It may bo observed in the picture that the portions of the trunk on 

 which the sun is not directly shining are about as black as the bear 

 itself, and where the animal's body is in shadow there is no contrast. 

 But the intensely bright California sunshine is breaking through the 

 tree canopy above and patches of the bark are lit up until they 

 appear nearly as white as snow. These bright patches on tho black 

 are known among artists as ' ' high lights. ' ' They have upset the 

 bear's scheme of concealment, for thoy bring one side of his body 

 sharply into view. 



The picture represents a grizzly bear region, but tho specimen in 

 tho photo is tho smaller black bear. The grizzly cannot climb trees. 

 His weight is too great, and his claws are too long and straight; but 

 the black bear, which is simply a big brother of the raccoon, has good 

 climbing claws and does not hesitate to use them, though he cannot 

 climb upside-down as some small animals can. Ho climbs up head 

 first and backs down. Sometimos, when in the act of climbing, as 

 the one is in the picture, he sees a hunter a]iproaching, ho wastes 

 no time by backing down tho tree trunk, but lets all holds go, and 

 falls. A bear usually prefers to trust himself in flight to remaining 

 in a tree; but if dogs have been worrying him, he sometimes hangs 

 fast to the trunk while the hunter approaches. In that case it 

 becomes practicable to kodak him. 



It is remarkable how great a distance a bear may fall from a 

 tree without being killed. It is said that when hotly pursued ho 

 will curl up in a ball and roll down a steep mountain faster than 

 any dogs can follow, and thus escape; but such stories are now 

 generally catalogued among the productions of nature fakirs, along 

 with tho feats of the hoopsnake that is alleged to take its tail in its 

 mouth and roll away at a mile a minute. 



Lumber Changes in Thirty Years 



LTIMUERMEN OFTEN SEEAf TO BE AT SEA when considering 

 the question whether or not substitutes are making inroads on 

 the use of wood. Viewed in one way, there is no doubt that substi- 

 tutes are making headway. More of them are used now than formerly. 

 But the question is open to debate when it is asked whether the use 

 of wood is declining on account of losing places to substitute. 



There are not sufficient data available to test the matter in detail 

 by pure statistics. It is not known, for instance, how much larger 

 tho present use of wooden boxes would be, if fiber boxes had never 

 been invented. It is certain that more wooden boxes would now be 

 demanded, but statistics are too fragmentary fo show exactly what 



has taken place in that particular industry. It is the same in certain 

 other industries where substitutes h.ave made inroads on wood. 

 Taken separately, it is hard to reach conclusions, backed by figures, 

 as to exactly what has happened in the contest between wood and its 

 competitors; but, fortunately, it is jiossible to take a wider view and 

 consider the question as a whole. 



When that is done, there is found no occasion to couijilaiu that 

 wood has not held its own. In 1S80 the lumber cut of the United 

 States totaled 18,091,356,000 feet. The population at that time was 

 ,'50,155,783. The per capita consumption of lumber was 360 feet. 

 Thirty years later the population was 91,440,611, and the lumber 

 output was 40,018,282,000 feet. The per capita consumption in 1910 

 was 437 feet. 



A span of thirty years brings out the fact that tlie consumption 

 of lumber shows a substantial increase per capita. In other words, 

 the use of lumber has grown faster than the population. Tho oppo- 

 site is sometimes stated to be the case, but statistics covering the 

 thirty years period do not show it, and this period includes prac- 

 tically the whole time for which statistics on tliat subject can bo 

 had. Some fragmentary lumber figures exist for years earlier than 

 1880, but no adequate per capita comparisons can be worked out for 

 earlier periods. It appears, therefore, that according to the records 

 tho use of lumber increased in this country from 1880 to 1910, not 

 only in actual quantity, but also in proportion to population. 



The cut varies from year to year, and that for a late year may 

 not always exceed that of an earlier ; but for the wliole thirty-year 

 period, tho lumber output has increased 121 per cent, and the per 

 capita increase has been 21 per cent for the same time. Figures 

 later than 1910 are not included, because tho census showing popula- 

 tion has not been taken since, and no figures are available for calcu- 

 lating the per capita consumption of lumber during the last four 

 years. 



It is thus shown that in spite of competition with substitutes, more 

 wood is now used, in proportion to pojuilation, than was used thirty 

 years ago. Some branches of the lumber trade may have lost busi- 

 ness; but the trade as a whole has not lost. It is true, however, that 

 gain might have been larger but for the fight for business which 

 substitutes have made. About as much as can be charged against 

 substitutes, in face of the figures quoted above, is that they have 

 somewhat hindered the expansion of the use of wood. The country's 

 needs have greatly grown, and some of these needs have been sujiplied 

 by materials which compete with wood; but in spito of that, the 

 demand for wood has increased at a higher rate than the increase of 

 population. 



Home and Foreign Lumber Markets 



DURING THE YEAR 1912 the exports of logs and lumber from 

 the United States to all countries of tho world amounted to 

 2,945,000,000 feet, valued at $68,000,000. During the same year the 

 home market took 37,055,000,000 feet, valued in the sawmill yard at 

 $568,794,000. On the face of the figures the home market was worth 

 about eight times as much as the foreign. 



Eight times as much falls far short of the whole difference in the 

 home and foreign lumber trade. Tho value placed on exports is sup- 

 posed to bo the price which the foreigner pays in this country when 

 he buys the lumber. When the American exporter has received that 

 price, the lumber leaves the country forever, and Americans have no 

 further business interest in it. It passes across the sea as logs or 

 lumber, and whatever is made of it afterwards belongs to foreigners; 

 whatever labor is expended on it, is expended by foreigners; what- 

 ever merchandizing is carried on witli tlie fuvthor manufactured 

 products, is carried on by foreigners. 



The case is different with the lumber sold in the home markets. 

 The value given above, $568,794,000, represents the worth in the 

 millyard. That includes the timber in the woods, the cost of cutting, 

 sawing and yarding, with whatever profits are properly chargeable 

 up to that stage of manufacture; but the lumber and its value do not 

 end there. W'hen lumber has reached the mill yard it has only com- 

 menced its career of usefulness and value, if it is destined for tho 

 home market. 



