20 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



transportation difficnlties, curtailment of demand on the part of 

 wood-using industries, and a more or less general dislocation of 

 lumber distribution through ordinary channels of trade. A con- 

 siderable portion of the total quantity produced was utilized in 

 meeting the exceptional demands for government construction and 

 other war emergency projects, including ship material. 



The state of Washington was again the largest producer, with 

 a lumber cut of 4,570,000,000 feet; Louisiana was second with 

 4,210,000,000 feet, and Oregon third with 2,585,000,000 feet, crowd- 

 ing into the fourth position Mississippi with a cut of 2,425,000,000 

 feet. 



Southern yellow pine, with a total of 13,539,464,000 feet, forms 

 37.7 per cent of the total cut. Douglas iir, its nearest competitor, 

 is credited with 5,585,000,000 feet. White oak and white pine are- 

 each credited with 2,250,000,000 feet. 



The number of mills in operation reporting in 1917 was smaller 

 than for the two preceding years. 



A comparison of the computed cut for 1917 with the total cut 

 of the previous year in the larger producing regions shows a de- 



crease of about 10 per cent in the southern yellow pine group of 

 states, a decrease of 23 per cent in the North Carolina pine group, 

 and a decrease of 11 per cent in the liake States. On the other 

 hand there was an increase in production of 3 per cent in Oregon 

 and Washington. 



In the following tabulation is shown the computed cut liy species. 

 Kind of Wood M tt. b. m. Kind of Wood M ft. b. m. 



Yellow pine 13,539,464 Cedar 265,000 



Douglas fir 5,585,000 



White pine 2,250,000 



Oak 2,250,000 



Tupelo 



Hemlock . . 

 Western plr 

 Spruce . . . 

 Cypress ... 

 Maple 





Redwood 



2,200,000 

 1,960,000 

 1,125,000 

 9.50,000 

 860,000 

 788,000 

 487,458 

 415,000 

 415,000 

 380,000 



Elm 



Basswood . . . 

 Cottonwood . 



Ash 



Sugar pine . . 



Hickory 



Balsam fir . . . 



Walnut 



Sycamore . . . 

 Lodgepole piiic 

 All other .... 



198,200 



190.000 

 175,000 

 132,600 

 95,000 

 90,000 

 62,000 

 32,000 

 11,400 



Tot.ll 35,831,239 



teaMi!ij^ita tmaiTOa^™!M>^^ ■ ' -f 



The movement of logs over the two principal roads handling tim- 

 ber into this and other centers in the lower Mississippi valley dur- 

 ing June proved measurably smaller than during either May or 

 April, according to figures issued here by the Valley Log Loading 

 Company. These show that the total loading of this firm for June 

 was 1,147 cars compared with 1,468 in Mii\ ami 1,646 in April, 

 distributed as follows: Yazoo & Mississii.).i \ all, y, 922 against 

 1,194 and 1,410; Missouri Pacific s.ystem, L!iir. against 274 and 236. 

 The total loading in March, when railroad congestion was at its 

 height, was heavier than during June, at 1,189 cars. 



J. W. Dickson, president of the Valley Log Loading Company, 

 says that he and a number of prominent millmen of Memphis and 

 the valley territory called on J. F. Porterfield, general superin- 

 tendent of transportation for the Illinois Central System, while in 

 Chicago recently and that this official admitted that 250 flat cars 

 had been diverted into other service than the handling of logs. 

 Mr. Dickson added, however, that Mr. Porterfield has promised to 

 reinstate at least 200 of these cars and the former believes that 

 loading during July will prove somewhat heavier on the Yazoo & 

 Mississippi Valley. 



The quantity of logs awaiting loading on the two lines in ques- 

 tion — and these are indicative of the position of the other less 

 important lines — is considerably l3elow normal for this time of the 

 year, according to Mr. Dickson, who is in position to keep close 

 "tab" on what is offered the railroads in the way of timber. 

 Practieall;^ all owners of timber lands who are developing their 

 holdings complain of shortage of labor for work in the woods, 

 with resultant slowness in cutting and hauling timber to the rights 

 of way of the railroads. Loggers generally are in the same position 

 and those in closest touch with conditions aic mnfident that it is 

 going to be quite difficult to get out (Mioiiyh tinil.rr for the mills 

 and that the trade are almost inevitably confruntod with material 

 decrease in hardwood lumber manufacture in the southern field. 



The slowness of log movement is having its effect here and 

 elsewhere in the valley territory which is seen in reduced operat- 

 ing hours at the mills or in intermittent operations on the part of 

 the latter. Shortage of labor is adversely affecting production at 

 the plants where there is plenty of timber. "It is practically out 

 of the question to have full crews for the mill, for the logging 

 trains and for the timber camps," said a prominent manufacturer 

 today, "and by how much any of these crews is impaired by so 

 much is the output of hardwood lumber restricted." The experi- 

 ence of the gentleman in question finds duplication in the ease of 

 practically every other hardwood manufacturer in the southern 



producing territory and it is because of the scarcity of transporta- 

 tion facilities and labor supply that there is a disposition among 

 hardwood interests to anticipate but moderate output at best until 

 there is radical change in underlying conditions. 



Weather is ideal for work in the woods. Eainfall has been com- 

 paratively light during the past weeks. The ground is generally 

 dry. But the labor is not to be had at present. 



Land Development a Patriotic Duty 



It is a duty which owners of the millions of acres of cut-over 

 alluvial lands in the lower Mississippi valley owe to themselves and 

 to their country to hasten the development of these properties, and 

 the opportunities for such development were never more favorable 

 than at present, according to William L. Mitchell, treasurer of the 

 Federal Land Bank, St. Louis. 



Mr. Mitchell has written a letter to F. E. Stonebraker, secre- 

 tary of the Southern Alluvial Land Association, giving a brief 

 outline of the plans he has in mind looking to government aid in 

 financing the development of these lands and he has suggested 

 the necessity of co-operation on a comprehensive scale if these lands 

 are to be made available for marketing and if they are to be 

 opened to the intensive cultivation which is necessary in the pres- 

 ent war condition of this country. He believes that such co-opera- 

 tion will hasten development far more rapidly than individual 

 effort can possibly do because it will not only improve community 

 conditions but will also make land available to the purchaser on a 

 far more attractive basis than other lands of less value command. 



The changed conditions brought about during the past three 

 years are thus briefly summarized by Mr. Mitchell: 



1 — Passage of the federal farm loan act, which stabilizes farm land 

 values and gives credit to the extent of 50 per cent of the appraised 

 value thereof at 5% per cent per annum, on a long time, amortization 

 basis of repayment — 34% years. 



2 — World wide war conditions andiabnormal prices for all farm products. 



3 — Increasing land values, decreasing labor supply and the resultant 

 necessity for the application of all farm labor on the most productive lands. 



He regards proper appraisal as one of the first considerations 

 and he emphasizes the fact that the increasing clearing and devel- 

 opment of these properties make the returns thereon large enough 

 to sustain these lands and to render them attractive not only to the 

 government but to other investors as a basis for loans. 



Mr. Mitchell is scheduled to address the association at its semi- 

 annual at Memphis, July 12, when he will go more into detail regard- 

 ing plans he is working out for co-operation between the govern- 

 ment and owners of these lands in the development thereof. 



