HARDWOOD K i: C O R D 



ntOM THB STANDPOINT OF THE SCIENTIST 



IIOWAKV r. WEISS. DinECTOK, rOK»J4T I'KOIU'tTK I..MIOKATOUY. MAtll80N-, 

 WIS. 



Mr. WiMiiii i» iMvuliiirly tittivt to uffor vnltinhio niikki'x' >■>■■** rcf^nril- 

 ill); tlio nilii|ilability of cortiiin !t|Mvii'», Knnli-it iiikI ttiiwh of IiiiiiIht 

 to nion* iHini|>l«<to utiliuition. HIn nrtiolo ik urittfii with tJiiit idea 

 in iniiiit. 



A n'vli'w (if tlip liimlMir iiliiiiill»n «•> II ■•xliilii iiHlny In n<il <-n<'<>iiriiulnK : 

 till- ilfiiinnil for pnHliirtii In wi-«k. |irlo-H iiri- low. iind IIhti- Ih fviT.v 

 Inilli-nlliin of ovprprodurlluii niiil ■•xc<-m(Ivi- wimlc In iiimthIIiiuii It la 

 th<- imriKiM- of Ibia |>«|i<-r to iIIkciiim oTtaln pliniu'N of IIiIh Klloiitinn 

 noij to m||:ki-«i ihmmIIiIc nii'iino of Improvi-nniil. TIiIk Ih not nn •■unv 

 aa>ii:nnii'nt. Imi I f<-<'l tlinl \vi- hIiouIiI not iIihIki' tin' fnrln or IioIhIit 

 np nur f<>vllns>i l>.v pinulnii km mucli fnltli on n ni'bulouH fiiiiin'. Ja-x nn 

 niiilii- t'vtTv I'lfort to nliH*! tin* t-onilUlonft tifpinrfly, Imh-iiiihi'. by ho ilolni:. 

 wr an- moat lllti'ly to till ii|Hin n Natlnfartory remedy. In order tbat 

 we nilglit Ket pro|M>rly oriented at the titan I nxk you to connlder with 

 ■me a few Reneral HlatUtlr*. 



The anuunl luDiher oulpiil In the fnlted SlateK approxIniuIeK 40 lillllon 

 (ifl. ahont 70 |M-r e<>nt of whiiii Ih UKed for InilldlnKX and for p'neral 

 ronxlructlon. The woods which make up the Kreal liulk of our lumber 

 oul|iut ar<' yellow pine. ItouRlnH ilr. onk. white pine and hemlock: In 

 other words, hut live varlitleK. Mont of this lumber now cornea Into 

 dlrixt com|H-tltlon with other bulldlni; matrrlalH. such an Iron, brick, 

 llle and o-nient. Rerau»e of thin. I wiKh to consider very briefly the 

 ■levelopnieni of these products and compare It with the output of lumber. 

 .My remarks In this connection will be more applicable to the manufacture 

 iif Hoftwoo<l» than to the manufacture of hardwoods, because the Inrondn 

 made on the hardwood market have not been as pronounced as In the 

 KOfin-iMKl market Ncvcrtheli'ss. keen competition In the hardwood mar- 

 ket has occurred and Is occurring, and will doubtless continue to do so. 



.Xn-ordlni: to the OcoloRlcnl Survey the output of plR Iron In the 



..teil .states and the unit prii-e per ton are as follows: 



(Quantity Averace price per 



Year long tons lonu ton 



*ir ■■■ 

 11 

 luoo i.;.T^'.>/ji- is.s.'i 



IPii.-, _'l:. •..■>,, iij.o:! 



liioi; .■■■ ;"7.i:ii lo.os 



liMiT J.'.TM :.;i :>(I..-.G 



liMis i:..:i:;i;.nl,s m.ati 



iHoii :;-..Tn.-..4Ti its.ar. 



1!»10 2T,303.5t57 l.'i.oT 



\n i-xamlnatlon sbowa that the output of pig iron has trebled since 



-■"I. that It Is still gradually increaslni;. and that the price per ton for 



last live years has dccreaseil slightly. 



I'lie same authority gives the production and unit price of common 



■ k as follows: Quantity .Vverage price per 



Year I thousands) thousand 



1S95 6.017.90.-. * r,.-^r, 



1900 7,140.022 .'..41 



iiio.'5 9,817. ar.r. t(.2.-. 



1900 10.027.(i:{li (i.ll 



1907 ^.'•■•■•■'■•■<-' <:«ii 



1908 7.sil.i|,, .-,.7:1 



1909 9.7:. 1-7' .-..s.-. 



1910 ».U'i; 1 ■■ 1 7 .-..!!!) 



The output of this product has Increased abmii .10 p^ r i.iii sinci> IS!).",. 

 Willie the price per thousand has risen slightly over what it was at that 

 time, but has remained practically stationary for the past live years. 



A tremendous expansion has occurred in the production of cement, 

 stimulated no doubt by the enormous demand for concrete. In the fol- 

 lowing table figures arc ipioted from llie Geological Survey on the annual 

 production of Portland cement with thi* average prices per barrel. 



Quantity Average price 



Year dt.irr U> i" r liarrei 



1890 :;:;■- .<2.ii!t 



1895 ■.i:mi::_i l.tio 



1900 .s,4m;.'C'> 1.09 



1904 20..-.0.-..SSI II.8S 



1905 ; :{.'),24fi.si2 0.94 



1906 46,40:1,424 1.13 



1907 48,785,390 1.11 



1908 -.1.072,612 0.85 



1909 04.991,4:!! 0.81 



1910 70,549,951 0.89 



Over i.tO times as much cement Is now manufactured in the United 

 States each year as was produced in 1890 and the output is increasing: 

 furthermore, the price has fallen considerably since 1890. when It sold 

 lor about $2 per barrel. It Is now soiling for about 00 cents per barrel 

 and with downward fluctuations has remained fairly constant for the 

 past Ave years. 



Closely coupled with the production of cement is the use of sand and 

 gravel for building purpo.ses. The output of this material Is shown In 

 the following table : 



Output Price per 



Year (Short tons) ton 



1902 l.S4.«.0Uf> $0.85 



1905 2:^,205.000 0.50 



1910 69.410.000 (1.30 



In general, almost 40 times as much sand and gravel were used for 

 building purposes in 1910 as in 190J, while the unit price fell to about 

 one-third of what it was at that time. 



Ak -I 11 i.>.« .1 ■'>OHtrurllon malerInU wood haa had and nni-i 



lltlliue l« c<>lu|n-|i' .V inrefnl IMTUsai of tile lableH Jual given hIiiihs 



at the ueneral tendency in the priHiuction of ilieHe tnaterlalH has 1 11 



marked IncreSM' In output and no appreciable Increaae. but rather a 

 neral decreaiM-, In unit price. 



Now let us examine our lumber production. According to tlie Itureau 

 nsuii, the lumbi-r production In the I'nited statcH with the 



.f till 



n. f" 



erage value of 

 Luniber per M 

 Hinrd measure 

 »11.13 



12.70 



1 5. 98 



10..'i4 



in.r.n 



15.37 

 15.3K 



19III 



191 1 37."o::,j(.7 15.05 



1912 .HO.l.-.^.li I I5.:i5 



Tile table shows a silKht Incrensi- over wlim li «.ih In llMMI with a 

 li-ndency to ninaln stationary or slightly decreiis.- for the last »ve years. 

 Tlie price lias adviincei] ipilte materially over what It wan In 1900, but 

 wllliout marked fluiluallon Kince 1908. 



What all lumbermen are Interested In at the present time Is an In- 

 crease In price for lumber. It Is the general feeling that lumber In ni<i 

 being sold at Its true value. This question Is commonly asked: ■■How 

 can the price of lumber bo materially Increas<-d7" I'leasc hear in mind 

 that 70 per cent of our lumber, according to actual survey, comes into 

 direct competition with other building materials whose price ahows no 

 marked advancement, but whose output Is IncrenKlng. 



In 1911 the lioslon Chamber of t.'ommerce made an Inquiry Into the 

 cost of constructing dwellings of various materials. Speclflcatlons were 

 drawn up for nine different types of a dwelling to cost about llO.fiOO 

 complete, and these were then submitted to a number of leading architects 

 and constructors for estimates. The first typi' of house, which was used 

 as a standard, was to be built of clapboards: In other words, entirely 

 of wood: the most expensive type was one constructed of 12-lnch solid 

 I. rick wails. In all cases the Interior flnisb, plumbing, etc.. were the 

 same. The percentage excess cost of each typc^ of bouse over iii.- .iiii. 

 board house Is shown In the following table : 



COMPABATtVK BlI.S 



IVrcentage excess cost of each type over clapboards. 



|£ 



13/ 

 10.8 



16.0 

 10.0 



1.6 9.1 13.0 6.3 10." 



these estimates. It costs about 



2.9 



6.9 S.8 



Ifld Xo. 1 



Hid Xo. 2 



Bid Xo. :t 



Kid Xo. 4 



Bid Xo. 5 



.\veragc of bids 



According to these estimates. It costs about i:i per cent more to con- 

 struct a brick house than a similar house of cIapl>oards and about 6 |K-r 

 ci-nl more lor a house witli wails of stucco on hollow blocks. If these 

 estimates represent general conditions it Is evident tlial any material 

 Increase In the price of building lumber will help to encourage Its elimina- 

 tion from our markets unless competing materials also advance in price. 



In 1912 a special committee was appointed by the American Railway 

 Kngineering Association to determine the extent of the substitution of 

 steel for wood in the construction of pa-ssenger ears. This committee 

 circularized 247 railroads, operating 228,000 miles of track. A summary 

 of its (Indings is here given : 



Per cent 



.lai 



2(ili" 



68.: 



10.4 



Hide 



1049 85.2 11.5 :!.:! 



It will be noted that in 1909 about 51 per cent of the passenger cars 

 constructed wore of wood, while In January. 1913, only .3.3 per cent of 

 these cars under construction were of wood. I have been unable to 

 secure for .Tou flgnres showing the substitution of steel for wood In the 

 construction of freight cars, but It Is likely that an analysis of this 

 •movement would also show the same tendency occurring In the con- 

 siriielion of passenger cars; namely, a gradual elimination of wood, 

 of course, these general facts arc well known to all active lumbermen. 

 Many lumbiTmen with whom I have spoken feel that the natural increase 

 in tile piipulation of our country will offset the inroads being made by 

 oiber iiialerials now competing with wood and hence will keep up a 

 strong demand for lumber. .Vlthough our population has Increased at 

 a rapid rate, it must also be remembered that our consumption of wood 

 per capita Is decreasing. According to Dr. Fernow, the United States 



