HARDWOOD RECORD 



39 



Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, and Louisiana. Tho mapped 

 areas contain 755,000,000,000 feet of timber, which is one-third of all the 

 privately-owned timber in the United States. The ownership in these 

 regions is highly concentrated. In the western Washington map area 

 two holders have forty-nine per cent of the timber. In, northeastern 

 California six have seventy per cent, and in the redwood district ten 

 have more than half, and in north central Idaho four owners have 

 fifty-nine per cent. 



It is stated that 1,694 timber owners hold in fee over one-twentieth 

 of the land area of the entire United States from Canada to Mexico. 

 In the 900 timbered counties investigated, they own one-seventh of the 

 area. This ownership covers 105,600,000 acres, an area greater than 

 the whole state of California, or more than two and a half times the 

 whole land area of the six New England states'. Sixteen holders own 

 47.800,000 acres, or nearly ten times the land area of New Jersey. 



In the upper peninsula of Michigan, thirty-two timber owners hold 

 forty-flve per cent of the land. In Florida one-third of the land belongs 

 to flfty-two holders. 



The blame for this concentration of ownership, so far as there is blame, 

 must be partly borne by the United States government. Lavish land 

 grants and loose, ill-enforced land laws are the historical background 

 of the concentration of land and timber ownership shown in the report. 

 A study of the present ownership of 7,370,000 acres of railroad, wagon- 

 road, and canal grant lands, covering most of the granted lands in the 

 map areas, and a little elsewhere, shows that of these particular lands, 

 granted long ago to single corporations, apparently with the idea that 

 they would be quickly sold to settlers, only fifteen per cent are now dis- 

 tributed in small holdings. Eighty-five per cent are owned by the 

 grantees or their successors, or by large timber holders. Of 82,500,000 

 acres granted to three western railroads in the sixties, the roads still 

 retained forty per cent in 1910. 



Moreover, the states appear to have disposed of the various federal 

 grants made to them in such a way as to contribute to the concentration 

 (if land and timber ownership. Florida is a striking example of this. 

 .\gain, the public-land laws, the cash-sale law (now repealed),, the scrip 

 laws, and the homestead and timber and stone laws operated, at least 

 in timber regions, to transfer government lands directly or almost 

 directly to great holders. 



Ninety-eight per cent of the 1,500,000 acres comprised in the largest 

 timber holding in the Lake States was acquired in a wholesale manner, 

 chiefly from tracts disposed of by the government through grants to the 

 state or under the scrip and the cash-sale laws. 



Most of the land grants were made on conditions, and it is claimed 

 that in many cases not all of the conditions were complied with. The 

 government is now attacking some of these grants for ^he alleged viola- 

 tion of the conditions imposed. Last year the Department of Justice ob- 

 tained a decree in court, adjudging all the Southern Pacific Company's 

 lands in Oregon to bo forfeited to the United States. These lands em- 

 brace 2,400,000 acres and contain 70 billion feet of timber. The case 

 is pending on appeal. Other suits are pending, having for their purpose 

 the recovery by the government of some of the lands granted many years 

 ago, on the grounds that conditions have not been complied with. 



The three largest timber holders are the Southern Pacific Company, the 

 Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, and the Northern Pacific Railway Com- 

 pany. The report names many of the other large holders, but they are 

 usually arranged in groups. Means made use of in concentrating so much 

 land in the hands of a few were not the same in all regions. The 

 report goes fully into that feature in the various parts of the country. 

 Newfoundland's Luml)er Output 



There were 21,000 more logs cut in 1913 than in the previous year in 

 Newfoundland, the total number being 1,504,000, from which it is esti- 

 mated 46,000,000 feet of lumber (principally spruce) were produced, an 

 increase of about 5,000,000 feet over 1912. The lumber turned out was 

 valued at $600,000 and consisted of 24,500,000 feet of boards, 7,225,000 

 feet of scantling, 1,241,000 feet of heading, 673,000 feet of box material, 

 106,000 palings, 6,700,000 spruce lath, and 9,100,000 spruce shingles. 

 In addition to the lumber, 135,000 cords of pulpwood were cut, an in- 

 crease of 11,000 cords over 1912. The men employed In the forests and 

 sawmills numbered 3,500. There were fifteen lumber mills working under 

 license, in addition to 328 small mills worked by the fishermen in con- 

 Junction with the flsber.v. For the fiscal year 1912-13 there were shipped 

 413,000 feet of lumber valued at .$6,306, as against 504,000 feet, valued 

 at $8,215, in 1912. Canada took 272,000 feet and St. Pierre 141,000 feet. 

 The total number of lath exported was 1,365,000. 



Germany's Timber and Furniture Trade 



Consul Alfred W. Donegan, reporting from Magdeburg, Germany, de- 

 scribes the timl^er and furniture trade there last year. Activity In build- 

 ing almost came to a standstill in 1913, largely because of the high dis- 

 count rates and tight money conditions on the mortgage market. The 

 timber trade suffered in consequence. Toward the end of the year, how- 

 ever, when the discount rate finally dropped, some building activity set 

 in, but it was confined for the most part to the construction of residence 

 buildings. As a result of the small demand and low selling prices, timber 

 dealers were barely able to cover expenses. Prices of American timber — 

 pitch pine and red pine, for instance — dropped somewhat during the year 

 from the high-price level maintained in 1912, as did also prices of Russian 

 and Austrian boards. This was probably due, in the latter case, to the 



John G. Lockhart Lumber Co. 



Sheboygan, Wisconsin 



BIRCH LUMBER We have the fol- 



lowing Log Run 



Birch all 10 foot and Longer. 

 250,000' 5/4" No. 2 & Better, 10' & Longer 

 250,000' 6/4" No. 2 & Better, 10' & Longer 

 250,000' 8/4" No. 2 & Better, 10' & Longer 



This stock is ready for shipment and we will sell it 

 in carload lots or all together. 



KINDLY SEND US YOUR INQUIRIES FOR 



BIRCH OR ANYTHING IN NORTHERN 



HARDWOODS. 



small consumption, and in the former to the low freight rates and the 

 Mexican trouble. On the other hand, lumber from the northern Euro- 

 pean countries increased In price from five to ten per cent over 1912. 

 The explanation of this is that there was a great demand in England, 

 France, South Africa, and Australia for this kind of timber. 



Manufacturers of furniture were compelled to sell at lower prices than 

 in the preceding year despite the fact that timber prices were about five 

 per cent higher and increased wages had to be paid. 



Quebec's Forest Besoiurces 



Quebec possesses vast timber resources. Certain of the forest lands 

 are private property, but by far the larger portions still belong to the 

 Province itself. The private woodlands include those owned by farming 

 communities ; others are held under original grants that were ceded to 

 private individuals by the crown in the early days of the colony. The 

 latter aggregate about 6,000,000 acres, but they contain the best-known 

 stands of timber and will be able to supply the demands for pulpwood 

 for years to come. 



Government Eailroad Proposed 



Congressman Bryan of Washington has introduced a bill in the Housi 

 authorizing the President to locate, control, and operate a railroad from 

 Marysvale, Utah, which is a terminal of the Denver & Rio Grande Eail- 

 road, to the Kaibab National Forest in Arizona. The desire is expressed! 

 in the bill to develop the timber, .agriculture and mining lands in the 

 National Forest. The railroad is not to cost more than .$3,000,000. and 

 $500,000 is made immediately available for the project. 

 Lumber Outlook in England 



The London Timler, under date of September 19, reviews the lumber 

 situation in a hopeful tone. The more favorable news from the seat of 

 war has its counterpart in a brighter tone in the timber trade, and there 

 seems to be a gradual return to more normal conditions than have ruled 

 as yet since the war commenced. The very gloomy anticipations, which 

 were almost universal during the month of August, and the belief held 

 in so many quarters that the shipping season had been practically brought 

 to a close by the declaration of war by Great Britain, have now proved 

 to be entirely erroneous, for this month there is seen quite a fair trade 

 being carried on in sawed goods, principally, of course, from the Swedish 

 ports. In ordinary times, when competition is keen, commerce is apt tO' 

 be looked upon as a struggle between the buyer and the seller, and 

 to regard the gain of the one as, in some measure, the loss of the other, 

 but the present position furnishes an excellent example of the mutual 

 benefits of trade sellers. On the one hand, their yards blocked with unsold 

 and unshipped goods, and often with their mills stopped working, on 

 account of their inability to find further yard space, are most anxious 

 to re-commence business, while importers, all short of stock and their 

 sources of supply greatly curtailed, are equally desirous of purchasing 

 and bringing forward further cargoes. 



Timber Imports and Exports 



The total imports of wood and wood products of all kinds into the 

 United States in July, 1914, were valued at $6,472,766, against a value 

 of $5,417,460 for the corresponding month in 1913. 



During July, 1914, the exports of all kinds of forest products from the 

 United States were valued at $5,765,580, and for the same month In 

 1913, $7,414,499. 



The imports of wood products increased nearly $1,000,000, and the 

 exports declined nearly $2,000,000. 



Philippine Timber Concession Offered 



Sealed proposals, in duplicate, will be received at the office of the 

 Directory of Forestry in Manila for the privilege of cutting and remov- 

 ing timber and gathering other products, stone, and earth on 292,000 

 acres in the Provinces of Tayabas and Ambos Camarines. While the date 

 of opening bids in Manila is November 14, 1914, if a prospective bidder 

 in the United States finds it impossible to get his bid there by that time 

 he should communicate at once with the Bureau of Insular Affairs, Wash- 

 ington, D. C, stating the circumstances, and If the delay involved will not 



