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Lumbermen and Lumber Industries 



Editor's Note 



The following interesting papei- was prepared by McGar 

 Madison, Wis., and was read at the recent annual meeting of 

 cinnati, Mr. Cline's analysis perhaps presents the details of 

 been submitted. 



In 1909 the census reports show that the 

 sawmills . of the United States produced 44,- 

 509,000,000 board feet of lumber. Approxi- 

 mately seventy-three per cent of this amount 

 was made up of five species: viz., yellow 

 pine, Douglas fir, oak, white pine and hem- 

 lock. Where and how this enormous quan- 

 tity of material is consumed have been and 

 still are largely matters of surmise. An in- 

 vestigation, however, which is being made 

 by the Forest Service, has progressed far 

 enough to warrant some tentative estimates 

 on the annual requirements of the different 

 wood-using industries. I shall present with 

 this paper several tables based on a study 

 of the wood-using industries of twenty states; 

 but at this time I will merely call your at- 

 tention to certain deductions that have ap- 

 pealed to me as being pertinent to the prob- 

 lem you are now considering. Of fifty-one dif- 

 ferent industries in the twenty states upon 

 which the report is based, eighty-four per 

 cent of the material reported was consumed 

 by eleven industries. For these eleven indus- 

 tries I have prepared an estimate of the 



total consumption of lumber in the United States, basing it on the 

 capital invested in the industries as reported by the Bureau of the 

 Census. According to this estimate, which I think is approximately 

 correct, the lumber cut is distributed as follows: 



Per cent 



total 

 lumber 

 cut. 

 Planing mill products InciudiLg sash, doors, 



and general mill worli 29.70 



Boxes and crating 10.00 



Car construction 4.48 



Furniture 3.02 



Vehicles 1-9" 



''line, director of the Forest Products Laboratory at 

 the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association at Cin- 

 wood utilization in a better way than has ever before 



McGARVEY CLINE, MADISON, WIS. 



Board feet. 

 8.9% total yellow pine manufac- 

 tured, or 1440 million 



28.0% total white pine manufactured, 



or 1097 million 



62.0% total red gum manufactured, 



or 438 million 



8.2% total hemlock manufactured, 



or 252 million 



G.4% total spruce manufactured, or. 112 million 

 15.7% total yellow poplar manufac- 

 tured, or 135 million 



Other species 974 million 



Thus ten per cent of the total lumber man- 

 ufactured has to compete with fiber board 

 and veneer. Such competition is becoming 

 more and more acute as the demands of ship- 

 pers and transportation companies for lighter 

 and at the same time stronger boxes in- 

 crease. Tests made at the Forest Products 

 Laboratory show that the ordinary nailed 

 box is inferior in many respects to improved 

 types that are being introduced, and it is 

 my personal opinion that the ordinary type 

 of wooden box will lose its present position 

 of leadership among shipping containers un- 

 less its manufacturers are able to overcome 

 some of its inherent defects. 



Millions 



of board 



feet. 



(1) 



(2) 



(3) 



(4) 



(5) 



(6) 



(7) 



(8) 



(9) 



(10) 



(11) 



(12) 



(13) 



(14) 



(15) 



13250.00 



4448.00 



1955.10 



1348.16 



877,31 



350.67 



273.48 



228.16 



192.63 



94.98 



281.64 



5470.00 



3000.00 



1017.00 



11750.00 



Agricultural implements 78 



Musical instruments .61 



Woodenware 51 



Ship and boatbuilding 43 



Trunks and valises 21 



Handles 63 



Miscellaneous Industries 12.30 



Export 6''?4 



Sawed ties 2.28 



Rough lumber and structural timbers 26.32 



BUILDING TRADES .\ND GENER.\L COKSTRUCTION 



If we assume that practically all of the planing-mill products 

 go into the building trades, these estimates indicate that fifty-six 

 per cent of the entire lumber production, or 25,000,000,000 board 

 feet, goes into building and general construction work. This 

 amount is made up as follows: 



80% total yellow pine manufactured h . . .13.0 billion feet 



80% total Douglas fir manufactured 3.9 billion feet 



90% total hemlock manufactured 2.7 billion feet 



Cypress, white pine, redwood, oak and other hardwoods.. 5.4 billion feet 



It seems, therefore, that fully fifty per cent of the entire lumber 



produced has to be sold in competition with cement, brick, tile, etc. 



BOXING AND CRATING 



It seems from the figures here presented that the various esti- 

 mates of the amount of lumber consumed by the box industry, 

 which have appeared from time to time, have been much too high. 

 Ten per cent of the total lumber production, or approximately 

 4,448,000,000 board feet, is used in the manufacture of boxes and 

 crates. This amount is made up approximately as follows: 



CAR CONSTRUCTION 



Approximately 4.5 per cent of the total lumber manufactured, or 

 1,955,000,000 board feet, is used in the construction of cars. This 

 amount is made up as follows: 



Board feet. 



7.27% total yellow pine manufactured 1183.3 million 



3.4% total Douglas fir manufactured 168.0 million 



6.1% total oak manufactured 271.8 million 



G.1% total yellow poplar manufactured 52.3 million 



Other species 279.6 million 



Lumber used in car construction is coming into competition 

 with steel underframing and steel bodies. The competition with 

 steel for underframes and for passenger coaches is becoming more 

 and more active and unless there is a change iu policy on the part 

 of the railroads wood as a car material may soon be limited to 

 use in box cars and for interior trim. 



FURNITURE 



Three per cent of the total lumber manufactured is consumed 

 by the furniture industry. This industry also imports considerable 

 amounts of mahogany and other cabinet woods. The 1,348,000,000 

 board feet of domestic material consumed is made up as follows: 



Board feet. 



14.0% of total oak manufactured 629 million 



10.0% of total maple manufactured 112 million 



24.6% of total birch manufactured Ill million 



13.9% of total red gum manufactured 98 million 



7.5% of total yellow poplar manufactured 65 million 



G.7% of total basswood manufactured 27 million 



.\11 other species 306 million 



It is very noticeable to what a small extent the softwoods 

 enter this industry. Steel is being substituted for wood to a 

 moderate extent in the manufacture of certain classes of office 

 furniture, and iron and brass are being largely used for beds, but 

 in general the furniture industry offers an excellent market for 

 high-grade hardwoods. 



VEHICLES AND VEHICLE PARTS 



Two per cent of the total lumber manufactured is used in the 

 manufacture of vehicles. It is made up principally of oak, yellow 

 poplar, maple, hickory, red gum and other species. Steel is being 

 substituted for wood to a certain extent in this industry, but such 



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