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Lumber at Home and Abroad 



The Daily Consular Report of ilay IS contaius some interesting 

 information about both the American timber and lumber industry 

 and lumber conditions in foreign sections of the world, made up of 

 information quoted by various United States consuls. 



A preliminary statement of the general results of the thirteenth 

 census of establishments engaged in the manufacture of lumber and 

 timber products shows an increase in all items as compared with the 

 figures of the census report of 1904. The number of establishments 

 increased 62 per cent; capital invested. 60 per cent; gross value of 

 products. 31 per cent ; cost of materials. 41 per cent ; value added 

 by manufacture, 24 per cent ; average number of wage earners 

 employed during the year. 30 per cent; amount paid for wages, 30 

 per cent; number of salaried officials and clerks, 37 per cent; amount 

 paid ir. salaries, 49 per cent; miscellaneous expenses, 21 per cent: 

 primary horsepower. .")1 jicr cent; salaries and wages 32 per cent. 



In detail the number of establishments covered under the general 

 heading "engaged in the manufacture of lumber and timber 

 products" shows 40,671 establishments with a capital of $1,176,- 

 67O.000; '.he cost of raw material. .'(■508,118,000; the value of products, 

 $1.1.56,129.000. 



The document recites as follows: 



AMERICAN VEXEEB INDUSTRY 



The reported total quantity of timber of all species consumed 

 during 1910 as veneer material was 477.479 thousand feet, log scale, 

 which was an incre:(se of 9.5 per cent over 1909. 24.8 per cent over 

 1908, and 37 per cent over 1907. The development of the industry 

 of veneer manufacture has been rapid. In fact, since 1905, when 

 statistics concerning this sub.iect were first separately collected by the 

 Bureau of the Census, no branch of manufacture which utilizes logs 

 or bolts as raw material lias made such substantial progress, the total 

 quantity of timber used in 1910 being 163.6 per cent larger than in 

 1905. 



Expansion in the industry during recent years has been due iu 

 large part to the development of a distinctly different class of uses 

 of veneers from those for which this stock was originally made. 

 For many years veneers were cut exclusively from the cabinet woods', 

 chiefly imported, and used as a covering for cheaper woods. In fact, 

 the common use of the word "veneer" includes only material thu-< 

 used .'is a covering for some other material. In the trade, however, 

 the term is applied to woods cut very thin and not intended for 

 covering, and it is such "veneers" that are increasing most rapidly. 

 In 1910 more than forty species of timber, mostly domestic, were useii 

 as veneer material, and the major part of the output was consumed 

 in the manufacture of baskets, packing boxes, berry crates, barrels, 

 furniture, laminated lumber, etc. , 



Red gum was drawn upon as veneer material in 1910 to a greater 

 extent than any other six-cies, contributing about one-third of the 

 total quantity consumed in the industry during that year. Yellow 

 pine and maple followed in the order named and contributed 8.4 per 

 cent and S.3 per cent of the total consumption, respectively. Eight 

 other kinds of wood, all of ilomestic growth, contributed more than 

 10.000.000 feet each to the total, and ranked in the following order: 

 Yellow poplar, cottonwood. white oak. birch, tupelo, elm. basswood. 

 and beech. Of the high-priced imported woods, mahogany was used 

 in largest quantity, followed by Spanish cedar. Circassian walnut, and 

 English oak. in the order named, with relatively unimportant quan- 

 tities of other species. 



Official statistics show that American imports of wood of all kinds 

 and manufactures there-if were valued in the last three calendar 

 years as follows: 1909. $50,293,509; 1910, $54,489,711; 1911. 

 $51,843,283; while the exports for the corresponding twelve nionthr, 

 were worth $72,313,280. $S5, 789,035, and $95,980,868^ 



GREECE 



The consul at Patras, Greece, says that his consular district fur- 

 nishes little domestic liunber of merchantable grade. The only 

 domestic sources are a few forests of valonia oak. the lumber from 

 which is too full of knots and gnarls to be worked successfully, and 

 some r;reas of mountain pine of an inferior quality. In consequence, 

 jiractically all the lumber consumed in this market has to be imported. 



The chief uses of lumber are for beams and girders of buildings, 

 no frame buildings being erected, for currant boxes, and for the 

 hand-manufacture of furniture. The principal kinds of wood im- 

 ported are fir, white and yellow pine, beech, oak and walnut. The 

 countries of origin of these impon-ts are Austria, Sweden, Turkey and 

 the United States. However, the total imports of woods from all 

 countries are small. 



The customs duty on woods in Greece ranges from forty cents to 

 nearly six dollars per cubic meter. The total imports at the port of 

 Patras during 1911 were 12.577 cubic meters, which represents rather 

 more than half of the lumber imported directly into thai consular 

 district during the year. The lumber trade is reported to be increas- 

 ing steadily and growing, and the consulate has had several inquiries 

 during the past year with regard to Ameiican pine and oak. 



SIAM 



Siam has very extensive forests, but at present teak is the chief 

 wood taken out of them. The exports of this wood for the last fiscal 

 year amounted to more than 89.000 tons, valued at nearly three 

 million dollars, against 76,000 tons exported the previous year. A 

 large portion of the teak shipments are made in log form, although a 

 limited quantity of lumber and shingles is also produced and exported. 



The distriluition of teak to foreign countries for last year was as 

 follows : 



Countrii'S. Tons Value. 



I'nitr'd Statc-s no. Oil $ 4.77:i 



r'nitiTl Kingdom ll..-iilo.rill 6.52..59fi 



Sinsapore 1.87:-!.7."i 67.147 



Hongkong fi.404.74 212.260 



France :H.6n4.67 210.027 



CfimanT 1 .18S.8(1 .58.30] 



.Tapan 2.8.'>.'!.n2 lOl.O.ifl 



Denmark 80."!. ."i6 44.1.52 



Austrla-Hungarv 860.16 44..324 



Ce.vlon fi.88n.(t.M 156.176 



Belgium ' lOO.lrt 4..S57 



Italv 1.772..52 79.811 



South Africa 1.50..36 8.218 



Dutch possessions 100.00 2..590 



Cochin China 241.56 11.259 



India 42.487.15 911.098 



China 1.873.42 53.542 



All other countries .3.201.72 199.215 



Total ,89.165.17 $2,820,914 



It will be noted that the United States is a comparatively small 

 buyer of this wood. It is used almost exclusively for ship-building 

 purposes. While teak is the most important product of Siam's forest, 

 and the teak regions are mainly confined to northern Siam, lower Siam 

 and the Malay peninsula contain many valuable forests of wood other 

 than teak. Among these are rosewood, which in considerable quan- 

 tities is shipped to Hongkong, Singapore and the United Kingdom ; 

 boxwood, which is valued in Japan for carving; agilla and sapan- 

 wood, which are also shipped to Hongkong and Singapore. 



Foreign firms have lately obtained concessions to work timber areas 

 in lower Siam, and the products of these forests are now beginning 

 to supply the local needs for cheap wood, which is yearly purchased 

 from Singapore in considerable quantities. 



The exports of wood from Siam during 1911 other than teak were 

 valued at $213,217. 



GERMAXT 



The consul at Breslau reports that certain foreign woods are in 

 constant demand in Silesia because they do not grow in Germany, and 

 for the specific purposes of the manufacturing interests cannot be 

 replaced by domestic woods. These woods are hickory. rosewoo<l. 

 mahogany, cedar, lignum-vitae, teakwood, ebony, American walnut, 

 poplar, oak, ash and pine. He notes that hickory is indispensable in 

 the carriage* factories, especially for wheels that must be very elastic 

 and able fo stand hea^y strains. There is no domestic wood for 

 ".heelwrighting comparable to hickory in strength and elasticity. 

 The prices obtained are limited by the price of the finished wheels 

 that conif from America, but the inland waterways enable local 

 industries to get theii- wood cheap enough to meet this competition. 



Walnut is also used in large quantities by the furniture and 

 carriage factories. Oak furniture is made almost exclusively of 

 American wood, since German oak is hard to obtain for this purpose. 

 Walnut and oak are also bought for the piano factories of the 

 Liegnitz district. Poplar is used as a blind veneer._ German poplar 

 does not make a satisfactory substitute. Cedar for lead pencils and 

 cigar boxes is hard to get from America. Veneers are made of rose- 

 wood, mahogany. American or Circassian walnut. ]ioplar, etc. 



AZORES 



The United States consul of St. Michaels says that the '.umber 



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