34 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



In this' matti'i- make an iamediate tost of tbe 

 praetire of lorestry on tbi'ir holdings. 



2 That tills be rcsanied as a beynnning wita 

 a vi»w of ascertaining the possibility, rather than 

 attempt to establish ar organized system of tor- 

 estry over entire holdings. 



H That to accomplish this object they asso- 

 ciate themselves together either through their 

 trade assiuiations. or by a new association, in 

 order that (brough coiiperation and partnership 

 the ospeuses of forestry may be reduced to a 

 minimum. . , . i nnn 



4 That each owner set aside from 1.000 

 to 10.000 acres as a practical demonstration 



^'5" That there be emplo.^ed by the association 

 a forester to direct the technical work, his salary 

 and expensis to be properly prorated among all 

 the members. , , , , „ .j„ 



e That each owner employ such local guards 

 or rangers as are necessary to carry out the Are 

 regulations, restrictions of cuttings, etc. 



Under this scheme each owner bears a propor- 

 tionate share ot tbe cost of the forestry expert 

 and such expenses as are necessary for the opera- 

 tion of his particular tract. The total expenses 

 of such a Ijegiuning to each owner would be ex- 

 ceedingly reasonable. 



Within from two to five years it would be pos- 

 sible for an owner to learn precisely what it 

 would cost to practice forestry, whether it is 

 practicable, and what the best methods are from 

 the standpoint of tbe conduct of bis own 

 business. . , . 



You would then be in a position to go to a 

 state legr^lature and demand such legislation as 

 it necessary to enable you to extend forestry 

 over the whole of your holdings., knowing pre- 

 cisely what vou need to practice forestry and 

 what vou inu'st have from the state in tire pro- 

 tection, in tax laws, and in other ways. Ion 

 would be in the position of having demonstrated 

 vonr intention to practice forestry and to meet 

 the responsibilities of conservation which you 

 have as owners of a great natural resource upon 

 whose preservation the prosperity of the people 

 depends. 



How THE FonEST Service C.\n Help 



I have recently had placed npon me the re- 

 snonsiWlitv of directing the work in the federal 

 Forest Service. I fool very strongly my own 

 responsibility to assist private owners in working 

 out the problem on their property. I happen to 

 have sufficient kuowledm' of the forest condi- 

 tions and of the couoinir and market conditions 

 to appreciate the haiulki-.ps with which you are 

 contending in the matter of forestry. We can 

 assist vou in the way of investigations as to the 

 nossibilities of forestry, the growth of timber, 

 methods of cutting, and other technical matters. 

 The practical application ot forestry, however, 

 must lie with you and not with us. Such 

 assistance as we are able to provide must be 

 from the standpoint of assisting you to establish 

 the practice of forestry. We cannot work out 

 the m-oblem for you. because we do not own the 

 nropertv. nor ct.n we operate it. In other w-ords. 

 the introduction of forestry on private lands 

 must be based on our coiipernting with you to 

 establish forestry on your own lands, and not 

 upon your coiipeprating with us while we do the 



I believe that the failure so far to work 

 out coiiperative schemes on private lands has 

 been largely due to the fact that the plans of 

 work have 'been too much developed by the gov- 

 ernment f(n- individuals rather than b.y the own- 

 ers themselves with the assistance of the govern- 

 ment The Fiu-est Service stands prepared to 

 assist the lumbermen in this matter m every 

 way possible. You have further an opportunity 

 to call upon tbe Yale Forest school, to which you 

 have generously given an endowment, both tor 

 advice and foi men to help you to carry out 

 the work. The Yale Forest school has spent 

 four seasons with its students in the South, 

 and so far as Ihe practice of forestry on private 

 lands in this region is concerned, should be a 

 source ot practical assistance. _ 



The nnu-e 1 studv into this subject of private 

 forestry the more I am convinced that what is 

 needed' is not immediate legislation hut an im- 

 mediate beginning of tbe practical operation ot 

 forestry along the lines 1 have suggested, and 1 

 am convinced that the results ot such a beginning 

 will be conclusive evidence that American lum- 

 bermen are fully capable of meeting the con- 

 servation problem both from the standpoint of 

 the permanent requirements of the lumber trade 

 and from that of the continued prosperity of the 

 public at large. 



FUTURE OF STUMPAGE AND LUMBER 

 VALUES 



Address nv J.v.mks T. I..u-i.;y to- fiiicAGO anu 



New Oui.ua ns 

 When I accepted your kind invitation to say a 

 few words on the "Future of Stumiiagi' and I.um- 

 hcr VafiK's," 1 thought the task an easy one. and 

 narticularlv so on the siuuipage proposition; but 

 the more 1 consider the subject the more do I 

 realize what a broad scope it covers, and how 

 impossible it will be for me iutelligi'ntly to dis- 



cuss it in all its details in the few moments 

 devoted to this purpose. 



The word ■'stumpage" is a term use to express 

 all kinds of timber standing in the tree, but it 

 covers at tlie same time so many different kinds 

 and qualities of wood that it is impossible to 

 give a detinite, tixed value to the word, which in 

 a general sense expresses standing timber. In 

 order to discuss the suliject at all it is necessary 

 to combine with it many other features and con- 

 ditions that directly or remotely have heretofore 

 affected or will in the future affect its value. 



The general impression prevails that stumpage 

 is excessively high in proportion to the present 

 value of lumber. This probably is true, but con- 

 ditions affecting stumpage are somewhat different 

 from those controlling the price of lumber ; one 

 being held as a permanent investment or a 

 reserve asset, while the other is a commodity 

 that is immediately and constantly affected by 

 the law of supply and demand. I'robably there 

 is no other commodity that has varied so much 

 in value during the last fifty years as has 

 stumpage. although if we trace its history back 

 that far. we will tind that the variation has 

 always been upward, never downward. In my 

 own experience hemlock stumpage in rennsyl- 

 vania fifty years ago was a really waste ma- 

 terial, the' bark being the real product. How 

 ever, as the dense forests ot Pennsylvania were 

 penetrated, and as lumbering was carried on on 

 a large scale, the value of stumpage advanced 

 in keeping with demand and the disa"pearance 

 of the timber supply, until what is left there 

 today is worth from $.'> to $8 a thousand. 



FORMEE STU.MrAGE PRICES 



Government timlier lands were to be had in 

 Michigan as late as 18G6 at $1.2.5 to $2..5n an 

 acre. " White pine stumpage in Michigan passed 

 the dollar mark in the early 'TOs and advanced 

 to ?5 a thousand and upwards in ISSU. In 1S80 

 pine stumpage in northern Minnesota rang<'d in 

 price from 50 cents to .fl n thousand, and in 

 the same year I bought shorttenf pine in what 

 was then 'known as "The Irish Wilderness" in 

 southern Missouri at 5 cents a thousand. Any- 

 where in the southern coast states pine .stump- 

 age could be had from the United States govern- 

 ment at $1.2.''i an acre (about 10 cents a thous- 

 sand) and from the state governments at from 

 2." to 7."i cents an acre. As you all know, 

 Michigan. Wisconsin and Minnesota stumpage 

 advanced very rapidly after 18S0 until reduced 

 transportation and change of base of the Jlichi- 

 gan and Wisconsin lumbermen to the South 

 aided in the development of that territory, and 

 brought southern lumber into competition with 

 northern white pine. The same condition ex- 

 isted on the Pacitic coast until within the last 

 six or seven years, with practirallv the same 

 low range of prices. These variations in price, 

 however, have been largely due to the change 

 of operating centers and the transferring of 

 lusiness from the high priced stumpage locali- 

 ties of the North to the cheaper miced stumpage 

 localities of the South and the I'ai'ific coast. 



High priced stumpage has followed civiliza- 

 tion and the development of other resources, not 

 preceded them. The pioneer stumnage buyer who 

 had tbe foresight to open the trail into new and 

 unexplored regions was the one to secure for 

 bin self and his followers the benefit of mini- 

 mum stumpage. and the development of the 

 lumber industry has followed in his wake, as 

 the exhausting supply in one locality changed 

 the base of operations to a more undeveloped 

 territory. Such conditions, however, do not 

 exist to any extent today, for practically the 

 ei tire timber area of the United States has 

 been reached by rail O'- water transportation, 

 thus making available the stumpage of almost 

 every locality, and more generally creating ■ini- 

 ferni values.' at the ■ same time equalizing the 

 price to a greater extent than ever before. As 

 a matter of fact, this condition has cheapened 

 instead of increased stumnage value, for not- 

 withstanding the apparently enormous increase 

 in stumpage value, it has been relative only 

 principally due to the conditions stated. A 

 -reat handle has been made out of high pneeil 

 sUimpage by tile political "trust busters." but 

 as a matter of fact the stumpage from which 

 the lumber product of today is cut is thenpe-.- 

 than the stumnage from which the lumber prod- 

 uct ot twentv-flve years ago was cut. You will 

 a"ree with me in this statement, if vou think 

 back and recollect that th.> Inml.er producing 

 niea vas then largely confined to the white 

 j'iiie territorv. where stumnage was selling at 

 from .'f-4 to $7 a thousand, while now the average 

 i.ni-e of stumpage throughout the United States 

 w'll not exceed'^ .1!:;.,")0 a thousand, although it 

 will vfirv in price according to quality, locality, 

 scarcity' and av.iilablitv to shipment, from .")0 

 cents 10 .$20 a thousand. 



Cause op Increased Lumiiek Cost 



The query naturally is. What maltes lumber 

 sell at fro'm $10 to .fSO a thousand? The 

 answer is Quality of product, labor, provisions, 

 suiiiilles and transportation. Twenty-five years 

 atio, we were paving from .flo to .fSO a month 

 and board for mill and woods hands, and giving 

 a bill of tare consisting of pork and beans, pota- 



toes, onions, white and corn bread, tea, coffee 

 and molasses, served in tin dishes. Now we are 

 paving for the same class of labor, but not as 

 elticie.at. from S30 to tf'M a month and board, 

 supplying the table with china and glassware 

 and furnishing a menu equal, if not superior, to 

 that furnished by the average hotel table. Then 

 the men were healthy, hungry at mealtimes, and 

 satisfied with their food. Now. as we all know, 

 the greatest "kick" in the business copies from 

 the men about the food furnished at the com- 

 pany boarding house. 



In those days water transportation from the 

 mills to the large consuming centers was not 

 over 20 per cent of the selling price of the 

 lumber. Today rail transportation adds from 30 

 to 1011 per cent to selling cost at the mill for 

 shipment to the same consuming centers. 

 Water TRA.N'sroRTATiuN Ofeers Solutio.n 

 Even now a great saving could be made by 

 water shipment, if concerted action were taken 

 and proper barge lines and terminal facilities 

 established on the rivers. What we really need, 

 besides a reasonable maintenance and improve- 

 ment of the waterways we have, is the securing 

 of adeipiate docks, landings and modern meth- 

 ods for handling freight quickly at low cost 

 and enforced interchange of freight by the rail- 

 roads with the water routes. There was water 

 enough in the rivers and lakes years ago to 

 transport the products of the country from one 

 locality to another and at a low cost per ton. 

 This same means of transportation could be uti- 

 lized again if we were to employ it instead of 

 wasting time and money in talking about im- 

 possible waterways and depths ot channels that 

 the most practical engineers never expect to see 

 established. 



The Illinois legislature wasted nearly two ses- 

 sions in electing a United States senator and 

 wrangling over deep water projects, and -ad- 

 journed "both sessions without appropriating 

 money enough to keep in service the only chan- 

 nel I'letween" Chicago and New Orleans, when, 

 with but a trifling expeuditure. the Illinois and 

 Michigan canal from La Salle to Chicago could 

 be made navigalile for suitable barges to trans- 

 port lumber and other heavy coihmodlties to 

 and fro between these two great commercial cen- 

 ter.s. I have made two round trips between 

 these cities, through this canal up and down the 

 Illinois and Mississippi rivers during the last 

 two years, and I can testify that the canal Is a 

 disgr'aci" to Illinois and a polluted nuisance to 

 the" people living along its banks. 



No matter how soon we start in to duplicate 

 our timbered areas by reforestation. It will take 

 at least fifty years to grow medium size soft- 

 wood trees, 'wliich will produce only low grade 

 lumber, and from 200 to oOii years to obtain 

 large, high grade stock from the same trees. In 

 the more valuable woods, such as cypress, red- 

 wood, sugar pine, cedar, spruce and flr. the 

 period will run from 30(1 to 2.O00 years to 

 attain the present growth of these old forests. 

 As stumpage owners you know that these are 

 indisputable facts and that to plant and culti- 

 vate a forest for the shortest period mentioned 

 it will cost, with interest on the investment and 

 olher carrying charges. .'Sl.j to Sf20 a thousand 

 stumpage. and the yield will be chiefly a coarse 

 grained, common grade of lumber. When you 

 go beyond that period for harvesting the crop, 

 you niake the operation practically an economic 

 impossibility. No matter how soon we begin, or 

 to what extent we replant, the original old 

 growth forests now remaining contain the only 

 large sized, high grade timber tliat will be avail- 

 able for ages to come. Extravagant waste may 

 c<.ntinue until the lumbermen themselves and the 

 public in general more fully realize these facts 

 and reguliite production accordingly, but cheap 

 stumpage can not be reproduced by any known 

 process" of planting. We therefore, may be 

 assured that values of stumpage produced by 

 reforestation will be greater than the present 

 average price now obtained for lumber. 



CUTOVER Lands Needed for Agriculture 



.\gain. as a growing nation, we can not 

 replant the entire cutover lands or present tim- 

 ber areas, for we must have more food prodncta 

 to supply (Uir rapidly growing population, and 

 a lar-e portion of these areas must be put into 

 cultivation to furnish food for the people. Be- 

 sides the arable land is too valuable when put 

 into annual crop cultivation to replant with 

 trees and wait fifty years for the crop. This 

 aiiplies with particular force to the southern 

 states where at least 60 per cent of the timber 

 land is more available for farming than tree 

 growing, and which, under intelligent cultiva- 

 tion will produce an annual crop of greater 

 value an acre than is now being obtained for the 

 timber crop that is being removed. There are 

 also lar"e areas that should be planted In nut 

 and fruU producing trees instead of replanting 

 with timber. , , ,, , ^ .1 



There has been much talk <about conservation 

 and reforestation during the last few years, but 

 practically little has been done in the matter. 

 Till' w-isl'e at the mill and in the forest today 

 is "realer on account of the low price of lumber 

 tlrni it was before former President Roosevelt 

 ■111(1 Cufress ordered an investigation of that. 



