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Timber Industries 



Although IlHnois is not primarily a timber-producing state, its 

 forest products are considerable in amount and value. The larger 

 mills and woodworking establishments that use local timber are 

 restricted to the southern part of the state, with the exception of a 

 few that draw their supplies from the Illinois and Mississippi bottoms. 

 Throughout all of the wooded portions, however, a great deal of 

 timber goes into small products such as ties, fuelwood, posts, and 

 other material used on the farm, and it is impossible to get statistics 

 covering all of these items. The consumption of firewood in 1908 

 is estimated at over two million cords, most of which is cut within 

 the state. The output of lumber is shown in Table VII and that of 

 slack cooperage stock in Table VIII. 



The products of greatest importance are rough and finished lumber 

 of all kinds, railroad ties, cooperage stock, boxes, piling, telephone 

 and telegraph poles, handles, wagon stock, and mine timbers, while 

 products of less importance commercially are fuelwood, split hoops, 

 fence posts, charcoal, pulpwood, and edible nuts. 



Illinois is exceptionally well provided with transportation facilities 

 both for conveying the rough material to the mill and the finished 

 product to the markets. The large number of navigable streams afford 

 cheap water transportation, while a dense network of railroads pro- 

 vides an outlet for all industries not located directly on a river. The 

 wagon roads throughout the state are numerous and well distributed, 

 but the majority of them are not macadamized or gravelled, and 

 their condition depends on the weather. Good transportation facili- 

 ties pg)vide means to handle the less valuable products at a profit 

 and tend toward closer utilization of timber. 



There is everywhere a good demand for most forest products. 

 The numerous large cities in this and adjoining states afford excellent 

 market facilities, while the local demand is usually great enough to 

 take care of all the lower grades that can be produced. The mining 

 industry requires a constant and large supply of rough timbers, props, 

 small ties, and lumber, while the railroads can more than absorb all 

 of the cross-ties produced. The demand for fuelwood is, on the whole, 

 poor, because soft coal is so cheap and convenient in most parts of the 

 state. Nevertheless, an enterprising manager can nearly always find 

 some good way of disposing of this product. Fence posts are becoming 

 scarce in many places, and nearly always command a ready sale. 



The value of standing timber depends on a number of different 

 factors, chief of which are the quality of the material, accessibility of 

 the tract for logging, and distance from the market. Since these are 



