FRKICIIT KATKS AS A COST I \ M AN LTACTrRK 1")"' 



wnod-usint,' indu^trit'S as well as wood turnint,'s. and is an important 

 rca-on for the work of conservation and standardization recently 

 luuk-rtaken by the National Association of Wood Using Industries, 

 under the direction of Mr. Bahhitt. Two or three measures naturally 

 sut,'gest themselves for eliminating part of this expense for freight. 



Obviously only material to be actually manufactured should be 

 shipped to a turning mill or other factory. This means that practi- 

 cal! v all sawing would be done near the woods ; not only sawing out the 

 s(iuares. as is often done \iow, but the defects would be cut out of the 

 sijuares. In other words we would ship bundles of odd lengths of 

 clear stock instead of bundles of 4-foot mill run squares. With a 30 

 cent rate the freight on this clear stock would be $r2 in^.;c'id of 

 from $21 to $38. as when the round edge plank is shipped. The only 

 disadvantage in this method is that the waste wood would have little 

 fuel value in a small place ; while it has a value in the average city of 

 about Sj/y cents per bushel. The remedy for this difficulty would be 

 the establishment at some junction point near the saw mills of a p'ant 

 wh'ch would use the waste either for pulp or for distillation. 



Two other remedies for the freight situation suggest themselves: 

 Moving the finishing business nearer to the base of supplies, or moving 

 a forest to the factory. There are difficulties in the way of both 

 propositions. Many factories are so large and represent such a large 

 investment that the owners would have difficulty in selling their plant 

 for anywhere near what it is carried on their books. In many cases 

 the plants are too large to be supjjlied by any forest which could now 

 be purchased. They must, therefore, either be located at points con- 

 venient to several forests or the productivity of the forest must be in- 

 creased to take care of the capacity of the plant. The competition 

 for white birch which already exists in the Northeast between the 

 turning and the tooth-pick industries on the one hand and the pulp und 

 turning industries on the other makes white birch one of the most 

 highly valued woods of New England and one which should receive 

 much more attention from foresters than it has thus far received. 

 How far the wood-using industries of southern New England can go 

 in converting large areas of cheap lands into thrifty forests of valuable 

 woods remains to be seen. One thing is certain, namely, that every 

 manufacturing plant which relies upon virgin forests and makes no 

 provision for a new growth should charge forest depreciation as well 

 as plant depreciation into their overhead expenses. 



There is undoubtedly enough waste land in southern New England 

 to support all the wood-using plants of that region, if it were producing 

 forest. The national prf)gram for reforestation should have the back- 

 ing of every far-sighted manufacturer because of the saving which it 

 will eventually mean in freight charges if for no other reason. 



