248 JOURNAIv OF FORKSTKY 



STATISTICS AND HISTORY 



Acording to H. R. MacMillen, Australia u]) 



Timber Trade to the present has furnished the most important 



of overseas market for the forest products of the 



Australia Douglas-fir region. The total lumber exported 



from the North Pacific coast to Australia from 



1894 to 191 5, inclusive, was 2,230,000,000 feet, most of which was 



Douglas fir. Since Australia is now on the threshold of an extensive 



industrial and agricultural development, this consumption of Douglas 



fir may well be expected to increase steadily. 



There are 1,072 sawmills in Australia and Tasmania, which in 1913 

 produced 683 million feet of lumber, which amount comprised a little 

 over half of the total consumption of lumber for the year. The forests 

 of Australia are comparatively small in extent, and unless assisted by 

 importations would supply the domestic demands for only about twenty 

 years. The forests also are almost wholly composed of mixed hard- 

 woods, belonging chiefly to the eucalyptus, gum, acacia, and locust 

 families. While many of these species provide timber which is unex- 

 celled for railway sleepers, wharves, piling, paving, and industrial uses 

 where great strength, hardness, and durability are required, they are 

 not suitable for general building and structural purposes. The factors 

 which limit the use of the native timbers are the great weight, the ten- 

 dency to warp and check seriously, the difficulty of working the wood, 

 the inefficient methods of logging and manufacturing, and the cost of 

 these operations, which in normal times is so great that Douglas fir and 

 Baltic spruce sell for less than the native woods. 



The average annual consumption of manufactured timber per capita 

 is 196 feet board measure, which is not as great as might be expected 

 in a new country in process of development. This is due to the fact 

 that two-fifths of the population live in cities, and urban population 

 does not require the same proportionate number of buildings as an agri- 

 cultural population ; also there is a predisposition to build houses, both 

 in the city and country, of brick or stone rather than wood, and to use 

 tile or galvanized-iron roofs instead of shingles. 



There has been great lack of co-operation on the part of manufac- 

 turers of Douglas fir in the Australian market. The product is largely 

 handled by about ten shipping companies, who, due to their methods of 

 buying from the producer, have created a state of competition unknown 

 in other manufacturing industries of like importance. Thus fluctuation 

 in prices for a single month are often considerable, and lumber is 



