KIHTOKIAL COMMENT 251 



Washington and Oregon lumbermen. At these meetings Colonel 

 Disque frankly explained the situation and obtained promise of hearty 

 co-operation on the part of lumbermen, it is said, representing 75 to 90 

 per cent of the local lumber industry. This summarizes the present 

 situation, which has been changed by efficient organization from gloom 

 to optimism, although the realization remains that no stone must be left 

 unturned if success is to result. 



In the December issue we advocated measures at an early date lead- 

 ing to taking over the spruce forests by the Government in order to 

 conserve this important material. The limited supply is badly scattered 

 and any measures taken by the Government can be expected to secure 

 only the largest stands. These stands can be extended by silvicultural 

 measures to produce all needed future supplies. It seems evident that 

 so far as Germany uses spruce in airplane construction it has been pro- 

 duced under forest management on her own soil. Little of the spruce 

 region is within the National Forests, and one of the most obvious 

 measures seems to be to return the entire fog-belt area west of the 

 Olympic National Forest to Government ownership, to be worked in 

 such manner as to conserve the spruce not needed for immediate con- 

 sumption and by silvicultural measures extend the stands to occupy 

 suitable areas which are wide in extent. Of course, substitutes may 

 be developed, but it would be folly to act on that assumption. So far 

 spruce seems to be clearly superior, and we have been told by experi- 

 enced men that failure of metal parts in airplanes under ordinary con- 

 ditions is far more common than failure of the wood parts. 



A Serious Situation in the Lumber Supply 



The current lumber journals are making dire predictions, on the pros- 

 pects of the lumber production of the year. The unprecedented de- 

 mands created by the military situation have caused what is already 

 beginning to be a serious situation in the lumber supply, and this situ- 

 ation promises to become more serious during 1918. In the New York 

 Lumber Trade Journal for December i, 1917, it is pointed out that the 

 increased demands for lumber, coupled with the depleted labor supply, 

 makes it probable that the output of lumber for 1918 will fall to 50 or 

 60 per cent of the normal. This will, of course, cause a radical read- 

 justment in the selling prices for next year's supplv. 



The shortage in white pine can be traced directly to the labor supply. 

 Men and boats to handle the lumber at lake ports are not to be had, 

 and it has been impossible in many cases to get more than 50 per cent 



