REVIEWS 473 



and fence material, is around one billion feet, valued at :]2 million 

 dollars, half of it imported; that is, a little less than 200 feet, b. m., per 

 capita, as against 800 feet on the treeless Canadian prairie, where 

 wooden buildings prevail and new settlements are rapidly developing, 

 while the settlements in Australia grow only slowly and two-fifths of 

 the population lives in six cities ; brickbuilding even in the timber 

 country is usual. Nevertheless, the bulk of the importation of Douglas 

 fir, which represents 70 per cent of all kinds imported, to the extent 

 of 75 per cent, is used for building purposes. 



A very considerable customs tariff — ^$9.60 per M on dressed, and, 

 according to size, from $2.4-0 for rough lumber, the lower figure 

 for 6 by 12-inch and over — is designed to stimulate manufactures at 

 home. The lower duty for the large-size timber is a direct encourage- 

 ment of the use of Douglas fir, the only timber that can supply such 

 sizes in large quantity and of the quality sought, which is of a higher 

 grade than is usually employed in its home for similar purposes. 



The methods of conducting the lumber business and the various 

 uses to which wood are put are discussed in detail, the latter always 

 with a natural bias toward Douglas fir. 



In the importation of dressed lumber, which pays $7.20 duty, 

 curiously enough, Norway and Sweden take first place, almost monop- 

 olizing the trade, as they have in Africa and South America, in spite 

 of the knotty material, particularly of spruce, that they ship. They 

 see to excellent manufacture and grading, however, and to careful 

 handling. 



The low duty on logs — 5 per cent ad valorem — has really had the 

 effect of increasing their importation, especially from Japan and 

 Russia. 



Advice as to how to overcome the present condition of no Australian 

 trade for Canada is given in conclusion. The author advocates a co- 

 operating group of mills, able to quote on all inquiries and to act 

 quickly on them; an exporting company similar to the American, 

 through which the mills can act ; cooperation with American mills to 

 keep up a profitable price level, to adjust grades, and to educate the 

 market. 



The report is comprehensive and clear. That it was prepared by a 

 forester as timber trade commissioner is a further testimony to the 

 growing conviction that the technically educated man may be the fittest 

 man to deal even with trade questions most efficiently. B. E. F. 



