10 Conditions Affecting New York Lumber Supply 
peak in March, 1920. This rise was so pronounced that the 
average mill price of lumber was tripled within nine months. 
The cost of building material became prohibitive and this, in 
conjunction with the advancing rates demanded for loans and 
the labor and transportation ditliculties, practically resulted in 
the shutting down of the building trades in the face of a 
demand for housing facilities for approximately four million 
people. This abnormal demand was attributed in part to the 
drift of workers from the country to the cities, attracted by 
high wages and a generally higher standard of living. As a 
matter of fact the country regions were also experiencing a 
lack of houses. The suspension of building had resulted in a 
general shortage of homes for the normally increasing popula- 
tion. Rents of both homes and factory space were exceedingly 
high. 
The cities thus contained not only the surplus laborers and 
craftsmen, but also the larger lumber markets which had the 
best chances of obtaining supples of material from the mills. 
Also there were better facilities within the cities to obtain 
power derived either from hydroelectric sources or the use of 
coal as fuel, while remote country towns were less favored, 
owing to the partial failure of railroad transportation. 
As might be expected under these conditions the returns result- 
ing from this study show the total number of firms engaged in 
the wood-using industries of New York decreased by 35 per cent, 
the number of firms in the cities of the first class decreased 
25 per cent, while those in the small towns and villages 
decreased 40 per cent. Although there are only a-few cases 
actually noted in which country firms actually moved to the 
city, yet it appears that the city firms had a stronger business 
foothold against adverse conditions. The reduction of the 
number of firms was no doubt caused in part by the tendency 
noted for many years toward the consolidation of business in 
fewer hands with larger capitalization. 
During the depression in the year following the war many 
firms suspended operation, although rather less than the normal 
number went into bankruptcy. 
