49 



representing permanent improvements or construction, is proportionately 

 large and the earning power per person em])loyed correspondingly high 

 while the percentage of earnings to capital invested is relatively low. 



In the mining industry, the cajntal investment is valued propor- 

 tionately small. Potentially it is much higher, but as the full value can 

 not be realized except as the product is mined, this prospective income 

 is severely discounted in fixing capital values. The mines fall below 

 the other groups in value produced per person employed, indicating that 

 labor represents a relatively larger portion of the energy expended in 

 comparison to values produced than in other groups. 



The extent to which wood is used as raw materials on farms and 

 in the great industries of mantifacturing, mining and transportation as 

 well as in construction and public works, and in merchandising and 

 crating goods for shipment, and the relative dependence of these activi- 

 ties upon the continuance of wood sup])lies are subjects of vital import- 

 ance to the entire population of the state. 



Total Consumption of Wood in Illinois 



Wood is used in many forms. The total consumption includes not 

 merely sawed lumber but cordwood, cross-ties, fence posts, poles, piling, 

 cooperage, shingles, lath, logs for veneer, charcoal, pulp, excelsior and 

 other wood products. 



Illinois consumed 2,353,662,000 board feet of sawed lumber in 1920, 

 or an average of 363 board feet per capita.* Since the per ca])ita con- 

 sumption for the entire United States was but 295 board feet in 1919, 

 and was estimated at ^516 board feet in 19^0, Illinois though known as a 

 prairie state consumes nearly 15 per cent more lumber per cajiita than 

 the average for the country as a whole. In the Chicago district alone, 

 comprising Cook and DuPage counties, wilh .'5,095,1 ;i7 po])ulation an 

 average of 1,466,820,000 board feet of lumber was consumed during 

 the decade 1910-1920.| For this urban ])opulation, the per cai)ila use 

 of lumber based on the 1919 census was -173.9 board feet, which lowers 

 the average consumption for the remainder of the state to 258 board 

 feet i)er capita. The consumption of lumber on farms as coni])uted in 

 this study is approximately 272 board feet per capita. It is evident, 

 therefore, that the lumber required to sujiport the great manufacturing 

 industries, especially in Chicago, raises the per ca])ita consumjjtion in 



• Data furnl.shed by the U. S. Forest Service. 



tl;:isud on rttiirds of lumber leceUed and shipped fiom Chlc:iKO for decade 

 1910-19 Inclusive. 



