STRUCTURAL PURPOSES 



HAED WOODS (Continued) . 



Kind of 



Wood 1915 



Elm $16.98 



Ash 22.15 



Cottonwood . . . 16.77 



Tupelo 12.25 



Hickory 23.35 



Walnut 48.47 



Sycamore 13.86 



*1912 values based on limited number of reports. 

 **Data not obtained. 

 fWestern red cedar only. 

 ^Western larch only. 

 l[Southern cottonwood only. 



The above values are not intended to cover all grades of 

 lumber nor to indicate wholesale or retail prices in any locality. 

 They give, however, a correct comparison of values at the saw- 

 mill, to which must be added freight, handling, and service 

 charges. It is clear that there has been no marked advance in 

 lumber prices, in proportion to the general rise in commodity 

 prices during the same period. 



The statement that lumber has reached such an exorbitant 

 price that it can no longer be used, is best met by the records of 

 the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the authority on 

 the wholesale prices of all commodities. On page 266 of Bul- 

 letin 181 of the Bureau is given a table of the relative prices 

 of nine groups of commodities from 1860 to 1914, the average 

 price from 1890 to 1899 being taken as 100. The chart on 

 page 12 shows in graphic form the record of the Bureau for 

 three of the most important groups of commodities; farm 

 products, food, and lumber and building materials. On the 

 chart, farm products are indicated by a dotted line, food by a 

 line of dashes, and lumber and building materials by a solid 

 line of dashes, and lumber and building materials by a solid 

 ular statements as to undue advances in lumber prices. On an 

 average, these prices have run between those of farm products 

 and of food for the last fifty years, and with neither as high 

 points nor as low points as the two other groups. Still further, 

 it will be noted that the prices of lumber and building materials 



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