CHAPTER XI 

 FOREST UTILIZATION INDUSTRIAL FORESTRY 



1. GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF THE LUMBER AND ASSOCIATED 



INDUSTRIES 



Forest utilization may be described as the profitable and efficient 

 conversion of standing timber into forms useful in human economy 

 and arts. It embraces the harvesting of forest crops, transportation 

 of the raw material, chiefly logs to market, the manufacture into vari- 

 ous usable commodities, and their merchandising and distribution to 

 ultimate users. The main branches of forest utilization treat of: 



a. Properties and uses of wood. 



b. Logging. 



c. Manufacture, conditioning, and treatment. 



d. Merchandising and distribution. 



Forest utilization constitutes the major part of the forestry opera- 

 tions practiced in our woods, on the basis of number of men employed, 

 capital invested, and influence on the future stands of timber. Forests 

 are treated for better or worse when they are logged. European for- 

 estry has taught us that the best silvicultural tool is the axe. Logging 

 may prove to be good or poor silviculture, depending upon the meth- 

 ods pursued. The lumberman should know more about forestry, and 

 the forester should know more about the problems of logging as well 

 as of lumber markets and the distribution of the products to their 

 final use. In Europe the forester is generally the lumberman, and the 

 lumberman is the forester. Both may have the same objects in view. 



The market prices secured for forest produce are ordinarily the 

 determining factor in the practice of forestry. Therefore, forest utili- 

 zation may include some of the most important phases of American 

 forestry. The large amount of waste attending American logging and 

 lumber manufacture is chiefly due to relatively low prices secured for 

 the final product. 



The lumber and associated industries have for many generations 

 served to furnish employment as well as shelter and structural ma- 

 terials for the up-building of the American nation. Utilization phases 



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