156 FOREST UTILIZATION INDUSTRIAL FORESTRY 



7. LUMBER DISTRIBUTION 



During the early days of the country, lumber was consumed within 

 short distances from the sawmills. With the cutting out of the vast 

 virgin timber resources of the Northeast and Lake States, lumber was 

 produced at considerable distances from the great consuming markets 

 which are generally in the centers of population and industrial ac- 

 tivity. In 1914, the average rail haul for lumber from mill to market 

 was 360 miles; in 1924, 725 miles; thus the distance was doubled in a 

 decade. Lumber coming to the Northeast generally travels an average 

 distance by rail of 840 miles; to the Lake States, 910 miles; to the 

 Central States, 1515 miles. The average rail haul from the Pacific 

 Northwest to the East is about 2600 miles, and the intercoastal water 

 haul via the Panama Canal from the West Coast to the Atlantic sea- 

 board is about 6000 miles. 



New York and Chicago with their heavily populated suburban dis- 

 tricts and adjoining cities normally consume about 20% of the total 

 country's lumber supply. The metropolitan district of New York City 

 generally consumes about 2,400,000 m.b.f. annually, and the Chicago 

 district about 2,200,000. Chicago is the most important rail shipping 

 center, but about one-third of the lumber reaching Chicago by rail is 

 reshipped to other destinations. Los Angeles probably leads the world 

 in the volume of lumber received and handled by water. Until re- 

 cently, relatively little of the ponderosa and Idaho white pines were 

 moved long distances. Approximately one-third of these two impor- 

 tant species are now moved into the eastern territory. Of the large 

 volume of Douglas fir, about 13% is used within the producing terri- 

 tory, 23% goes to California, 34% to the North Atlantic States, 

 largely by water shipment, and the balance of 30% is moved into the 

 Middle West. Lumber began to actively move through the Panama 

 Canal from the Pacific to the Atlantic Coast in 1920 when about 

 50 million b.f. were moved. The peak of these movements was over 

 2 billion b.f. in 1928. In 1933, it had dropped to 860 million b.f. 



Approximately 70% of our lumber is sold through wholesalers who 

 serve as middlemen between the lumber manufacturers and the re- 

 tailers and industrial or other consumers. About 70 to 80% of all 

 lumber is retailed to the ultimate consumer. The retailers purchase 

 direct from the sawmills as well as through wholesalers. 



The United States is the most important country in the world in its 

 volume and value of exports of lumber and sawn timbers. Other 

 important lumber-exporting nations are Russia, Sweden, Finland, and 

 Canada, in that order. Russia shipped a maximum of about 66,000,000 



