A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 255 



former averages larger and distributes the charges over larger con- 

 tents. Improvements in design and -construction have reduced 

 the weight of wooden boxes about 25 percent in the last 10 years. 



Further reduction could be made by more general application of 

 information now available, but this would not materially broaden 

 the field of wooden containers, as the main reduction in weight 

 would come in the large sizes where there is as yet little competition 

 from fiber. Changes that are taking place in transportation and 

 handling methods favor the fiber box. From present indications it 

 does not seem likely that lumber requirements for boxes and crates 

 will go above the 1928 figure, and a decline is not improbable. 



CAR CONSTRUCTION 



The use of lumber in railroad car construction in 1928 showed a 

 decline of 252,682,000 board feet, or 20 percent, as compared with 

 1912. This was most likely due to a lesser volume of construction 

 rather than to disuse of wood as such. That freight-car construction 

 fluctuates violently is shown by such figures as 335,000 cars built in 

 1905 and 65,000 in 1908; 190,000 in 1909 and 98,000 in 1910; 180,000 

 in 1912 and 80,000 in 1914; 98,000 in 1925 and 72,400 in 1927. There 

 has been a great change in type of freight-car construction as affecting 

 consumption of lumber, but most of this change developed prior to 

 1912. The 275,000 all-wood freight cars built in 1905 constituted 82 

 percent of all cars; in 1910 the 38,000 all-wood cars were only 39 

 percent; in 1912, 8,500 such cars were 4.7 percent; in 1925, 7,700 

 amounted to 7.9 percent; and in 1927, the 350 all-wood cars made up 

 less than 0.5 percent of the total. 3 But in the part-wood freight car 

 the changes in design that are being made constantly are not greatly 

 changing the average wood consumption per car, which in 1912 was 

 about 2,000 feet. Passenger cars, which are few in number as 

 compared with freight cars, show a similar trend away from wood 

 construction 



FURNITURE 



Consumption of lumber for furniture increased by more than a 

 quarter of a billion board feet from 1912 to 1928, or 25 per cent. 

 This is not so far out of line with the increase ir population as to 

 indicate increasing displacement of lumber by other materials. 



More recent statistics from the Census Bureau throw valuable 

 light on the trend as between wood and metal furniture. From 

 1925 to 1929 metal furniture increased 17% percent in factory value, 

 while wood furniture (including fiber, rattan, reed, and willow) 

 made a 10 percent gain. The entire gain for metal was in furniture 

 and fixtures for offices, stores, and public buildings, and for labora- 

 tories, hospitals, barber shops, and the like. The use of metal 

 actually fell off 31 percent in factory value in household furniture, 

 while use of wood increased 7 percent. 



Metal furniture made up only 5 percent of the value of household 

 furniture in 1929. On the other hand, it contributed one third of 

 the value of furniture and fixtures not for household use, and here 

 it had held its own for several years. 



3 From Report No. 117, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 



