992 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



improved quality of wood glues or improved methods of wood gluing. 

 Probably five firms with an average of one technical man each would 

 cover the wood-gluing branch of the industry. 



An informal estimate by the National Lumber Manufacturers' 

 Association places the normal collective expenditures for research 

 by this and federated associations at $500,000 a year, under 1929 

 conditions. Most of this was for forest products research. At the 

 present time the research expenditures by these organizations are 

 undoubtedly much less. The expenditures prior to the depression 

 were partly in the form of small contributions to Federal and State 

 forest products laboratories for investigation of specific problems, 

 but they covered also research at laboratories maintained by some 

 of the associations themselves, notably those of the West Coast 

 Lumbermen's Association and the National Lumber Manufacturers' 

 Association. Subjects studied by the latter in 1930 included heat 

 transmission of wood, air infiltration through frame walls, wood in 

 oil-derrick construction, structural and other tests of wood floors, 

 fire retardant treatment of wood, and fire tests of air-plane hangars, 

 timber columns, partitions, and wood floors. 



Not all the research of lumber companies, however, is devoted to 

 forest products. One large company, for example, has made an 

 extensive inventory of its cut-over lands to determine the amount and 

 condition of reproduction that was coming in, and the value of the 

 lands for agriculture and other purposes. Another has made an 

 extensive investigation of selective logging, and has classified the 

 climatic conditions in the localities in which it is collecting seed, for the 

 information and protection of seed purchasers. Various companies 

 have cooperated with the Forest Products Laboratory and with 

 certain States in detailed studies of logging costs and returns designed 

 to determine the sizes of trees that can be economically logged, as well 

 as the advantages of leaving small saw-log trees for further growth. 

 The aggregate of such investigations is not large but is increasing. 



Wood enters directly or indirectly into the manufacture of so many 

 additional commodities automobiles, matches, linoleum, etc. in 

 connection with which research establishments are maintained by the 

 large producers that it is impossible to determine with any accuracy 

 the amount of research devoted by these industries to wood products. 



A conservative estimate of the present aggregate expenditure on 

 forest product research by the industries is $2,500,000. 



A few organizations are supporting research relating to game, but 

 relatively little is 'spent on forestry aspects of this research. 



SUMMARY 



From the incomplete estimates that have been brought together 

 in the preceding discussion, it would appear that expenditures for 

 endowed, industrial, and other privately supported forest research of 

 all descriptions are about as follows : 



Forest schools. $60, 000 



Other university departments 60, 000 



Foundations 180, 000 



Arboreta and botanical gardens 50, 000 



Industries 2, 500, OOP 



Total 2,850,000 



Nearly 90 percent of the total is for industrial research concerned 

 with forest products, and 70 percent is for pulp and paper research. 



