A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1359 



the case of other commodities, because of the shifting centers of lumber 

 production. Active study may disclose that it is to the advantage of 

 both railroads and industry as well as to the public served to bring 

 about changes in the rate structure for lumber in particular. How- 

 ever, revisions large enough substantially to change the relation be- 

 tween competitive commodities seem unlikely. The possibility of 

 reduced transportation costs by means of inland waterways, such as 

 the Lakes-to-Gulf route, warrants careful scrutiny by timberland 

 operators. 



The eKmination of the hidden but nevertheless heavy burden arising 

 from crosshauling is a factor to be taken into account. The National 

 Lumber Manufacturers' Association estimates that, of the annual 

 freight bill for lumber of half a billion dollars, one tenth is for cross- 

 hauling that is unnecessary. Few deliberate steps have been taken 

 actually to cope with the situation. It is axiomatic that to realize the 

 advantages of home markets the standards of efficiency in production 

 methods must be kept abreast of those in the regions most aggres- 

 sive in reaching out for distant markets. The concentration of sales 

 and promotion activities in those zones nearest to source of supply is a 

 logical thing for the forest industries to work out, as systematically 

 and energetically as possible. As each producing region studies its 

 full possibilities, considerable reduction in crosshauling should follow. 



Important as reductions in freight rates and crosshauling are, basic 

 improvement can come only as the supply is brought closer to the 

 centers of consumption. Much land in the East from which timber 

 was cut in the earliest days is still forest land, but the growing stock 

 on these forests close to centers of population has not been adequately 

 maintained. Nevertheless, even the diminished output that has con- 

 tinued in this region has kept down the transportation factor to some 

 extent. 



The bulk of high-grade lumber must necessarily be supplied by the 

 West until eastern and southern forests are thoroughly rehabilitated. 

 Meanwhile the large uses for lumber, at present at least, are for 

 sheathing, framing, concrete forms, boxes and crating uses served 

 by such material as is now being produced in substantial quantities 

 from second-growth forests of the eastern and southern region and can 

 be relatively easily supplied in the future. Certain measures that may 

 confidently be anticipated to improve the competitive status of lum- 

 ber, such as treatments against decay, insects, fire, and shrinkage, are 

 as well met by second growth as by virgin growth. Also, for many of 

 the industrial uses of lumber, the increasing trend toward cutting of 

 the parts direct from the log at the point of production rather than 

 from lumber at the factory removes many of the present objections 

 to smaller second growth. 



It is the production of the common grades of lumber from the East 

 and South that keeps the price of western lumber down, and of the 

 high grades from the West that keeps the price of eastern lumber 

 down. This competition is at the expense of "skinning" the growing 

 stock in the East and the leaving of tremendous waste in the woods in 

 the West. Building up the older age classes in the forests in the east- 

 ern half of the country is essential in the interest of eventual lower 

 costs. The owners of eastern timberlands have difficulty in compre- 

 hending this fact in the face of continued shipment of cheap western 

 timber. The need for measures looking to the wider acceptance of the 



