Forestry and the Lumber Business. 



By J. E. Ehodes, Secretary Weyerhaeuser Lumber Co. 



[The writer of this article is associated with 

 one of the greatest lumber concerns in the United 

 States. While portions of the artcle refer especially 

 to conditions in that great republic, these contain 

 a moral for Canadians also, and the greater part 

 of the article applies to conditions in both coun- 

 tries. — Ed.] 



Forestry in its larger sense means the 

 preservation of the forests for use. Using 

 the forests involves lumbering; therefore 

 forestry and lumbering must eventually 

 become one consideration. Forestry 

 which does not contemplate the use of the 

 forest is not practical forestry and will 

 not appeal to practical men. It is, there- 

 fore, necessary that the forester should 

 know something of the conditions and ne- 

 <?essities of the lumber business. 



While I do not speak with authority, I 

 am more or less familiar with the views 

 which are held by many of the progressive 

 men of the lumber industry upon the sub- 

 ject of forestry. It is not strange that 

 the generation of lumbermen now passing 

 had but little patience with the theoretical 

 forester. The evolution of economic condi- 

 tions is only just now beginning to make 

 possible the consideration of the applica- 

 tion of scientific forestry principles to 

 lumbering operations with any hope of fin- 

 ancial gain. While it is true that forestry 

 methods are adaptable to lumbering in a 

 small way in certain localities and in cer- 

 tain species of timber, it is impossible to 

 apply them to the large lumbeiing opera- 

 tions in the Lake States, in the Southern 

 States, and in the States of the Pacific 

 Coast. 



Development of Luml)er Business. 



The lumber business has gone through 

 several stages of development. Like every- 

 thing else, it has proceeded along the eas- 

 iest and most natural lines. Up to 1807 

 it was not considered more profitable than 

 the majority of manufacturing industries 

 — indeed, not as profitable as the avera>;e. 

 Up to that time the views of our fathers 

 still prevailed to the effect that the for- 

 ests should be cut as rapidly as possible in 

 order that the land might be opened for set- 

 tlement. 



With the prosperity and expansion of the 

 nation, which began in 1898, the consump- 

 tion of lumber increased beyond all pre- 

 cedent, and continued in a large way up to 

 the close of 1907, when it was checked by 

 the panic. During the ten years from 

 1898 to 1907 the abnormal demand for lum- 

 ber was at times beyond the ability of the 



mills to supply. This resulted in the de- 

 velopment of new fields of timber in the 

 South and West, gave a value to many 

 kinds of timber which had been previously 

 considered almost worthless, and stimulat- 

 ed the building of many new mills. This 

 exploitation and development of the lum- 

 ber industry did not cease until the pro- 

 ducing capacity far exceeded all reasonably 

 possible demands for lumber. 



With the increased wealth of the peo- 

 ple the demand for lumber increased per 

 capita. From 1900 to 1908 the increase in 

 population was estimated at 22 per cent., 

 while the increase in the consumption of 

 lumber was 65 per cent. The consumption 

 of lumber per capita has been figured as 

 360 feet in 1890; in 1900 it was 400 feet, 

 and, on the basis of the census of 1910, 

 it was practically 500 feet. 



The Advance in Stumpage. 



Answering to the law of supply and 

 demand, the price of lumber advanced 

 considerably during the period between 

 1898 and 1907. It was during these years 

 that the public generally first came to re- 

 alize that the timber resources of this na- 

 tion are not inexhaustible. This realiza- 

 tion marked the second stage in the 

 development of the lumber industry in 

 this country. Together with the extra- 

 ordinary demand for lumber, it caused the 

 value of standing timber to advance 

 sharply. In 1890, Northern pine stumpage 

 (the estimates of which included only the 

 very best white pine) was sold for from 

 75 cents to $4.00 per thousand feet, de- 

 pending upon its location and character. 

 To-day it sells from $6.00 to $14.00 per 

 thousand feet, and the estimates cover 

 everything on the land, including white and 

 Norway pine, tamarack, spruce, balsam, 

 fir, jack pine and anything that will make 

 a sawlog. Yellow pine timber in the 

 Southern States was considered of very 

 little value and twenty five years ago sold 

 for 50 cents to $1.00 per thousand feet. 

 To-day the production of yellow pine con- 

 stitutes nearly one half the total lumber 

 output of the United States, including the 

 hardwoods. Yellow pine stumpage has 

 risen from practically nothing to from 

 $3.00 to $5.00 per thousand feet. 



In 1890, the total production of lumber 

 in the Lake States was over nine billion 

 feet, while in 1910 it was only about two 

 billion. More than five hundred mills which 

 M'ere at one time or another sawing north- 

 ern pine in Minnesota, Wisconsin and 



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