Lumber Industry. 471 



country, especially the forestless prairies, the industry 

 grew at an astonishing rate. 



It is worth while to briefly trace the history of this 

 industry, for the sake of which the need of conserva- 

 tive forest policies is essential. 



That the petty method of doing business lasted un- 

 til the middle of the century is evidenced by the census 

 of 1840, which reported 31,560 lumber mills, with a 

 total product valued as $12,943,507, or a little over 

 $400 per mill. By 1876, the product per mill had be- 

 come $6,500; by 1890, with only 21,000 mills, it was 

 $19,000; in 1900, nearly the same number of mills 

 as were recorded in 1840 (33,035) furnished a product 

 of 566 million dollars, and in 1907, the banner year 

 of production, the cut of 28,850 mills was reported at 

 over 40 billion feet, and the gross product per mill had 

 grown to $23,000, or a value for all of $666, 641,367. 



In 1909, 48112 mills cut 44,509,761 000 feet valued 

 at $684,479, 859. Nearly half this product came from 

 the Southern States. 



In the fifty years from 1850 to 1900, the value of 

 all forest products harvested increased from $59 mil- 

 lion to $567 million, and in 1907 the value had risen to 

 $1,280 million, representing a consumption of over 

 20 million cubic feet of forest-grown material. 



Especially after the Civil War, the settlements of 

 the West grew as if by magic; the railroad mileage 

 more than doubled in the decade from. 1865 to 1875, 

 and with it, the lumber industry developed by rapid 

 strides into its modern methods and volume. How 

 rapidly the changes took place may be judged from 

 the fact that, in 1865, the State of New York still 



