lively. In the case of Pacific coast Douglas fir floor- 

 ing No. 2, clear vertical grain, 1 by 4 inches, average 

 retail prices were as low as $85 in some western cities 

 and as high as $140 in some eastern, with freight 

 rates of $20 or less. In some cases the difference be- 

 tween present retail prices in producing regions plus 

 freight and retail prices in consuming regions exceeds 

 the total pre-war prices in the consuming region. 



Twenty years ago sawmills in Minneapolis were 

 cutting more than 500 million feet of lumber annually. 

 As tributary forests became exhausted these mills 

 were forced one by one to close down. The last re- 

 maining mill closed a year ago, and one of the larger 

 cities of the country, as well as the rich agricultural 

 region surrounding it, is today forced to obtain from 

 80 to 90 per cent of the lumber from Pacific coast 

 forests some 2,000 miles distant. Douglas fir, common 

 dimension, 2 by 4, from western Oregon and "Washing- 

 ton, for example, cost at retail in Minneapolis in 

 February, 1920, $60 to $65, whereas in 1900 2 by 4 

 dimension of white pine could be purchased for $15 

 to $20. The growing scarcity of white pine has 

 constantly tended to enhance its value. During Jan- 

 uary and February of this year it is said that the 

 relatively few remaining northern pine mills could ob- 

 tain almost any price desired for their lumber cut. 

 Price lists recently issued by two groups of mills, for 

 example, quoted prices varying $15 or more on the 

 same grades. 



Even in normal times lumber purchasers in non- 

 forested and depleted regions are at a distinct disad- 

 vantage over purchasers in regions of lumber produc- 



25 



