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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



VOL. XXIV 



MAY, 1918 



NO. 293 



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"MAKING THE FIR FLY 



.. 



BY JAMES A. PRESTON 



STATISTICIAN, WOOD SHIP DIVISION, EMERGENCY FLEET CORPORATION 



OUT in the dense forests of the Northwest, lumber- 

 jackies are working with a zeal never before equalled 

 to help produce the planks of fir that will be con- 

 structed by waiting shipbuilders into ships, the need of 

 which is vital to the interests of our country, our allies 

 and the democracy of the whole world. Thousands of 

 miles away in the heart of the Southland brother woods- 

 men are felling forests of yellow pine with the same pur- 

 pose behind every stroke of the ax and every swish of 

 the saw. 



Our forests stand ready then to do their share in this 

 great war, for the side of right and humanity. The great 

 forests that have stood long silent in their growth are 

 now called upon to give of their best, and all of their 



best to the revivified industry of shipbuilding, once a 

 leader among American industries but decadent for 

 more than the past century. Now that this once lost art 

 has again regained its proper sphere of supremacy, and 

 the cry for "ships and more ships" is trite, our forests 

 have a great and patriotic duty to perform. 



Already some 45,000,000 feet have been demanded of 

 them and they have responded well. Part of this 45,- 

 000,000 feet comes from the yellow pine forests in the 

 South but by far the greater portion is from the fir 

 forests of the Pacific Coast. 



Up to the present time the Pacific Coast ship yards 

 have launched twenty-six hulls, while the Atlantic and 

 Gulf coast have launched two hulls, and one has been 



Committee of Public Information 



UNLOADING FIR TIMBER 



The big logs arc being rolled from the cars which have brought them out of the forests, preparatory for the last stage of their journey to the mill 

 wnere they will be shaped for use in ship construction. About 500,000,000 feet of fir timber will be required for this purpose during the coming year, 

 of which more than 300,000,000 feet will be available for new contracts. 



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