262 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



launched from the Great 

 Lake yards. The estimat- 

 ed launching dates of the 

 other hulls now under con- 

 tract indicate that the total 

 output of launched hulls for 

 the Pacific Coast yards and 

 the Atlantic and Gulf Coast 

 yards will l>e about cquil 

 in the middle of August 

 We have taken upon our- 

 selves the task of trans]>ort- 

 ing supplies and munitions 

 for England and France as 

 well as the transporting of 

 our Sammies to the other 

 side, and it therefore is up 

 to us to produce. As fast 

 as it is possible we are call- 

 ing the large vessels that 

 we now own away from this 

 coastwise and Pacific trade 

 and putting them into trans- 

 Atlantic service. We need 

 the big and fast boats as 

 transports and supply ships. 

 But all such vessels called 

 from their merchant trade 

 must be supplanted by oth- 

 er ships for the trade must 

 continue. It is not necessary that these supplemen- 

 tary ships be large or is it vital that they be fast, 

 and it therefore falls upon our small wood boats to 

 carry out this less spectacular but equally as important 

 part in the solution of the shipping problem. However, 

 this does not mean that the wooden ship will not be a 

 prominent factor in our trans-Atlantic service. 



Forestry experts estimate 

 that the total fir for ship 

 timbers during the year 

 March I, 1918, to March 1, 

 1919, will amount to about 

 500,000,000 feet, and the 

 total production of yellow 

 pine ship timbers will be 

 around 375,000,000 feet, 

 making a total estimate of 

 875,000,000 feet of avail- 

 able ship timbers. The 

 Shipping Board states this 

 is the minimum figure. 



Of this estimated 500,- 

 000,000 feet of fir ship tim- 

 bers, 150,000,000 feet will 

 be utilized to complete ex- 

 isting contracts of the West 

 Coast yards and the At- 

 lantic and Gulf and Great 

 Lake yards will take some 

 38,000,000 feet more, leav- 

 ing approximately 312,000,- 

 000 feet of fir available for 

 new contracts during the 

 coming year. Existing con- 

 tracts will claim 103,210,202 

 feet of yellow pine, allow- 

 ing 271,789,798 feet avail- 

 able for future contracts. 

 With existing contracts unfilled taking about 291,000,- 

 000 feet, the balance of available ship timber for new 

 construction will amount to 584,000,000 feet, or equiva- 

 lent to approximately 385 new hulls. 



The operations in the fir forests of the west have been 

 under the supervision and direction of the Fir Produc- 

 tion Board. This Board consists of Mr. J. H. Bloedell, 



Committee of Public Information 



A GIANT OF THE FOREST 

 This is a sample of the great size to which Douglas fir grows in the state 

 of Washington. These loggers of the Pacific Lumber Company Dwarf 

 into insignificance as they chop away at the big fellow who will soon come 

 crashing to the ground to be hauled away and made into ship timbers. 

 Long has this fine specimen stood in the silent forests of the Northwest 

 awaiting the day when America would need such lumber for the vast 

 fleet of wooden vessels now being constructed to help win the war. 



Photograph by International Film Service 



"SOMEWHERE IN TEXAS" 



Nine vessels on the ways at a shipyard in Texas where work is being rushed on the vessels for Uncle Sam's wooden fleet. These vessels 

 are J largc8t woo "> steamers ever constructed. Ships like these must be turned out as rapidly as possible if the United States is going 

 to ship its men and supplies to Europe as fast as they are needed. The forests of the United States are performing a great service in backing 

 up the men at the front. 



