IMPORTANCE OF LUMBER STATISTICS 



BY 

 GEORGE K. SMITH 



Secretary National Lumber Manufacturers Association 



I N the lumber industry, as in all others, the con- 

 stantly recurring questions to be answered daily, 

 monthly and annually, are "How much?" and "How 

 many?" In order that the manager of a manufactur- 

 ing plant may have the means of answering these ques- 

 tions, daily reports from each department are made, 

 weekly statements are prepared, monthly summaries 

 are compiled, and annual reports are evolved. Such 

 collections of figures as these are known by the general 

 term of "statistics." The original use of the word 

 was confined to the enumeration of persons, but cus- 

 tom has made it apply to any systematic collection of 

 figures. 



In a most valuable and comprehensive paper entitled 

 "Stumpage," read by R. A. Long, of Kansas City, 

 at the thirteenth annual meeting of the Southern Lum- 

 ber Manufacturers' Association, New Orleans, Janu- 

 ary, 1903, this sentence was used, "Knowledge is an 

 asset, the result of which is profit." For the purpose 

 of this discussion, let us paraphrase this sentence and 

 say, "Statistics are an asset, the result of which is 

 profit, and the lack of them a liability, the result of 

 which is loss" 



In order that we may learn how this asset is acquired, 

 let us ask the manager of a large plant, how much it 

 costs to produce 1,000 feet of lumber, the unit of all 



