WOOD-USING INDUSTRIES OF MONTANA. used in the state are purchased at an average price trunks. Eighty-five and five-tenths per cent of 



all of the cottonwood reported is employed for 

 veneers and excelsior, while 11.9 per cent of it is 

 used for cabinet work. A greater variety of woods 

 is used for fixtures than for any other manufac- 

 tured wooden commodity. None of the industries 

 reported employ less than two species. 

 Summary of Average Prices 



Table XIV gives a summary of the average 

 prices paid for each kind of wood by the various 



times used for cores to be covered with veneers 

 of higher grade woods. 



Woods for patterns must work easily with hand 

 tools and must retain their form after manufac- 

 ture. The white pine of Idaho and Montana is a 

 superior wood for this purpose and is employed 

 in quantities throughout the Western United 

 States. Its principal competing species are west- 

 ern red cedar and redwood. Wood {or tne manu- 

 facture of excelsior must be light in weight and 

 tough. Veneers for baskets or berry boxes must 

 be strong, tough, light and odorless. Cottonwood 

 is the best species available in the Northwest for 

 excelsior, berry boxes and baskets. 



TABLE X MISCELLANEOUS. 

 (Veneer, Patterns and Excelsior.) 



of $11.50 per thousand feet, delivered at the fac 

 tory. 



Eight specific wood-consuming industries are 

 reported within the state, while three industries 

 manufacturing veneer, patterns and excelsior arft 

 classified as miscellaneous. 



The manufacture of sash and doors is second 

 only in importance to the production of boxes, 

 and sash and door factories take 27 per cent of 

 the wood annually consumed. The excellent qual- 



ItUQ VVUUVi CLllllUCLllJ' ^VJllOUiJlClU. A (1C CA^CIICJ.1 I \ U O.1 - , - , ~ f - 



ity of locally-grown woods favors the sash and industries of the state. The range in the price 

 door industry. For high grade softwood sash and of . the , sanle wood Indicates the varying quality re- 

 quired by the various industries. Native species, 

 such as western yellow pine and western white 

 pine, vary greatly in price according to the use 

 intended. Yellow pine for boxes brought an aver- 

 age delivered price of $10.67, while cabinet-makers 

 employing this wood paid $50 per thousand feet 



.... ., . .... __, ,. .... . for the quality of material they required. Western 



of the lumber delivered for consumption at the white pine for boxes cost $15 per thousand feet, 



doors no wood is superior to western yellow pine 

 and western white pine. The local demand for 

 such doors is extensive because of the natural 

 settlement of the state, and quantities also find 

 distribution throughout the United States. 



Table XII shows the apportionment of consump- 

 tion by the industries of the state and the cost 



Summary of Woods Used by Manufacturing Plants 



Table XI shows the quality and cost of each 

 species employed by Montana wood-using indus- 

 tries exclusive of planing mills; also the propor- 

 tion grown in the state and the proportion im- 

 ported. The total quantity, 6.065.000 board feet, 

 indicates the present development of wood-using 

 r. -H -lories in the state. Of this quantity, 64.45 per 

 cent was grown in the state and 32.55 per cent 

 imported. Eastern hardwoods and Douglas fir 

 from the Pacific Coast comprise practically all the 

 woods imported. 



The total cost of all woods used by secondary 

 industries was $157,257, with an average cost of 

 $25.93 per thousand feet. Cherry and walnut im- 

 ported from the East and used for fixtures, are 

 the most expensive woods used in the state, and 

 cost $130 per thousand feet, delivered at the fac- 

 tory. The cheapest wood employed by the in- 

 dustries of Montana is western larch, with an 

 average cost of $11.14 per thousand feet delivered. 

 Practically all of the western larch is used for 

 boxes and crates. 



Western yellow pine, all of which was grown 

 within the state, furnished 55.1 per cent of all 

 the wood used by secondary industries, while 

 Douglas fir, 94.04 per cent of which was imported, 

 furnished 22.1 per cent of the wood used. Only 

 5.96 per cent of the Douglas fir reported for the 

 state was locally grown. 



Black cottonwood is the only local hardwood 

 employed by Montana industries. This species 

 furnished 3.48 per cent of the wood consumed by 

 the industries. 



Sixteen distinct species of wood were reported 

 for Montana and nine of these were supplied en- 

 tirely from without the state. 



The small diversity of wood-working plants and 

 the low grade of articles produced is indicated 

 by the minor consumption of hardwoods, which 

 supply only 5.91 per cent of the total annual con- 

 sumption of wood as reported in Table XI. While 

 western white pine and western larch are cut in 

 quantities by Montana sawmills, these two im- 

 portant native species yielded only 7.71 per cent 

 of the total consumption by secondary industries. 

 Western red cedar furnished only 0.41 per cent 

 of all of the wood used in the wood manufacturing 

 industries of Montana. Seventy-six per cent of 

 the western red cedar was imported, chiefly from 

 Western Washington and Idaho. The cedar grown 

 locally is employed principally for poles, piling 

 and posts. 



factories. 



The wood used for wagon stock has the highest 

 average price, which is $94.71 per thousand feet. 

 This industry is supplied entirely by Eastern hard- 

 woods, which must bear a heavy freight rate be- 

 fore delivery, and are, furthermore, high priced 

 in the region of their production. Woods used 

 for furniture repair rank second in their average 

 price at the factory. The total cost of all wood 

 used annually by the secondary industries' of 

 Montana is $157,257. 



TABLE XII SUMMARY OF WOOD USED BY 

 MONTANA INDUSTRIES. 



Kinds of Wood Used by Different Industries. 

 Table XIII shows the percentage apportionment 

 of the kinds of wood used by the various indus- 

 tries of the state. Douglas fir and western white 

 pine each supply five different industries, but are 

 employed in like industries in only two instances, 



while pattern-makers paid $40 per thousand feet 

 for the same species. 



In general, the box industry paid the minimum 

 price for its raw material, while the material em- 

 ployed in the repair of wagons brought the highest 

 average price. Woods obtained from outside the 

 state were generally the most expensive employed, 

 both on account of freight charges and their rela- 

 tive scarcity. 



The National Forests of Montana 

 The area of the state of Montana is given as 

 93,806,080 acres, 93,296,640 acres of land and 509,- 

 440 acres of water surface. Twenty and five-tenths 

 per cent, or 19,205,100 acres of Montana's gross 

 area, is included in the National Forests. Of this 

 area approximately 3,000,000 acres are in private 

 ownership, leaving a net of 16,192,503 acres of Na- 

 tional Forest land. These forests are confined 

 chiefly to the more mountainous western and 

 southwestern sections of the state, and contain 

 little or no agricultural land. 



The following species occur in large quantities 

 on the National Forests: Western yellow pine, 

 western white pine, western larch, lodgepole pine, 

 Engelmann spruce and Douglas fir. The esti- 

 mated stand for all species of timber on the Na- 

 tional Forest areas of Montana is approximately 

 39,500,000,000 feet, board measure. 



Timber on the National Forests is for sale 

 where it is mature or dead, and can be cut without 

 injury to streamflow. Contracts for short or long 

 term periods are granted, depending upon the 

 quantity of timber sold and the cost of improve- 

 ments necessary to get it to market. All timber 

 over $100 in value is advertised for thirty days 



TABLE XIII PER CENT OF DIFFERENT WOODS USED BY EACH INDUSTRY. 



namely, for boxes and for sash and doors. West- 

 ern yellow pine, which supplies 55.1 per cent of 

 all of the woods used in the state, is employed in 

 four different industries; 66.8 per cent of all of 

 the western yellow pine reported is manufactured 

 into boxes and 26.8 per cent is consumed by sash 

 and door factories. Engelmann spruce, western 



TABL-E XI SUMMARY OF WOODS USED BY MANUFACTURING PLANTS IN MONTANA. 



Consumption by Industries. 



The manufacture of boxes in Montana takes 44.5 

 per cent of all of the wood reported as used by 

 the secondary wood-consuming industries of the 

 state. The box industry is fostered by the suoply 

 of excellent box woods, such as western yellow 

 pine and western white pine and the local ot 



birch, yellow poplar, elm, cherry and walnut are 

 each employed in one industry only. Eastern 

 basswood and hickory each supply two industries; 

 58.8 per cent of the basswood is used for trunks, 

 while 85.8 per cent of the hickory is employed for 

 wagon repairs. 



Cottonwood, the only native hardwood used by 



for competitive bids. Smaller amounts than 

 $100 worth can be sold directly by the forest of- 

 ficers on the ground. Certain restrictions in cut- 

 ting are required in order to insure protection 

 from fire and to young growth, and to provide 

 for reproduction. These restrictions are estab- 

 lished practical methods and have been applied 

 successfully in a large number of cases. Timber 

 is scaled, and paid for on that basis. Advance 

 deposits sufficient to cover approximately three 

 months' cut is the general plan of payments re- 

 quired, although this may be modified to meet 

 special requirements in particular cases. Infor- 

 ation concerning the bodies of timber available 

 for cutting may be obtained from the District 

 Forester at Missoula, Montana, or from the local 

 Forest Supervisor. 



In 1910, 36,754,000 feet of timber were cut on 

 the National Forests in Montana, while the saw- 

 mills of the state reported a cut of 319,089,000 feet. 

 The greater part of the timber cut on the National 

 Forests is sawed into lumber. A large amount, 

 however, is used as mining timbers in the mining 

 regions around Butte, Anaconda, Great Falls and 

 Red Lodge. The following list shows the classes 

 of material cut in 1910: 



Saw timber, thousand feet, B. M 36,754 



Poles, number 135,694 



Posts, number 191,721 



Cordwood, cords 24,005 



Total, including all classes, M ft. B. M 54,733 



Uses of Different Kinds of Wood as Reported by 

 the Wood-Using Manufacturers of Montana 



Basswood Automobile bodies, trunk boxes, trunk 

 trays, vehicle body sides. 



Black Cottonwood Berry boxes, cabinet work, 



nearby demand for boxes. The grade of lumber Montana industries, furnishes raw material for chip baskets, drawer bottoms, drawer sides, ex- 

 required by this industry is low and the box woods cabinet work, fixtures, veneers, excelsior and celsior, fixtures, furniture, interior finish (back- 



