New Orleans, La., May 1, 1912.] 



THE LUMBER TRADE JOURNAL 



25 



Kinds of wood 



TABLE 15. 

 FIXTURES. 



Quantity used annually. Av. cost Total cost Grown in Grown out of 

 FeetB. M. % per 1000 ft. f. o. b. factory. Ala., ft. B. M. Ala., ft. B. M. 



White oak 



Longleaf pine. 



Birch 



Red gum 



Chestnut 



Black walnut. 

 Yellow poplar. 

 Mahogany . . . 

 Shortleaf pine. 



500,000 



200,000 



100,000 



50,300 



50,200 



50,000 



49,700 



10,000 



9,800 



49.02 



19.61 



9.81 



4.93 



4.92 



4.90 



4.87 



.98 



.96 



$25.00 

 22.50 

 50.00 

 20.00 

 19.92, 

 40.00 

 25.15 



125.00 

 18.06 



Totals. 



Kinds of wood 



pine. 



Longleaf 



Red gum 



White oak 



Yellow poplar 



Red oak 



Willow oak. 

 Tupelo 



1,020,000 100.00 $28.11 



TABLE 16. 

 REFRIGERATORS AND KITCHEN 



Quantity used annually. Av. cost 

 Feet B. M. % per 1000 ft. f. o 



500,000 



205,000 

 156,000 

 50,000 

 34,000 

 33,000 

 25,000 



49.85 

 20.44 

 15.55 

 4.99 

 3.39 

 3.29 

 2.49 



$13.00 

 12.62 

 14.38 

 20.00 

 14.00 

 14.00 

 11.00 



Totals 1,003,000 100.00 $13.50 $13,545 937,000 66,000 



TABLE 17. 



CASKETS AND COFFINS. 

 Kinds of wood Quantity used annually. Av. cost Total cost Grown in Grown out of 



Chestnut 



Longleaf pine 



Cypress 



White pine 



Red cedar 



Shortleaf pine 



Totals. 



Kinds of wood 



Cypress 



Longleaf pine. 

 White oak. 

 Wild china. .. 



Totals. 



Woodenware and Novelties. 



Table 19 represents the smallest industry in Ala- 

 bama separately reported and tabulated. The out- 

 put consists chiefly of pails and tubs made of 'black 

 gum. A number of small commodities, grouped un- 

 der the name "novelties" and made of longleaf pine 

 complete the industry. In most states where wood- 



using has been studied, woodenware includes wash- 

 boards, ironing 'boards, bread boards, chopping 

 bowls, vegetable cutters, pie platters, and many 

 more, but in Alabama these articles are not report- 

 ed. The state has much timber that might be work- 

 ed into commodities which are widely used. The 

 industry is in its first stages, but no reason is ap- 

 parent why it may not expand to large proportions. 



Kinds of wood 



Black gum. . . . 

 Longleaf pine. 



TABLE 19. 

 WOODENWARE AND NOVELTIES. 



Quantity used annually. Av. cost Total cost Grown in Grown out of 



Feet B. M. % per 1000 ft. (f. o. b. factory. Ala., ft. B. M. Ala., ft. B. M. 



200,0001 65.57 $10.00 $2,000 200,000 



105,000 34.43 14.19 1,490 102,500 2,500 



Totals. 



305,000 



100.0U 



$11.44 



$3,490 



302,500 



2,500 



Miscellaneous. 



Table 20 represents odd commodities in quantities 

 too small to deserve mention as separate industries, 

 but they are important and some of the items which 

 are now small may in the future grow to represent 

 valuable industries. The table includes the manu- 

 facture of mine rollers, tanks, mirror and picture 



backs, patterns, picture frames and picture-frame 

 molding, trunks and sample cases, show j window 

 material, and street-sweeping compounds. White 

 pine at $100 per 1,000 feet is one of the highest- 

 priced woods reported in the state. It is carefully 

 selected from the best stock and is thoroughly sea- 

 soned. The cottonwood reported was in the veneer 

 form and was used by trunk makers. 



Kinds of wood 



Yellow poplar. 



Hickory 



Black gum. . . 

 Cottonwood . . 



Red gum 



Longleaf pine. 

 White pine... 



TABLE 20. 

 MISCELLANEOUS. 



Quantity used annually. Av. cost 

 Feet B. M. % per 1000 ft. f. 



53,500 



25,000 



15,000 



11,500 



10,100 



9,900 



3,000 



41.80 

 19.53 

 11.72 

 8.99 

 7.89 

 7.73 

 2.34 



$17.66 

 20.00 

 25.00 

 42.43' 

 24.75 

 20.201 



100.00 



Totals. 



128,000 



100.00 $23.89 



SUMMARY. 



Table 21 is a recapitulation of the nineteen in- 

 dustry tables. It represents the same woods that 

 are presented in Table 1, and the amounts are the 

 same in both tables, but the presentation is differ- 

 ent in tables 1 and 21. In the former table each 

 one of the woods is put down according to species 

 and the amount of that species is shown; in table 

 21 the figures are made out for the industries and 

 without regard to species. 



Percentage of Woods Used by Industries. 



Some industries use much more of one wood than 

 of another; no one uses all and some demand only 

 two or three. Twenty-one species are found in plan- 

 ing-mHl products, and no other industry demands 

 that many. Occasionally an industry takes the 

 whole quantity of a wood used in the state; for ex- 

 ample, all of the basswood manufactured in Ala- 

 bama went into planing-mill products; all the cherry 

 in car construction; all the hackberry and green 

 haw in furniture; and all the wild China in the 

 construction of boats. Table 22 shows how the vari- 

 ous woods demanded by manufacturers in Alabama 

 are distributed among the industries. 



Cost of Woods by Industries. 



Table 23 is the companion or counterpart of table 

 22. The first shows how the species are apportioned 

 among the industries, the second gives the cost of 

 each wood to the industry that uses it. It is ap- 

 parent from a glance at the table that all industries 

 do not pay the same price for the same species. One 

 may pay twice as much as another, but the cost is 

 not governed by chance, for in all cases where great 

 difference exists in the coat of a certain wood, satis- 

 factory reasons may be found for it. One may buy 

 the wood in the log; the other may demand it in the 

 form of carefully selected kiln-dried lumber. On 

 may want very high-grade material, another very 

 low-grade. Red gum in the table shows ten average 

 prices among as many industries, and yellow poplar 

 eleven. Basswood, haclfberry, green haw and wild 

 china, which are used by only one industry each, 

 have only one price each. A study of the table 

 should make it clear that the prices of lumber In 

 Alabama are not arbitrarily fixed by any man or set 

 of men, but that every buyer purchases the kind he 

 needs at the lowest price 'he can, and every seller 

 disposes of the kind he has to the buyer who will 

 pay most for it. The totals show nineteen average 

 prices, no two industries paying the same. 



Lessening Waste. 



Of late years the problem of lessening waste has 

 attracted serious attention in all industries that use 

 wood as raw material for manufacturing. Consider- 

 able progress has been made toward the problem's 

 solution, but much yet remains. While collecting 

 statistics in Alabama for this report, all manufac- 

 turers wno furnished information were asked to give 

 their experience in reducing waste aibout their estab- 

 lishments. The replies made it plain that manufac- 

 turers are interested in this matter and that it is no 

 new problem to them. Most of them have made pro- 

 gress toward its solution. 



There are four general classes of wood waste: 



First, that which occurs in the woods, and con- 

 sists chiefly of tops of trees for which logs have been 

 cut. Unnecessarily high stumps are in this class, 

 also the needless destruction of small timber in get- 

 ting out the merchantable sizes, and the abandoning 

 of small and defective logs. 



Second: The waste about the sawmill, consisting 

 for the most part of slabs and sawdust. To this may 

 be added the ends cut from boards to make them of 

 even length. 



Third: Waste at the factory. This consists of 

 sawdust, shavings and small blocks and edgings cut 

 from lumber in process of manufacture into finished 

 commodities. 



Fourth: The waste which results from the wrong 

 use of wood using more than need be or a better 

 grade or more costly kind that is necessary. 



Some of these wastes are unavoidable at times 

 and under certain circumstances. No business man 

 can, be reasonably expected to save when saving 

 costs more than wasting. As much as can be ex- 

 pected of any operator in the lumber business or in 

 any line of manufacturing is to save whatever can 

 be made to pay, and to study the situation to make 

 sure that no opportunity to save is allowed to pass. 



Woods Waste. In favored localities in some of 

 the northern states, hardwood distillation plants 

 make a profit from defective logs and tree tops aban- 

 doned in the woods by lumbermen. What would 

 otherwise be left to rot is converted into salable 

 commodities, such as charcoal, acids, etc. This can- 

 not be done in all places. Conditions must t>e favor- 

 able. Alabama's woods waste is largely pine, but it 

 might be saved in the same way as hardwoods in 

 the North. Reports, however, do not indicate that 

 much progress has been made in saving it. Large 



