8 WOOD-USING INDUSTRIES 



softwoods, such as the pines including white pine the cedar, cy- 

 press, hemlock and spruce, but also in the production of hardwoods, 

 such as oak, hickory, ash, yellow poplar, gum and chestnut. 



Except on the mountain sides, Virginia forests are not large 

 unbroken areas of timbered land as in the more Southern and far 

 Western States. Farm forests and cultivated fields checker the 'sur- 

 face. These farm forests comprise two thirds of the fifteen million 

 acres which is the estimated forest area of the State. In many Eastern 

 States the forests have been so often culled and cut over that the re- 

 maining wood lots are merely a forest cover of young growth with 

 a few larger trees capable of supplying only the needs of the) farm for 

 hre wood and material for fence repair. This is not the case in Vir- 

 ginia. According to a silvicultural study recently made by the Forest 

 Service, a large proportion of these farm lots are well wooded with 

 merchantable trees, and if given proper care and protection, it is 

 pointed out, will be capable of sustaining Virginia's maximum lumber 

 yield. The standing timber, according to a rough estimate by the 

 Forest Service in 1909, amounted to thirty billion feet. With the ex- 

 ception of two and one-half billion owned by lumber companies, all 

 of the remainder is included in the area covered by farm forests. 



In the pine region in the Southeastern part of the State there are 

 extensive modern sawmill plants which manufacture a large portion 

 of the lumber produced in Virginia. Besides these there are numerous 

 small sawmills and portable mills operating on wood lots and cutting 

 the hardwoods in the foothills and mountain regions. The census re- 

 port for 1909 showed Virginia had in active operation 3,511 mills, 

 which was a greater number than that shown by any of the other 

 forty-eight States; Louisiana, for instance, produced 1,400,000 feet 

 more than Virginia and had in operation only 656 mills. In Arkansas, 

 where the cut was almost equal to that of Virginia, there were 1,500 

 fewer mills. 



Resides these 3,511 sawmills in Virginia, there are a number of 

 subordinate wood using industries. A large portion of these take the 

 lumber from the sawmills and convert it into such finished products 

 as furniture, boxes, vehicles, cars and ships. Other mills take wood 

 in the form of bolts or logs and make them direct into finished products 

 like insulator pins, excelsior, hubs, spokes, handles, etc. It is with the 

 raw material of all these industries that this report is solely concerned. 



SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF STUDY 



An annual record of the output of the State's sawmills is being 

 kept; but what becomes of this lumber? Into what channels of use- 



