UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 



Contribution from the Forest Service 

 HENRY S. GRAVES, Forester 





Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER 



February 27, 1918 



LUMBER USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WOODEN 



PRODUCTS. 



By J. C. Nellis, Forest Examiner. 



The importance of the wood-working industries among the manu- 

 facturing industries of the country is indicated by the fact that 

 lumber-working plants, of all classes, consume annually 24J billion 

 feet of wood. This is about 60 per cent of the annual lumber pro- 

 duction of approximately 40 billion feet. The material is mostly lum- 

 ber, but includes comparatively small quantities of veneer, bolts, 

 and dimension stock. 



This report presents statistics showing the average annual con- 

 sumption of wood by the wood-working industries in the United 

 States. The basic data were secured by a series of State wood-using 

 industry studies. Those for the more important States have been 

 published separately. Although the State studies were begun in 

 1909 and were not completed until 1913, a period of 12 months was 

 made the basis for the statistics for each State, and the final figures 

 for the whole country here presented are therefore a very good average 

 of the demand of each industry and the demand for each kind of 

 wood. 



Lumber usually is remanufactured to a greater or less extent be- 

 fore use, and in this report the product of the sawmill is not consid- 

 ered. However, planing mills operated in connection with sawmills 

 manufacture large quantities of flooring, ceiling, siding, finish and 

 other patterns which really are finished products, and such material 

 accordingly is covered by the statistics. 



About 40 per cent of the annual lumber cut is not worked by plan- 

 ing njills or factories into finished products. About one-fifth of this 

 (in normal times) is exported, while the rest is used in general build- 

 ing and rough construction. Though all construction lumber re- 

 quires cutting to length to make it fit into place, this industry was 

 not considered by the studies, which canvassed only the wood-working 

 factories. All imported woods used by factories are included in the 

 statistics. 



11909°— 18— Bull. 605 1 



