2 BULLETIN 845, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



of the Rocky Mountains was done in the Washington office of the 

 Forest Service. 



As in former years, the census was carried on in cooperation with 

 the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association, which contributed 

 financial assistance, and aided, through its affiliated organizations, in 

 securing reports from the mills. 



TOTAL LUMBER PRODUCTION. 



The quantity of lumber reported cut in 1918 by 14,753 mills was 

 29,362,020,000 board feet. The output of 2,887 mills cutting less 

 than 50,000 board feet each is not included in the total cut. An 

 additional 2,795 mills were reported idle. The estimated total 

 lumber production by 22,546 mills in 1918 was 31,890,494,000 board 

 feet. The reported cut shows a decrease of 11.5 per cent from the 

 1917 figures; the number of mills reporting, a decrease of 10 per cent; 

 and the estimated total production, a decrease of 11 per cent. 



Many of the conditions which were responsible for the slowing up 

 of production in 1917 continued for the greater portion of 1918, and 

 in some instances were accentuated prior to the signing of the armi- 

 stice in November. War demands of both a direct and indirect 

 character resulted in the taking up of the lumber produced from the 

 usual avenues of utilization. 



Ever increasing prices for lumber and other building materials, 

 railroad freight embargoes, car shortages, high wages, and scarcity 

 of labor, curtailed credits, and the discouragement by the Govern- 

 ment of all activities other than those aimed to help win the war 

 cut down the demand for lumber for the first 10 months of 1918.. 

 Illustrative of building conditions, statistics for the year show the 

 value of construction for which permits were issued in 148 cities of 

 the country to have been approximately $415,000,000, a decrease of 

 39 per cent from the year before. The decline in 1917 from 1916 

 was 29 per cent. Conditions at the mills were of a trying character 

 because of the scarcity of skilled labor and the large turnove: in 

 both skilled and unskilled labor, increasing costs along every line, 

 and because of the difficulty in making shipments on orders. Ex- 

 port trade remained at a low ebb, for not only was foreign business 

 light but tonnage available was limited. Many small mills did not 

 operate because of unsatisfactory market conditions; 2,795 mills 

 reported idle. The number of big mills operating — those cutting 

 upward of 5,000,000 feet annually — decreased 5 per cent from the 

 year before; the 1,290 mills falling into this classification cut 70.68 

 per cent of the aggregate output of the country. 



The reported lumber cut, the number of active mills reporting, and 

 the estimated annual total cut are given in Table 1 for each year 

 since 1899 for which data have been compiled. The statistics for 



