g BULLETIN 768, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
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 1917 by 16,420 mills was 
33,192,911,000 board feet. The output of 2,652 mills cutting less 
than 50,000 board feet each is not included in the reported cut. An 
additional 2,470 mills were reported idle. The estimated total lum- 
ber production in 1917 was 36,000,000,000 board feet. The reported 
cut shows a decrease of 4.6 per cent from the 1916 figures; the num- 
ber of mills reporting, a decrease of 4.9 per cent; and the estimated 
total production, a decrease of 10 per cent. 
The conditions in and out of the lumber industry which contrib- 
uted to the decreased production in 1917 are obvious. War demands 
almost completely disrupted the usual channels of trade distribution. 
The softwoods which ordinarily are utilized for construction purposes 
in city and country were diverted to a large extent to Government 
war preparations—to the building of ships and the erection of build- 
ings for men and stores and to other types of emergency structures. 
Advanced prices of all material and high labor costs discouraged 
private building throughout the country; statistics covering 101 of 
the principal cities show that the estimated cost of buildings for 
which permits were issued was 29 per cent less in 1917 than in 1916, 
and that the number of permits fell off 23 per cent. Factories con- 
suming hardwoods to a marked extent in nonessential products cur- 
tailed their output or changed their line, and the decreased demand 
was not altogether offset by Government purchases and manufactures. 
A scarcity of cars for long periods, combined with general railroad 
freight congestion and prolonged embargoes in the East, made it 
difficult to ship lumber for other than Government use. Exports, as 
during 1916, were small because of the limited tonnage available. 
High wages paid skilled and common labor and the constant bidding 
for labor by construction companies in the war industries tended 
toward reduced output through depleting the crews in the woods 
and mills. Hundreds of small mill operators were unable to cope 
with the labor situation and did not operate, while hundreds of others 
found it more profitable to engage in other occupations. In 1916, 
67.38 per cent of the lumber reported cut was produced by mills cut- 
ting 5,000,000 feet or more annually; in 1917 the per cent was 71.19. 
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 all of the years are not directly comparable, since the intensive- 
ness of the individual annual canvass made must be taken into con- 
sideration. ‘The enumerations for 1899 and 1909 were made practi- 
cally complete through the employment of field agents of the Bureau 
