16 



TIMBER DEPLETION, PRICES, EXPORTS, AND OWNERSHIP. 



!inall timber fit only for posts and fuel wood. The present 

 stand of similar material is close to 50 billion board feet, 

 or about one-eighth of the original stand. The total stand of 

 wood in New England is estimated to be 21 billion cubic 

 feet° (equivalent to about 70 billion board feet). Of this 

 40 per cent is saw timber or pulp wood and 60 per cent is fit 

 only for fuel. The average stand of all the wooded lands is 

 lOi cords per acre. The present stand of saw timber and pulp 

 wood is summarized by species in the following table : 



Million board feet, 

 lumber scale. 



Spruce and fir - 23,971 



White pine 9, 816 



Cedar 2, 789 



Hemlock 1, 804 



Yellow birch 2, 933 



Maple 2,897 



Beech 1,635 



Oak 1, 510 



960 



678 



374 



215 



100 



- 117 



Chestnut 



Paper birch- 

 Poplar 



Ash 



Pitch pine 



Other hardwoods . 



Total 49, 799 



Softwoods 38, 480 



Hardwoods 11, 319 



Of this total stand about three-quarters is softwood and one- 

 quarter hiirdwood, About one-half is of pulp-wood species — 

 spruce, fir, hemlock, and poplar. 



THE ANNUAL DRAIN UPON THE FOREST. 



In 1918 there were cut in New England 1,412,100,000 board 

 feet of lumber and 1,446,000 cords of pulp wood. The total 

 annual cut amounts to about 650 million cubic feet,' of which 

 G5 per cent is lumber, pulp wood, ties, etc., and 35 per cent fuel 

 wood and fence posts. In addition there is a loss of about 20 

 million cubic feet, due to disease, insects, and fire. The total 

 annual drain, therefore, is about 670 million cubic feet.' 



THE ANNUAL GROWTH. 



The annual growth of the New England forests is estimated 

 in round figures at 610 million board feet of saw timber. Of 

 this, about 434 million feet is softwoods and 176 million feet 

 hardwoods. In addition, there is a growth of 341 million cubic 

 feet not suitable for lumber. The total growth is 475 million 

 cubic feet.^ 



GROWTH COMPARED WITH CUT. 



The annual drain upon the saw timber of about 2 billion 

 board feet is nearly three and one-half times the annual growth 

 of 610 million board feet. The annual drain upon the fuel wood 

 of 235 million cubic feet is less by 106 million cubic feet than 

 the growth of. 341 million cubic feet a year. It is apparent, 

 therefore, that the growth of low-grade material is somewhat 

 in excess of the actual demands. In regard to lumber, pulp, and 

 other high-grade material, however, the situation is anything 

 but encouraging. 



THE LIFE OF THE INDUSTRY. 



About half of the entire present stand of saw and pulp 

 timber in New England is in commercial tracts ; the remainder 

 is in farm wood lots. It is particularly from the larger com- 



= Tbroiigliout the report board feet of lumber are converted to cubic 

 feet of standing timber, and vice versa, on tile basis of 219 cubic feet 

 to 1,000 board feet for saw timber and of 500 cubic feet to 1,000 board 

 feet for cordwood. 



'■' Equivalent to about 2,300 million board feet. 



' Equivalent to about 2,375 million board feet. 



' Equivalent to about 1,300 million board feet. 



mercial tracts that the cut of most of the , higher-grade mate- 

 rial coines at present. Few of even the larger timber owners 

 have more than a 20 years' supply. Most of the pulp mills will 

 be cut out in 20 years. Not over four or five companies own 

 stumpage enough to last for a longer period. Unless Canadian 

 wood is imported on an increasingly larger scale or effective 

 forestry measures are introduced immediately, the pulp indus- 

 try of New England will be largely a thing of the past within 

 30 years. Within the next 10 years the lumber cut will prob- 

 ably drop to about 1 billion board feet ; within 20 years most of 

 the timber areas containing high-grade lumber will be cut off 

 and the remaining timber will be either on farm wood lots or 

 on a few remaining large tracts and will be made up of second 

 growth or of trees which were left as worthless at the time of 

 the first cutting. The White Mountain National Forest and the 

 State forests may be counted upon to furnish a continuous 

 supply of saw timber, but unless their areas are materially 

 increased their share will be very small. 



PRESENT AND FUTURE CONSUMPTION OF LUMBER IN NEW 

 ENGLAND. 



Up to 30 or 40 years ago New England was not only self- 

 supporting in timber but exported large quantities. Within 

 the past 30 years it has become an importing region, and it is 

 estimated that fully 30 per cent of all the lumber used now 

 comes from outside the region. This is in addition to the im- 

 portations of large quantities of pulp wood. Within the next 

 few years New England will have to import more than half the 

 material it uses. This is of vital interest to a region that 

 has about $300,000,000 invested in wood and forest industries 

 and employs in this connection over 90,000 wage earners. 



NEW YORK. 



Practically the entire State of New York was originally 

 covered with a magnificent forest of white pine, spruce, hem- 

 lock, and hardwoods. The lumber industry was one of the first 

 to be developed. It reached its highest volume between 1830 

 and 1840 and was already declining at the time of the Civil 

 War. In 1850 New York ranked first among the States in 

 amount of lumber cut and contributed 20 per cent of the total 

 cut of the entire country. Since then it has been steadily de- 

 clining in relative importance until to-day it stands in twenty- 

 fifth place and contributes only 1 per cent of the total cut. Its 

 actual cut has decreased from over 1,300 million feet prior to 

 3850 to less than 350 million. 



As early as 1856 New York ceased to be an important ex- 

 porter of lumber and began to draw on Michigan for tlie upper 

 grades of pine. Pennsylvania hemlock, southern pine, and 

 cypress were used in large quantities from 1880 on, and West 

 Coast woods in upper grades and special sizes began to come in 

 about 1900. To-day Douglas fir from the Pacific northwest is 

 a very considerable factor in the lumber market of the State. 

 The steadily decreasing supply of native woods as compared 

 with the increase in population is illustrated by the fact that 

 Nev(' York's per capita production of lumber had fallen from 

 300 board feet in 1869 to about 30 board feet in 1918. 



With the gradual settlement of the State the area of forest 

 land steadily decreased until to-day it forms about 41 per cent 

 of the total area. The stand of timber is estimated at approxi- 

 mately 26 billion board feet, of which white pine, spruce and 

 hemlock comprise about 10 per cent each, and birch, beech', and 

 maple a total of 55 per cent. Spruce and hemlock suitable for 

 pulp wood but not lumber comprise some 13,400,000 cords, while 

 material of all species suitable only for fuel and acid wood adds 

 another 307,000,000 cords. This gives a total stand for the 

 State of approximately 17,132 million cubic feet." 



In quality, the present stand is decidedly inferior to that of 

 earlier days. White pine, of the large size and high quality 

 » Equivalent to about 49 bilUgn board feet. 



