GENERAL 



RATE OF CONSUMPTION 



In 1880 the annual consumption of lumber in this country was 

 only 18,000,000,000 bd. ft.; now it is about 40,000,000,000 bd. ft. The 

 present supply, at the present rate of consumption, but without allowing 

 for the increase in population, will last about seventy years. (Increment 

 in American forests is only about one-third of that in Europe, and in addi- 

 tion we have about 200,000,000 acres of virgin timber where decay offsets 



APPROXIMATE ANNUAL CONSUMPTION OF LUMBER AND WOOD PRODUCTS 

 IN THE UNITED STATES >■ 



Products. 



Amount of 

 Product. 



Equivalent in 

 Thousand 

 Bd. Ft." 



Wastage ^ in 

 Production 

 Thousand 

 Cubic Feet. 



Total Annual 



Consumption 



Thousand 



Cubic Feet. 



Lumber, bd. ft 



Fuelwood, cords 



Fence posts, pieces 



Cross ties, pieces 



Pulp wood, cords 



Round mine timbers, cubic feet . . . 



Shingles, pieces 



Taimins — wood and bark, cords . . . 



Distillation wood, cords 



Veneers, bd. ft 



Slack cooperage, staves 



Slack cooperage, sets of heading. . . 



Slack cooperage, hoops 



Tight cooperage, staves 



Tight cooperage, sets of heading. . . 



Poles and piling, pieces 



Lath, pieces 



Excelsior, bd. ft *..... 



Miscellaneous, including rails, house 

 logs, grape stakes, logs used in 

 round, hop poles, converter poles, 

 props, vehicle stock, derrick 

 poles, etc., not included above . 



40,000,000,000 



100,000,000 



500,000,000 



150,000,000 



6,000,000 



165,000,000 



12,000,000,000 



1,300,000 



r, 500,000 



500,000,000 



1,328,968,000 



106,000,000 



353,215,000 



500,000,000 



40,000,000 



8,000,000 



3,163,000,000 



100,000,000 



40,000,000 



50,000,000 



2,500,000 



4,950,000 



3,000,000 



990,000 



1,200,000 



650,000 



750,000 



500,000 



553.700 

 117,000 

 265,000 

 850,000 

 133,000 

 800,000 

 632,000 

 100,000 



6,000,000 



100,000 



50,000 



350,000 



60,000 



30,000 



100,000 



33.000 



12,000 



60,000 



70,000 



90,000 



20,000 



10,000 



1,000 



9.333.333 

 9,100,000 

 800,000 

 762,000 

 600,000 

 196,000 

 160,000 

 150,000 

 147,000 

 143,000 



127,000 



116,000 



63,000 



9,333 



200,000 



Total consumption. 



22,029,666 



Per capita consumption, 

 estimating population at 

 1 10,000,000 people 



200.27 cu.ft. 



> Board feet of lumber have been converted to cubic feet at the rate of 12 bd. ft. =1 cu. ft., round 

 material at 6 bd. ft. = I cu. ft., cords to bd. ft. generally at 500 bd. ft. = i cord, and cords to cubic feet 

 at I cord =90 cu. ft. For other conversion factors see tables in Chapter I and various other chapters 

 relating to subject. 



2 It is obvious that certain forms of forest products could not be actually converted intc bd ft., for 

 example, fuelwood and pulp wood. The table is offered for the purpose of rough comparison The 

 amounts expressed in thousand bd. ft. in this column have not been converted to cubic feet except in 

 the case of lumber, veneers and excelsior. 



' This includes waste in logging such as tops, stumps and cull logs and waste in manufacturing 

 such as bark, kerf, slabs, trimmmg and edging, etc., but does not include waste by fire, insects, decay, 

 windfall, etc. 



