GENERAL 



twenty years, followed by Wisconsin, which also held the leadership in 

 lumber production for a period of almost twenty years. Within the past 

 two decades there have been rapid changes. Lumber production has 

 increased rapidly and the center of the industry has shifted to the south- 

 ern states, and now there is once more a period of migration: this time to 

 the Far West. 



The following table visualizes the gradual development in the lumber 

 industry from the northeast to the Lake states and then to the Far 

 South and finally to the northwest. In the year 1890, lumber production 

 was just beginning on a large scale in the Pacific northwest, and Wash- 

 ington held sixth place in the order of production by states. By 1900 

 it had risen to fifth place, in 1904 it occupied second place, and ever since 

 1905 this state has held first place. 



LUMBER PRODUCTION BY STATES FROM 1850 TO 1916 



The great center of present production is in the South where over 15,- 

 000,000,000 bd. ft. of southern yellow pine, out of a total of about 40,000,- 

 000,000 bd. ft., or over 37 per cent of the total lumber production in the 

 country is produced, principally in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, 

 North Carolina, Texas, Arkansas and Alabama in order of importance. 



In the year 1899, only 1,736,570,000 bd. ft. of Douglas fir were pro- 

 duced, whereas in 1905, 3,000,000,000 bd. ft. were produced, and in 1916 

 nearly 5,500,000,000 ft. of Douglas fir were produced. The production 

 of oak has been fairly uniform during the past few decades, but the pro- 



