154 REDWOOD FORESTS OF THE PACIFIC COAST 



for such uses are not considered in the estimate of the stand — is 

 250,000,000 feet. At the present rate of cutting, therefore, the 

 supply will probably last for three hundred years. 



The rate of cutting will, however, increase and, as transporta- 

 tion is cheapened, may increase many hundred per cent. For 

 instance, the completion of an isthmian canal will open up the 

 entire market of the eastern states, where redwood will inevita- 

 bly replace white pine, causing an immense demand. On the 

 other hand, with the increased demand will come increased 

 economy in the utilization of the wood. At present only about 

 one-third of the tree emerges from the mill as sawn lumber. 

 Nothing but clear lumber is sawed. One may go through miles 

 of lumber yards at Eureka and examine millions of feet of lum- 

 ber without finding a knot or, indeed, an imperfection of any 

 kind. The upper branched third of the tree is left in the woods. 



In felling the tree there is much damage done. Although great 

 care and skill are exercised, the fall of one of these giants, weigh- 

 ing scores of tons, not infrequently splinters them ; occasionally, 

 too, a tree falls across its fallen fellows and thus produces great 

 destruction. 



In the mill the amount of lumber is diminished, first, by the 

 slabs cut from the outside of the log, and, second, by the saw- 

 dust. This last is an item of great importance, especially where 

 circular saws are used. The great saws used in the first cutting 

 of the logs make a cut five-eighths of an inch in thickness. This 

 means that if the log were cut directly into inch boards, more 

 than one-third of the wood would be converted into sawdust; 

 but this is not often done. The log is commonly first cut into 

 thick planks and beams, and these are subsequently cut into 

 smaller dimensions by smaller, thinner saws. Moreover, in most 

 of the great mills today the first cutting is done by band saws, 

 which are much thinner, and consequently convert less of the 

 log into sawdust. 



There is one cause of destruction from which this tree is en- 

 tirely exempt — that i*, fire. Containing no pitch, but, on the 

 other hand, a large amount of water, it will not burn when green. 

 No fire can run in a redwood forest. We shall, beyond reason- 

 able question, have the use of our supply of redwood ; shall not 

 have the pain of seeing it go up in smoke. It is the only one 

 of our coniferous lumber trees which is thus exempt. 



The redwood is entirely in private hands, having long ago 

 passed from government ownership. It is mainly held in small 



