various products arc sorted for different uses and 

 wliere \vaste is held to a minimum. Also a consid- 

 erable volume of fuel wood and some other products 

 are salvaged in separate operations following log- 

 ging for sawlogs and veneer, thus reducing losses 

 on these areas. 



The wastage of economically usefid material is 

 not unduly large but the existence of this unused 

 vohmie in the face of a growing timber shortage, 

 is a challenge to the landowners, loggers, and mill 

 operators. 



Trends in Dra 



in 



The rate of timber cutting, and the losses from 

 fires and other destructive agencies declined steadily 

 from 1890 to 1932. From 1933 to 1944, with indus- 

 trial recovery and the special stimulus of ^var de- 

 mands, cutting increased. Since the end of the war 

 drain has shown a tendency to level off or decline 

 (fig. 33). 



Drain on saw timber stands was reported slightly 

 more than 2,000 million board feet in the re- 

 appraisal (1944). This figure, as well as for other 



years prior to 1946, included fire and mlier \wn- 

 commodity losses which in 1946 and later years have 

 been considered not drain but mortality. Also the 

 1944 figures included the volimie cut from hard^sood 

 trees of the 10-inch diameter class, whereas in 1946 

 and subsequently this has been considered drain on 

 pole timber. Adjusted to a basis comparable to 

 1944. the drain in 1948 would have been about 

 1,730 million board feet. 



Total drain in cubic feet \vas reported as 747 

 million in 1944. Again this included fire and 

 other noncommodity losses amounting to 49 million 

 cubic feet. Also, it included some limb wood of 

 hardwood species omitted from 1948 drain. On a 

 comparable basis, the 1948 drain would have been 

 about 745 mdlion cubic feet. 



It is rather significant that while total drain in 

 cubic feet was practically the same in 1944 and 1948, 

 the drain on saw-timber-size trees declined appre- 

 ciably. It emphasizes a definite trend to-\vard use 

 of smaller timber not only for pulpwood and box 

 bolts but also for lumber, especially lumber for 

 riual construction and for a number of industrial 

 uses. 



r899 1909 1919 



FIOURF, '^?,.— Drain Ireiidi in lite Lake Statrs. 18S9-1948. (Docs not in/litdr fire ami 



iiisccl los\rs aflrr 1945.) 



40 



FnresI Resource Report No. 1, U. S. Depnrlnwnt of Aiiricultiirc 



