8 



as haying no possible relation to practical life. I think that since the 

 present Secretary of Agriculture first came into Congress here there 

 has been a complete revolution in the attitude of the public mind toward 

 this question. We have reached a point where American foresters 

 trained in American forest schools are attacking American forest prob- 

 lems with success. That is the way to meet the larger work you have 

 before you. You must instill A'our own ideals into the mass of 3'our 

 fellow-men and at the same time show your ability to work with them 

 in practical and business fashion. This is the condition precedent to 

 your being of use to the body politic. 



THE EXHAUSTION OF THE LUMBER SUPPLY. 



By E. L. McCoRMiCK. 



President of the irississijyjn Vallei/ Lumbermen's Association, and Secretary of the Weyer- 



Jiaeuser Timber Company. 



Every man in the lumber business to-day whose dealings are of 

 sufficient extent to be subject to influences beyond those of purely 

 local demand and supply realizes that the lumber industr}' is in many 

 regions confronted by a growing scarcity of available timber. Statis- 

 tics point to it. Estimates of timber resources still remaining point 

 to it also. But the strongest proof lies in the conditions which already 

 affect our industry. 



It is just cause for congratulation that so far as the actual harvesting 

 of timber and its manufacture into lumber is concerned, American 

 lumbermen are far ahead of those of any other countr}^ in enterprise, 

 ingenuity, and skill in methods and machinery. But in spite of the 

 money saved in lumbering b}' better methods, we are obliged to charge 

 more and more for our lumber in order to manufactare it at a profit. 

 In every operation in the woods and in the mill rigid economy is 

 necessary now instead of the loose and lavish methods under which it 

 was possible formerly to make lumbering a profitable business. We 

 have gone so far already' that it is probable we can not materially 

 lower the cost of our product in the future. Labor-saving devices 

 can never in themselves prove an adequate remedv. * The trouble lies, 

 not in the cost of manufacture, but in the dwindling supplies of the 

 timber itself. 



It is not necessary to turn to statistics for proof that the supply of 

 certain kinds of valuable timber trees of the United States is rapidly 

 failing, of others is practically gone, and of still others has entirely 

 vanished as a factor in the lumber market. For example, ten 3'ears 

 ago the use of balsam in the manufacture of paper pulp was practically 

 unknown. The eastern hemlock is now valuable for its timber as well 



