Only 10 stave and heading mills are known to be 

 operating in Indiana. These mills used about 2% 

 million board-feet of logs and bolts in 1952, worth 

 about 250,000 dollars (approximately 60 cents per 

 cubic foot) delivered at the mills. This industry 

 required about 16,000 man-hours of labor in the woods 

 and mills. Work is usually not steady because the 

 production of staves and heading fluctuates seasonally 

 and from year to year. In fact, the business is now 

 declining and the 1952 production was only about half 

 that of 1949. Also, the mills are portable and many 

 shift from county to county to take advantage of 

 available timber and local markets. 



The Handle Industry 



A number of plants in Indiana manufacture handles 

 for all kinds of striking tools, shovels, hoes, pitchforks, 

 etc. They do not use a large amount of wood — about 

 4 million board-feet of logs and bolts annually in 

 recent years — but the timber is usually high quality 

 and meets fairly rigid specifications (fig. 31). More 

 than half the wood used is ash and about one-third 

 is hickory; oak and maple make up most of the re- 

 mainder. Some manufacturers of small hand tools buy 

 lumber or squares cut to the proper dimensions for 

 further manufacture into handles. 



Logs and bolts delivered to the handle plants are 

 worth about 200,000 dollars, approximately 40 cents 

 per cubic foot. Nearly 15,000 man-hours of labor 

 are required in the woods and plants. 



Other Wood-Using Industries and Wood Uses 



The industries so far discussed use about 44 percent 

 of all wood production in Indiana and nearly all of 

 the high-quality wood. Also, they are about the only 

 Indiana industries processing wood for further manu- 

 facture. In addition, about 8,600 cords (550,000 

 cubic feet) of pulpwood were cut and shipped out of 

 the State in 1949. This production increased about 

 40 percent by 1952. Another 2,800 cords (180,000 

 cubic feet) were cut for excelsior and 160,000 cubic 

 feet were hewn into railroad ties. These three uses 

 account for about 2 percent of the wood used. 



The remaining production is for fuelwood, fence 

 posts, round mine timbers, and miscellaneous farm 

 timbers. These products required about 32 million 

 cubic feet of wood in 1949, about 54 percent of the 

 total, most of which was for fuelwood (fig. 32). Only 

 about half the fuelwood was cut from growing stock. 

 The other half was cut from saplings, dead and cull 

 trees, trees growing in narrow strips and fence rows, 

 and from logging and mill residues. Fuelwood has a 

 low value, but provides an outlet for much low-quality 

 timber and logging and milling residue that might not 

 be used otherwise. The use of wood for fuel is declin- 

 ing, however, and other uses are needed for the low- 

 quality wood that is accumulating in the stands. 

 Without these other uses it is unlikely that many 

 woodland owners will be able to remove enough of 

 such material from the woods to pre\-ent the low- 

 quality volume from increasing. 



Figure 31. — Hickory bolts be- 

 ing delivered to an Indiana 

 handle plant. Note the high 

 percentage of white wood in most 

 oj the bolts — the wood preferred 

 by the manufacturer. 



Indiana's Forest Resources and Industries 



23 



