Softwood Lumber Production 
Southern yellow pine has always composed most of the lum- 
ber produced in the South, and in most years nearly all of 
the softwood lumber production (app. table 2.3). In the 
1870’s pine (yellow pine) lumber production in the South- 
east region exceeded that in the South Central region, with 
Georgia the leading State (app. table 2.5). By 1889, how- 
ever, the South Central region had higher production. In that 
year, both Texas and Alabama joined Georgia in producing 
over a half billion board feet of pine lumber. 
Just after the turn of the century, seven Southern States were 
each producing a billion board feet of pine lumber per 
year. Peak production in a State was reached in 1913, when 
3.1 billion board feet were produced in Louisiana, the lead- 
ing State for pine lumber production from the early 1900’s 
until the mid-1920’s. During this time, production occasion- 
ally exceeded 2 billion board feet in Mississippi and Texas, 
and 1 billion board feet in all States in the South except 
South Carolina, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. 
In the early 1900’s and into the 1920’s, cypress lumber pro- 
duction generally ranged between 600 million and 800 mil- 
lion board feet a year (app. table 2.6). Most of the cypress 
was cut from the bottomland forests in Louisiana, although 
production exceeded 100 million board feet for many years 
in Florida. 
In recent decades, with the recovery of the forests in the 
South, the production of softwood lumber has increased 
above the low levels of the early 1930’s. However, the har- 
vest of the young-growth stands has yielded lumber of lower 
quality than that produced from the old-growth stands. 
Nevertheless, southern pine lumber has continued to find a 
place in construction markets, and in recent years especially 
those markets using preservative treated lumber. 
Hardwood Lumber Production 
As in the development of the southern pine lumber industry, 
the depletion of old-growth hardwood timber in the North- 
east and Lake States caused manufacturers to turn to the 
South for a new source of hardwood supply. North 
Carolina saw the development of an important furniture 
manufacturing center whose output eventually rivaled both 
in quantity and quality the furniture made in New England 
and Michigan. The organization of the National Hardwood 
Lumber Association in 1898 did much to bring order and 
enforce grading standards within the industry. 
In terms of volume, hardwood lumber production in the 
South has never approached that of softwoods. From 1900 
through the 1920’s, production generally ranged between 
2 billion and 3 billion board feet a year (app. table 2.3). As 
with softwoods, production dropped during the Depression, 
but in the late 1940’s, production rose and since then has 
remained between 3 billion and 4 billion board feet in most 
years. 
Hardwood production has been spread among a number of 
species. The largest production has been oak and hickory 
(app. table 2.7). Red gum, tupelo, ash, cottonwood, and elm 
have also been important species in terms of volumes cut 
(app. tables 2.8 and 2.9). Tennessee, Arkansas, and Vir- 
ginia have been the most important producing States. 
Furniture and railroad crossties have long been principal 
uses of hardwood lumber. Other major uses include items 
such as pallets and manufactured products for both domes- 
tic and export markets. 
Technological Breakthroughs 
The major role played by the lumber industry in the South 
has been supported in part by continuing technological 
developments. In addition to early improvements in logging 
and milling equipment, development of wood-preservation 
chemicals and techniques helped build and hold markets for 
products such as railroad crossties and sawn timbers, poles, 
piling, and posts. A major problem of discoloration of south- 
ern pine lumber, blue stain, was eliminated in the late 
1930’s. Research conducted at the Southern Forest Experi- 
ment Station in New Orleans led to practical methods of 
controlling the fungus causing the problem. 
Later development of log debarkers, logging equipment, and 
mill machinery by both equipment manufacturers and tim- 
ber companies in the South, and their widespread adoption 
by the forest industries, helped reduce costs and increase 
utilization of available timber supplies. Thus the slabs, 
edgings, and similar material produced at sawmills, which 
previously had been wasted, became in time an important 
part of the raw material used by a rapidly expanding pulp 
and paper industry, as well as a source of income to lum- 
ber manufacturers. Research on laminated beams and tim- 
bers at the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, WI, and 
the subsequent development of manufacturing facilities in 
southern mills to produce these new products led to the use 
of young-growth southern pines for high-quality end 
products. 
