COMMODITY 

 GROUP 



LumDer 

 Veneer 



Pulpwood 



Poles 

 ond piles 



Cooperoge 

 Fuel wood 

 Cross ties 

 Fence posts 



WOODS LABOR 



^^^^/////////////////////A 



PLANT LABOR 



200 100 100 



Labor <mon-tiours) 



TOTAL 



LABOR 



(mon-tiours) 



400 



390 



120 (270) 



153 



170 (315) 



220 



300 



Figure 26. — Labor requirements for producing 

 various commodities from IfiOO cubic feet of 

 wood, 1935-37. (Plant labor requirements shown 

 for poles and piles and for cross ties represent 

 preservative treatment; included in total in 

 parentheses.) 



third, accounting for 18 percent ot all forest employment. 

 It is noteworthy that the 6 pulp mills in operation in 1937 

 provided nearly half as much employment as the 557 

 sawmills. 



The amount of forest employment varies considerably 

 among survey units; it is greatest in the two south pine 

 units combined and least in the north delta unit. There 

 is a marked difference among the units also as to relative 

 contribution of the sources of employment. In 1937 the 

 lumber industry provided about 58 percent of the total of 

 such employment in the south pine units as contrasted with 

 28 to 33 percent in the other units. The pulp and paper 

 industry provided about one-third of the total in the 

 north pine and north delta units; in the former, it pro- 

 vided nearly as much as the lumber industry. Veneer 

 manufacture is an important source of employment chiefly 

 in the two delta units, cooperage manufacture mainly in 

 the north delta, and production of cross ties, poles, and 

 piles in western Louisiana. 



The labor requirement for converting 1,000 cubic feet 



of wood into different forest products varies from 120 

 man-hours for untreated poles and piles to 400 man-hours 

 for veneer (fig. 26). Owing largely to the use of mechan- 

 ical equipment, production of sawlogs requires the 

 smallest relative amount of labor in the woods (85 man- 

 hours) — much less than that required for products that 

 are stacked, peeled, split, or hewn by hand. The manu- 

 facture of veneer takes a few more man-hours per 1,000 

 cubic feet of wood than does the manufacture of paper or 

 paperboard from pulpwood. Preservative treatment about 

 doubles the labor requirements of producing poles, piles, 

 and cross ties. 



It must be kept in mind that lumber, veneer, and cooper- 

 age stock are only semifinished products, as, indeed, are 

 some others. In expanding the manufacture of cellulose 

 products, or further refining or fabricating products 

 previously sold in semimanufactured form, many man- 

 hours may be added to the total employment provided by 

 the forest industries. 



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