ania 
F-441819 
Figure 6.—In 1939 Virginia’s forest industries provided em- 
ployment for 30,000 persons. This is one of the State’s 
many small sawmills. 
Value added by manufacture is in many respects 
the most satisfactory index of relative importance of 
industries. In 1939, value added in the State was 
379.5 million dollars. Textiles and textile products 
comprised about 25 percent of this amount. To- 
bacco products ranked second, and wood products 
third (fig. 8). 
The tremendous industrial expansion during the 
war years had perhaps a greater influence on Vir- 
INDUSTRY EMPLOYEES 
TEXTILES 
wOOD PRODUCTS 
CHEMICALS 
FOOD PRODUCTS 
TOBACCO 
TRANSPORTATION EQUIP, 
LEATHER 
ALL OTHER 
TEXTILES 
WOOD PRODUCTS 
CHEMICALS 
FOOD PRODUCTS 
TOBACCO 
TRANSPORTATION EQUIP. 
METAL PRODUCTS 
LEATHER 
ALL OTHER 
200 
B MILLION DOLLARS 
Ficure 7.—A, Proportionate number of employees in manu- 
facturing industries, and B, value of products manufactured 
in Virginia, 1939. 
Miscellaneous Publication 681, U. S. Department of Agriculture 
¥ 
| 
ginia’s manufacturing than anything occurring dur- 
ing the preceding two decades. Detailed data are not! 
available, but by 1943 the number of wage earners had 
increased to 216,000 and wages had more than tripled, 
totaling 383 million dollars. Some of this increase has’ 
already been lost since the end of the war, but, barring) 
major deflation in the economy, many of the gains, | 
particularly in higher wages, will be retained. 
In 1939 the average annual wage in all manufac- 
turing industries in Virginia was $867. Among the: 
major industries, the chemical industry paid the high- 
est average wage, followed closely by the paper and | 
pulp industry, both paying in excess of $1,000 per) 
year. Lowest average annual wage, less than $700, | 
was paid in the lumber and timber industry, and in’ 
furniture factories. Needless to say, all wage levels | 
are much higher today. In 1943 the average annual | 
wage in all industries was $1,492, excluding over- | 
time pay, an increase of 72 percent over 1939. Wages } 
in wood-product industries increased to slightly over | 
$1,000, a raise of about 50 percent (3). 
1 
F—441858 
Ficure 8.—In 1939 the value added by manufacture to the 
State’s forest products totaled about 54 million dollars. 
Three industries in the State that depend primarily | 
on wood or wood cellulose as basic materials have had 
exceptionally rapid growth during recent years. Be- 
tween 1919 and 1939, the furniture industry increased 
the value of its products from 5 to 31 million dollars. 
In the 1930’s, pulp and paper products increased from 
21 to nearly 51 million dollars, and rayon and allied | 
products from 28 to 60 million dollars. 
Transportation 
While a good transportation system is requisite to | 
the adequate functioning of all segments of a region’s 
economy, it is particularly necessary for the utilization ~ 
