LUMBER CUT OF UNITED STATES, 1870-1920. 
13 
For several years lumbering operations on the Pacific Coast have 
been increasing. 
In 1920, with the exception of New York, the only States which 
increased their production were those of the Pacific group and part 
of those in the Rocky Mountains. The growing ascendancy of the 
West is plainly evident, as sho^vn by Figure 6. The production 
curves of the Southern States are falling rapidly, but those of the 
Rocky Mountains and the Pacific coast are ascending upon a steeper 
slant, and for the first time they exceed the production of the south- 
ern pine group. Whether there will be a period of increased cut of 
southern timber before the southern graph descends still further is 
a question upon which no confident prediction can be made. 
As a further indication of the regional shift the number of Class 5 * 
mills on the Pacific coast increased by 18 per cent in 1920, while the 
South and the Lake States each apparently lost about one-eighth of 
their Class 5 mills. There is a degree of uncertainty in this evidence 
because 1920 was a year of such reduced production in the East that 
some of the southern mills included in this count may merely have 
fallen into a lower production class. On the other hand, some of the 
western mills of Class 4 may have increased their cut to Class 5 dimen- 
sions. There is less doubt, however, when we examine the mill figures 
on another basis, including Class 3, 4, and 5 mills in the comparison, 
which means all mills cutting over a million feet per annum. Of such 
mills the Pacific coast showed a gain of 169, or 26.7 per cent, in 1920 
as compared with 1919, while the number of similar mills in the 
southern pine and jSTorth Carolina pine groups of States, combined, 
decreased by 490, or 19.7 per cent. In general it appears that many 
southern mills are nearing the end of their cut and either going out 
of business or moving to the West. 
The recapitulation under Table 4 shows that all of the lumbering 
regions except the Pacific and Rocky Mountains are past their maxi- 
mum production. Although the South probably will retain a strong 
position in the lumber production of the country for a number of 
years, there is every indication that its ascendency in the lumber 
world has passed the zenith and that henceforth we must look more 
and more to the West as the main center of supply. 
Figures 7, 8, 9, and 10 show that in 1920 most of the species 
exhibiting an increased cut are western species. During 1919 and 
1920 Vv'estern lumber greatly extended its hold upon the eastern mar- 
ket. The greatly reduced cut of the Lake States and the inability of 
the storm-bound South to deliver diminished the competing power of 
those regions. The greatly increased prices for the first time enabled 
the timber of the Pacific slope to compete on even terms with the 
product of the eastern forests. Within a year or 18 months Douglas 
fir became the principal species throughout the greater part of the 
Middle West. It captured Minneapolis, a stronghold of white pine. 
It was found in Chicago in greater volume than an}^ other species. 
In Kansas City it formed more than 50 per cent of the lumber stocks. 
In spite of strikes, storms, and embargoes, the western invasion 
plowed east to the very citadels of eastern production. 
* Class 5 mills are those of the largest size, cutting 10,000,000 feet or more annually. For explanation 
of mill classes see headings of Table 3. 
