Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1901-04-04
THE LUMBER SUPPLY,
There Is Plenty of 1t Left in 0nl
Pine Forests. '"r
Although Exports and Consumption
Have Been increasing Year After
Year There Is No Present
Prospect of Exhaustion.


"The Lumber Trade of the United
States, is the title Ola monograph just
issued by the treasury bureau of sta.
tistics. Washington. The lumber in.
dustrv and trade, it fiuds, has within
quite recent years changed from a.
small scale of production to one in
which machinery, large outlay OF
capital and far-sighted policy OF de-
yeopment of properties are becoming
controlling factors. This charge is due
partly to the growth OF domestic ue'
mand and partly to the fear OF prehla'
turely eNhuustirg our timber re-
sources.
The existence of surplus capital look
inc for new fields Of investment has had
n tendency to eliminate the small SCALE
lImbermen and the policy of European
states in rigidly limiting the annual
emf of lumber to something like the
rate of increase in the growth of for
est has forcN European. lumber con-
suminp interests to come to the United
States and Canada. espe ciallN for hard
woods and lumber for building pur'
poses. As result the foreign Lumber
trade of the United States has grown
enormously. Within quiterecent years
it has developed from local TO world
wide commercial movement.
In the foreign, trade the Atlantic
norris the gulf ports and those on the
| northern Pacific coast have shared
| most libera,ly. More lumber is now be-
| ing shipped from these ports and from
the country as whole than at any pre-
yious time in the history of the country.
| The total exports of timber, lumber
| and manufactured wood for the fist al
year ending June 80. 1900, amounted tc
| $50, ,50l .0OS. showing balance of almost
exactly $50 100000 of exports of this
class over imports. About half of these
| imports came from Canada consisting
mainly of planks, boards. logs and
shingles. Another principal feature in
our timber imports is the tropical tim
Der. including Cuban mahogany and
cedar and mahogany from Central and
South america and Africa.
The wooded area of the United States
according to the United States geolog'
ical survey, is 1.O94,496 square miles, OF
81 per cent. of the land area. From this
standing supply of timber it is esti'
mated that from 1.S30, COO. 100000 tc
2.3OO. 900, 100000 of board measure feet
of lumber are available. The annua
| lumber cut has been estimated for the
year 1899 at 40.000.000,000 of boarc
measure feet: that is, we cut approx
mately two per cent, of our nationa
timber resources annually. OF this Gu
OO.OOO,OOO are credited to the lake
region, 1O,OO0.0OO.000 to the southern
states, 6.000,000000 to the northwes
and north Atlantic states, 5,000,OOO,O0l
to the central states, 1000. 100000 to tht
Pacific states and 2.0oO.OOO,OO0 to tn
mountain states. according to the New
Orleans Lumber Trade journal ines
figures are, however, only an approx
nation on the part of those familia
with the industry as whole. yet the,
indicate that our timber supply is no
disappearing at an alarming rate, pre-
vided the destructive waste OF torres
: fires can be prevented.
The timbered territory of the coun
try covers five different sections, fror
which commercial distribution
made. Beginning with New England
the output of Maine is still'the leadin
feature of this section. and the middl
states, from the Adirondacks an
northwestern Pennsylvania, still SUI
ply considerable market of more o
less local character The creates
areas of standing timber are found i
the southern states, where the lon
leaf and the short ;eaf pine and tn
cypress are the leading features. |
the lake region Of the northwest, il