The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-07-13
A CRISIS UMBER|
Overton w. Prices Article on For
estry in the Agricultural De-
partment Year Book.
He Declares Revolution in the
Methods Of the Industry
at Hand.
From The Journal Bureau, Room 45. Post Build
ing, Washington.

From The Journal Bureau. Room 4s, Post Build
Washington, July 13-Eyery lumberman
and everyone interested in forestry will want
to read the article in the year book of the
department OF agriculture on The Influence
written by oyerton w. Price, assistant for
ester Of the bureau Of forestry. It is pre-
paired IN R9pular style and gives Ct glance
ment and the several timber states are doing
for the preservation Of the forests, why this
is necessary. and what the effect of present
industry. w
Until a few. years ago there was no gen
eral appreciation IN the United States Of the
advantage Of their application. Now that
these things are better understood, the chief
difficulty lies In finding the trained men
necessary TO apply conservative management
to those private and public forests for which
It Is desired. This difficulty confronts both
the government and the state and for num-
ber of yo lrs there. will be employment at
forestry. After all has been done which is
possible at the present moment, Mr.. Price adj
m M that the tn, forestry movement is young:
knowledge Of forest conditions but insists
that 1t has passed the experimental stage"
and that from this time forward practical
forestry Is a force to be recRoned with in
this country" The effect Of forestry upon
lumber, Mr.. Price thinks will be felt grad
ualiy, but 1t Will work fundamental changes
After giving some figures showing the i'm
portance of the American lumber industry,
how it represents an invested capital Of GIL
million dollars pays annually 100 millions in
wages, and employs more than a million per-
| sons, Mr.. Frics proceeds to point out why he
thinks the industry is fundamentally unsound
in principle, and on this point he says, in
part: >ss
On an. Unsound Basis.
Tho settler who cuts and sells trees with
out forethought from land At only for forest
| growth, has not enriched himself in the long
run. The havoc has turned trees into money
| but has put the balance on the wrong side
Of the sheet by rendering vast areas unpro-
dustries directed by private interests that the
necessity for modification is not seen until
the harm has been done. This fact has been
earlier days by the instructive feeling, of the
colonist against his natural enemy, the for
est, and later by the remarkable inducements
oy nor suppy Of
timber and with an insistent and growing
demand, the lumber industry came to ofter
remarkable opportunities for money making.
Step by step with its development lmproVe-
4 ment in tools and machinery took place. The
changes that enterprise and ingenuity have
wrought in the American sawmill are not less
wonderful than those which have taken. place
| in the American locomotive. From whip.
saving in which the boards were sawed out
| by hand to the modern steam sawmill, with
nearly half million board feet per day, is
! a long step-but 1T, has not taken much over
fifty years to accomplish it. In effective
. | methods for the harvesting and manufacture
Of lumber the American lumberman has no
superior, nor is he equaled in his disregard
| for the future of the forest which he cuts.
| Obviously, the lumberman does not turn
eagerly from system whose only aim is the
create est present profit to one which includes
provisions for the production OF q second
crop upon the numbered area; and yet, Mr.
Price insists that under conservative meth
DDS numbering becomes legitimate industry
for the production as we'll as for the CON
4 sumption of its staple. 1t no longer offers
which characterized it years ago, 1t Is diff.
cult, notwithstan ding this fact, to make the
l.lumbermanf realize that the time for prac.
more significant thAn any existing statistics
pointing to the imminent failure in the sup.
ply of certain mar dhantahie7 tfrnbers. MI
present supplies will BIO exhausted, but say:
on this Question: > s.
Lumber Crisis at Hand.
ITO predict accurately how, long 1t. will b.
before the United States is confronted by
timt er. famine would require a knowledge, o
the composition, quality and condition of tn
} forests, which it would require many year.
to obtain. At present such an estimate is Q
supply Of timber of many kinds Is failing
of other kinds is almost exhausted, and o
, others is practically gone; that black Walnu
is no more to be had except IN small qala sLa
growth white pine Is growing rapidly to D
) rarity on the market; that where the sup
+ ply of spruce for pulpwood and for luMbe
for the next ten years it to be found IS
grave question before the lumbermen to-day
The list of woods accepted as, merchantabl
lenathens from year 10 year seecles ni.aert
ton ton Of more valuable kinds. IN spite .
steady improvements in tools, logging outht
the cost Of lumbe ring ths price et lamee
more can a than N ps m1ar
E dustry. The exact period for which me ex
= listing supplies are sufficient is a matter 6
: detail. The vital point lies in the 6. cris1
$ the exhaustion Of the material on which ii
o existence depends
: The application Of forestry to forest lane
owned by lumbermen, Mr.. Price thinks, wi
:, mean the gradual elimination of the lare
n sawmll and the setting up Of the mill l.,
moderate capacity The The mammoth tn, M n
: second growth is left to supply it." The
2 cones The assertion that the mill of -modera
Q size, supplied by a forest whose product
der the same management. will become mo-
and more the rule. In Europe the long col
tinued application OF conservative rules
E little known in this country: Sawmills
I large size are not to be found there, but
their stead are many small mills, usually ri
by water power, and distributed numerous
over the country, for the purpose Of suppl
It ing only local demands. The mills. altl
h small are permanent and cheap power 81
:, ables them to run internationally without los
" The results are highly satisfactory. II
10 man who wants lumber can always get
without paying long transportation. OF cour
e fortunes from numbering, but that is the f
"a tura of the industry In America.
Effect Of Forestry on Prices.
" On the point Of the effect which the apple
y ton of forestry will have upon the price
lumber he says: =
ct at will be strongly marked. The wi
fuctuation characteristic Of lumber yalu
is to-day IS much more the result OF condtio
r within the industry itself than OF variali
in the demand for the product OF the fore
The uncertainty Of available supplies, t
lack Of true proportion between stumpa
values and lumber values. the speculate
features which the industry now presen
have all tended to produce an exceeding
10 unstable and abnormal huctuation IN
- prices of lumber, with a marked d1spositl
toward rapid increase. Under forestry t
speculative element can not exist. The CT
of producing timber, plus a legitimate pro-
TX will be the basis upon which tie value OF
ee will be fixed The annual output OF
I'd ture. and a steady and normal range OF prit
a for lumber will be the inevitable result"
Future Of the Industry.
be The paper concludes with the follow
IS, look into the future as to the numbering
C. dustry:
e. ''The influence OF forestry upon the lurni
re industry is not matter of conjecture. ]