The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-24
COAL IN KENTUCKY
HOW IT IS DEPENDENT UPON TIM-
 BIER.
Forestry Department Has Compied Figures Showing The Amount of Timber That is Required
 in the Mines.

-
 Coal mining next in importance only to agriculture and numbering among the important industries of Kentucky. Is absolutely dependent upon the for ests for It's existence. Now people who are not directly connected with mining realize that the operation Of the mines requires thousands of feet of timber in the form of props Cement and other materials have been tried for this use In the mines, but no satis- factory substitute has been found.
 The coal industry brings more than $10,OO0,000 a year to the State of kentucky. According to. the State Inspector of Mines. Kentucky pro- ducted in 1905, s,03s,24s tons of coal from her. larger mines; not counting those that produce only for local use. In 1906 this had increased to 9.598.529 tons, while last year (1so7) 10.436,061 tons were taken out of this same class of mines.
 In the recent study of the forest conditions of Kentucky made by For est Service In cooperation with the State Board of Agriculture. Forestry and Immigration, the report of which is now being prepared in Washington an effort was made to ascertain to what extent the mining companies were dependent on timber, what was their present and future available sup ply, and what steps. if any. might be taken to insure the permaneAce Of that supply.
 Most of.the coal companies operating in Kentucky own or control some tlmberiand and draw at least part of their supply of mining timbeEs from their own land. These companies sell dom keep any account of the amount or vaule of the timber thus cut, their only charge being the cost of cutting and delivering this timber to the mines. Few companies separate the cost of sawn timber and split or round props, and also keep the purchase cost with the cost of placing in the mine under the one head of "timberlng." It is plain what dih1culty this puts in the way of obtaining reliable data. The Needed Timber.
 From the best figures obtalnable it has been calculated that in the east ern and southeastern parts fthe State it takes on an average six-tenths of a cubic foot5of round<or split tlm- her for each ton of coal removed. This includes props, caps, room ties and collars, but does not Include rails. brattice. or other sawn lumber. The mines in this region are usually above water line and are entered on the level, while in the West. deep shafts are mostly used. The roof Is usually slate in the East and so more props are needed than in the West where limestone roof often makes the use of props unnecessary, in this latter region an average of about one-fourth of subic foot of timber per ton of coal Is needed. varying with the nature of the roof. ~
 The total output of 10.4Ss. .O61 tons of coal. for Kentucky in 1907 was taken from something like 500 mines. Using the above figures as, basis this en7 tailed the use of something oyer 4.00O, 900 cubic feet of round mining timber, or an equivalent Of about 2A,000, 900 feet, board measures, of tim- Der in the year. which Is about S0.000 feet square board measure to the average mine of 35,000 tens annual out put. Though this is not all cut mer- chantable saw timber. much the greater part of it is. The mines are usually supplied by contract and as the larger timber Ais split up, yields more props, and Is consequently easier and cheaper to handle. it Is generally taken in preference to the smaller growth. Contractors are usually given a free hand and often the finest ash poplar. and white oak timber is made up into props in preference to the less valuable species.
 The Split Props.
 Besides the split props. there is k.o:mething like one board foot of sawn timber per ton of coal put into