Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-07-03
LUMBER
33,2ss,3ss,ooo Feet
Manufactured Last Year
By 1921 Sawml||s Through
out the United States.
Washington Ranks First In the Pro-
Washington Ranks First In the Pro-
duction OF Lumber.

| Washington, July 2.--(SpeciaD.-Dur
ing the year 1905. 1921 saWmills in the
| United States manufactured $685.
100000 feet of lumber, according to a
| preliminary report just issued by the
| Bureau of the Census. These mills also
cut Il, 106, Asa, 900 shingles and 2,9S6GS4,-
600 laths Lumber manufacturing like
every other industry, felt the effects of
the business depression which began in
| October, 1907. Consequently the pro-
duction in 1908 was below that for the
previous year In 1907 the cut Of 23,S50
sawmills was 40,255, $4,000 feet, the
highest production ever recorded. Not
withstanding, therefore, that in 1908 re-
ports were received from eight per
cent more mills than in 1907, the de-
| crease in lumber cut reported by them
was slightly over seventeen per cent.
Washington, as for several years
| past, still ranks first among the states
| in lumber production, its cut in 1908 be-
| ing 2915, 1925, 600 feet-a decrease of 22.3
per cent. over the cut in 1907. Nearly
all the lumber manufactured in Wash
| ngton is Douglas fir, the market for
| which was seriously affected by the
panic Louisiana ranks second, with
| 2,722, 421 900 feet, a decrease of 100000,
| 600 feet or 81 per cent. over the cut in
| 1907. Louisiana is first in the prod uc
| ton of both yellow pine and cypress.
! Cypress is Il particularly useful and
valuable wood, and apparently, the
| manufacturers of it did not suffer as
severely from dull times as did the
1 e.. - ,.Sr o.,1
Douglass fir Mississippi was the third
state in lumber production in 1868, with
a total of 1861 ,016,000 feet-a decrease
of eleven per cent. from the cut in 1907.
Arkansas ranked fourth, with 1855, a91,-
| 900 feet--a decrease of nearly seventeen
per cent. over the previous years out
put, and Wisconsin fifth, with 1,613,315,
900 feet against 2,O03,279,O0O feet in 1907.
In Texas, where the lumber industry is
confined almost exclusively to yellow
pine, the falling off was very heavy
The total cut of the state in 1908, was
1 1924, 00S, 900 feet--a decrease of GIG per
cent. over the cut in 1907. Eight other
states manufactured more than one
billion feet each of lumber last year. In
the order of important they were: Mich
igan, Oregon, Minnesota, Pennsylvania,
Virginia, Alabama, North Carolina, and
West Virginia. California and Maine,
other states which reported more than
one billion feet each in 1907, went just
below that figure in 1908. The totals
for a few states were greater in 1908
than in 1907, but this was chiefly due
to the larger number of reports secured
in those states in 1908. In Georgia, for
instance, a particularly close canvass
increased the number of mills reporting
nearly one-third. while the resulting in
crease in reports of total production
was only six per cent. In Massachu-
sets, GIG mills reported cut of 1884,
cut of 364 ,2@1 900 feet by SIS mills in 1907
In Colorado. 254 mills cut 1872, O3G, 900 feet
in 1908, while in 1907, 230 mills cut 1874,
$4,000 feet. A particularly large gain
in mills reporting was made in Okla
homa. In 1867, 129 mills in that state
cut 1iO,015, 600 feet, while in 1908, 21i
mills cut $15S,756,000 feet.
While there are many very largo
sawmills in the United States, the
small mills far outnumber the large
ones, and it is particularly interesting
to note how many of these small mills
there are in the states which are not of
first rank in lumber production. The
statistics for New York were collected
by the Forest, Fish. and Game Com
mission of that state, which secured re-
ports from 1921 mills. In Pennsylvania
1924 mills reported to the Census. and
| in Virginia, 1887 mills. In North Car
Dina reports came from LAO mills, and
in Kentucky from 1880 mills. The
number of mills reporting from Ten
| nessee was only forty less than from
Kentucky. In West Virginia, Georgia.
| Missouri, Ohio, and Indiana between
1000 and 1,100 mills each werc engaged
in cutting lumber last year. The aver
age output per mill was $4,000 feet in
New York, and 5,2GO,0O0 feet in Louis
lana, these two states presenting nearly
tie extremes of production by small
| and large mills.
Yellow zine, Douglas fir, white pine,
oak, nemlock, and spruce, in the order
named, We're the woods cut into lum-
Der in the largest quantity. Yellow pine
has ranked first since it surpassed
white pine in the later nineties, and 1t
| is still far in the lead. More recently.
white pine has also been superseded by
| Douglas fir, so that now it occupies
third place.
Washington has been the principal
| shingle producing state since the use
| of red cedar shingles became general,
| and it supplied three-ffths of the total
output of shingles last year. Among
the other single producing states,
| Michigan, Louisiana, Maine, and Cali
| fornia were the most important. The
shingles cut in Michigan and Maine are
| chiefly of white cedar, those in Louis
| lana of cypress, and those in California
of redwood. I.aths are generally a by
product of lumber manufacture, and
are made to some extent from almost
| every wood that is cut into lumber.