Amador ledger., 1910-04-22
LUMBER OUT
PUT STUDIED
U. S. Dept. of AgricuI.
ture Investigating
Industry

The u. s. Department OF Agricultural
in connect. IN with a study of the wood
using industries of various States is
learning what part of the rough lumber
output of our American sawmills passes
through a second process of manufacture
before it is ready for the consumer.
The study is regarded as having an i'm
portant bearing on the extent to which
more economical use of our forest re-
sources can be brought about. So far,
the results obtained show that more
than hve-eights of the rongh lumber
sawed is to be counted as the raw ma
terial for other industries which con-
vert it into a more highly finished and
more valuable product.
In the United States waste iu the
woods, the mill, and the factory is so
great that two.thirds of what was in the
tree is lost on the way to the consumer.
The heaviest part of this loss takes
place i'll the sawmlls. Much of this
mill waste is unavoidable under present
conditions, but the greater the demand
for the product and the higher its value,
the better will economy paw. Waste in
manufacture is very small compared
with that at the sawnlll. Study of the
demaud of the wood-using industries
may be a means of finding out how the
mill may profitaby market part of-what
now goes to the burner in sawdust,
slabs, an trimiugs.
Statisticsof the od-using industries
of Massachusetts, MARYLAND, North Car
olina aud Wisconsin, lately gathered
by the Department of Agriculture in CO.
operation with these States, show that or
the total sawmil output Sc per cent is
used in the form of rough lumber and GA
per ceut is manufactured into other
TO ms of ouput If the same ratio holds
for the entire counrty as for these States
about l3 billion feet of lumber is used
yearly in rough form and 23-1a billion
feet is further manufactured
This is the first time that detailed
figures have been obtained on this sub
ect. The study which has YIELDED
these figures mas also in view to ascer-
tain what commodities are made wholly
or PARTLY of wood, the various kind of
wood used, their origin, and their cost,
as we'll as other data of value to the
growers of timber aud to the sellers and
buyers of lumber
In making up the figures, lumber used
as bridge timbers, house frames, farm
fences, trestes, boardwalks, walls and
similar classes of structures, with only
such cuttings and fitting as is given it
bv carpenters, was classed as rough lum-
ber; that made into flooring. finish,
siding sash, doors, frames, panels,
stairs, boats, vehicles, boxes, baskets.
turnery, woodenware, cooperage, musi-
cal instruments farm implements, fur
niture, spools, handles and like forms
was placed in the class of finished lum-
Der.
The present aggregate population OF
the four States is estimated by their re-
the population of the United States in
round figures is 900, 900, 600 according to
recent estimates. The average lumber
cut in the four States for 1907 and 1908
the one an active, the other dull year
was 3, 753, 293, ,OO0 feet, and for the Uni
ted States it was SO, TAO, 26l 900. Cal
culated on this basis, the per capita use
of sawn lumber in the four StatesS was
4lO feet, and in the United States 4O8.
The per capita use in the four States of
lumber further manufactured was 263
feet. These figures indicate lavish use
of lumber in the United States, for our
per capita consumption is from three to
ten times that of the leading nations of
Europe.