The Republican journal., 1910-08-11
Ratio Of Manufactured to Rough
Lumber.

nection with 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 important bearing
on the extent to which more economical
use of our forest resources can be brought
about. So far the results obtained show
that more than fve-eighths of the rough
lumber sawed is to be counted as the
raw material for other industries which
convert it into a more highly finished
and more valuable product.
In the United States, waste in 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
in the sawmills Much of this mill waste
is unavoidable under present conditions,
but the greater the demand for the pro-
duct and the higher its value, the better
will economy pay. Waste in manufact-
ure is very small compared with that at
the sawmil. Study of the demands of
the wood using industries may be a
means of finding out how the mill may
proftably market a part of what now
goes to the burner in sawdust, slabs and
trimmings
Statistics of the wood-using industries
of Massachusetts, Maryland, North Caro-
lima, and Wisconsin, lately gathered by
the Department of Agriculture in CO.
operation with these States, show that
of their total sawmill output SO per cent
is used in the form Of rough lumber and
"a per cent is manufactured into other
forms of output. If the same ratio holds
for the entire country as for these States,
about IS billion feet of lumber is used
yearly in rough form and 23-1-2 billion
feet is further manufactured.
This is the first time that detailed
figures have been obtained on this SUBJ
ject. The study which has yielded these
figures has also in view to ascertain
what commodities are made wholly or
partly of wood, the various kinds Of
wood used, their origin, and their cost,
as we'll as other data of value to the
growers of timber and to the sellers and
buyers of lumber.
In making up the figures, lumber used
as bridge timbers, house frames, farm
fences, trestles, board walks, walls and
similar classes of structures, with only
such cutting and fitting as is given it by
carpenters, was classed as rough lumber
that made into flooring, finish, siding,
sash, doors, frames, panels, stairs, boats,
vehicles, boxes, baskets, turnery, wood
en- ware, cooperage, musical instruments,
farm implements, furniture, spools,
handles, and like forms, was placed in
the class of finished lumber
The present aggregate population of
the four States is estimated by their
respective State officials to be 9, 165, 975;
the population of the United States in
round figures is 9O,O00.00O according to
recent estimates. The average lumber
cut IN the four States for 1907 and 1903
the one an active, the other dull year
was 3, 1853, 293, 900 feet, and for the United
States it was SO, TAO, 261, 900. Calculated
on this basis, the per capita use of sawn
lumber in the four States was 410 feet,
and in the United States 408 feet. The
per capita use in the four States of lum-
Der 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.