Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-23
FOREST SERVICE ECONOMICS.

4
sion forest fires are working destructive
changes in the configuration of the land
itself
! The average waste in the woods Is LOO
board feet to every 1900 board feet log
ged, due to a variety of causes many
| of which could be wholly removed.
| In the mills logs lose from 30 TO In
some cases as much as 90 per cent or the
volume of timber they contain TWO
thirds Of this. under present conditions, Is
an unavoidable waste, out the other third
! can be avoided. In the manufacture OF
lumber which forms over nine-tenths or
| the total mill product. the merchandise
| output is about two-thirds the contents or
the log, not including the bark. Cutting
to standard lengths and widths. careless
ness in manufacture and accidents cause
a loss of per cent. Then, too. there Is
| the waste caused by seasoning. In the
building trades such waste, due to stain
! ing, warping and the loss in fitting mate
rial to final forms, Is not less than 10 per
cent In box factories the waste In cut
ting stock to required size and IN elinl-
| mating defects reaches 10 per cent. while
| in furniture factories the loss from the
| same causes represents % per cent.
! In the aggregate. great damage is done
! each year to standing and cut timber py
! injurious forest insects, which, like Other
causes of waste. can be prevented. In
| juries due to insects are not so generally
| apparent nor so generally understood as
the damage to the forest by fire. But the
INJURY is DOtn great anu CoIiStdht- ~
| lection from insects, according to ofncials
of the forest service, is no less part OF
practical forestry than is the protection
| of the forest from fire.
| Whereas at one time the forests of this
] country were greater than any others In
| the world in similar area. today they
are less productive than any others Our
Use of wood per capita is larger than mat
of any other nation. Canada, which mas
60 acres of forest per capita to our q.
uses less than 200 cubic feet per capita,
Germany uses 81 feet, France % feet and
Great Britain IA feet. We use go cubi:
| feet per capita.
! We have 100000 acres of cut-over
and blrned-over forest land. upon which
| actual planting will be neccs-
Replanted sary to produce a merchant
able crop of timber. OF the
AAeaS' 100000 acres of forest cut
over each year. 1,0O0.OOO acres are
cleared for farms: $4,000 acres are re-
stocked naturally with enough young to
produce a merchantable crop, and ., $780,
900 acres go to increase our national task
in forest planting. But the entire area
| already planted successfully in our whole
history is less than one-fifth of that upon
which we destroy the forest every year
White pine is so nearly used UP that
the lumber sawed from it in the lake
states has fallen off 20 per cent since
1890. and since 1900 more than 45 per
| cent in the whole country. Sixteen per
! cent less oak lumber is produced and =
per cent less yellow poplar than was
produced seven years ago. Douglas fir and
yellow pine, now the chief sources of sup
ply. are going far quicker than they
grow, the yellow pine especially. In
1907 yellow pine cost 60 per cent more
at mill than it did in 1900, Douglas fir
cost 63 per cent more white pine 53 per
cent more, oak "a per cent yellow pop
lar 70 per cent and hemlock ID per cent
more.
| Wood is sent out from the United States
and brought in. But for each billion feet
| brought in 1,NO,OOOOO0 feet is sent out.
and the total difference goes to increase
| by nearly 1 per cent the yearly drain
| upon our forests. No other country is ,r
will be in position to meet our needs
| We get about 90,OOO.OO0 feet of lumber
| and 100000 cords of pulp wood from Can
| ada each year. or per cent of the lum-
Der and % per cent of the pulp wood
| which We use.
Because our forests are in this condi-
ton and because the demand for wood
is increasing, and the
treating waste is not decrea sing,
r:l the government has under
taken to find some way out
| of the dilemma. while private firms are
| also making experiments along the same
| lines Applying personalities to wood is
fast becoming substantial industry.
Nearly 100 plants are now in operation.
Two preservatives are widely used in this
country. one being creosote. the other
n
of creosote and 100000 pounds of zinc
Chord were required for preservative
uses. and were applied to approximately
1,37j COO,GOO feet of timber.
Much waste results from the inability
of the lumbermen to market short or odd
| lengths of boards. In the past it has
been impossible to buy, in lumber yards,
| boards of less than ten feet. and timber
which would make boards of shorter
| lengths than this has to be thrown
away. For Washington and Oregon this
means 15.OOO.OCO feet of the highest grade
| of material lost each year. Another case
| in point is the waste of beech birch and
maple in the northern woods. which is
sufficient. If it could be properly utilized.
to produce most of the wood alcohol and
| acetate of lime used in this country.
That would mean a product worth about
S1.N0.cOO annually. Most of the wood
! now used for those purposes is cut espe-
cially. In paper making. if the slabs.
edgings, trimmings and shavingS from
the spruce. hemlOck and cottonwood cut
| for lumber in one year had been used for
| that purpose. they would have furnished
more than '4,0W,OOO cords of pulp wood.
an amount amply sufficient to make all
| the paper manufactured in the United
States.
| The only remedy for this state of af-
| fairs according to the forest service, lies
In the earnest corpora
Public ton of the people of the
Duty. nationa, sovernmant The
public generally must be prepared to ac-
cept new kinds Of wood and new forms OF
manufacture. The farmer must give up
the use of cedar, white oak and chestnut
posts, and be content to use willow, cot
tonwood and pine. creOsOted to make them
durable; railroads must cease using
white oak ties and turn to treated pine
, and other fast grown woods; builders
| must be prepared to accept short lengths
of lumber, we'll as odd lengths. The
lumbermen must go ahead in true spirit
of investigation and advancement to work
out by every practical means the reduc-
ton of waste. Lastly, but by no means
least. the national government, by inves-
tigation of the fundamental problems in
volved, must endeavor to discover meth
DDS by which forest waste may be abated.