The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1922-05-24
sourh cAN LAO lN LuMeER.

wv VIM lA-FN0 ~ =
The great future before any section
east of the Mississippi, particularly the
Southern States, in regard to forest
products and what proper development
will mean to that section and to the
manufacturing centers are set forth BY
Ovid M. Butler, forester OF the Amer
ican Forest Association, in a speech be-
fore the Commercial Secretaries Asso-
citation at Nashville, Tenn. II put to
work the productive power of the South
lands could supply the market for all
time AS to the South Mr.. Butler said:
For two decades the Southland has
led the world in lumber production.
For three generations It has led the
world in the production Of naval
stores. since 1900, the southern
pineries have contributed more than
so per cent Of the softwood lumber
consumed in America From -the be-
ginning of the naval stores industry,
they have contributed practically 100
per cent Of the turpentine and rosin
used in, this country. In addition.
they have supplied for export an
amount greater than the naval store
exports of all other nations combined.
with the possible exception Of cot
ton, southern forests have been the
South's greatest producer Of wealth
for more than a quarter OF a century
They have brought to your states 90
600 sawmills, representing an invest
ment Of more than a half billion dol
lars. They have created an industry
which stands first among industries
in six southern states, second in four
and third in three. They supply en-
ployment to almost half a million
people. In the last twenty years,
they have brought into the South
from the sale of lumber and other for
est products alone upwards of ten
billion dollars.
"of the original stand OF saw timber
in the United States, only about two
fifths remain, sixty one per cent of
which lies west OF the great plains and
twenty three per cent in the southern
states Only sixteen per cent in scat
tered fragments remains in all the rest
OF the country, including New England
the middle Atlantic, the central and the
Lake states This great territory not
only contains so per cent of the ma
TONS population but it is the richest
and most highly developed area in the
country. 1t is the hub Of the worlds
greatest lumber markets. The South's
proximity to the great markets, coupled
with the absence of strong competing
region closer than the Pacific Coast,
3 900 miles distant, give It CONNER
cial advantage unequalled in the his
tory of American numbering, if not in
American business.
"Four-fifths of the original yellow
pine forests of the South have now
been cut. The remaining fifth is going
rapidly.
Census figures for 1920 show that
in that year the South yielded its lead
in lumber production to the West.
They show that the number of south
ern mills cutting over one million feet
a year decreased by 400 or 20 per cent
in 1920 as compared with 1919. Il is
highly significant that during that
same period the number Of mills on the
Pacific Coast showed gain Of 81 per
cent
But, 1t viii be asked. what can the
South do about it? With four-fifths
OF its virgin timber gone, how can It
permanency for its forest in
dustries? The answer to that question
is by the application of forest manage
ment to its forest lands.
Apply a conservative growth rate
Of 400 feet an acre a year to the SO
million acres Of pine land in the coastal
plain region and you will gain some
idea Of the productive power Of these
lands when put under forest manage
and one half billion
feet of timber growth each year, or
more than enough to maintain the lum-
Der industry at it's present capacity for
all time, to expand your declining naval
stores industry and to build up a per-
manent pulp and PAPER industry on
the forest waste. At present prices.
that means an inflow Of wealth to be
South aggregating over $50 million dol
lars annually and indefinitely. IT
means the South's continued dominance
OF the great lumber markets to the
North"