The Kusko times., 1928-06-16
RAILROADS SPEND MILLIONS
FOR FOREST PRODUCTS,

for fuel and supplies, of which $780, 291 ,234, or. approximately 12 per cent, went for lumber and other for est products, according to information furnished to the Forest Service. In 1925 the railroads spent $17O,305,031 for foest products out of their total purchases of S1,392, ,043,00O. Cross ties purchased in 1926 totaled 93, 759,- .913, at a cost of S1O1, ,O00, ,000-an in crease of approximately 6,0O0,000 ties over the preceding year. Other pur chases of forest products included switch and bridge ties, lumber and timber for car repairs and mainten- ance construction.
 Average Haul of Lumber Doubled in
 10 Years.
 The average rail haul of lumber from place. of manufacture to place of use has practically doubled in the United States in 10 years, according to the Forest Service. Estimates for 1924 placed it at 725 miles, whereas 1914 estimate put it at only 360 miles. Inbound lumber to the North eastern States travels an average dis tance over the railroad of $40 miles; to the Lake States, 910 miles; to the Central States, 890 miles; and to the Prairie States, 1,515 miles. This does not take into account the large amounts of lumber that come by water through the Panama canal from the Pacific Northwest to the Atlantic coast.
 The Northeastern. Central, and Lake States were once great lumber producing regions, but are now pro- .ducing only small fraction of their lumber needs, necessitating the bring ing of lumber from great distances. Better and more widespread practice of forestry on farm woodlands and the reforestation and protection of idle, cut-over and burned-over lands in these States, says the Forest Ser vice, will reduce this necessity in time, as they are still potentially large lumber producers.
 Lumber Distribution and COnsump-
 tion.
 Out of total of 36,935, ,930,000 board feet of lumber cut in the United States in 1926, according to Bureau of the Census figures, the Forest Service estimates that 3,330,- 892,00O feet was for domestic con- sumption and 2,699 ,367 ,O0O was ex- ported. The remainder, less than one billion feet, was apparently added to mill stocks.
 Over A per cent of the lumber used within the United States, or approxi mately 14,S00,0 100000 board feet, was shipped from the Pacific Coast States Oregon, Washington and California; and the Southern pine region (Ala- (bama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas)-the two greatest timber re- E iOilo OA CAO NOdAtA AhSoC ochiiAS States also furnished practically all of the lumber that was shipped to
 The source, destination, and quan- foreign countries.
 titles shipped in the domestic distri- button of lumber are matters of di- rect concern to the lumber trade and it's dependent industries. Consider able interest has, therefore, been evi- denced toward studies of this subject lately begun by the Forest Service Ill cooperation with the Bureau of the Census, United States Department of Commerce. For 1926 the Forest Ser vice has analysed distribution figures based on returns from 1,75d of the largest lumber mills and groups of mills, which shipped approximately two-thirds of the national lumber cut. About 33 per cent of the total lumber distributed within the country does not go outsides of the States in which