Evening star., 1940-01-16
Lumber Firms Face
Further Gains in
Coming Year
Prospect Is Improved
By Forecasts of More
Housing Activity
BILLION
DOLLARS
BY ]. G. DONLEY.


Released by Consolidated News Features)
NEW YORK, Jan. 16-The lumber
industry is looking forward to some
further gains this year.
About 80 per cent of the indi-
vidual houses built each year are at
least lumber framed, and lumber
continues to be very important
material for use throughout such
structures. The outlook for hous-
ing is quite favorable, for practically
all informed forecasts indicate a
further gain on top of the sizable
1889 increase over 1888.
The 1910 estimate of the F. w.
Dodge Corp. is for a gain of IA per
cent in the dollar volume of total
residential construction-public and
private-which will come on top OF
the gain of 36 per cent last year.
All the Dodge figures, of course,
apply only to the 81 Eastern States.
In number of dwelling units the
Dodge estimate is for around 0,O00,
as compared with about 263000 in
1899.
For the Nation as a whole, Byron
T. Shutz, president of the Mortgage
Bankers Association of America,
estimated that the number of dwell
ing units to be provided by new
building this year will exceed 500 1000
for the first time in 10 years.
Business Good in 1899.
Southern pine producers had a
good year in 1889. H. c. Berckes,
secretary treasurer of the Southern
Pine Association, estimates ship
ments for the year at 7,750,000 900
feet, which compares with 1868 ,0O0,-
600 feet in 1898 and 1921 10000 feet
in 1887.
Lumber from the United States"
says Mr.. Berckes, sold at rational
export prices. will play more i'm
portant role after the war than
during the war. If the war is. of
long duration-and present indica-
tions are that it likely will not end
soon-and if any great volume of
housing is destroyed, reconstruction
requirements may assume large pro-
portions and may draft large guam
titles of building materials from the
United States"
A great deal of Southern pine has
gone into manufacture of Kraft pa
pers in recent years, but only a few
weeks ago, after several years of
experimentation, the first plant for
the production of bleached sulphite
pulp from Southern pine in COM
mercial quantities has begun opera
tions in Florida About IL per cent
OF the saw timber stand in the
United States is in the South, with
only about 4 per cent in the North
east, where the big timber stands
used to be.
Big Stands in West.
The SaW-mills, like the course of
empire, moved westward across the
country, and nowadays the big saw
timber stands are on the Pacific
Coast, which has more than so per
cent of the total stand of the United
States. BY species, Southern pine
does not rank so high, accounting
for 7 per cent or so of the saw tim
Der stand of the country. But its
rapid growth, scientifically devel-
oped in recent years, makes this
tree almost the equivalent of farm
crop BY speeding up the growth
of the tree, the time between the
Seeding stage and trees big enough
to 60 to the grinding wheels for re-
ductlon into pulp has been notably
shortened in recent years.
The leading species of saw timber
in the United States is the Douglas
fir of the Northern Pacific Coast
area, accounting for more than 81
per cent of the total stand of each
timber. BY Eastern standards,
Douglas frs are tall giants, and,
next to the enormous redwoods of
California, the most majestic of our
trees. Douglas frs are going increas-
ingly into the making Of plywood,
and the new plywood, resin bonded,
5 going into almost everything from
low-cost housing to streamlined
railway coaches and airplane con-
struction.
If the lumber business really
picks up, it will be good news for
The railroads. At the peak of the
last building boom, around 1926,
products of the forest Wed with
agricultural products for third place
IS producers of revenue freight. But
" 1882 forest products had fallen
IF to about 52000,O00 tons of reve-
Aue freight. as compared with we'll
over 100000, 900 tons annually dur
ing the boom period..