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Show f 4 " " " ' , t i St.. f, ' ' -' .' - ' . - : t .. ' I " T " . f ' ' I & 5 1 .' ,t- " . - ' . , e 1 ' ... y jl . " ' 5 -rl . V. : J TIMBER Or JSflCZ frATOYAL rVATJT, UW WCXCO 0 C ".LIONS of 1'eot of timber and 'A iA linlshtd lumber rot every I V'.'? i i year in railroad ties, bridges, J trestles, piles, farm buildings, fences, poles and mine props. The lumber consuming public pub-lic of the United States pays perhaps ?30,000,000 to $-10,000,000 a year to make good the losses from wood decay. de-cay. These great drains are a source of more and more concern each year. Chemists and engineers who have to do with the uses of wood are working unceasingly on the problem. The United States forest service has men who devote their whole time to it. The importance of the problem cannot can-not be overestimated. Millions of dollars dol-lars are annually saved by preservative preserva-tive treatment of timbers, but much yet remains to be learned. Wood decay is caused by fungus, a vegetable growth sometimes so small that it can be seen only with the microscope. Its roots or branches, like minute hairs, force their way into the wood tissues and absorb or eat away the solid parts. The collapse which results is called decay. The United States department of agriculture in connection with a study of the wood-using industries of various vari-ous states is learning what part of the rough lumber output of our American i mill out put liU per cent, is used in I the form ol output. If the same ratio ! holds for the entire country as lor I these states, about 1.1,000.000,000 feet of lumber is used yearly in rough form and 23,500,000 feet is furiher manufactured. man-ufactured. This is the first time that detailed figures have been obtained on this subject. The study which has yielded these figures has also in view to ascertain as-certain what commodities are made wholly or partly of wood, the various kind3 of wood used, their origin, and their cost, as well 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 timber, house frames, farm fences, trestles, board walks, walls and similar classes of structures, struc-tures, with only such cutting and fitting fit-ting 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, wooden ware, cooperage, musical instruments, in-struments, 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; 9,165,-975; the population of the United , i .j.fr r. ? i t - f. ) --o'er-- - ;," -,-f 2 ; .f N .. 4 ' - -X v. , Jf. ' ! . ' -':'.':V'--:.T?B?---,. - ' ' " i -ft. ' : '' . PfiOTCTfO 50 003, MKJTj Ft Art TffG 3TATJCW O sawmills passes through a second process of manufacture before it is ready lor the consumer. The study is regarded as having an important bearing bear-ing on the extent to which more economical eco-nomical use of our forest resources can be brought about. So far, the results re-sults obtained show that more than five-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 'he 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. con-sumer. 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 product and the higher high-er its value, the better will economy tyay. Waste in manufacture is very Email compared with that at the sawmill. saw-mill. Study of the demands of the wood-using industries may be a means of finding out how the mill may profitably profit-ably market a part of what now goes to the burner in sawdust, slabs and trimmings. Statistics of the wood-using industries indus-tries of Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, lately gathered by the department of agriculture agri-culture in co-operation with these t-.'s. show that of their total saw- State? in round figures is 90,000,000, according to recent estimates. The average lumber cut in the four states for 1907 and 1908 the one an active, the other a dull year was 3,753,293,-000 3,753,293,-000 feet, and for the United States It was 36,740,261,000. Calculated on this basis, the per capita use of sawn lumber lum-ber in the four states was 410 feet, and in the United States 408 feet. The per capita used in the four states of lumber further manufactured was 263 feet. These figures indicate a 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. |