| Show science teams with forest industry to provide wood to burn for U st S na released leased b by y western newspaper union one of 0 f the odd results of our defense program is the development of one of americas oldest industries and most abundant natural al resources as the newest ersatz material timber and its expanding new products are being substituted for substitutes and replacing replace ng the metal meta I 1 alloys alloy and composition materials which had previously replaced forest products the reason for all this is simply that timber is plentiful is a 9 rowing growing crop and presents no bottleneck in proof of the tact fact that there Is no cause to worry lorry about being deprived of toothpicks or having the morning paper rut cut down to postage stamp size a recent survey directed by university siti of michigan forestry experts shows our forests to be growing at a rate which will exceed the drain from all causes by 1945 1045 the significance of this and the importance of the forestation forest atlon work being done by the forest brodu products c ts industry is evident when it is considered e that united states uses half the lumber more mora than halt half the paper and two fifties ot of the wood used in all forms in the world V U B S paper use high today the united states uses as much paper es as all the rest of the world combined our consumption this year reaching an all time peak of approximately tons stacked tour four feet wide by tour four feet high the yearly woodpile to make newsprint for our dally daily and weekly papers alone would reach from coast to coast to give an idea of how much newsprint is used in the united statis states we the people rea read cilmore more than copies of the 1800 1900 daily newspapers and copies ot of the U weeklies and semi weeklies yet despite this prodigious consumption there is enough standing timber in the united states of the principal species now cow commonly used in pulp and paper manufacture to keep the indus try going akies at its present production rate tor for approximately years not even considering the steady re annual growth it takes nearly ivi million tons of paper to wrap our packages each two twelvemonth Ive month and think of all the letters that must be written annually to use uhe up approximately tons ot of station stationery eryl yet despite the enormous quantities used there is enough wood of the kind suitable for papermaking paper making standing in our forests today to last for foi more than years if every tree stopped growing gr oving tomor tomorrow rowl and this huge reserve which does not even include wood tor for building and all the other purposes is being replenished by nature supported by the forest products industries modern modem forestry foi estry pro program eram approximately as tast as it is being drawn upon so theres there a no excuse for putting oil off writing that letter home bomel wide varlet variety ot of products there thera are in hi use at the present time more than different kinds of paper and paper products they play an indispensable part in every day routine from the time the morning paper is delivered through breakfast on an foods which were packed in cartons handbags and bags at the 0 office where ledgers letters files c hecks checks and memos record business transactions where the telephone directory lists your numbers where the ticker tape traces market fluctuations a and where ether pieces of paper p a per request you to please remit and there is one bill marked must remit and addressed to the lumber paper and pulp and ply ina n above photo shows chows one of the scientific steps la in the forestry industry of today width of annual rings and quality of wood are are carefully correlated with factors of climate and soil affecting growth of the tree all 4 from log iff t to living room rm every step tx in the th fret forest products industry Is belie being improved by modern methods meth above picture shows a workman handling a log r in the th early stages of f lumber production hi 1 the th saw enill at right prefabricated housing in the th process icess units of f ft a huse house are r built with factory methods at central point and md hauled to th 54 irme home site and 1 I assembled wood indu industries which Is being paid off in a constructive fashion which will yield future dividends this constructive action taken by the forest products industries Is the development of continuous forest production which eventually will put the forests of america on a constant sus sustained bained yield basis this long range vl view ew which insists that timber is a crop operates in three ways by selective logging cutting only mature commercially desirable trees by leaving clumps of seed trees to produce a new crop by natural methods and where neither selective logging or the leaving of seed trees Is practicable by the planting of seedlings and young trees and with the development of the modern tree farm the lumber industry is taking definite steps to provide for further replenishment of our forests at a rate which even the most extensive cutti cutting fig will not equal the most ambitious of these projects it iq the demons clemons tree farm in grays harbor county wash this farm which promises to be a model tor for the industry comprises over square mile s or aares acres in a region famous for forests of douglas fir west coast hemlock western red cedar and sitka spruce the rugged and rolling terrain is not suited to general agriculture but is land primarily suited by reasons of soil and climate to forest growing it ii is estimated that within 50 years timber of commercial size will be available thus systematically working toward making umber timber a continuous crop reproduction comes mainly from natural re stocking from seed trees which are left but where fire has killed new growth and seed trees hand band planting is resorted to the extent to which the west coast has gone into the business of replenishing our forests can be gauged by the fact that over seedlings have been planted by hand on the forest lands of washington and oregon while mature and overripe over ripe trees will be harvested this the douglas fir region these trees which would decay it if left standing will be replaced by between two and three million hand planted seedlings to supplement the 10 to 12 seedlings which nature plants for every tree cut cuc legislative aid unique in legislative history an example of an industry sponsoring self regulation is the action in obtaining passage of an oregon law which makes it compulsory for or loggers to leave reserve trees to main lain fain continuous forest growth and to provide adequate re stocking no provisions pio visions for the future can be adequate however unless protection is provided for this present forest growth forest fires throughout the united states annually take toll of some and an even greater waste 0 results from decay and disease millions of dollars are being spent annually by the forest products industries dus tries to check the ravages of fire are and approximately acres of privately owned timber are now under fire protection according to united states forest service surveys there are upwards of forest fires each year about one fourth of them set by careless smokers and another fourth due to incendiary causes modern scientific methods of fire bra fighting have been enlisted to in recent years with inc increasing effectiveness lookout towers high pressure pumping units trained crews or armed med with portable chemical extinguishers and parachute squads are all contributing thew thu r part in our present crisis the gravity ot of this perennial menace Is increased because of the possibility of babo cabotage tage activities in our forests or in incendiary cendia ry air raids a threat already brready anticipated by our military leaders who have organized emergency forces which would go into action it if such happened insect pest loss less spectacular but even more destructive is the ravaging work of the forest insect pests have found tho the most effective means of control of 0 some forest insects is through introduced parasites in the case of an insect which kills evergreens ever greens of the northeast North sast parasites are being bred by the billions and dusted from airplanes over the forests toi another method of reducing loss from disease and decay is by concentrated cutting of overripe over ripe mature stands of timber such as are highly attractive to the insects not only is deterioration so rapid that the loss exceeds the accumulated annual growth but the likelihood of insect attack makes another hazard in other words accepted forestry principles now call tor for harvesting timber crop before the decay of old age sets in and before attacks fat tacks by insects the importance of such conservation efforts is obvious in view of the defense production goal set up tor for the forest products industries for 1042 national requirements tor for next year include 32 3 1 billion board feet of lumber corus coeds of pulp wood cords of fuel wood cubic feet of miscellaneous products and barrels of turpentine an and dresin resin tor for naval stores according to secretary of agriculture I 1 c ul ture cis claude u de R three fourths of the expected to go into construction business next year will be for foi da defonse defense purposes substitute role one interesting sidelight on this picture Is the extending role played by wood in substituting for substitutes metal alloys and composition materials which have replaced wood to a certain extent in recent years are now under priority rulings wood is being rediscovered and engineers and architects are taking full advantage of a natural resource so abundant that there is no danger of bottlenecks to again quote secretary steel plays the spectacular icolar part in a guns and tanks binks and W warships ars hips but wood does much of th the e everyday work cantonments Canton ments defense housing and factories are going up wood is needed for pontoon bridges gunstocks gun stocks ships and docks special types of wood are needed for airplanes wood goes into the making of high explosives As charcoal L it is used in gas as masks this list could be multiplied many told fold the forest unlike mineral resources is potentially inexhaustible and research in forest products is a definite part of forestry amazing scientific advances advances in new n e w apses uses of wood are being made dally daily many of them originating at the forest products laboratory at madison vila here are being tested new principles of prefabricated house construction forecasting a major new industry revolutionary developments in timbered construction have been achieved through use of new resin klues glues and ring connectors tors making it possible to substitute laminated wooden arches for steel beams Ily h lins s been improved and perfected aid ex experiments port are still continuing |
