Bulletin STATE OF ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION DIVISION OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY STEPHEN A. FORBES. Chief Vol. XV. BULLETIN Article IIL Second Report on a Forest Survey of Illinois. The Economics of Forestry in the State BY HERMAN H. CHAPMAN and ROBERT B. MILLER PRINTED BY AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS URBANA, ILLINOIS August, 1924 STATE OF ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION A. M. Shelton, Director BOARD OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION A. M. Shelton, Chairman William Tbelease, Biology John M. Coulter, Forestry Edson S. Bastin, Geology William A. Noyes, Chemistry John W. Alvord, Engineering Kendric C. Babcock. Representing the President of the University of Illi- nois NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY DIVISION Stephen A. Forbes, Chief SCHNEpp & Barnes, Printers Sprinqpieu), III. 1924 17319—2500 CONTENTS PACK Introduction vii Foreword 46 Wood and the industries of Illinois. 46 Total consumption of wood in Illinois 49 Production of wood in Illinois 51 Future supplies of wood 53 Substitutes for wood 54 The use of wood in manufacturing Industries 55 Farm implements and machinery 57 Relative importance in industries entirely dependent on wood 57 In industries which make extensive use of wood 58 In Industries dependent on wood pulp and paper 62 Minor uses of wood in industries 64 Economic value of wood industries 64 Consumption of wood by steam railroads 66 By electric lines, and light and power companies 69 Renewals, replacements, and future supplies 70 Timber preservation 71 The uses of wood in mining 76 Cost of mining timbers 79 Consumption of wood on Illinois farms 83 Consumption of fence posts 83 Durability of wooden posts 86 Supply and prices of wooden fence posts .' 87 Substitutes for wooden fence posts 89 Consumption of wood for fuel 91 Sources of supply of lumber for Illinois consumers 93 States and regions from which lumber is imported 96 Freight charges 100 Retail prices 105 Proportion of production of wood to consumption 107 The forests of Illinois 109 Original forests 109 Present forests and relation to land economics 115 Classification of timber by regions 116 Production of wood on Illinois farms 125 Consumption of wood on Illinois farms 140 Stumpage prices for saw-timber 143 Forests as a crop on soils of different qualities 149 The grazing of farm woodlands 156 Fires on forest lands 160 A forest policy for Illinois 162 Appendix 167 INTRODUCTION A forest survey of Illinois was begun by the State Natural History Survey in July, 1939, when Mr. R. B. Miller was engaged for a pre- liminary general study of the Illinois situation and conditions and for educational and publicity work intended to open the way to active, practi- cal studies on a larger scale. In 1921 three additional foresters, with Mr. C. J. Telford in charge, entered upon a systematic survey of Illi- nois woodlands with a view to their location and area, their composition and condition, their present management and utilization, and their pro- ductivity as shown by the rates of growth of important kinds of trees on various soils, in various situations, under various conditions, and in all parts of the state. As these data were accumulated, it first became possible to make an intelligent study of the values of our woodlands, of the economics of forest management and production in Illinois, and of the relation of the local supply of forest products, present and prospective, actual and possible, to the demands of our Illinois industries—matters fundamental to any adequate forestry policy, either for the state or for the owner of forest proi>erty or of lands especially adapted to forest culture. This difficult, intricate, and supremely important part of the survey program was taken up by Herman H. Chapman, Professor of Forest Management in the Yale University School of Forestry, and the present report, filed by him for publication in June, 1924, is the product of his work during the summers of 1922 and 1923, supplemented by much additional inquiry carried on under his direction by foresters Miller and Telford, the former especially having been employed during the greater part of two years in the accumulation and tabulation of addi- tional data. All these materials were passed, however, under the scru- tiny of Professor Chapman, who is the final authority for the statements, inferences, and recommendations of the report. Special mention should be made of the cordial co-operation, in all stages of the survey, of the Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of Illinois, which has given us free access to its accumulated data and much valuable information of a more personal character con- tributed by the members of the Station staff. Stici'uex a. Fokbks. Article III. — Second Report on a Forestry Sun'ey of Illinois. The Econmnics of Forestry in the State. By Herman H. Chapman, Pro- fessor of Forest Management, Yale University School of Forestry, and Robert B. Miller, Forester, Illinois State Natural Historj^ Survey. Foreword Although Illinois is known as a prairie state, yet originally over 40 per cent of its area was covered by virgin forests containing magnificent stands of hardwoods. Now ranked as third in the importance of its agricultural products with its forest area reduced to but S per cent of the state's surface, and these remaining forests depleted by axe and fire, the state is yet dependent to an enormous extent on the continuation of abundant supplies of wood to support existing industries, furnish labor and livelihood to her increasing urban population, keep down the cost of living, and maintain the prosperity of the farmer, as well as those engaged in mining, manufacturing, and transportation. To depict these conditions, to determine the relative importance of wood in all its forms in the present economic life of Illinois, and to indicate the lines on which it may be possible to develop a sound and comprehensive policy of deal- ing with this problem of future wood supply, is the purpose of this report. Wood and the Industries of Illinois The state has an area of 56,665 square miles, of which 56,043 square miles, or 35,867,530 acres, is land area. Of this, 89.1 per cent is included in farms and 76.1 per cent is actually devoted to crop pro- duction. The state ranks third in value of agricultural products, being exceeded only by Texas and Iowa. The population numbers 6,485,380, giving the state third rank, following New York and Pennsylvania. There are 237,181 farms, averaging 134.8 acres, and 16.9 per cent of the total population, or 1,090,736 persons, live upon these farms, while 68 per cent reside in towns of 3500 or more inhabitants, and 3,095,137 persons, or nearly 48 per cent of the total population, live in Cook and DuPage counties alone. The density of population on the farms alone does not exceed 20 ]ier square mile, while the average density for the state as a whole, includ- 4; ing the remaining village and urban population, is 115.7 per square mile, which is exceeded only by eight states, namely, Rhode Island 566.4 New York 317.9 Massachusetts ....479.2 Pennsylvania 194.5 New Jersey 420.0 Maryland 145.8 Connecticut 286.4 Ohio 141.4 In all densely populated states, it is evident that industries other than fanning must support a very large proportion of the population and wage-earners. These immense urban populations do not live as parasites on the labor of the farmer. It is not surprising therefore to note that Illinois ranks third in manufacturing, being outranked only by New York and Pennsylvania, and exceeding Massachusetts and other states in which manufacturing is paramount and agriculture of little importance. Transjx)rtation ranks next to agriculture and manufactur- ing in importance as an employer of labor and capital. The fourth great industry in Illinois is mining in which the state outranks all but three other states, Pennsylvania and West Virginia where coal is of first im- portance, and Oklahoma whose value is found in oil. Bituminous coal is what gives Illinois fourth rank in mining. The relative importance to the state of these four main branches of industry may be gaged first as giving employment to labor, second as representing invested capital, and third as to the value of their prod- ucts. Their statistical rank is set forth in tables on p. 48. The differences between these four groups are brought out by the totals. Manufacturing takes materials valued by the U. S. Census of 1919 at $3,448,270,446 and by employing approximately twice the num- ber of persons shown by its nearest competitor, agriculture, adds about l}i times the total valuation of farm products. This requires an in- vestment of relatively one half the cajjital required in agriculture. Agriculture, because of the permanent productiveness of the soil and its limited area, has thus already been cajiitalized at a value nearly four times as great in proportion to gross income as in manufacturing, and with correspondingly lower margin for profits. By working longer hours, and by the part time emjjioyment of minors, farmers produce a greater value per person employed than is produced in factories with the aid of the power obtained from fuel and machinery. The great factory for food products represented by the fertile soil and equable climate of Illinois is effectively utilized. The high investment of capital per person 48 Class of industry 49 representing permanent improvements or construction, is proportionately large and the earning power per person em])loyed correspondingly high while the percentage of earnings to capital invested is relatively low. In the mining industry, the cajntal investment is valued propor- tionately small. Potentially it is much higher, but as the full value can not be realized except as the product is mined, this prospective income is severely discounted in fixing capital values. The mines fall below the other groups in value produced per person employed, indicating that labor represents a relatively larger portion of the energy expended in comparison to values produced than in other groups. The extent to which wood is used as raw materials on farms and in the great industries of mantifacturing, mining and transportation as well as in construction and public works, and in merchandising and crating goods for shipment, and the relative dependence of these activi- ties upon the continuance of wood sup])lies are subjects of vital import- ance to the entire population of the state. Total Consumption of Wood in Illinois Wood is used in many forms. The total consumption includes not merely sawed lumber but cordwood, cross-ties, fence posts, poles, piling, cooperage, shingles, lath, logs for veneer, charcoal, pulp, excelsior and other wood products. Illinois consumed 2,353,662,000 board feet of sawed lumber in 1920, or an average of 363 board feet per capita.* Since the per ca])ita con- sumption for the entire United States was but 295 board feet in 1919, and was estimated at ^516 board feet in 19^0, Illinois though known as a prairie state consumes nearly 15 per cent more lumber per cajiita than the average for the country as a whole. In the Chicago district alone, comprising Cook and DuPage counties, wilh .'5,095,1 ;i7 po])ulation an average of 1,466,820,000 board feet of lumber was consumed during the decade 1910-1920.| For this urban ])opulation, the per cai)ila use of lumber based on the 1919 census was -173.9 board feet, which lowers the average consumption for the remainder of the state to 258 board feet i)er capita. The consumption of lumber on farms as coni])uted in this study is approximately 272 board feet per capita. It is evident, therefore, that the lumber required to sujiport the great manufacturing industries, especially in Chicago, raises the per ca])ita consumjjtion in • Data furnl.shed by the U. S. Forest Service. tl;:isud on rttiirds of lumber leceUed and shipped fiom Chlc:iKO for decade 1910-19 Inclusive. 50 this state above the average for the districts outside of Chicago and for the nation at l^rge. Converted into cubic feet of wood required to yield this quantity of sawed lumber, a volume of 392,277,000 cubic feet is consumed, which constitutes 69.96 per cent of the total quantity of wood used for all purposes in the state. An additional quantity is used amounting to 168,442,988 cubic feet, or 30.04 per cent, consisting of cordwood, ties, mine timbers, posts, cooperage, veneers, shingles, piles, and poles. The total consumption of wood for the state is 560,719,988 cubic feet, which is 86.46 cubic feet per capita. To supply this quantity of wood, per- petually, would require an average of about one acre of land for each person in the state or 6,445,057 acres to be devoted to the intensive prac- tice of forestry. Twice this area would hardly suffice to produce this quantity under the present neglectful, wasteful, and injurious practices of handling our woodlands. The total consumption of wood in the state for an average year is shown in the following table. Although the per capita consumption of lumber on farms as shown on page 51 appears to be less than for the urban population, yet farmers, as ultimate consumers of wood, require a larger proportion than these figures show, since they are based more upon consumption of lumber by the industries than by the consumer who ultimately receives the Consumption of Wood in Iixinois Product 51 The Annual Consumption per Capita of Lumber fob all Puri'oses • Class 52 products, 76,061,600 cubic feet is in the form of cordwood or fuel wood which is but a very small fraction of the total fuel consumption for the state, though it furnishes 25.59 per cent of fuel burned on farms. Of the remainder, totaHng 02,381,388 feet, a quantity equal to 30,257,027 cubic feet or 32.75 per cent is grown in the state. Illinois therefore has to import over 97.6 per cent of its lumber and 65 per cent of wood used in industry in forms other than cordwood. Total Production of Wood in Ilunois for ax Average Year Product 1. Cordwood 2. Mine timbers 3. Posts 4. Lumber . . . . 5. Cross-ties . . 6. Veneer logs 7. Piling 8. Cooperage stock Cord 80 cu. ft. Cu. ft. Post .8 cu. ft. Bd. Ft. Tie Bd. Ft. log scale 1/6 cu. ft. Pile 22.3 cu. ft. Cu. ft. 950,770 11.960,076 10,767,752 56,900.000 1,021.888 24,367,000 40,474 375,989 Quantity in Per cent of cu. ft. total Total Exclusive of lumber Exclusive of cordwood and lumber. 76.061,600 11,960,076 8.614.202 9,333,333 4,343,024 4,061,166 902,570 375,989 115.651.960 106,318.627 30,257,027 65.768 10.342 7.448 8.070 3.756 3.511 .780 .325 100.00 BASIS OF THE TOT.VL-PRODrCTION FIGURES 1. Total woodland X .332 cord—average derived from 100 per cent of 440 wood-lot owners* replies to questionnaire. 2. 62.3 per cent of total consumption, as indicated by statements in reply to mining questionnaire. 3. Total woodland X 3.76 po.=;ts—average derived from 100 per cent of 440 wood-lot owners' replies to questionnaire. 4. Bulletin 1119. U. S. Department of Agriculture, making full allowance for unrecorded customs-mills. 5. Average total production estimated from replies to railroad questionnaire —1021 and 1922. C. U. S. Census data. 1919—statistics for Illinois. 7. Since the average length of piling from a large number of pieces was found to be 36.27 feet, the average contents was placed at 22.3 cubic feet. The number of cubic feet produced in Illinois was derived from figures in the books of piling contractors slunving the numbrr of lineal feet of piling which was secured in the state, this amounting to between 37 and 38 per cent of the total consumption of piling. 8. U. S. Census data, 1919, converted into cubic feet by using the V. S. Forest Service equivalent. 53 PER CK.NT OF TOTAL WOOD USED WHICH IS GROWN IX THE STATE Per cent Per cent Lumber 2.379 Veneers 62.120 Other products . . . 65.099 Piling 36.700 Fuel wood 100.000 Cooperage 3.274 Mine timber 60.683 Poles* Posts 52.068 Shingles .000 Cross-ties 15.169 Average exclusive of fuel wood and lumber. . . 32.75 Average exclusive of fuel wood only 8.169 Wood of all kinds 20.626 • Rural telephone companies use mostly white oak poles, obtained locally for renewals, but it has been impossible to secure any data from these companies on the total number used in the state. FUTURE SUPPLIES OF WOOD What can the state do to insttre to her major industries the continu- ance of wood supplies ? Shall land now devoted to agricitlture be planted to trees to fill this gap between production and consumption so that Illi- nois shall become self-supporting as to its timber needs? As shown later, the average annual crop of wood per acre which can be grown on Illinois land varies from IG to ]G0 cubic feet. At an average production of 87 cubic feet per acre annually which cotild only be attained by in- tensive forestry practice it would require (;.445,0.5T acres or 17.9fi7 per cent of. the state's surface, to grow this amount. .All but 23.9 per cent of the state is under actual cultivation for crops and this percentage in- cludes cities, mines, and all waste and forest land and unimproved pas- tures. The maximum area which could ultimately be used for forest production is probably not over 5 million acres. It is evident, therefore, that not even by the devotion of every acre of this land lo the most in- tensive forest cultivation could the industries now dependent on wood continue to exist without relying as at present on importations from out- side the state in order to maintain their present scale of operations, irre- spective of future increase .in population or industry. Failure to ob- tain these enormous quantities of wood by importation supplemented by growth of local timber will ultimately mean a basic change in industry and perhaps very serious consequences in standards of living and even in the growth and distribution of population. It is out of the question for this state or its citizens to deliberately seek to curtail the production of farm crops, live stock and horticultural products for the sake of grow- ing forests on soils better adapted for these higher uses. Ihe policy in- dicated is to develop forest [jtoduction on soils unprofitable for food crops wherever such soils are found so that the state may produce as 54 large a percentage as possible of home-grown timber, and to take a lively interest in national forestry problems and policies which tend to encourage forest production in other states and in the nation at large. With the utmost effort, it would probably take the state 100 years or more to reach a condition of self-support in wood production even on the present basis of consumption. Illinois must therefore continue to depend in large measure upon regions which possess a greater percentage of true forest soils, from which states it is hoped that timber may continue to be exported provided a surplus is produced within them. Favorably situated to draw with equal readiness from the pine and hardwood forests of the Lake states, the hardwoods of the Mississippi Valley and the uplands of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas, the largest remaining reserve of southern yellow pine in Louisiana and Texas, and the last great store of virgin soft- wood timber on the west coast and in the Inland Empire, the industries of the state are assured of the continuance of their supply of raw- ma- terials until such time as these supplies fail at the source for lack of proper conservation and renewal by forestry measures. That such failure may occur and that the available supplies of virgin timber, especially of the hardwoods which make up approximately 50 per cent of the demands of Illinois manufacturers, will in all probability suffer great depletion within comparatively few decades are facts not open to questionr Illinois industry all along the line faces the prospect of higher costs for wood with growing scarcity of supplies. With the inability to secure the raw materials in proper quantities except at prohibitive price, there arises the problem of substitution of other materials whose cost, as meas- ured by price and utility, shows a favorable margin as against wood. SUBSTITUTES FOR WOOD If for all the uses to which wood is put, the human race could find substitutes which would render just as satisfactory service at lower cost, the question of growing timber might cease to be an issue. But as long as wood in any form for any purpose gives greater and better service at less cost, it will continue to be used. When wood was abundant and cheaply obtained the quantities used per capita were excessive and the waste ran to hig'n percentages. Now that the original forests are melting away, a new factor enters the eco- nomic situation, that is, the cost of producing wood as a crop to replace those supplies. Will the value of wood as compared with wood sub- 55 stitutes bear this additional charge, when added to the cost of logging, milling, and transportation? Or will substitutes be found more economi- cal and practical than the enterprise of timber production to which the term forestry is given? In general, it may be said that the use of substitutes for wood is certain to increase very rapidly in the next two or three decades, due to the steady advance to be expected in the cost of wood of all kinds, but that ultimately wood can be grown and placed on the market at costs which for many purposes should easily restore its economic supremacy and use. Such future use of wood and its extent will be limited only by the quantities capable of being produced. Wood production, or for- estry, Vv'ill be one of the safest forms of industry and of investment. Meanwhile, the prospects in the near future for reduction in the cost of living are not bright, so far as they are affected by the supply and cost of wood. The extent to which industry will be disrupted and costs increased by the withdrawal of wood as a raw material and the substi- tution of other products, mineral, vegetable, or animal, may be roughly approximated by an analysis of the economic position which wood now occupies in Illinois industry. The Use of Wood in Manufacturing Industries Of the four major groups of industry, namely, manufacturing, agri- culture, transportation, and mining, the first, or manufacturing, uses most of its required wood-supply in the form of lumber, while the consump- tion by the other three groups requires a large proportion of wood in the form of round products, such as cordwood, posts, ties, and timbers. Thus 58.37 per cent of the total lumber requirements of the state are absorbed by the wood-using manufacturing industries, or a total of 1,373,900,000 board feet in 1920, as against 41.63 per cent for lumber required in construction. A complete study of the consumption of wood in the wood-using industries, which would mean a revision of the bulletin on "Wood-using Industries of Illinois"* (giving data for 1909 and published in 1910) was not attempted. Instead, the total consumption of wood in all forms was studied for certain important wood-using industries and for agri- culture, mining, and rail transportation. • By Roger E. Simmons. Statistician in Forest Products. U. S. Forest Service, under direction of J. C. Blair, Chief. Dept. Hort., Univ. 111., and H. S. Sackett, Chief, Office of Wood Utilization, U. S. Forest Service. 56 The manufacturing industries for which this study was conducted were: raihvay-car construction and repair, farm machinery and imple- ments, wagons and vehicles, and automobiles. The consumption of wood in these industries, compared with the quantities used in 1909 are as follows in board feet : Per cent of consump- tion in 1920 as com- 1909 1920 pared with that of 1909 Railway cars* 407,333,000 425,000,000* 104.33 Farm machinery and implements 137,157,000 85,867,313 62.60 Wagons and farm vehicles 35,686,000 28,327,875 79.38 Automobiles 652,602 14,177,391 2,172.44 The indicated shrinkage of wood in all manufacturing industries for the state was 23.9 per cent, but hardwood supplies had diminished by 46.49 per cent. Comparing these per cents with the above data, it is seen that the consumption of wood for agricultural machinery and imple- ments, for which purposes hardwoods are largely required, corresponds with the shrinkage in hardwood consumption. One implement manu- facturer sums up the situation by stating, "There are numerous places where wood, if of suitable grade, and at equal cost, would be superior to iron and steel, but on account of the growing scarcity we are sub- stituting iron and steel in places where we really prefer to use wood." The distribution of the remainder of the total quantity of wood used in manufacturing among the groups of industries having the largest con- sumption is approximately indicated below. The statements concerning the packing-box industry, planing-mill products, and furniture are based upon the 1909 consumption reduced by the average shrinkage of 22.9 per cent applicable to the total for the state. The showing for the rest of the list is for 1920. Board feet Per cent Car manufacture and repairs 425.000.000 30.934 Packing boxes 286,831.275 20.877 Planing mill products 171,987,618 12 . 518 Furniture 63,683,636 4.635 Farm implements and machinery... 85,867.313 6.250 Wagons and vehicles 28,327.875 2.062 Automobiles 14.177,391 1.032 All other manufactures 298,024.892 21.692 Total 1.373,900,000 100. Oa • Covers repairs also. 57 FARM IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINERY The amount of wood consumed in the manufacture of farm imple- ments and machinery in 1920 as obtained from the questionnaires sent out to the several firms was 84,214,272 board feet, and it was assumed that this was related to the capitalization of the companies which, with the exception of firms rated at less than $10,000, was obtained from the Illinois Manufacturers' Association and the Secretary of State, Spring- field. Firms consuming 82,652,082 board feet had a capitalization of $290,133,100, while those representing a capitalization of $5,855,000, or 2.018 per cent, made no report. Assumption that the same rate of con- sumption applies to those who did not report would add 1,653,041 board feet to the former estimate of those reporting, or a total of 85,867,313 board feet, which it is believed is very nearly correct. A comparison of 1909 and 1920 consumption is as follows : Ratio of 1909 to 1920 con- Class of product Year 1920 Year 1909 sumption Farm implements and farm machinery 137,157,000 85,867,313 62.6% Wagons and heavy vehicles 35,686,000 28,327,875 79.38% Relative Importance of Wood in the Manufacturing Industries of Illinois The manufacturing industries utilizing wood as a raw material en- tering into their products may be divided into, first, those dependent en- tirely upon wood, and which would cease to exist with the discontinuance of its use; second, industries largely dependent on wood or making large use of it which would be seriously incommoded by failure of supply; third, industries dependent on wood pulj) which would be severely crip- pled by scarcity of wood ; and fourth, industries dependent on wood for minor uses and which it seems probable could survive without serious loss if compelled to make complete substitution of other material for wood. For convenience in tabulation these industries have been desig- nated as A, B, C, and D. GROUP A. industries DEPENDENT ENTIRELY ON WOOD In this group come the manufacture of wooden packing-boxes, lum- ber and planing-mill products, wood furniture, wood and paper pulp, cooperage, wood preservation, and charcoal. The use of wood for packing and crating illustrates the entire prob- lem of wood in industry. With increasing costs for lumber, many forms 58 of substitutes appeared, such as cartons, most of them made of wood refuse or by-products. Although adopted for a large percentage of the Hghter forms of merchandise, damage of goods in transit when shipped in such containers caused the shipper to adhere to wood for so many Hnes and in such a large proportion of freight shipments that wood for packing boxes was largely retained, and the quantity consumed in this industry alone, in Illinois in 1909 required 21.05 per cent of the entire consumption of lumber in manufacturing, or about 375,000.000 board feet, and this proportion probably holds today. In this form, cheap supplies of wood can render an invaluable service to nearly every fonn of manufactured products, including many which do not use wood as raw materials. Group A. — Industries Depe^vdent entirely upon Wood* Persons employed Capital invested Cost of principal materials Value of products Value added by manufac- ture Wooden packing- boxes Lumber and plan ing-mill prod- ucts Wood furniture . Wood pulp and paper Cooperage Wood preserva- tion Charcoal 4,920 6,320 15,160 2,002 1,601 564 27 30.594 $9,002,089 24,059,331 35,330,352 13,928,741 4,849,702 2,252.853 37,676 $89,460,744 $10,297,194 20,393,106 22,164,038 8.162.201 7,623,833 1,618,683 17,113 $18,856,685 34.588.576 49,686,849 14,356,529 11,576,824 1 3,142,545; 40.565 $8,491,880 13.909.099 26.979.464 5,144.07b 3,903,720 1.417.240 23.250 $70,276,168 I $132,248,573 $59,868,729 All industries in this group are obviously dependent on wood as a raw material and would be discontinued with its disappearance. To- gether these industries constitute 3.18 per cent of the total of Illinois manufacturing enterprises. GROUP B. INDUSTRIES WHICH MAKE EXTENSIVE USE OF WOOD In this second group are found those industries which are greatly benefited by access to abundant and cheap supplies of wood, especially of hardwoods. Their products will show a decided increase in cost with the lessening of this supply or the necessity for using substitutes, and in •From "Manuf.-ictures", 1919. 111.. Fourteenth Census of the IT. S. Dept. of Com- merce, Bureau of the Census, Washington. D. C. 59 many instances there will be a loss also in efficiency or satisfactory service. Lumber and planing-mill products constitute that portion of the industry of lumber manufacture exclusive of logging, which takes place within the state. Logging as an industry in Illinois is relatively insignifi- cant, constituting an enterprise equivalent to less than }i of 1 per cent of the total manufacturing industries. But the planing-mill industry is of greater importance, handling in 1909 12.53 per cent of all lumber con- sumed within the state, and having closest contact with the building in- dustries and the use of finished lumber for the construction of buildings in cities and on farms, which, with other uses of lumber outside of manu- factures, absorb nearly 40 per cent of all lumber consumed in the state. The manufacture of wooden furniture as an industry must cease to exist with the substitution of metal for wood. This industry will be one of the last to abandon the use of wood altogether, since the prefer- ence for wood remains strong enough to permit high prices to be paid for woods of high quality, such as walnut. Holding chief place among these in point of demand for wood and its place in industry, is the construction and repair of steam and electric raihcay cars, which, while listed under manufactures, is one of the chief uses of wood in the transportation industry. Car-making uses for new cars alone 28.42 per cent of all lumber used in manufacturing, and em- ploys 7.7 per cent of all the factory employes. Although the use of steel in car construction is increasing, yet out of 158,022 cars of all types made in 1919 in the United States, 6G.15 per cent were built with a wooden superstructure on a steel frame, 2.68 per cent were all of wood, and 2.61 per cent had wooden interior finish or linings, making a total of 71.44 per cent of new car construction all or in part of wood. Agricultural implements and machinery rank next as large con- sumers of wood, taking 5.74 per cent of all lumber used in manufacture. In this industry, more and more of the parts formerly made of wood are being replaced by metal, and it is difficult to predict how far the substitution will go. The same is true of wagons and vehicles, requiring 2.00 per cent, and to a certain extent of others of the industries shown in tabulation B; but substitution becomes an urgent question first in the great industries which require large and dependable supplies and can not exist on the precarious output of second growth or cut-over areas. 60 The automobile industry furnishes one of the best illustrations of the importance of wood. The consumption for automobiles in the United States in 1923 is given by the National Automobile Chamber of Com- merce as 780,000,000 board feet of high-grade hardwood lumber, in addi- tion to which 200,000,000 feet were used for crating and shipping cars. Michigan of course ranks first among the states, but Illinois occupies sixth place in the value of motor vehicles produced, including bodies and parts, her factories approximating 3 per cent of the total output, which indicates a consumption of 14,177,391 board feet for 1922 and 16,610,292 for 1923. The statement for consumption of wood in Illinois by this industry is by no means complete, since there are several factories mak- ing accessory parts, such as bows for tops and running boards of cars, merely as a side-line to some other industry. There are comprised in this industry three main classes of motor vehicles—passenger or pleasure cars, trucks, and commercial bodies for delivery purposes. Data upon the number of each of these classes are obtainable from the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, but are not given out by states. By taking their estimate for the amount of wood in each class of car* and using the figures furnished by the United States Bureau of Census on the number of each clrfss produced in Illinois, it is possible to arrive at a fairly accurate figure for the total amount of wood consumed in the state by this industry. Through the co-operation of the Forest Products Laboratory, Madi- son, Wisconsin, we were able to obtain the figure of 12,000,000 board feet as the consumption for passenger cars, which varies from 150 board feet for open cars to 325 or even 350 board feet for large closed cars. Truck bodies require each from 200 to 250 board feet and their number is known, but the number of commercial bodies had to be approximated, since the Forest Products Laboratory survey did not extend to com- mercial bodies. The total stands at over 14,000.000 board feet. This amount is likely to increase rather than decrease from the fact presented by the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce that there is a marked trend towards closed cars, there having been an increase in the use of this type from 9 per cent in 1919 to 35 per cent in 1923, and closed cars require more wood. Of this 12,000,000 feet for passenger bodies alone used in Illinois, which does not include the lumber used for shipping and crating cars, • Appendix, Note 3. 61 the Forest Products Laboratory reports that it was all No. 1 common or better, and was divided on the basis of species as follows: ash, 71 per cent; oak, 10 per cent; maple, 8 per cent; yellow poplar, 5 per cent; birch, 3 per cent; basswood, 2 per cent; walnut, 1 per cent. Ash, be- cause of its moderate weight in proportion to its strength, its high de- gree of toughness, its comparative freedom from warping, and its ease of working, leads all other woods for this purpose; and it is especially preferred for the bodies of high-class cabs because of its ability to with- stand the shocks and jars incident to city traffic, with its occasional acci- dents. A very large proportion of the ash for cab manufacture is im- ported from Arkansas. The great increase in the use of wood with the expansion of this industry can be seen by comparing the consumption in Illinois for 1909 with that of 1920 or 1923. With the decline in the demand for buggies, coming with the introduction of motor-driven vehicles, many small fac- tories began to make automobile bodies ; but the amount of wood used by them is inconsiderable when compared with that used by the larger and better equipped shops, which are in some instances connected with railway-car building.* Steel is substituted for wood wherever possible, and instead of using solid pieces of wood there is a tendency with the perfecting of water- proof glues to use ply-wood made up of thin pieces of veneer; and some firms are producing a veneered top for sedans as one of their specialties. The importance of this industry for the state as indicated particu- larly by the number of men employed and value of products manufac- tured, may be thus shown here in tabular form. Geoup B.- 62 -Illinois Industries labgely Dependent rrox Wood Census of 1920 Persons em- ployed Capital invested Cost of principal materials Value of products Value added by manu- facture Car construction and repair Agricultural imple- ments and machin- ery Automobiles Pianos and organs and materials . . .. Wagons and vehicles Picture frames Dairyman's supplies Sewing-machines. . . . Handles Laundry appliances. Cooperage Refrigerators Miscellaneous* 61,957 26,555 10,959 9,500 3,374 2.282 7S7 2,501 1,900 2,446 1,260 349 8,45 6 $158,455,923 150,484,328 43,584,252 45,409,050 16,151,533 3,257,085 3,175,310 8,115,991 4,074,736 9,176.002 4,067,672 898,984 19,289.218 132,286 $121,086,018 62,893.409 73,476,977 15,156, 8,112, 2,658, 1,293, 2,287, 3,983, 8,515, 2,563. 375, 16,848, 407 159 425 061 574 803 647 643 815 422 $235,915,008 128.284,716 104,883,442 36,255.055 15,364,522 7,160,155 3,505,720 7.166,783 7,339,470 14.435.533 5,786.820 1,198,255 35.178,544 $110,889,474 63.124.896 30,929,634 20,716.681 7,040,539 4,417,179 2.183.190 4,789,751 3,296,862 5.861,444 3,173.741 811.762 18,061,332 458,140,086 $319,251,360 ; $602,474,023 $275,296,485 This group of industries in which wood is ahiiost indispensable but which may be either forced out of business or be obHged to use sub- stitutes eventually, now totals 14.58 per cent of all Illinois manufactures. That these industries would be tremendously benefited by the continu- ance of cheap and plentiful supplies of lumber suited to their needs, goes without saying. GROUP C. INDUSTRIES DEPENDENT ON WOOD PULP AND PAPER This third group of industries includes printing and publishing, and the manufacture of paper for stationery and other paper goods. Wood pulp and paper are well-nigh indispensable in this industry and in spite of the relatively small quantities required to supply this demand, which is approximately 4.5.50,000 cords per year as against 110,000,000 cords used for fuel alone in the United States, yet the limi- tations of species, cost of transportation, and the relatively large quanti- ties of material which must be assembled at one plant to reduce the cost of manufacture have not only prevented the extensive use of substitutes but have caused the price of pulp wood and of paper to increase con- stantly, until American operators, dependent on the exploitation of virgin • For itemization of "miscellaneous", see Appendix, Note 6. 63 forests with increasing costs of raw material and of transportation, are already facing serious competition from European plants whose supplies are drawn from well-managed forests. This condition is clearly shown by the average prices paid for wood consumed in the manufacture of pulp as given by the U. S. Census for 1919, covering the two previous decades.* These industries dependent on wood pulp and paper represent a total of 4.73 per cent of the state's manufacturing enterprises. Group C. Industries Depending upon Wood Pulp Name 64 ties of clear white pine lumber required for this use. In electrical ma- chinery about seven million board feet is used for minor purposes. These two industries alone total 5.07 per cent of Illinois manufacture. Gboup D. Industries using Wood in a Minor Capacity 65 *^ f5fi relocate elsewhere, if such location can be found. It is evident that the manufacturers of Illinois and the wage-earners dependent on these in- vestments as well as the state as a whole must take a deep and lasting economic interest in the movement for the establishment of timber pro- duction as an enterprise, not only in Illinois but in other states as well. What happens in the southern yellow pine cut-over lands and in the forest areas of northern Minnesota and the upper Peninsula of Michigan, concerns the future welfare of Illinois, which can not afford to remain indifferent to methods or neglect which may result in serious loss through permanent failure of the indispensable flow of raw materials to her wood-demanding industries. The Consumption of Wood by Steam Railroads in Illinois Steam railroads in Illinois had a trackage in 1922 of 25,736.24 miles, classified as large roads 23,157.68 miles, small roads 805.13 miles, switch- ing and terminal companies, 1,773.43 miles. Railroads are not only one of the largest consumers of wood in the state but, owing to the prefer- ence for wooden ties, will probably remain so. Wood is required by railroads for two major purposes, cross-ties, and cars. In addition, lumber is consumed for buildings and minor uses, while round products are used in the form of fence posts, piling, and poles. cross-ties and bridge and switch ties The consumption of cross-ties in Illinois was obtained from figures on total consumption of cross-ties by roads with trackage in Illinois, multiplied by the percentage of trackage within the state. These figures give the total consumption as follows : CON.SrMPTION IN 1920 Cross-ties, Pieces Ties laid in replacement .Ties laid Class and betterment in new track Total ties Large roads 5,187,645 220,799 5,408.444 Medium and small roads 218.806 770 21,1.576 Switching and terminal companies.. 342,540 40,230 382,770 Totals 5.748.991 261,799 6,010,790 Per cent 95.64 4.36 100 Switch and Bridge Ties, Board Feet Totalbd. ft. Large roads 15.562.682 1,194,672 16,757.354 Medium and small roads 694,231 19,377 713.608 Switching and terminal companies. . 3,270.772 300,470 3.571,242 Totals 19,527,685 1,514,519 21,042.204 Per cent 92.80 7.20 100 67 The average contents of bridge ties is 58.6 board feet, and of switch ties, 44 board feet. About one third of these classes are bridge ties, and the remainder switch ties, giving an average content for both classes, of 48.867 board feet. Converting the board-foot contents by this factor into ties, indicates the number so used in 1920 as 430,601, and that used in 1921 as 428,737. The total number of board feet for bridge and switch ties, as taken from the tables for 1920 and 1921, arfe respectively 21,012.204 and 20. 951,122 board feet. Converting the cross-ties into their equivalent in board feet by using 35 board feet, gives for 1920 a total of 210.377,650 board feet, and for 1921, 202.502,300. or an equivalent in number of ties of 6.010,790 (1920) and 5.785.780 (1921). The total number of all ties consumed becomes 6.441, 39'l for 1920 and 6,214.317 for 1921, and the total number of board feet for this number of ties is 231,419,854 for 1920 and 223,453,422 for 1921. Consumption ix 1921 Cross-ties, Pieces Ties laid in replacement and betterment 4.812,200 236.380 491.978 Class Large roads Medium and small roads Switching and terminal companies. Totals Per cent 5.540,558 95.7 Ties laid in new track 232.535 7.916 4,771 245.222 4.3 Switch and Bridge Ties. Board Feet Large roads 15,343,954 1,182.347 Medium and small roads 448.564 37.625 Switcliing and terminal companies.. 3,728,336 210,296 Totals Per cent 10,520,854 93.2 1,430.268 6.8 Total ties 5.044.735 244.296 496,749 5,785.780 100 16.526.301 486.189 3,938,632 20.951,122 100 The following table conveniently summarizes the foregoing details. RKrAPITflJlTION FOR THK Yk.\RS 1920 AND 1921 68 CAR MANUFACTURE AND REPAIR Car manufacture and repair constitutes the second major use of wood by railroads. The total quantity of lumber used in these operations of which actual record was obtained, was 420,087,887 board feet, divided as follows : Construction of new cars 338,941,801 Repairs 77,146,086 Not specified '. 4,000,000 Total 420,087,887 It is roughly estimated that the addition of firms not reporting would bring this total to 425,000,000 board feet. FUTURE REQUIREMENTS FOR WOOD IN THE CAR-MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY The substitution of steel for wood in car manufacture has made rapid strides in the last decade, but has so far not reduced appreciably the demand for wood in this industry. Cars made entirely of wood now constitute but 2.68 per cent of all cars manufactured, while all-steel cars have increased to 27.95 per cent. But there remains 66.75 per cent of all new construction, which consists of a steel frame with wooden body, and 2.61 per cent with steel body and wooden interior. The type of cars with steel frame manufactured in Illinois requires, for box cars, between 5,000 and 5,500 board feet of wood for construction, while the older type of wooden box-car required between 6,000 and 6,500 board feet, a saving of but 1,000 board feet per car. For flat cars the re- duction in wood used is about 1,500 board feet per car, all-wood flats requiring 3,100 board feet as against 1,600 board feet for cars with steel frames. Wooden coaches requiring 25,000 board feet, still utilize 18,000 board feet when steel frames are substituted, while for wood finish in steel coaches, over 6,000 board feet is required. Thus while steel construction is effecting an undoubted saving of wood and adds to the strength of construction, the extensive use of wood is continued by preference to all-steel cars in 72 per cent of new construction at the present time, in spite of the relatively greater increase in cost of wood materials as compared to steel. As in so many other instances, the complete substitution of other materials for wood will not be brought about by relative superiority of the substitute, but solely by the increas- ing scarcity and rising prices of wood itself. 69 Taking the total used for car manufacture and repair at 425,000,000 feet in 1923, there has been an increase of 17,667,000 board feet, or al- most 5 per cent, despite substitution during the last decade. Partial returns were obtained on consumption of lumber, fence posts, and piling by railroads. The figures were given for the entire systems and pro- rated to Illinois on the basis of relative mileage, as for cross-ties. The indicated consumption of wood exclusive of car repair for the year 1922 was: Lumber Posts Piling Class Bd. feet Number Linear feet Large roads 65,512,789 66,886 219,388 Small roads 1,947,177 952 84.751 Switching and terminal Go's 12,545,696 676 13,862 Total 80,005,662 68,514 318,001 The total consumption per annvun of wood by steam railroads in Illinois is thus estimated to be : Miscellaneous 70 ber of ties per mile, and weighting these numbers by the mileage of the respective roads it was ascertained that for 2035.82 miles of track 5,- 638,321 ties were in service, or an average of 2,770 ties per mile. Since from the new ties laid in 1921 and 1922 we obtain an average for re- placements and new construction of 88 ties per mile, we conclude that the average length of service rendered is 31.5 years. Trolley traffic is not so hard on ties as steam traffic because the cars are very much lighter. Some treated ties are used, and in the one case where steel ties were used the cost appeared to be almost prohibitive. The permanent requirement per annum for cross-ties by electric lines and trolley lines may be roughly placed at 312,000 for renewals and new construction*, assuming that there are 9,730,000 ties now in service on the entire 3,514 miles of these roads. In addition to cross-ties, these electric and light and power lines in 1921 required 46,327 poles and 8,042,399 board feet of lumber. The total wood consumed by electric lines exclusive of lumber used for electric cars, in 1921 was: Number Cubic feet Multiple Cross-ties 292,509 1,023,781 3.5 Poles 46,327 463,270 10.0 Total cubic products 1,487,051 Board feet Lumber 8,042,399 ' 1,340,400 1/6 2,827,451 Equivalent in board feet 18,912.267 The total, for both steam and electric transportation is : Cubic feet Lumber 85.508,566 Round products 2S.630.745 114,137,311 cu. ft. or 752,848,774 board feet Tie Renewals and Replacements and the Future Tie Supplies FOR Illinois Railroads Transportation is literally the life-blood of the industries of the state. Whatever affects the security or cost of railroad operation brings imme- diate readjustments in both the cost of living and the standard of living. The security of the road-bed is a necessity in making possible the steady increase in weight and driving power of locomotives, speed of passenger service, and reduction of cost of haul per ton mile. . The •Tliis wa.s determined by returns from questionnaires sent out to members of the Illinois Klectric Railways Association through the courtesy of their Secretary-Treas- urer, Mr. R. V. Piather. 71 weight of the standard rail has been increased ; but the foundation of the entire structure of rail transportation is still the wooden tie. Faced with the possibility of ultimate exhaustion of the supply of wooden ties through depletion of the forest resources, railroad engineers have for three decades experimented with substitutes in order to be ready for the transition when wood was no longer available ; but even in the face of threatened serious shortage of supply and in spite of rapidly increasing costs, cross-ties continue to be made almost exclusively from wood. Not only is the number of ties other than wood now in use infinitesi- mal, but this substitution is not yet increasing at a rate indicating a ten- dency to abandon wood. For the year 1920, Census figures show that out of a total of 86,829,307 ties laid in Class I track for replacements in the U. S., but 154,378 were of material other than wood, or 18/100 of 1 per cent. The two factors which will determine the rate of possible substi- tution for wood in this field are service and cost. Service means the durability or preservation of the tie in a serviceable condition capable of supporting the rail and preserving the gage of the track. Ties cease to render service when they break, decay, get out of shape, crumble, or in any way lose their form and structure. Ties in modern road-beds must withstand terrific shock from traffic. Resiliency rather than rigidity is required, and wood presents this quality, while more rigid metal or cement lacks it. Cement ties crumble rapidly and are no longer considered of value. The rigid steel tie, in spite of its less desirable qualities might ultimately supplant wood, but this sub- stitution dei)ends also on relative costs and demonstrated period of serv- ice. These factors still favor the wooden tie. Wooden ties fail from two sets of causes, namely, decay, and me- chanical .stress which causes the tie to wear out. For these reasons cross- ties were originally made only from woods which possessed the maxi- mum resistance to shock, combined with the greatest resistance to decay when exposed to the surface conditions in the track. White oak and chestnut were the favorite hardwoods, and heart pine the most widely used material in coniferous regions. TIMBER PRESERVATION During the past decade the supply of the so-called class "U", or un- treated ties, those naturally resistant to decay and therefore not requir- 72 ing treatment, became insufficient to meet the needs of the roads. No sap ties possessed this quality, and small timber, even of the desired species, would show too large a proportion of sap to class as "U" ties. The roads met this situation, not by substitution but by timber preserva- tion, which enabled them to draw upon a large reser\-oir of timber of species not sufficiently resistant to decay to have been formerly acceptable. Instead of being confined to white oaks, black locust, walnut, pine, cedar, cypress, catalpa, chestnut, mulberry, and sassafras, and mainly heart- wood, the sap ties of all these species, and in addition many new species could now be used. Of these the most important is the red or black oak group, which grows nearly twice as rapidly as the white oak group. Others are the ashes and hickories, honey locust, beech, formerly a wood in little demand in most regions, birches, including the paper birch which formerly was permitted to burn after pine lands were logged, cherries, gums, which constitute an enormous quantity of timber in the South, hard maple, one of the most numerous species in the northern woods, elms, hackberry, soft maple, sycamore, and butternut. Practically the only trees remaining which are unsuitable for ties are such species as Cottonwood, tulip-poplar, and basswood, which are too weak to with- stand mechanical stress, and are more valuable for other purposes. The expansion of the field of utilization and market for cross-ties to cover practically every species not otherwise valuable found in the wood-lots and forests of Illinois, is one of the most significant and encouraging phenomena of recent years, and is a striking proof of the fact that timber crops, when grown to merchantable sizes, regardless of the species which compose the stand, will in the future find a ready market unless the national neglect of forest production reaches such colossal projiortions that entire industries are dislocated and forced to resort to substitutes. Even should such shifts occur through necessity, wood will regain its place at any future time when it is produced in sufficient quantities to furnish a dependable source of supply. The effect of preservatives upon the life of ties of different species is to establish an average .service of from 15 to 16 years per tie including those species formerly rejected, as against about 10 years for the formerly accepted durable species, and 2 to 5 years for the unserviceable kinds. The relative durability is affected by several factors. Very durable woods, such as white oak, do not show a corresponding increase in longev- ity when treated. The greatest relative gain comes in treating such woods as birch and maple which otherwise decay rapidly. 73 The period of service is diminished by heavy traffic because of in- creased wear, and some species, hke soft maple and ehn, show less rel- ative resistance to heavy than to light traffic when compared with ash, hickory, and red oak. To meet this condition in lines where the traffic exceeds ten million tons annually, tie plates are used which distribute the load and prevent the cutting of the tie by the rail. The preservation of wood has been standardized by experience until practically all commercial plants use either creosote or zinc chloride or a combination of the two. The wood is impregnated with these materials in closed cylinders under air pressure. The use of creosote is more expensive, and gives greater length of service. The choice of the method is determined by the effort to secure the lowest annual charge for re- placements, which is derived from first cost of the treated tie and years of service secured. As ties increase in price the tendency will be to sub- stitute creosote for the cheaper processes. The following table, prepared for the use of one of the larger east- ern roads, shows both the effect of preservation upon the period of serv- ice and the shortening of this period resulting from excessive traffic. In final analysis, it is the total work which the tie is called on to perform, in terms of tons of traffic, which will limit the service which can be ex- pected of cross-ties, no matter of what species.or how well preserved and protected. Demand for tie timber will therefore increase in the same proportion as the increase in tonnage, and regardless of efforts to conserve the supply by preservative treatment. The extent to which this economic revolution in the practices of railroads with respect to the utilization of cross-ties has progressed, is shown by statistics of wood preservation for 1921. In that year, 55,383,515 cross-ties were treated in the United States, of which 54,327,471 were for use on steam railroads and 1,156,044 on electric lines. As the annual consumption of ties is approximately 100,000,000 over one half of all ties are now treated. This includes practically all the woods classed as "T", or needing the treatment. Within another decade, practically all ties except a certain per cent of the more durable "U" ties and ties used by small roads, will receive preservative treatment. The larger roads which have not already adopted the practice in loto, are rapidly enlarging their percentage of treated to untreated ties. Partial figures indicate that the roads with trackage in Illinois used, during 1921, 41 per cent of treated ties, and several of the larger systems increased this per cent substantially in 1922. 74 Sekviceabiott of Ties /. Species native to Illinois Untreated ties Treated ti^s Heavy traffic Light traffic* Heavy traffic Light traffic* Species Years Years Years Years Ash 3 3 10 16 Beech 4 4 8 14 Birches 2 2 8 14 Cherry 4 6 7 14 Elm 2 3 6 12 Gums 2 2 10 14 Hackberry 2 3 6 12 Hard maples 4 4 10 14 Hickory 3 3 10 16 Honey locust 3 3 10 16 Red oak 5 5 10 16 Soft maples 2 2 6 12 Sycamore 2 2 6 12 White oak Heart 8 10 10 16 Sap 7 8 10 16 Walnut, black Heart 6 15 8 16 Sap 5 12 8 16 Butternut 1 2 1 10 II. Species not constituting a source of native supplies of cross-tics Chestnut • Heart 3 14 3 16 Sap 2 10 3 16 Cypress Heart 4 12 4 14 Sap 3 5 4 16 Douglas fir Heart 5 8 7 16 Sap 3 3 7 16 Hemlock 3 4 7 14 Larch 3 6 7 14 Pine Heart 6 12 8 Ifi Sap 3 3 8 IG Southern Illinois is the center of the industry of commercial wood- preservation, containing nine large plants, while three others are located elsewhere in the state. This is due to the strategic location of this region with respect to available supplies of hardwood and pine ties requiring treatment, on the one hand, and to railroad mileage in need of ties on the other. This fact offers a distinct advantage to producers of local tie timbers, which is only partly nullified by the practice of offering uni- form prices for ties delivered on the right-of-way. • Llght-trafflc tracks are those carrying not more than ten million tons annually. 75 The effect of wood preservation upon the requirements of Illinois railroads for tie timber is twofold. It greatly increases the potential supplj' from all, and especially from local, sources, and it cuts the re- quirements for renewals nearly in half, thus improving the position of the roads from 300 to 400 per cent and postponing the day when the roads will be forced to introduce other materials in place of wood for ties. The rate of annual renewals is the gage of the length of service of the average cross-tie. For main tracks the number of ties per rail of 33 feet averages 20, giving 3200 per mile, while on side-tracks it runs 18, or 2880 per mile. An average for all track and roads is sometimes taken as 3,000 ties per mile. The annual replacements per mile, divided into this figure, represent the life of the average tie with approximate accuracy after the initial period following construction has elapsed. As new construction has been practically at a standstill since 1915, this figure should gage the future requirements of Illinois roads for tie timber. Figures for the years 1917-21 inclusive give for all Class I rail- roads of the United States an average annual renewal of 235 ties per mile. This is equivalent to a life of 12^ years, which indicates, first, the extent to which the more durable woods have in the past been pre- ferred and. second, the transition which is rapidly taking effect. The roads simply could not afford to use ties whose service fell much below 10 years, and made the shift as soon as economic necessity compelled action. The annual requirements of Illinois roads for replacements are slightly more than this average, being 241.0 ties per mile for re])!ace- ments alone, and 245.9 per mile when new construction is included. It will require probably ten years to reduce this figure to 174 ties ])er mile for all tracks, which is the goal set for 100 per cent use of treated cross-ties. Should the mileage of track remain fairly stable at 25,000 miles, this would require 4,350,000 ties annually. Allowing an increase in trackage of 10 per cent and a further increase in renewals due to heavier traffic of 20 per cent upon the ultimate mileage, the number re- quired would be 5,742,000 ties annually. Unless unforeseen factors arise it appears safe to estimate that a permanent supply of 6,000,000 ties for steam roads alone should guar- antee the continuous use of wood for cross-ties in Illinois. 76 The Uses of Wood in Mining Mining finds its great importance as a basic industry upon which the entire structure of manufacturing depends for fuel to furnish power, heat, and light, which are equally essential for domestic consumption. Hence the relation of wood-supplies to this industry has an importance much greater than if measured solely by the quantity of wood required in the mining processes. In Illinois this importance is increased by the fact that 95.2 per cent of the entire mining output of the state is in the form of fuel, of which bituminous coal comprises 77.7 per cent, and petroleum 17.5 per cent. The residual output of 4.8 per cent is made up of limestone 2 per cent, sandstone 7/10 per cent, and other materials 2 per cent. The production of bituminous coal, according to the reports of the Department of Mines and Minerals, in short tons of 2000 lbs. for the last seven years is as follows : Tons 1916 63,673,530 1917 78,983,527 1918 89,979,469 1919 75,099,784 1920 73,920,653 1921 80.121.948 1922 63.376,827 Average 75,007,962 Illinois ranks fourth in the value of all mining products and third in the production of coal, the value of the latter alone in 1919 being $138,767,835. For the year ending June 30, 1921, the number of em- ployes in coal mines was 95,763 and the sum of $80,309,689 was paid out in wages. Illinois coal-mine operators control 799.OGO acres of land, of which 754,235 acres is classed as coal land, and 44,825 acres as timber and other lands. The use of wood is essential to the production of coal at reason- able costs. Coal-mining requires large quantities of small timbers in the round, leading to very close and economical utilization of timber crops and of the contents of trees as contrasted with the waste incidental to cutting for saw-timber only. Supplies of local timber on which freight charges are moderate permit the utilization and later abandon- ment of timbering in mines, without the excessive costs which would 77 be incurred in the use of substitutes such as steel or cement. In most instances the recovery of such supports is dangerous and impracticable. The forms in which this wood is needed are props, legs and bars, lagging, caps, mine ties, and lumber. Props are small timbers, either split or round, used in temporary openings, such as in rooms for supporting the roof. Props run from 3 to 5 inches in diameter at the tip and from 2J4 to 10 feet in length, depending upon the thickness of the coal seam. The vertical pieces used in the entries and other more permanent positions are called legs or posts and the horizontal piece is called a cross-bar or, more briefly, a bar. These may be (! or 8 inches in diam- eter at the top end and up to IG feet long. Lagging, or riprap, consists of small poles or boards which extend from one set of legs and bars to another to keep small pieces of roof or wall from falling into the entries. In most cases the lagging is used only where the ground is loose, as the rooms are usually cut in the coal so that the walls stand well without support. The quantity of this material used in Illinois coal mines is comparatively small. Caps are pieces of board about one foot square used to place on top of props or legs for the purpose of tightening up the pieces which support the roof. Old props might be cut up and used for this same purpose. The ordinary size for cap pieces is 12x13 inches and 1 inch in thickness. Mine ties may be as small as 3J^ feet long by 2x4 inches, and up to 5^ feet long by 5x6 inches. Lumber is used for general construction, and for mine cars. The production of bituminous coal for Illinois in 1921, of 80,121,948 tons is taken as the basis for determining the quantity of wood required in mining this coal. Of this total, 78,399,082 tons were the output of shipping mines. The total consumption of wood in coal-mining was obtained for mines producing a total of 22,146,784 tons, or 27.61: per cent of the total output, well distributed over the entire state. The remainder was calculated by proportion, assuming the same rate of consumption. On this basis the coal industry consumed in 1921, 21,552,250 cubic feet of wood in all forms, of which 19,710,000 cubic feet went into the mines in the form of timbers* and the remainder, 1,842,260 cubic feet, was • All forms of wood were converted into cubic feet by proper equivalent. For props, the truncated cone formula was u.sed: V = 0.2618 L (D" -I- dD + d«) 144 whore V = volume. L = length, D = top diameter, and d = butt diameter. B'or lumbir G board fi et wan taken as equaling 1 cubic foot. An average taken on 3.300,000 pieces indicated that the dimensions of the aver- age mine prop were 5.2 feet lontr by 5.4 Inches at the middle, or a little over 6 inches at the small end, and containod .83 cubic feet. Mine ties averaged .7 cubic feet. Mine caps are of various sizes, but averaged 1 board foot or % cubic foot. L>eg8 and bars averaged 1.91 cubic feet. 78 used as lumber, amounting to 11,053,560 board feet, for mine cars and construction purposes. The consumption of wood per ton of coal mined, was : For all purposes, including lumber .269 cubic feet. For mine-timbering, excluding lumber and mine cars, .2-16 cubic feet. The forms in which this wood is used, and the quantity of each are shown in the following table. Wood consumed in Coal-mining in Ilunois * Class of material 79 average contents per piece already determined. It will be noted that 91.24 per cent of all wood used in mines is in the form of round or hewn products of which but 7.13 per cent are legs and bars of sizes capable of yielding lumber. Thus 84.12 per cent of all the wood used in coal mines consists of relatively small props, mine ties, and lagging, which utilizes trees down to from 3 to 4 inches in diameter breast high. The only use of wood comparable to this in closeness of utilization is as cordwood for fuel. But the economic value of mine timbers is much higher than that for cordwood, since for the consumption of .246 cubic feet, or, at 80 cubic feet per cord, of 00.3 per cent of a cord, one ton of coal is obtained, having a fuel value, at .8 tons per cord, of 406.5 times that of the wood consumed. It requires a total of 246,37.5 cords of wood to mine all the coal produced in Illinois, while if wood were substituted for coal as fuel, the requirements would be 100,1.52,438 cords as against an actual output of 1,024,614 cords, or not much over 1 per cent of these requirements. It is therefore evident that if wood must be grown to supply fuel, its most economical use is by converting this wood into coal through the mining industry, and that the land required to produce mine props is performing a service of very high value to the community. Cost of Mining-timbers These relative values are reflected in the prices paid for mining timbers as compared with those for cordwood. The average price paid at the mines for all classes of timber reduced to cubic feet was in 1921, 18.3 cents per cubic foot, which at .246 cubic feet per ton of coal mined gives a cost of 4. -5 cents per ton of coal for wood delivered at the mine.* The price for the larger sizes in the form of legs and bars, was 26.7 cents, or 46 per cent greater than this average, while for mine props it was 16.2 cents per cubic foot, or 11.5 per cent lower. The larger dimen- sions thus command a price per cubic foot 64.3 per cent greater than the smaller props. • Costs of Timber Delivered at Mine. 1921 Summary of Results from Comlming Figures of Harry E. Tufft and R. B. Miller TufTt 8,845.650 tons $302.2!I8 3.5 cents per ton Miner 14,049.475 tons 717.601 5.1 cents per ton Combined 22,895.125 $1,013,899 4.5 The discrepancy in tonnage between this showing for Miller and the number of tons reported on by him in the foot-note on page 78 is expiaim d by the fact that for 2,592,685 tons he had cubic feet of wood requirement but no data on costs. 80 Reduced to cords by the equivalent of 80 cubic feet per cord, the price paid per cord for wood at the mines was : Props $12.96 Legs and bars 21 . 36 Average, weighted $14.64 Using 6 board feet per cubic foot, the lumber represented by the larger-sized timbers costs $44.50 per thousand board feet at the mine, while the same equivalent applied, for sake of comparison, to props gives a value of $27.00 per thousand board feet. It is evident that at these prices, mine timbers will bear the cost of transportation over considerable distances. As the cost of substitutes is still much higher than for wood, and, as the timbers are indispensable to operation, it follows that as long as the freight charges from the near- est available supply do not exceed this margin, the freight will be paid and added to the cost of the timber laid down at the mine. The market- ing of small sizes in this form gives a commercial outlet to material otherwise unmerchantable. Yet under present conditions and practices, the immediate supply of timber obtainable for Illinois mines is insufH- cient for the demand, and is constantly decreasing. Based on returns from companies mining one fifth of the total out- put of coal, it was found that for 1921, 62.3 per cent of all wood used was obtained from Illinois sources, and 3T.7 per cent was shipped in from outside the state. The centers of largest coal production, in Frank- lin and Williamson counties, which in 1921 produced 29.3 per cent of all coal mined in the state, are contiguous to the largest timbered area in the state containing the greatest percentage of non-agricultural land. Rather than be forced to pay excessive freight on these low-grade materials, these mines will always offer an active market for locally grown timber. The higher the freight charges the greater the margin in favor of local supplies. As the cost of cutting and transportation to the railroad is apt to be similar for similar conditions, what would otherwise be paid m freight becomes available either as reduced cost to the mines, increased profit to the contractor or jobber who pin-chases the timbers, or increase in the stunipage value of the timber itself. The closer the competition and the greater the scarcity of timber, the greater the proportion of this margin which will be secured by the owner of the timber in the form of stumpage value. 81 There are but two factors working against this prospective increase in value to the owner. One is the possibiHty of substituting other ma- terial for wood in the mines, the other, which is a corollary of the first, is the disruption of the business of furnishing mine timbers from a given region because of the extreme scarcity of wood. In either case the tendency of mine operators is to seek a dependable supply, whether of wood or substitutes, that can readily be secured in the needed quantities. For such guarantee of supply, and because of the cheapened cost of business and of handling, larger prices can be paid than for odd lots, insufficient .in quantity, irregular in delivery, and perhaps of variable quality. It follows that local mine-timbers have a great economic advantage over shipments from greater distances, but that to fully se- cure these advantages, these timbers nuist show eqvially good quality and, still more important, be produced in quantity sufficient to supply a large percentage of the requirements of the mines. The kinds of wood used in the mines include nearly all classes of local timber. For legs and bars, where strength is required, white oak is sought. For props, mixed species are used, the only requirements being soundness or unim- paired strength. This undiscriminating market is a great advantage in the utilization of mixed stands. Most of the mine timliers imported, come at present from the Ozark region of Missouri where large tracts of small white and post oaks are being exploited for this purpose. It is significant that in spite of these rather extensive timber tracts in a contiguous state, the mines of Illi- nois still draw more than 60 per cent of their timber supply from the second growth and cut-over areas near at hand, and they will continue to do so as long as these timbers can be obtained at prices comparable with those of importations. In no other industry does the intimate relation between forestry and close utilization of wood appear so strikingly as in coal-mining. No enterprise is more dependent on wood for its operations, and none except the paper industry uses sizes which can be so rapidly, abundantly, and cheaply produced. Yet in spite of these favorable circumstances, it is generally admitted that wherever extensive mining is conducted, the wood required for these operations is becoming increasingly scarce and difficult to obtain. The cure for this situation lies in fire protection and the growing of crops of timber on an extensive scale. Coal-mining will be the first industry to feel the beneficial efTect of such practice. 82 It should be emphasized that nothing but the production of large quantities of cheap timber of small sizes will solve the problem of supply for coal-mining. It is only to a very small degree a question of treating or preserving timbers to prolong their life. Legs and bars which remain in place more than two or three years may be treated profitably, but the entire consumption of these sizes constitutes but 7.8 per cent of total 'requirements, exclusive of lumber. Ties, constituting 13.65 per cent, might be treated to advantage. Btit the props, caps, and riprap, or 78.54 per cent of consumption, would seldom warrant the expense of preser- vation. If about two years of use is secured, they can then be aban- doned. The substitution of metal, concrete, or other mineral supports for such temporary entries presents a problem of expense which will seriously handicap all mines which can not continue to secure cheap timber. If the growth of timber is placed at the low average of 40 cubic feet per acre annually, it would still require less than 500,000 acres of woodland to furnish a perpetual supply of mining timbers for this in- dustry. The mining companies own 799,060 acres, or 60 per cent more land than they need to produce their own supplies. Owing to the small sizes of the average prop or tie, these supplies can be grown in a shorter period than for any other use except fence posts or fuel. Depending on the soil and species, props may be grown in from 15 to 30 years. In actual practice, lands devoted to the growing of timber should produce nearly twice this yield, or one cord per acre. But instead of being cut clear for small mine-timbers, these should be obtained as thinnings made to release the better trees in order to permit the latter to grow into sizes suitable for legs, bars, or saw-timber. Props can also be cut from the tops of trees used for these higher purposes. Under such intensive forest management it will be possible to furnish Illinois coal mines with a perpetual supply of timber for all purposes from the equivalent of 400,000 acres, by utilizing only the thinnings and by-products or cord- wood and tops grown in raising higher-priced timber. It is probable that most companies will fail to improve this opportunity as long as they can continue to obtain their supplies by purchase through middlemen or contractors, preferring this method to the assumption of the enterprise of forestry as a side-issue to their main undertaking. Woodland owners in Illinois are probably assured of a continuous market for mining tiinbei at constantly increasing prices, due to this lack of foresight of the opera- tors in providing for their future needs. 83 The Consumption of Wood on Farms The three outstanding uses of wood on farms in IlHnois are for lumber, fence posts, and fuel. The consumption of lumber is estimated to average 1,250 board feet per farm, or a total of 296,476,250 board feet per year on the 237,181 farms. These, and other data on use and production of wood on farms are based partly on the results of a ques- tionnaire sent to 1,600 farmers through cooperation with the Office of Farm Organization and Management and the State Leader of Farm Advisers. Each county agent was asked to supply the names of repre- sentative farmers in his county who owned woodland. Another list of names of farmers having over 40 acres of woodland was secured through the assistance of Mr. A. j. Surratt, Agricultural Statistician at Spring- field. The Natural History Survey takes this occasion to thank the 440 farmers who aided the investigation by furnishing data. THE CONSUMPTION OF FENCE POSTS IN ILLINOIS The average farm in Illinois contained 134.8 acres in 1920. The amount of fencing which is required for all farms in the state was de- rived in two ways. In Bulletin 321 of the U. S. Department of Agri- culture on the subject "Cost of Fencing Farms in the North Central States", Humphrey ('16) gives the number of rods of fence per acre for farms of different sizes. Those between 100 and 140 acres require 6.3 rods per acre. The second method was the questionnaire, answers to which covered 121,434 acres. On this area of 1S9.74 sections there was required 10 miles and 140 rods of fence per section, or 5.21S5 rods per acre. The area of the average farm for which these data were taken was 354 acres. It was assumed that the average of all fences would re- quire 1 post per rod of fence. The ratio of rods of fence per acre in- creases as the farm-unit diminishes in area, hence a factor of increase of 20 per cent was applied to these figures, which gave a requirement of 6.26 posts per acre for average Illinois farms of 134.8 acres as against 6.3 posts based on Bulletin 321 (in 1916) for farms of 100 to 1 10 acres. The average farm, then, requires 843.8 fence posts in good repair. With 31,974,775 acres of farm land in 237,181 farms, the total number of fence posts in place is 200,163,000 in 625,506 miles of fence, equivalent to 25 times the earth's circumference. As the area of land in farms is not increasing but, rather, diminish- ing, any tendency to increase the amount of fencing on the average farm 84 is offset for the state as a whole. The quantity of fence posts required annually for farm-fencing will depend upon the need for replacing de- fective posts. These annual replacements and the ratio they bear to the total number of posts in use is in turn determined by the average length of life of fence posts in the ground. If this is 10 years, one tenth of the number will represent the annual consumption required to keep up the farm-fencing throughout the state. To determine the average period of renewals two methods can be applied. One is to compute it from the average duration of service of each class of posts, weighted by the proportion of posts of this class used. The second is to compile data on the actual number of posts re- quired to maintain fences which have been in place long enough to need annual replacements. It was impracticable to determine the percentage of posts of each species on the basis of the data gathered ; but by the second method, based on 1800 miles of fence, the average period of service of a post was found to be 934 years. This would indicate an annual require- ment by farmers in the state for renewals, of 20,530,000 posts, taking no account of the quantity used by other consumers. In the construction of the original fences on the farms of the state, at least two thirds of the individual owners probably had a source of supply of fence-post material in their own wood-lots, while a large proportion of the remainder could purchase posts from their neighbors at no great distance. These native wood-lots yielded sufficient supplies of the more durable species to satisfy the demand. In the southern por- tion, white oak was the principal source of supply, with mulberry pre- ferred whenever it was present and walnut used extensively when avail- able. The wood-lots of the northwestern counties yielded burr and post oak, superior even to the white oak in durability. Sassafras was made use of as posts when it had come in on old fields and had attained proper sizes. But there remained in many of the prairie counties large areas with no timber or post material except at considerable distances. On these farms, hedges of Osage orange were extensively planted in the early days, and small plantations of black locust were set out by many fanners as a source of future post material. Later, about 15 to 20 years ago, hardy catalpa was extensively advertised and planted for the same purpose. 85 The Osage orange hedges served a double purpose. During their initial period of growth they were substituted for fences. Later, when land became more valuable and many rods of hedges were grubbed out, these old hedges yielded large quantities of posts, averaging from 16 to 20 per rod of hedge, thus furnishing posts for a fence 16 to 20 times as long as the original hedge. Of late, the supply of post timbers of these more durable species, such as mulberry and white oak, in the wood-lots, has been nearing the point of exhaustion. White oak grows more slowly than trees of the red or black oak group, and on wood-lots which have been extensively cut and grazed is less numerous than red and black oaks in the repro- duction which springs up. The close selection of mulberry for posts tends to exterminate this species in mixture. The white or burr oak land in the northwest counties is of a better grade than black oak soils and tends to pass under cultivation. This has increased the use of several less durable species for posts, principally red or black oak, elm, and even such trees as Cottonwood, willow, ash, and maple. All these species are short-lived in the ground, and it does not pay to set them unless first treated with preservatives. When so treated, their average life compares favorably with that of untreated posts of the better species. To determine the average length of service of the more common post-timbers for Illinois conditions, replies to inquiry on this point were tabulated, and the results compared with the standards of durability published by the U. S. Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, Wis- consin. On the basis of the actual experience of over 400 farmers, cor- rected when the data which they furnished were insufficient and not in agreement with those of the Laboratory, the following (p. 87) standards of durability for posts of these species untreated, were arrived at. The most striking fact brought out is the remarkable durability or indestructible character of the hedge or Osage orange posts. Hedge has been used for so long in Illinois, and so many replies were received, that this fact, of which abundant corroborative evidence is available, can be accepted as proved. The only question is the length of this period. As with any species of post, this depends somewhat on the size or di- ameter. But in Osage orange posts this has less effect than for any other species. The sapwood is narrow, and changes to heartwood in 3 to 4 years, and small posts 2 inches in diameter have frequently given service for 50 years. In fact, these small posts wear out by splitting through the driving of staples, before they decay. 86 Average Durabiuty of Species of Wood used fob Fence Posts on Illinois Fakms, untbeated Species No. of re- plies re- ceived Average dura- bility years Durability based on virhite oak—10 years (U. S. Forest Service) years Standard recommended for Illinois years II. Durable Osage orange Mulberry Black locust Catalpa Northern white cedar Burr oak Post oak Walnut White oak Sassafras Not durable Elm Black and red oak Ash Maple Cottonwood Willow 128 87 Number of Posts of Diffeuf.kt Species Required Annually per 100 Acres (Based on 6.26 posts per acre, or 626 per 100 acres) Osage orange 15 to 16 Mulberry 31 Black locust 31 Catalpa 42 Cedar, untreated 42 Burr oak untreated 50 White oak, old growth untreated 63 Walnut 56 Treated posts of inferior woods—20 years basis 31 On basis of 30 years 21 The figure of 25 years given by the Forest Service is much too low for this species, as evidenced by testimony on the actual life of posts. It probably represents, not the full life of the posts but the life since they were set out. This is the case with many of the Illinois replies. It is evident, then, that in hedge posts we have material which, size for size, will give twice the length of service of any known wood, and does this without the additional expense of preservative treatment. In other respects the results obtained from Illinois sources agree closely with the accepted standards, except in the case of some of the less durable species where insufficient evidence was collected. Here the standard adopted agrees closely with that of the Forest Service. The indicated durability of the red oak group is shortened to 5 years. None of these species should ever be used as permanent posts without treatment. These standards of durability apply to the average post-material as taken from the wood-lot during the past 20 to 30 years. But with the exhaustion of the virgin stand, posts are being taken to much greater degree from saplings, and round posts substituted for split posts of such species as white oak. With the increased rate of growth of saplings on cut-over lands comes a greater percentage of sapwood, which decays more rapidly than heartwood and shortens the average life of these posts. FUTURE SUPPLY AND PRICE OF WOODEN FENCE POSTS Data obtained from questionnaires sent out to farmers indicate that in spite of depletion the woodlands of the state are still supplying nearly 50 per cent of the fence posts needed annually on farius for re- placements, or a total of 10,031,800 posts. Under existing conditions a shortage of post timber has already developed and will increase in severity. This shortage is being made up in part by importations of white cedar posts from the Lake states, creosoted yellow-pine posts from the south, and locust and red cedar posts from Kentucky and Tennessee. 88 The species and number of these posts shipped into certain regions of -the state is governed, as in the case of lumber, largely by freight rates. During a nine-months period ending June 30, 1923, one southern pine lumber company alone shipped 138 cars containing over 148,000 creo- soted yellow-pine posts into the central prairie region of the state. The number of imported posts will probably increase. In the southern part of the state white oak posts sell at the lumber yards for 16 cents and red cedar and sassafras at 30 to 40 cents. Mulberry posts sold in Union county for 7 cents each in the woods, but this species is generally reserved by farmers when selling timber for mine props. In northern Illinois white cedar posts from Wisconsin sell at 25 to 45 cents, red cedar at 45 cents, and creosoted longleaf pine at 50 cents each. Native white or burr oak posts could be bought in the summer of 1922 in northern Illi- nois for 15 cents and Osage orange and black locust for 40 cents each. It is probable that sapling or second growth white oak will not last in the ground much over 8 years, hence it will pay to treat such posts as well as those of the less durable species. The open-tank treatment with creosote, in which heavy absorption or practically complete pene- tration of the butt of the post is secured, is recommended for all species listed on page 86 except red cedar, Osage orange, black locust, mulberry, and catalpa. When so treated, all of the remaining species except willow and Cottonwood will last 20 years and probably considerably longer, thus reducing the annual renewal to less than 5 per cent and making red oak, elm, soft maple, and other inferior species last as long as the more durable species. The wood of willow and cottonwood does not take treatment uniformly, and due to this fact posts may develop decay in a shorter time than would be the case with some of the other species. Yet when these two species are available in quantity they will pay for the cost of securing and treating them in spite of this drawback. According to MacDonald ('15) the total initial cost for treated cottonwood posts 7 feet long and iyi inches at the top-end is 40 cents with creosote figured at 30 cents a gallon. This makes the annual charge for the post in place 1.6 cents, if it gives a service of 25 years, and 2 cents a year if it lasts 20 years. In comparison with this the annual charge for an untreated white cedar post costing 35 cents with 10 cents for setting, a total of 45 cents, would be 3.2 cents per year if it lasted 14 years and 4.5 cents if it lasted only 10 years. The results, then, seem to stand 2 to 1 in favor of the treated cottonwood post over white cedar untreated. 89 Information on the treating of fence posts by the open-tank method is easily procurable from the U. S. Department of Agriculture (Hunt 'IG)* and several agricultural stations, such as Iowa (MacDonald '15)t, Minnesota, and Louisiana (Mattoon '20 )|, and it is not necessary to go into the details of the process here since so many excellent bulletins have been written on the subject. There is not only a direct saving in the cost of fencing to the farmer by creosoting the non-durable species, but, more important still, if the practice of treating the wood of all inferior species is universally adopted, extending the life of posts to an average of 20 years instead of 10, there will be required in Illinois annually but 10,000,000 posts instead of the present 20,000,000 or more. By adopting preservative treatment of fence posts the farmers of Illinois can produce enough fence posts, at the present rate, to supply from the farm wood- lands all of the needs of the farms for fencing. THE USE OF SUBSTITUTES CAST IRON, STEEL, AND CEMENT POSTS Unless home-treating of fence posts is practiced to a greater extent by Illinois farmers, the unsatisfactory service and frequent renewals resulting from the use of the more numerous inferior species and the increasing prices of durable or treated posts will result in the substi- tution of steel, iron, and concrete posts. Good authorities say that aj> proximately 1,800,000 steel posts alone were sold in Illinois in 1932, to say nothing of concrete and cast-iron posts, and such sales will undoubt- edly be increased by advertising. Undoubtedly great advances have been made by manufacturers in the production of substitutes for the wooden post, and the steel or iron post may have certain advantages which are strongly pressed. Among these it is mentioned that time is saved in building fence since the posts are driven into the ground, the bearing-surface being increased by anchor plates ; that the steel posts act as conductors during lightning storms ; that fence-rows can be burned out without damaging the fence ; that frost heave is eliminated; that there is no expense for staples, and that the farm can be given a neater appearance by the use of uniformly shaped posts,—all of which are good selling points for the agent. Among the types of metal posts on the market may be mentioned those made of steel, and of galvanized and cast iron, the last two being un- • 1916 Hunt. George M. The Preservative Treatment of Farm Timbers. U. S. Dept. of AgT, Farmers' Bulletin 714, Washington, D. C. Sept. 21, 1916. t 1915 MaclJonald, G. li. rrcservalivc Tioaliiient of Fence Po.sls. Hulletin 158, Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa. August, 1915. t 1920 Mattoon, \V. H. Truating Fence- I'osts on Farms. Circular .N'o. 37. Extension Division Louisiana State University in Cooperation with the U. S. Dept. Agr. Baton Rouge, Louisiana. March, 1920. 90 doubtedly the most durable, and of course more expensive. The weak points in steel posts mentioned by the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, poor quality of metal and too thin material, are being overcome by some manufacturers. Greater care is being taken in the selection of steel and the posts are being made heavier in cross-section, some being of the same shape as a railroad iron. Such steel posts sell for about 45 cents each and are rated by the manufacturers with a durability of 15-25 years, although according to the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, which made exhaustive observations on over 10,000 steel and concrete posts, "this type of post has not been in use long enough to judge of its merits". Galvanized iron posts, round in form, are made which spread when driven into the soil, giving them a firmer anchorage. These, which require no staples, cost 55 cents each and are rated with a durability of 22 years. The manufacturers of galvanized steel windmill towers are making posts of the "angle iron" variety, lighter than those of the "T" form, which sell for 45 cents each, and they claim that some of their windmill towers of the same material have been in service for 30 years. Makers of cast-iron posts claim that the purchase of steel posts is a waste of money, and no one doubts the durability of cast iron who has seen it used for underground water-pipes. As with untreated and treated wooden posts, the relative value of steel or other substitutes must be determined by comparing the average annual charges for the various kinds, including the setting and renewal of the posts over a period of years sufliciently long to afford a fair comparison. We were not able to get a reliable estimate as to the number of concrete posts used in Illinois yearly. Although of higher price when purchased than steel, they have the advantage that with proper molds they can be made on the farm with farm labor. It has been demon- strated that they need to be reinforced and even then, due to dift'erence in composition of materials and faulty workmanship, they have not given as good an account of themselves as expected. The Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station places the concrete post in about the same class as catalpa or white cedar, the later type used by the Big Four railroad show- ing from 10-30 per cent disintegration in from 8 to 15 years. The existing information on the relative efTiciency of steel and con- crete posts does not permit of the conclusion that they have as yet estab- lished their superiority over either the durable species of post. timber or the inferior species when properly treated. Substitution is yet ac- companied by considerable risk and, as in other instances, is being brought 91 about, not by the proved superiority of the substitute but by the progres- sive exhaustion and failure to replace the needed supphes of wood for this purpose. Consumption of W'ood for Fuel on Farms The largest consumers of wood for fuel are those who own wood- lots and cut their own wood. A certain amount of wood is sold to city and town dwellers and to farmers who do not own woodland, but this quantity is limited by the comparatively high cost of transportation of wood and the greater labor required in cutting and splitting, storing and piling the wood for use as compared with coal, as well as by the necessity of seasoning green wood. To dwellers in Chicago, wood is a luxury and not a staple. The abundance and wide distribution of coal throughout the state and its greater convenience in handling and storing, smaller requirement in labor, and greater facility for heating and holding fire over night in cold weather have led to a wide substitution of coal for wood, even for domestic purposes, on farms which have wood-lots. Coal and oil almost completely replace wood as a source of power in industry. From the returns of a questionnaire* it was calculated that farm- ers consume 93.166 per cent of all the wood burned for fuel ; and that wood supplies 25.59 per cent of the combined or total consumption by farmers of wood and coal. The consumption of fuel oil was not ob- tained, and would reduce the percentage of wood to the total of all fuels used by farmers. The basis of this calculation is the questionnaire to farmers, which indicated that as a class they purchased as much wood as they sold, and hence consumed the equivalent of the production of cordwood from farm wood-lots, leaving the cities to be supplied by the equivalent of cordwood from remaining timber lands. The average yield per acre annually was .332 cords, or a total consumed on farms alone, of 885,792 cords from 2,668,050 acres of farm wood-lots. By using standard weights of wood of different species, and comjniting the true average based on an approximate per cent of different species used as cordwood, a fuel equivalent of .8 ton of bituminous coal was obtained to one cord of air-dry wood. A cord of black locust or hickory is the equivalent of a ton of coal. A cord of oak is approximately equivalent to .9 ton of coal ; beech, walnut, and ash to .8 ton ; red maple, gum, ' See Appendix, Note 6, for tabulated data. 92 sycamore, and elm to .7 ton ; yellow poplar and Cottonwood to .6 ton ; willow and basswood to .5 ton. It was found that the average farm of 1-10 acres which burned wood exclusively used 21.4 cords per year, while on farms which burned both coal and wood 13.4 cords were used and 7.66 tons of coal. Farms burning coal only consumed 9.8 tons per year. The wood burning or wood and coal burning farms were those which had fairly large wood- lots, and the average of wood on all farms using it wholly or partly for fuel was 16.1 cords per year. From this figure, divided into the assumed total wood-production for farms of 885,79"2 cords, it is indicated that about 55,018 farms, or 23.3 per cent of all farms, use wood for fuel at this average rate of consumption per farm, while 76.7 per cent burn coal or oil exclusively. When the acreage of woodland per farm is more than 5 acres, 98. 1 per cent of the owners make considerable use of wood for fuel, but when the wood-lot drops below 5 acres per farm. only 44 per cent of such owners burned wood for fuel. These small wood-lots are often grazed and park-like, or are prized for shelter or appearance, and are not adequate as a source of wood fuel. The indicated consumption of coal by farmers is 2,061,046 tons. The assumed 885,792 cords of wood produced on farms at .8 ton per cord gives the equivalent of 708,634 tons, or a total equivalent of 2,769, 680 tons for the farmers of the state as a whole, of which wood forms 25.59 per cent in fuel value. While 23.3 per cent of all farmers burn some wood, 7.9 per cent still burn it exclusive of coal and 15.4 per cent burn both coal and wood. A significant fact brought out by this inquiry is that those farmers who have a plentiful supply of wood-fuel use considerably larger quanti- ties of fuel than when forced to buy coal. Based on fuel equivalents, farmers burning only wood consume 176.5 per cent of the heat luiits consumed by farmers burning only coal, while those who supplement the use of wood by purchasing some coal consume 177.3 per cent of the heat units consumed by those burning only coal. This discrepancy is too large to be completely offset by the supplementary use of kerosene or other fuel oils by those who do not have wood to burn. Farmers who have wood-lots apparently live in greater comfort than those who do not. Yet the coal-burning farmer pays as much for his smaller quantity of fuel as his wood-burning neighbor, even when the cost of labor and a fair price for stumpage is charged against the wood. The average cost of coal to farmers was $6.60 per ton. For wood the cost 93 of stunipage plus labor cost was $2.94 per cord, or the equivalent of $3.67^ per ton of coal, a saving of 45 per cent over coal-prices, which indicates that wood obtained from the wood-lot or neighbors at $3.94 a cord gives 79.6 per cent greater fuel-value for species with .8 tons fuel value per cord than coal at $6.60 per ton. The relative amounts spent on fuel at these values, and assuming all wood as purchased, are as follows : Coal-iurners Coal 9.8 tons at $G.60 $64.68 Coalatid-wood turners Coal 7.66 tons at $6.60 $50.56 "Wood 13.4 cord at $2.94 $39.40 $89.96 Wood-humers Wood 21.4 cords at $2.94 $62.92 Considering the fact that labor by the farmer, his family, or hired help is in 90 per cent of all cases expended in place of money, the cash outlay of those who burn both coal and wood is probably less than for coal-burners, while those burning wood exclusively expend considerably less cash. Where labor is used in winter months which would other- wise be laid oflf, it helps to solve the problem of steady employment, and still further increases the advantage of the use of wood for fuel. The drawbacks to the use of wood for fuel lie in the labor re- quired for its handling, and, in regions where labor is scarce, coal may be used for this reason. Wood, being more bulky than coal, will not stand transportation by either wagon or railroad over long distances in competition with coal, hence for any but local consumption on short hauls, wood loses the economic advantage which it bids fair always to retain for home use on farms. The sale of cordwood at luxury prices in large cities is of less im- portance in the general economy of the state, though it is freciuently a source of profit to land-owners who happen to be favorably situated. Otherwise, most of the profit from such sales is absorbed by transporta- tion, and by local wood dealers*. Sources of Supply of Woods for Illinois Consumers Sawed lumber is not only the most important and valuable of the forms of wood consumed in Illinois, but it is the class of which the greatest per cent is imported, and from the farthest points. But 2.4 per • For flsures Indicating total consumption of cordwood In Illinois for the years 1917, 1919-1921 Inclusive, see Appendix, Note 7. 94 cent of the lumber required in the state is home-grown and a part of that is shipped to Indiana and Missouri. Of the 2,353,662,000 board feet of lumber consumed in the state, 2,310,453,000 is imported, and 43,209,000 is home-grown and consumed within the state. The sources of this imported lumber are given in Table on page 97. The cost of lumber to the consumer in Illinois has risen rapidly in recent years and this rise has exceeded that of other commodities.* Since the cost of raw materials is the automatic regulatory factor which reflects growing scarcity as contrasted with demand, the behavior of lumber prices and the causes of these fluctuations are worth examining. If other materials will serve as satisfactorj' substitutes for lumber lor all purposes, the prices of the latter can not rise much higher than those of the substitutes without driving lumber from the market. It is be- cause lumber is still in demand and substitutes are not yet accepted in so many lines, that these lumber prices can and will continue to rise until the economic advantage of cheap lumber is completely lost to the con- sumer. Lumber prices have risen because of several factors. First is the general rise in the price of all commodities as the result of the lessened purchasing power of money. In this, lumber has obviously shared. Second is the increased distance of haul from mill to consumer, which takes the form of freight charges. Third is the increase in freight rates of late years. Fourth is the increased cost of logging and transportation to the mill, due to rising prices of wages, but, in addition to these, a fifth factor is the increasing inaccessibility of the remaining timber. Lastly comes actual exhaustion or serious diminution of the supply, until it fails to meet demand. This is followed by breakdown and exodus of the manufactures which depend upon wood for raw materials. The first of these six factors needs no demonstration and would work no great hardship were prices and wages adjusted rapidly and equitably to the new standards. It is the fact that wood prices rise faster than those of average commodities, which indicates the existence of more serious conditions. The increased distance of haul is the most influential factor affect- ing prices. When the Chicago market was supplied largely from the Lake states by water transportation, prices were abnormally low. \\'ith •Since 1865 the average price of lumber in the United States has risen 300 per cent, while the average prices of other commodities have risen during this period but 40 per cent. 95 the cessation of this barge traffic, an increasing proportion of the supply came from the South, which still furnishes over 50 per cent of the total. Freight charges rose sharply. But already 25.85 per cent of shipments come from the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast region, 18.58 per cent coming from two states, Washington and Oregon, with an average freight rate nearly twice that from the South. Within the next decade, these percentages will be reversed and the proportion shipped from the far west will inevitably rise to more than one half of the total, while that from the South will be correspondingly reduced by depletion and exhaustion of her virgin timber lands. Even the western timber is not unlimited. The area upon which it grows is scarcely a tenth of that which bore the forests of southern yel- low pine, and while the stand is heavier per acre, the demand of the entire country will be concentrated upon it. Imports into far eastern states are increasing rapidly and are successfully competing with south- ern yellow pine. Freight rates advanced sharply during the war and will probably never recede to their former levels. There is no question about the greater costs of logging nor the rela- tive inaccessibility of much of the timber which is now being logged. Operators are forced to cut the more accessible timber first, when prices are low and margin for profit and stumpage is small. By the time these easy chances are cut over, prices have usually risen sufficiently to permit the logging of more remote stands. Finally, in a region of high prices near to markets, the most difficult chances can be logged at a profit, and the margin will bear the cost of long freight hauls to bring timber from remote regions, and of expensive operations in those regions to tap the reservoirs of timber in rough mountainous districts, by means of logging railroads, flumes, or other costly improvements. With the exhaustion of the supply in any locality and the change from an exporting to an importing region, the average local prices are fixed by imports and based on cost of obtaining this imported lumber. The residual local timber-supplies then advance rapidly in value, espe- cially in stumpage value. It follows that those who hold such residual stumpage profit largely by such holdings. This factor operates power- fully to make the local production of timber i)rofitable, since such prod- ucts get the advantage of the freight differential and can easily under- sell the imported product if of ecjual quality, and still return large profits to the owner or producer. But if through complete breakdown of sup- 96 ply, the more important wood-using industries are driven out of Illinois or forced to close, the tendency will be to ruin the markets for the more valuable products and take the cream off of the profits of forestry. STATES AND REGIONS EXPORTING LUMBER TO ILLINOIS The question as to where this enormous quantity of lumber, amount- ing to 98.16 per cent of the quantity used annually in the state, is ob- tained and whether such importation can be continued is one of vital interest to its citizens. For convenience, the states exporting lumber to Illinois have been assembled in ten groups, to conform to the group- ing used in Bulletin 1119 of the U. S. Department of Agriculture on the Lumber Cut of the United States, 1870-1920. Only those states within each group which shipped lumber to Illinois in 1920 were included. The groups, ranked in their relative importance as sources of lumber ship- ped to Illinois, and the states from which lumber was imported in that year are as follows : 1. Southern 'Group: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louis- iana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas. 2. North Pacific Group : Washington, Oregon. 3. Lake states Group: Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota. 4. North Rockies: Idaho. 5. Central : Indiana ; Kentucky, Missouri. Teiniessee, West Virginia. 6. South Pacific: California. 7. South Rockies: Arizona, Colorado. 8. North Carolina Pine: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina. 9. Northeastern : Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania. 1 0. Prairie : Kansas. 97 These groups of states shipped to lUinois in 1930, the following quantities of lumber. Group 98 Per Cents of Total Shipmknt.s froii DrpFERKXT Regions. Represented by Conifers and Hardwoods Region 99 tors, this 40 per cent of hardwoods will cease to be a factor in Illinois industry. When these facts are realized, the significance of the local supply of hardwoods is emphasized. Illinois will never produce conifers, or softwoods, on a large scale, for the reason that both soil and climate favor hardwoods instead, and wherever such conditions exist, hardwoods are capable of crowding out conifers in natural competition. In spite of the great drafts upon local supplies for round products, which absorbed ill.27 per cent of all hardwoods produced, the remainder, or 8.73 per cent, which was sawed into lumber and used in the state, supplied 8.26 per cent, or one twelfth of the present consumption of hardwood lumber, from forests which, on the whole, have not only received no care or protection, but which have been exposed to the ravages of uncontrolled fires since the advent of the white settler a century ago. If capable of conversion entirely into lumber, the Illinois production of hardwoods would have supplied almost the entire quantity of hardwood lumber con- sumed. As will be shown, the area of land in the state unsuited to agri- culture is for the most part well adapted to the production of hardwood timber of fair or even of superior quality. The state thus possesses unique natural advantages within its own borders for producing the raw materials most needed by its wood-working industries. It is obvious that Illinois must depend on importations for its softwood lumber. But it is equally certain that an adequate permanent future supply of hard- wood lumber from outside sources may not be forthcoming. Softwoods, or lumber from cone-bearing trees, forming approxi- mately 79 per cent of the total consumption, furnishes all but about 10 per cent of wood used for structural material or building, and in 1920 supplied two thirds of that consumed in the wood-using industries. How large a factor these supplies of softwood timber are in the prosperity and progress of the state can be realized by a rough appraisal of its value, which at an estimated price of $50.00 per thousand board feet would amount annually, for conifers, or softwoods, alone, to about $!i;j, ()()(),OOO. In the decades from 1850 down to 1900, by far the greater propor- tion of this lumber came from the pineries of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Only when these supplies began to wane could southern pine compete in the Chicago market with the lake shipments of white pine or even rail rates from Minnesota. Meanwhile the magnificent forests of the Pacific coast, unexcelled in quality and stand per acre but restricted in area as compared with southern yellow pine, struggled 100 against the handicap of heavy freight rates over distances more than twice as great, and entered the market only by virtue of better grades and light weights. During the present decade these conditions are again changing rapid- ly, and for the first time western lumber is entering the market on a large scale in direct competition with southern shipments. The propor- tion now stands. Southern states, 54.38 per cent of all conifers ; Western states, 32.78 per cent, or nearly one third of the total ; Lake states. 11.43 per cent, and all other sources 1.41 per cent. The cut of southern pine is already past its maximum. Another decade will see the position of southern and western supplies reversed, with the Lake states still nearer complete exhaustion. The effect of this process is best brought out by an analysis of the comparative cost of freight on this lumber from the different regions to Chicago. Whenever it becomes necessary to secure the major portion of the lumber for Illi- nois from Washington and Oregon, not only will the freight charges on this lumber for these distances, which are over 2,000 miles, be added to the price of the western lumber, but the same differential or margin may be added to all other lumber of similar grade shipped from near-by points or from the South. The regions producing softwoods and hardwoods may be combined and grouped into four general ones: Southern, Western, Lake states, and Central (including Illinois and the Northeast). The supply fur- nished by these respectively is shown in the following table. Region M. Ft. B. M. Per cent of total Per cent of lumber shipped into state Southern, including North Caro- lina group Western Lake states Central, including Illinois and Northeastern group 1,201,361 608.397 3S3.811 160.093 2,353.662 51.04 101 charges may be ascertained with accuracy sufficient for the purpose of this study. The table following gives these average weights and freight charges and the total for each region by states. Freight Charges on Lumber Shipped into Ilunois in 1920 Group Quantity shipped M. Ft. B. M. Average weight per M. Ft. B. M. lbs. Average cost per M. Ft. B. M. Total freight charges Southern 102 Freight by Rates and Weights of Lumber from selected Points IN each State. 1920 Rates States Mileage basis used Rate per 100 lbs.* Freight per M. Ft. B. M. Total cost of freight Louisiana Mississippi Arkansas Texas Alabama Florida Oklahoma Georgia Average iveight per M. ft. B. M. Washington Oregon Average weight per M. ft. B. M. Wisconsin Minnesota Michigan Average weight per M. ft. B. M. Idaho Montana Average weight per M. ft. B. M. Missouri Tennessee Kentucky Indiana West Virginia Average iceight per M. ft. B. M. California Average weight per M. ft. B. M. Arizona Colorado Average weight pcrM.ft.B.M. North Carolina South Carolina Virginia Average weight, per M. ft. B. M. New Hampshire Pennsylvania Maine Average weight, pcrM.ft.B.M. Kansas Average weight per M. ft. B. M. 1,149 103 The total freight bill may now be compared by regions with the shipments of lumber from the same regions. Region 104 the future. Again, it is seen that already the average freight rate on all lumber, by weight, has risen above that from the Southern states, due to the 60 per cent greater cost and the increasing quantity of western lumber. Finally, the southern freight rates are seen to average nearly two and a half times those from the Lake states, while the western freights reach four times the Lake states rates. At present, these west- ern freight rates are fixed partly to meet southern competition. The rate per mile on 100 lbs. of lumber for the diflferent regions is shown below. Region Aver, haul, miles Aver, freight rate per 100 lbs. (cents) Aver, rate per mile of haul on 100 lbs. (cents) Southern Western Lake states Central and East. 952 2,158 371 496 41.70 69.18 17.29 31.04 .0438 .0321 .0466 .0625 Thus the present rate on western lumber per 100 lbs. for one mile is but 73 per cent of that from the South. If raised to an equal rate, the cost of freight from the West would be increased 26 per cent over present rates. This will probably not occur, since long hauls are given a proportional reduction in rates over shorter hauls on account of equality of terminal charges. But with southern pine eliminated, the tendency will be for the railroads to secure an upward readjustment of freight rates on western lumber, the only other restraining influence being water transportation. That the freight bill on lumber, now close to $30,000,000, will steadily increase by the substitution of western for southern and Lake states lumber is inevitable. With this increase, the consumer will have to pay proportionately more for his lumber than this increase indicates, since basic costs delivered become the basis for computing retail ex- pense and profit. But the greatest danger lies in the fact that by the law of marginal costs, the prices of southern and Lake states softwood lumber will ultimately be determined by that of the Pacific coast ship- ments, and this freight charge will be added, not merely to these western shipments but to the entire remaining supply. The deduction can be drawn—since southern pine lumber can be produced in reasonable quantities to replace the vanishing present supply and can be laid down at 60 per cent of the cost of western lumber—that, next to the Lake states, the South should eventually furnish the larger part of tlie needed 105 lumber to Illinois in the more or less distant future. Pacific coast timber can be shipped by water to the Atlantic seaboard at less cost than to Chicago by rail. The percentage of shipments from the far west will rapidly increase as the eastern region declines, and in the decades of 1930-1960 this region must supply by far the larger portion of the quantity used, at steadily increasing prices. This condition will make it more and more profitable to grow timber as a crop in regions located nearer the consumer and with lower freight charges. Because permanently prevented by her cli- mate and soils from ever producing an appreciably large per cent of softwood lumber, Illinois has a direct economic interest in the proper management of these great pine regions to the north and south, and her citizens should emphasize this fact on every possible occasion. Mean- while the state, by a vigorous forest policy, may succeed in producing within her borders a substantial proportion of the hardwoods needed in many lines of industry. Retail Prices for Lumber in Illinois No exhaustive study was made of the retail prices of lumber in Illinois, but the effect of the exhaustion of the Lake states pineries, and later of the increasing scarcity of eastern timber and shifting of the center of production towards the far west, can be seen by exhibiting the average prices by years of a few standard grades of lumber for the past few decades. These are given for the decades up to 1900, and for each year since that date, to exhibit the course of lumber prices dur- ing the war and their subsequent stabilization at a level considerably higher than before. Rkt.vil Pricks, Chicago M.\rket, 1850 to 1919, Inclusive Northern White Pine, Common Boards Price per Price per Year M. ft. Year M. ft. 1 850 $ 9.75 1908 $31.50 1860 9.57 1909 31.00 1870 10.92* 1910 30.75 1880 12.00 1911 31.00 1890 13.17 1912 31.25 1900 18.81 1913 33.80 1901 19.25 1914 33.00 1902 21.25 1915 33.67 1903 21.86 1916 35.50 1901 23 17 1917 45 75 1905 25.67 1918 55.75 1906 30 00 1919 61.60 1907 33.50 • Gold. 106 Southern Yellow Pine—Finish, B28* Price per Price per Year M. ft. Year M. ft. 1900 $33.80 1912 $ 40.00 1901 30.621/2 1913 45.60 1902 34.50 1914 40.33 1903 35.00 1915 39.00 1904 33.86 1916 40.50 1905 38.83 1917 51.54 1906 41.50 1918 64.17 1907 39.50 1919 89.91 1908 38.18 1920 143.94 1909 37.73 1921 80.00 1910 37.33 1922 94.17 1911 37.33 * Surfaced on 2 sides. Northern White Pine—Clear Boards (Rough) Price per Price per Year M. ft. Year M. ft. 1850 $17.00 1909 $90.00 1860 26.45 1910 91.25 1870t 39.57+ 1911 92.00 1880t 43.50 1912 92.00 1890 43.17 1913 97.00 1900 57.53 1914 97.33% 1901 60.53 1916 99.50 1902 77.00 1917 II6.S714 1903 85.00 1918 129.00 1904 84.331/3 1919 151.83% 1905 84.00 1920 225.00 1906 90.00 1921 225.00 1907 94.371/2 1922 230.00 1908 90.621/2 t Data from "Industrial Chicago," Vol, V, p, 194, by George W. Hotchkiss. t Converted from currency to gold basis. Soiithcrn Yellow Pine No. 2 Common Boards SIS or 82S* i" and 6" Price per Price per Year M. ft. Y'ear M. ft. 1902 $19.33 1913 $25 44 1903 20.00 1914 23.47 1904 20.00 1915 24.73 1905 21.66 1916 26 40 1906 25.00 1917 33.98 1907 23.44 191S 44.35 1908 20.51 1919 53.57 1909 20.88 1920 67.73 1910 19.95 1921 38.20 1911 21.20 1922 42.10 1912 23.45 Surfaced on 2 sides. 107 Douglas Fir No. 1 Common 2 X i; IS' Price per Price per Year M. ft. Year M. ft. 1905 122.00 1919 ?53.57 1910 23.00 1920 67.73 1915 24.73 1921 38.20 19-18 44.35 1922 42.10 Oak, Clear, Quarter-sawed White 2%" Price per Price per Year M. ft. Year M. ft. 1900 $66.00 1919 $190.00 1910 83.00 1920 360.00 1915 92.00 1921 182.00 1918 113.00 1922 165.00 Oak. Plain-sawed White SVt" Price per Price per Year M. ft. Year M. ft. 1910 $57.00 1920 $260.00 1915 63.00 1921 137.00 1918 80.00 1922 125.00 1919 138.00 Chicago prices for mixed Iwmier up to 1910 were: Price per Price per Year M. ft. Year M. ft. 1860 $ 8.26 1890 $15.16 1870 10.95* 1900 14.04 1880 12.70 1910 24.49 , Gold. SUMMARY CONCERNING PROPORTION OF WOOD PRODUCTION TO WOOD CONSUMPTION IN ILLINOIS AND CONCLUSIONS THEREFROM Referring to the table on page 53 we see that the wood-lots of the state have depreciated until at the present time two thirds of their entire yield is fire-wood only, which supplies fanners with one fourth of their fuel, so that for this inferior purpose alone the output would supply but half the quantity burned; and a ready substitute exists in the form of coal. The veneer industry, especially for low-grade materials used for fruit packages, can not afford to import logs from long distances hence it imports less than -40 per cent of its logs, and the local supply is rapidly disappearing. About sixty per cent of the post and mine ma- terial, which can be filled by products of small sizes, is still obtained from local timber but with increasing difficulty, while the supply of cross- ties has dropped to about 1.") per cent of consumption. In the case of lumber, but 2.4 per cent is produced locally, although of hardwoods the state supplies 8 per cent of the consumption. This means that trees of 108 larger sizes are becoming increasingly scarce. The total consumption of wood of all kinds including fire-wood is five times the rate of production, and when fire-wood is excluded, only one twelfth of the wood products consumed annually are grown within the state. Two conclusions may be drawn form this summary. First, it is evident that as a state Illinois can continue to obtain twelve times as much wood as is produced from her own woodlands only so long as other states consume less than ihey produce, for when the surplus in the ex- porting states is used up, the remaining wood will tend to stay at home and be manufactured near the source of production. The state will continue to secure a portion of this wood, by paying sufficiently high prices to draw it away from competitors in spite of the advantage of freight dififerentials, but as it costs less to ship manufactured products than logs or lumber, these wood importations will be largely of high- grade lumber as long as such may be obtained. It is equally evident that this great excess of consumption of lumber over actual rate of home production is a purely temporary condition made possible by a store of original growth which by this process is being depleted and destroyed. When there is no wood remaining, wood must cease to be used. The consumption of wood in the country at large will probably within 50 years drop perforce to a point which no longer exceeds growth, and will then be 100 per cent of production. Unless imported from foreign coun- tries, America will be producing as much wood as it consumes. How much that will be will depend upon the success of the efforts put forth to grow wood on forest lands. Already many Illinois industries are feeling the pinch of scarcity and must either migrate, substitute other materials for wood, or discontinue. The state and its population can not aiford to neglect its 5 million acres of potential woodland. Not only can this area be made to produce from 250,000,000 to 400,000.000 cubic feet of wood, or from one half to two thirds the total present consump- tion, but by better management the percentage of the more valuable products can be greatly increased, reducing the percentage of cordwood proportionately, and relegating it largely to the salvage of waste in tops and slabs. With this conservation of her potential forest resources, the state will receive tremendous benefits in all lines of industry through the increased or maintained prosperity flowing from the forest industries and production. 109 The Forests of Illinois, Original and Present THE original FORESTS The pioneers who were to settle in this region, viewing for the first time extensive natural prairies, were so impressed that they named Illi- nois the prairie state. Yet it appears that over 40 per cent of the state was originally wooded. Estimates made by early explorers, and later tentatively confirmed by the State Soil Survey, indicated that this forest area was about one third of the state. A map prepared from the reports of the Soil Survey reveals the original distribution of this timber. The southern counties were all heavily timbered. These timber areas extended northward along all the streams, diminishing in quantity and area as the land became more level and true prairie more abundant. An extensive belt of woods followed the Mississippi and the Illinois rivers, and in the northwestern counties woodland again increased in area. By carefully checking existing records it has been concluded that the original area of woodland in the state was larger than these previous estimates have indicated, being approximately 1.5,588,965 acres, or 4ilAG per cent of the total of 35,867,520 acres of land in Illinois. The manner in which these forest areas have thus been reconstructed brings out points of considerable interest. In conducting the intensive work of soil-mapping, the Illinois Soil Survey found that a very sharp distinction existed between prairie soils and forest soils in the amount of humus content. The soils which had been continuously in prairie, under a heavy sod of grasses, contained about twice the per cent of humus that was found in soils of similar origin and structure, but which had continuously borne forest-cover. This difTerence was caused by the effects of the grass roots, which filled the upper layers of the soil with vegetable matter and excluded air, favoring the accumulation of humus, while, by contrast, tree roots in decaying admitted air and were oxidized, while most of the tree litter was burned, or oxidized, on the surface. The balance between forest and prairie seems to have remained fairly constant over a considerable period and to have been determined by two factors, topography and soil being one, and fire the other. Wherever the surface was broken or hilly, as along streams, tree vegetation became established, aided by soils which contained coarser materials, while on the flat, poorly drained prairie the soil was a black loam, of a fine texture which is less favorable for tree growth even in planted groves than for farm crops. Trees might and probably would have invaded the prairies 110 in spite of these handicaps of soil and drainage had it not been for fires in the grass, which must have burned at frequent, perhaps annual, in- tervals. The prevailing winds are southwest. Almost without excep- tion, the map of forest soils shows that the strips of timber along streams were considerably wider on the north or east banks than on the south or west. The fires on the exposed banks confined the timbers closely tc the stream, while this stream-barrier permitted the forest to creep out in the lee of the protection thus afforded. While clearing has over wide areas removed all traces of the original forests, the record of its previous existence is thus imbedded in the character of the soil itself, and the reliability of the classification thus indicated has been abundantly proved in areas where the evidence still remained in the form of stumps, or remnants of the forest itself. Based upon these soil classifications, the Soil Survey states that in 44 counties for which records are completed, a total of 6,105,032 acres was originally forested. A map showing the gross areas of these forested soils for all counties indicates that approximately 50 per cent of the state might have originally had timber cover. But there exist many smaller areas of prairie soils within these districts. For the 44 counties above mentioned, it was found that the area of forest soils as shown by the map was apparently 7,016,223 acres, thus indicating that but 85.73 per cent of the apparent forest area was actually forested, or 6,105,032 acres. For the entire state, a gross area of 17,838,971 acres of original forest soils was indicated by this soil map. Applying the same reduction per cent to this figure, the resulting net area originally forested was indi- cated as 15,293,349 acres, or 42.64 per cent of the state. This rough check was then confirmed in another manner. The forty- four counties on which the Soil Survey figures were based are distributed as follows : In the sixty-one counties lying in the north half of the state thirty- two were covered and twenty-nine omitted. In the forty-one counties making up the more heavily wooded southern half, twelve were covered and twenty-nine omitted. It is these southern counties, whose weight is thus considerably lessened, which raise the total of wooded area above the one third, which applied more correctly to the remainder of the state than to the whole. A separate computation of these two groups of counties gave areas originally wooded as follows: Ill Northern group, 61 counties From map, 32 counties 4.665,049 acres Actually compiled 3,928,101 Difference 736,948 or 15.797 per cent From map, 61 counties 8,656,683 15.797 per cent 1,367,496 Net area forested 7,289,187 Southern group, J/l counties From map, 12 counties 2,308,838 Actually compiled 2,086,931 Difference 221,907 or 9.611 per cent From map, 41 counties 9,182,288 9.611 per cent 882,510 Net area forested 8,299,778 Total for state, area forested... 15,588,965 acres These original forests showed an unusual variety of species. The gums, cypress, and similar subtropical trees grew in southern Illinois, while tamarack, arbor vitae, and associated sub-arctic species could be found occasionally in the northern part of the state. Between these ex- treme zones grew the wealth of hardwoods dominantly oak in character which reached their culmination for this continent in the lower Ohio and Wabash valleys. This hardwood forest varied, for different sections of the state, in species composing the stand and in the forms of trees. Thus in the southern uplands the forests were continuous and show a greater variety of species as well as a generally better growth for similar species than in the northern upland stands. These southern forests were noted for the high quality of the timber which they contained. In the northern uplands the trees grew in open park-like formations, thinning in the ad- vance toward the prairie to the fire-scarred and gnarled outposts. There is evidence that the forests were constantly endeavoring to encroach upon the prairie, hut that annual fires generating an intense heat in the abundant grass-cover burned back the tree seedlings and served as a check upon the advance of the forest. The pioneers describe the old forests of the prairie counties as being stands of grove-like aspect border- ing streams and thinning rapidly as the prairie was apjiroached. To- ward the margin, the forest floor was carpeted with a dense growth of seedling sprouts growing between the scattered old trees. These seedling sprouts were killed annually by the fires. The forests in the lower Ohio 112 and Wabash basins were the finest hardwood stands in America. Those of the southern uplands were excellent in character. The forests in the valley of the larger streams of the central and northern parts of the state were but slightly inferior to those of the Wabash-Ohio basin. Those of the smaller streams near the prairies were open and park-like. Several local variations are worthy of mention. While dominantly hardwood in character, yet conifers were found in the original forests. Cypress extended up the Ohio and Wabash rivers and along the lower Mississippi for several miles. Probably the best stands of cypress were found in the Cache River basin, where it grew pure or mixed with tupelo gum. One small grove of shortleaf pine occurs on the dry slopes of the westernmost bluff of Union county and another group occurs in a sandstone ravine in southeastern Randolph county. White pine grew along the river bluffs in several regions north of the Illinois River, the southernmost outpost being on a bluff of the Spoon River in Knox county. The red cedar was found generally throughout the state on the drier bluffs. Throughout the state may still be found small remnants of these original forests. Studies made in the best of these are tabulated below. The average yields for the original virgin stands for the respective regions of the state were lower than those shown for the limited areas measured. DATA OBTAINED FROM STUDIES MADE IN THE BEST ORIGINAL FORESTS OF ILLINOIS I. Cypress bottom, Cache River. Based on strip line of 3.94 acres Soft Carolina Hick- Hack- Species Cypress maple poplar Elm Ash ory berry Total No. of trees per acre D. B. H. 6" and up 7(1 3.3 12.7 2 2 .5 1 91.6 B. F. yield per acre 13121 291 141 50 12 9 7 13931 Max. D. B. H., inches 30 29 20 17 15 10 12 Max. height, ft 100 80 70 GO SO 60 50 II. Ozark uplands, agricultural soil. Union county. Based on % acre plot \Vh. B. B. wal- Sassa- Species oak B. oak Tulip Hickory gum nut fras Total No. of trees per acre D. B. H. 6" and up 10 12 8 6 2 2 4-44 B. F. yield per acre 1836 4460 5480 286 270 210 12542 Max. D. B. H,, inches 25 31 27 13 13 15 14 Max. height, ft 90 100 100 65 60 65 40 113 III. Little Wabash basin*, White county. Based on 3.03 acres Wh. B. Sw. BI. Hick- Sassa- H. lo- Bl, Species oak oak gum gum ory Elm fras cust Ash Wal. Total No. of trees per acre D. B. H. 6" and up 15.5 4.3 10.2 3.3 11.2 3.G 1.3 .3 2.3 1.0 53.0 B. F. yield per acre. .15503 2529 5643 188 2334 100 230 493 63 27083 Max. D. B. H.. inches 40 36 34 16 32 15 14 22 22 17 Max. height, ft 130 120 125 70 120 90 80 125 110 70 IV. Kasliaskia bottoms, Randolph county. Based on 1 acre H.ack- Species , Wh. oak Pin oak Hickory berry Ash Elm Total No. of trees per acre D. B. H. 6" and up 3 14 10 2 5 11 45 B. F. yield per acre 423 96.S0 3880 10 545 1736 16274 Max. D. B. H., inches 22 39 25 9 20 32 147 Max. height, ft 90 105 100 40 90 80 505 V. Upland, McDonough county. Based on 4 acres Wh. Bl. Hick- BI. Wal- Bass- Species oak oak ory Cherry Elm nut wood Total No. of trees per acre D. B. H. 6" and up 26.25 12.5 8.75 1 5.75 2 .75 57 B. F. yield per acre 3977 947 271 59 346 110 50 5760 Max. D. B. H., inches 30 22 17 15 18 16 IS Max. height, ft 80 80 70 60 70 60 70 For a thousand tree-generations these forests held the land. The Mound-builders followed the dim trails and vanished. The later Indians altered them less than the beetles. In the hundred years that the French held the settlements the forests were as when the Mound-builders found them. Then entered the white settler, and in one tree-generation the forest areas were reduced from 15,588,90.5 acres to 2,863,764 acres of woodland, or but 18 per cent of the former area, largely cut over. Of the stands of virgin forest there survives a mere remnant. The pioneers coming from the east and from Kentucky, where the very habits of living were moulded by association with the forest, knew the value of the woodland. Experience had taught them that the finest hardwoods grew on the most fertile soils and led them to think that areas naturally devoid of trees were barrens. So coming upon the great ex- pan.se of Illinois prairie they sought out the forested bottoms for home sites. Even had the pioneer appreciated the superior agricultural value of the prairies he could not have settled there at that time. He had not yet emerged from the period of incessant frontier warfare and the forests often concealed his home. Nor was he familiar with the walled-in well, • For figures on individual trees of original forest see "Additional Notes on the Native Trees of the Ix)wer Wabash Valley", Robert RIdgway. (Proc. U. S. Nafl Mus., Vol. 17. 1894. pp. 409-421.) 114 and so sought out a site near a running spring. The forests were the only source of fuel and building material and he was ill-equipped to haul heavy loads over great distances. The prairies were swept by intensely hot fires, the winter winds found nothing to break their bleak force, and innumerable malarial mosquitoes bred in stagnant pools. For several years prairie land could be bought for five dollars, while forested land sold for thirty-five dollars an acre. Thus we find the flow of settlers in the early decades of the past century at first a mere seepage creeping over the heavily forested areas of the southern part of the state, skirting the prairie, extending back up the rivers, ever following river and forest, held from the prairie until about 1830. The tide of immigration became ever greater, crept out from the margin of the woods in the early thirties, and suddenly flooded the prairies in the late thirties. In 1830 the prairies had scarcely been touched by settlement. By 1840 less than one twenty-fifth remained unsettled. This last frontier was not the rough forest land, but parts of Ford, Iroquois, and Champaign counties. Settlement in Illinois in its effect upon the forests but repeated the conditions of the older-settled states. The loamy bottomlands and best soils were cleared. Generally the logs were heaped and burned. The rougher slopes and poorer soils remained in forest. Although for the most part destructive in his attitude toward forests, yet throughout the uplands in the central and northern parts of the state, it happened that probably for the first time in the nation's history the pioneer unwittingly improved these forests. When in the thirties the prairie sod was broken, forest fires were checked. The seedling sprouts which sprang up yearly after the fires, now developed into a thick stand of saplings. The de- mands of the region for fuel and building material resulted in cutting the older inferior overwood. Free from shade the saplings quickly de- veloped into a dense even-aged stand and even encroached upon the prai- rie where not checked by the plow. The settlement of the prairie increased the value of the limited wooded parts of the prairie counties. Settlers would not buy prairie land unless several acres of woodland were included. This frequently resulted in the wood-lot, which supplied the fuel and building material, being several miles from the farm. Two events ocurring about 18G0 reversed the relative values of prairie land and forest land for the prairie regions. The railroads came to the farms, bringing building material and coal. The base-burner coal 115 stove was patented and added comfort to the life of the prairie fanner. From this date forward the forests did not greatly increase in value, but prairie land began its climb towards $250 per acre. Thus the timber- land owner was under a pressure to clear wherever tillage was possible, and this has been the trend to the present day. Present Forested Areas and their Relation to Land Economics in the State The figures given for the present wooded area in Illinois are as yet tentative, pending the completion of the forest survey now being con- ducted. They are based upon data gathered in 33 counties north and west of the Illinois River and 13 counties in the southern part of the state. Those areas of woodland more than 5 acres in extent were mapped and their totals found by counties. Two other sources of information were available as checks. The 1920 census reported farm woodland by counties, and in 1923 crop reports were made showing farm woodland. The forest survey included all woodlands, the census and crop surveys included only woodland on farms. It was shown by comparison that the census returns were about 36 per cent higher for timber on farms than actually shown by survey for total timber. The crop reports were less than two per cent higher than the survey. In computing the total timber on farms the nature of the ownership of the timber-lands was taken into consideration. If the county had large areas of timbered bottomland, was evidently a county where mine-company holdings were important, or for any reason contained considerable bodies of timber- land not on farms, the crop report figures were ordinarily used to com- pute the area of woodland on farms. If the timber-land was entirely on farms the survey figures were used. To get the total timber lor the state the survey figures were used where complete, and crop-report figures where the survey has not yet been completed. The preliminary result gives : Areas of woodland on farms 2,668,050 Area of woodland not on farms 195,7 14 Total area of woodland in state 2,863,764 This total is 92.3 per cent of the area shown by the census of 1920 as contained in farm woodlands alone, and when the 19."),'; ll acres above indicated as not included in farms is added to the census figures, this 116 total, based on actual mapped areas supplemented by crop report data, falls to 86.8 per cent of the census figures. If the original forested area of the state was 15,588,965 acres, this indicates that 82 per cent of the forest lands has been actually cleared and is either under crops, or pas- ture, or is classed as waste or eroded land, and has ceased to be forest or woodland. The changes wrought in this remaining one sixth of the state's wood- lands by lumbering, fire, and grazing have steadily reduced the stand of timber in both volume per acre and number of trees, and if contin- ued unchecked must finally result in an almost complete ruin of this resid- ual area for forest production by natural processes. Classification of Timber by Regions The wooded regions of Illinois can be divided, first, into bottomland and upland, with a further classification of each of these based on the prevailing soils and species. The regional classes might be arranged for the state as follows : I. BOTTOMLAND a. Southern cypress.—This extends from Wabash county south along the Wabash, Ohio, and Mississippi bottoms to McClure, in Alex- ander county, and is found also in the Cache River bottoms. Mixed with the cypress are such species as sweet gum, silver maple, elm, willow, ash, Cottonwood, and Carolina poplar. In the Mississippi bottoms and in the Cache River bottoms, in addition to these species is found tupelo gum. b. Mixed hardwood.—This extends from the northern range of cypress along the flood-plains of the principal rivers, Mississippi, Illinois, Kaskaskia, Wabash, and the lower reaches of the Little Wabash and the Embarras. It is characterized by a great diversity of species and shows the best growth rates and yields of any type in the state. It is composed of such trees as the gums, sycamore, ash, hickory, pecan, elm, Cottonwood, silver maple, and pin, swamp-white, burr, white. Schneck's and overcup oaks, in the south; with white, swamp-white, burr, pin, and shingle oaks, elm, hickory, ash, soft maple, river birch, hackberry, sycamore, and cottonwood in the central and northern sec- tions of the state. c. Gray clay bottoms of the Big Muddy, Saline, upper Little Wabash and upper Embarras. Pin, shingle, swamp-white, white, and post oaks and ash, elm, hickory, and sweet gum are typical trees. iir d. Alluvial strips along the secondary streams throughout the state. Soils are mixed loams and fertile. Basswood is a common tree in the northern region and black walnut grows freely. e. Sand-plains and dunes.—These are found along the middle Illi- nois River in Mason county, southern Whiteside, and western Lee, Hen- derson, Kankakee, Grundy, and Iroquois counties. While found on and near bottoms they yet may have a desert vegetation. Black-jack oak (Querciis marilandica) is found on the poorer sites, with black oak, hickory, and white oak on the better ones. The types d and e are really intermediate between bottomland and upland types. UPLAND a. Ocark upland.—This is upland south of the limit of ice invasion, extending from southern Jackson county through southern Williamson, Saline, Pope, and Gallatin counties. Characterized by beech, hard maple, red, black, white, and shingle oaks, hickories, tulip-poplar, ash, red gum and black, elm, wild black cherry, black walnut, and cucumber-tree. b. Loessial uplands bordering the Mississippi, Illinois, and Wabash river flood-plains. In the south, along the Mississippi and Wabash rivers, are found all species common to the Ozark upland and, in locali- ties, considerable basswood in addition. c. Gray silt loam uplands of the Illinois glaciation, in the interior of the state extending from the Ozark uplands north to the Wisconsin moraine and black soil belt. Characterized by post, black, shingle, white, and pin oaks and hickory. d. Ycllozv silt loam uplands of central and northern Illinois. Characterized by a good growth of black, white, and burr oak, and hickory, with black walnut and black cherry on the better and scrub oak on the poorest soils. The tamarack swamps of Lake county, the white pine of Ogle county, and the shortleaf jjine in Union, Jackson, and Randolph counties are of ecological interest but are not important timber types. Included in these forest areas at present are stands of every size and all ages from saplings to over-mature virgin stands. In general the bottomland stands throughout the state show a greater diversity of species than the upland stands and are not usually even-aged. Again, in uplands of the southern part of the state, removal by species or by occasional larger trees has resulted in stands of uneven age. In the 118 northern part of the state the upland stands are usually even-aged and from sixty to eighty years old. The original forests probably averaged 8,000 B. F. per acre. The present forests for the entire state average approximately 1,435 B. F. to the acre. The better stands of upland even-aged immature timber of the northern part of the state run from 3,000 to 6,000 B. F. per acre. Trees below 16 inches are numerous; above that size, very few. The all-aged upland forests of the southern part of the state have been overcut and not enough trees remain to insure maximum yields. The bottomland stands throughout the state vary within greater limits as to yield and representation of species, but probably show a higher average than the uplands. The final class of forested lands which are worthy of consideration are the sands supporting black-jack oak and the gray clays supporting post oak. Yields of such stands are verj' low and seldom produce any materials other than fuel, posts, and mine props. Sample St.\nds and Yields—Upland I. Even-aged immature fully stocked stand, age 8J years. Based on strip line of 7.6 acres 119 ///. Even-aged immature fully stocked stand, age 90 years. 8t. Clair county Based on 1 acre Species White oak absorbed practically all species down to comparatively small diameter limits. Consequently in cutting-practices very few trees of any kind are left. The opening up of the stand to light, results in a stimula- tion of weed-growth and the periodic burnings prevent the establishment of a second crop. This fire damage is an especially serious factor in the strip of forested bluffs bordering the Mississippi plain from southern Randolph county south to central Alexander county and in parts of the Uplands of Gallatin, Saline, Pope, and Hardin counties. These areas should produce much more timber than is now being grown. The forests of the south-central part of the state from Carbondale to Pana, roughly representing the extent of the Illinoisian glacial de- posit, are a reflection of the extremely poor soils which characterize this region. Post oak is the prevailing species on the poorest soils, a very limby black oak and hickory come in on the better soils, with white and black oak on the better-drained slopes. Along the stream bottoms very good timber is produced, but the general type of growth for the uplands is poor. Fires are not common, grazing is not practiced, and the stands are well stocked, even frequently overstocked, but tree growth is very slow. As one approaches the Wabash on the east or the Mis- sissippi and Illinois rivers on the west the tight gray clay soils are modi- fied by sands and loess, tree growth is better, and a wider range of species is found. In these latter regions fires are not common nor is grazing of the woodland the rule. The stands of the uplands from about Pana north, or roughly cor- responding to the Wisconsin glacial area, show a tendency toward an even-aged type of from 60 to 80 years of age. Where not grazed they are generally well stocked and thrifty; but grazing wood-lots is the common practice throughout this area, resulting first in the formation of a sod, and ultimately in the conversion from a wood-lot to a treeless pasture. The bottomlands of the central and northern parts of the state are largely cleared. Where forests persist they are uneven-aged, heavily stocked with saplings and large defective trees, and have evidently pro- duced excellent timber. The history of Illinois forests thus parallels that of other states to the east, south, and north, where in the pioneer era, enormous energ)' was expended in hewing farms out of the forests. The great advantage which Illinois possessed in having nearly 60 per cent of her area al- ready bare of trees and this on the most fertile soils, released that much 131 more energj' for forest clearing, and by subdividing the forests into wood-lots and distributing it among numerous owners, insured the rapid diminution of area which has occurred. The interplay of the three tendencies to decrease our cultivated land, increase other unimproved land than forest on farms, and reduce de- cidedly our farm woodland area during the decade of 1910 to 1920 is forcibly shown in the following tables easily deduced from the agricul- tural statistics for Illinois from the U. S. Bureau of Census. o. Decrease in area oj land under cultivation: Per cent of total land area Year Acres of Improved land of the state In other classes 1910 28,048,323 78.20 21.8 1920 27,294,533 76.098 23.092 Decrease 122 and that in the last decade it has decreased 2.7 per cent. The waste land on farms has increased 250,928 acres or 18.9 per cent, while our 'forest area has shrunk 45,300 acres in the last ten years, or at the rate of 4,530 acres per year. These figures have added significance when taken with those from adjoining states, which indicate that the tide of pioneer eflfort in land- clearing is on the ebb, and that at least for the present in all states of the eastern wooded area, more land is being abandoned than is being brought under cultivation annually. Even in a state as fertile, and with so large a proportion of its surface arable, as Illinois, a large residue of land is found which has never been cleared because it was unfit for agriculture, and another large acreage has been cleared which after trial has evidently proved to be of such low agricultural value that its use for crop production has been abandoned as unprofitable. The amount of land unsuited to ordinary farming because of its hilly character, which makes the soil subject to erosion when cleared and renders its cultivation unprofitable in comparison with more level and fertile areas, has been the subject of careful investigation by the State Soil Survey. January 4, 1917, Professor J. G. IMosier summed up the conclusions reached by that department in the following letter: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS Aqkicultckal Experiment Station Urbana, Illinois, January .}. 1917. Dr.. S. a. Forbes, University of Illinois. Di'AR DocTOH Forbes: In reply to your inquiry concerning the amount of hilly land in the state not suited for ordinary farming, will say that the area of such land covers approximately 17 per cent of the state, or 6.000,000 acres. This large area is very irregularly distributed, but is principally along the larger streams, as the Rock River, Mississippi, Illinois, Sangamon, and some minor ones. The Ozark Ridge in southern Illinois gives rise to a large area of very hilly land. All of this was originally forested, but since it has been cleared, much of it has eroded so badly that profitable crops can not be grown any longer, and much of it is being abandoned or used for pasture. In the seven southern counties, approximately 55 per cent of the area is of this kind. In the counties bordering the Mississippi, approximately one third is too hilly to be farmed successfully, while along the Illinois to La Salle, prob- ably 25 per cent of the counties are made up of this land. As to the distribution of this soil; in Johnson county it constitutes 67 per cent of the area and is made up of the two types, yellow silt loam and stony loam. Edwards county contains about 24 per cent and is composed of the types, yellow silt loam, yellow fine sandy silt loam, and yellow sandy loam. Cumberland county is considered a level county, and yet 10 per cent of its area is too hilly to farm successfully. This land comprises the yellow silt loam and yellow sandy loam. 123 The only use that can be made of this land is for pasture or forest. In many places it is left in permanent pasture. There is little doubt, however, but that if this could be re-forested it would become a source of permanent income to the owner. The abandoned land is growing up to persimmon, sassafras, and some other forms that are of little value from the forestry standpoint. Very truly yours, (Signed) J. G. Moster. In July, 1923, the areas of land of hilly and broken character, or so-called eroded lands, were given for 44 counties by Professor R. S. Smith, Assistant Professor of Soil Physics in the College of Agriculture, as 2,004,860 acres, or 11.8 per cent of the total area of these counties. These are the same counties on which the per cent of forest lands was based. The area of these 44 counties was 16,934,240 acres, or 47.21 per cent of the land area of the state. If this proportion held good, the area of eroded lands for the state would be 4,232,367 acres. But the southern half of the state containing 41 counties included but 12 of the 44 counties measured, and so is not weighted properly. Correcting this average by weighting these two sections, gives a total of hilly or so-called eroded land of 4,810,149 acres. Eroded land as described by the Soil Survey is land the original surface of which has been washed away, leaving as a rule what is known as yellow silt loam as the present surface, although the erosion sometimes reaches deeper to other subsoils. Such land is commonly subject to still further erosion which may in time injure it severely, but it is not now necessarily unfit for general agriculture. It is impossible to state with any certainty the absolute area within the state which is better fitted for the growing of forest crops than for tillage, improved pasturage, or orchards, since this will vary with economic conditions as well as with soil quality and physical drawbacks. Not all of the so-called eroded land is unsuited to agriculture ; on the other hand there are some areas of sandy land, or of tight clay soils, and some bottomlands subject to over- flow which it will not pay to drain. To these could be added a con- siderable acreage in the aggregate representing wood-lots, plantations, windbreaks, and hedgerows, on better soils. The total area in Illinois which is or could be forested is probably equivalent to 4.810,149 acres, or 13.41 per cent of the state. What condition is this area in at ])resent ? It is ])robable that all but a very small fraction of the remaining woodlands of 2,863,764 acres, amounting to 7.98 per cent of the state's surface, are included in this acreage. This leaves 1,946,385 acres as the approximate area which has been cleared for either agriculture or pasturage, or has been used 124 for hillside orchards. Subtracting the area of 1,577,663 acres listed by the Census as waste lands, leaves a possible net acreage in productive use other than either woodland or agricultural crops, of 368,722 acres. Since no attempt has been made to segregate the timber-covered areas of land which will ultimately be cleared for agriculture, though the total has been deducted from or charged against the area of hilly, non- agricultural land, it is probable that in the form of groves and planta- tions, or wood-lots fully as large an area of the more level lands in the state will be retained in timber voluntarily as will be needed for pasturage or orcharding on the non-agricultural soils or steep hillsides. Of the 368,722 acres of soil not accounted for by woodland or by waste land in farms, a certain per cent must fall in the area not included in farms. The existence of a very considerable area of land actually abandoned or waste, equal to 55.1 per cent of the total existing woodlands in the entire state, and not classified by the owners as pasture lands, indicates that whatever may be the ultimate division of use of non-agricultural lands between pasture and forests, the present forest area may be in- creased one half without taking an acre from any existing use. The soils of many of these hilly areas are easily eroded. This is especially true of the yellow fine sandy silt loam, yellow silt loam, and yellow sandy loam types in the southern counties, though examples of advanced erosion are not lacking elsewhere as set forth by Bulletin 207* of the State Agricultural Experiment Station. These hilly areas constitute the larger percentages of the non-agricultural or absolute forest soils of the state. Two other classes of soil are found, which under certain conditions should be in forest. The first is wet lands which are infertile when drained, or which can not be drained successfully. In this class come many islands in the Mississippi River, and areas not protected by levees. Other tracts may be found, of which certain lands along the Big Muddy River in Jackson and Union counties are examples, where the soil is a tight clay which does not repay the expense of drainage. The total area of undrained bottomland is steadily diminishing and in time will become a negligible quantity, while the fertility of such soils and the drainage taxes which they must pay in organized districts force their improvement and cultivation at the earliest possible moment. Many stands of young timber of rapid growth may yet develop on some of the least desirable • Univeisitv of Illinois. Asiicultural Exporlment Station, Bulletin 207. "Wash- ing of Soils ami Methods of Prevention", by J. G. Mosier and A. F. Gustatson. Urbana, Illinois, April. 1918. 125 of these areas before the time when they are finally cleared for cultiva- tion. The second type of soil on which forests may be grown is sand. In several areas, of which examples may be found in Whiteside, Lee, Mason, and Kankakee counties, soils of a very sandy character occur, sometimes taking the form of dunes. In Mason county, success has been attained with alfalfa on much of this soil. A great many plantations of black locust have been made, few of which have done well. Cotton- wood makes good development on these sands. There is great possi- bility that various conifers may make profitable crops on such sands. The state should vigorously undertake experimental work in reforesting typical areas of all soil types whose agricultural value is questionable. The Production of Wood on Illinois Farms ; the Actual Number AND Tot.xl Acreage of Farm Wood-lots ; the Average Area OF Wood-lots for the Farms having them and for the State The economic importance of the wood-lot on Illinois farms depends upon the total area in farm wood-lots and the number of owners, from which can easily be ascertained the average area of wood-lot per farm and for the farms of the state. It is to be expected that in a state where 43.46 per cent of the original area was forested, including practically all of the more hilly and eroded sections and poorer soils, the farms which were carved out of these woodlands would still retain forested areas perhaps more or less denuded of merchantable timber, but not yet con- verted into cleared pasture or tilled fields. As to the first item, the preliminary figures of the State Natural History Survey indicate that the total farm-woodland area of the state is 2,668,050 acres. But the number of farms actually having woodlands is not easily ascertained. The United States Bureau of Census does not give this infomiation, although it does collect figures on the total acreage of farm woodlands in the various states. The number of Illinois farms reporting merchantable timber through the Census for 1919 was but 20,0.51, which indicated a reluctance to report timber of ta.xabic value, and a condition of depletion or over-cutting which has reduced the ma- jority of woodlands to brush areas or young saplings. Again, forest products of some sort were reported to the Bureau of Census as being sold from 37,874 farms in the year 1919; but it is im- probable that this represents the entire number owning wood-lots. Even 126 if every wood-lot had merchantable timber that could be sold every year, not all of the owners would have the time to cut and market it. The most common product of the wood-lot is fire wood for home consumption, but only 13.63 per cent of farmers who cut wood sell it to others, while only 7.34 per cent of wood-lot owners cut cross-ties for sale. Lumber is largely cut on the farms for home use, though in most instances when this occurs some surplus is sold. The number of wood-lot owners cut- ting lumber, according to data based on farm woodland questionnaires, was only 60.66 per cent. Fence posts were produced on 86 per cent of the wood-lots, but largely for home consumption. All of this goes to show that the number of farmers reporting wood-lot products for sale is not a reliable index of the total number of owners, but that the number is very much greater than 37,874. The number of famis having wood-lots may be based on the amount of wood fuel burned on the average farm, which was found to be 16.1 cords. The farmer who produced cordwood, according to the farm woodland questionnaries, cut an average of .332 cords per acre annually, which for 2,863,764 acres of woodland in the state would make a total production of 950,770 cords. Farmers own 93.166 per cent of this wood- land, and on this basis would produce 885,792 cords of fuel wood per year, which at 16.1 cords per year would supply 55,018 fanns with fuel. Since the number of wood-lot owners producing their own fuel annually was 87.36 per cent, this gives the number of wood-lot owners as 62,973, which is about twice the number of those selling forest products from the farm. This gives an average area per wood-lot of 42.36 acres, and an average area of woodland for all farms of 11.25 acres. A calculation based upon forest survey figures for certain counties where they have been completed, supplemented by crop-report returns from county assessors, shows a total of 2,668,050 acres of woodland on farms owned by 98,307 farmers. This would give an average wood-lot area of 27.14 acres per farm, or for all the farms of the state one of 11.239 acres, and for each person living on farms one of 2.44 acres. It has been shown that to supply the wood consumption of the state requires the product of from one to two acres per person, depend- ing upon the fertility of the soil and the skill of the owner in forest production. This area of 2.44 acres per person on farms indicates that the woodland owner can, if he desires, supply the entire needs of the farming population of the state for wood in the future but that little or no surplus would be left for the remaining industries or population. By 127 simply supplying their own needs, farmers owning woodland could sell two thirds of the products, either to other farmers or to other indus- tries. Since the marketing of products will follow the natural economic trend, farmers who do not own wood-lots will suffer from lack of ade- quate timber supplies as keenly as any other class of the population. WOOD AS A CROP The enterprise of producing wood as a crop for Illinois land is sub- ject to the same physical and economic conditions as govern the grow- ing of agricultural crops, fruits, or live stock. The profits to be derived from wood production depend upon the price of the products on the market, the continued demand for these products, the cost of harvesting and marketing the crop, and, finally, upon the productiveness of the crops themselves compared with the cost incident to growing them. Wood as a crop requires the practically exclusive use of land for a long period of years. In theory, land devoted to wood crops should remain in woodlands. The devotion of land to this crop, therefore, means its withdrawal from agricultural production, just as the clearing of woodlands means the withdrawal of land from wood production. When woodland is cleared for farming, the expense of the operation is often heavy enough to absorb all the revenue derived from the crop of timber which is cut at the time, thus reducing the value of the woodland as such to zero, but putting it in condition to realize presumably higher values for farm crop production. Since both agricultural and horticultural crops require a very high proportion of labor annually to grow, harvest, and market them, and the amount of this labor is for the most part determined not by the abundance of the crop but by the area which it occupies—especially for field crops, it follows that with successively poorer grades of .soil, or with lessened productiveness or increased costs per acre, a point is soon reached where the costs absorb all the income and the use of such lands for food crops leads to progressive impoverishment of the soil and of the owner, resulting in ultimate abandonment. By contrast, in forest crop ])roduction the cost of labor and annual cultivation is reduced to a remarkably low point. Natural processes need only to be successfully initiated by the establishment of the crop and its later protection from destructive agencies and the stand develops with a minimum of attention. This great reduction of cash outlay and labor costs permits the use for wood crops of practically every acre of 128 land which is too poor to yield profits in food production, and this use for forest crops promises to yield a profit or large return over and above the actual outlay in cash or labor, a return running into hundreds, even thousands per cent. Against this certainty of large economic returns in yields of wood there are two obstacles which diminish the financial profits to owners of forest lands, namely, the cost of marketing the crop and the time re- quired to produce it. Since the value of wood is determined, for any owner of woodlands in any given region, by the market prices which wood products command at the nearest point of delivery, his profits are limited by this price less the cost of getting the wood to the market. But often the initial form of the product, such as logs, must undergo further manufacture, or the product is bought by jobbers or middlemen who endeavor to keep down the price to the producer. Still more fre- quently it happens that the purchaser buys the standing timber at a lump sum and the owner fails to realize the value of his stumpage. Again, wood in any form is both a bulky and heavy product. A cubic foot of green hickory weighs 42 pounds ; one of oak, 35 pounds or more. A cord weighs between 3100 and 3750 pounds. Transporta- tion costs are based largely on weight, and to stand a long train-haul from the forest to the market the price per cubic foot or per pound must show a margin over this cost, plus costs of labor in cutting, shap- ing and loading, freight, remanufacture, and wholesale and retail delivery. As all of the above processes constitute well-organized businesses which will operate only on the basis of securing a living profit, the owner of timber stumpage, even if he receives a fair price, gets what is left after these demands are satisfied, and this margin may be too small to de- fray any costs incidental to crop production. This partly explains the phenomena of cheap stumpage values and low returns which even now are manifest in regions which have an excess of woodland over farm land, or are located far from markets. But the same economic processes which have operated to keep down values of timber as a crop in the past, bid fair greatly to increase these values in the future, provided sufficient wood is produced to rhain- tain the customs of its use in major industries, and to prevent the too complete substitution of other materials for wood. Prices for wood have increased more rapidly than for other prod- ucts, and more rai)idly than costs of labor and transportation. This leads directly to an increase in the margin left for stumpage values, and 139 this margin has increased, on the average, at a more rapid rale than the prices for finished products. As products become scarcer, the factor of competition becomes more active, and the producer stands a better chance of receiving his fair share of the final market value. This proc- ess raises the value of wood crops on all areas regardless of their loca- tion. It makes possible a profit or stumpage value on hitherto inacces- sible tracts, but the chief advantage is to the owner of woodland located near markets, and whose costs of marketing are comparatively low. If this is the situation with timber as a crop grown for sale, the value of such crops grown for home consumption is still further en- hanced. Every farmer is a large consumer of wood crops, as will be shown later. With no home product he is forced to buy wood at the highest retail price, paying all the costs and profits exacted in the course of transportation for long distances, and rehandling by dealers. To the extent that he can supply his own needs, the only costs to him are those of labor and contract-sawing, and those incident to growing the crop. It is the purpose of this investigation to determine the value of such wood crops to the farmer as a consumer, as well as a producer for the market. In the selection of the species of trees to grow, the woodland owner is largely influenced by the condition already established by natural processes on his woodland. Trees show fully as great an adaptation to environment as any other plant association, and from the first settle- ment of this country the character of the forest growth has been relied upon to indicate that of the soil itself. In practically all the eastern states, the dearth of tree-vegetation indicated impoverished soil. Until the nature of prairie soil became known, early settlers avoided it for this reason. It is a safe maxim that unless proved otherwise by ex- perience, the best trees to grow on a given site are the species which naturally grew there in the virgin forests, and (hat trees, such as catalpa, found in nature only on rich well-drained soils, will not produce satis- factory forest crops if introduced on a poorer or drier site. Again, trees inured to unfavorable conditions, like the pines, may grow very rapidly on better soils, but will fail to reproduce naturally in competition with the species found on such habitats. Wood crops, as to species of trees grown and quality produced, are, therefore, less adjustable or less easily modified than food crops. Once the choice is made it must be followed through to maturity. Often this choice is already determined, as in well-established forests. Aside from 130 these features the producer has several advantages. He can often choose between different kinds of product into which he can convert his timber. He can postpone harvesting his crop in times of depres- sion and put it on the market when prices are high. He can produce different quantities of products of different classes by postponing or withholding harvesting of a portion of his stand, or selected trees. In addition, he can greatly modify or increase the value of his crop by selection of species for harvesting, taking out the more worthless for fire wood and reserving the more valuable for higher uses. When creating a new forest by planting he can exercise choice of species, just as a farmer can decide as to what he shall plant, and, like the farmer, his success will depend on his ability to select the crop which is adapted to the soil and site, and not merely on his skill in planting trees or potatoes. The relative productiveness of different forest soils can be judged by the volume measured in cubic feet of wood produced annually. To obtain this figure is not an easy process unless the wood crop on the area is all of the same age, otherwise it can not be known whether the amount cut from the lot represents the growth of a definite period or is merely the accumulation of an indefinite number of years. Again, wood crops must be measured for volume production when thev have attained a reasonable maturity, else the average annual production is not fairly realized. Potato crops, measured when half grown, do not show full production. But all field crops reach definite ripeness while with woods crops this period is comparative only, and the measurement of many different stands is necessary to determine the approximate period of highest average annual crop-yields, and those of greatest pro- dttction of money income. This study will be undertaken in Illinois during the years 1924 and 1925. Meanwhile preliminary figures show that an acre of soil grown to hardwoods will produce annually from 16 to 160 cubic feet of wood. The production of wood, as may be expected, is in direct ratio to the fertility of the site. This is illustrated by the following samples. Extremely dry sandy hills may yield less hardwoods per acre than the lowest yields which are recorded. If planted to suitable conifers, the apparent yields may be doubled, yet when weight is considered may not exceed greatly that of hardwoods. The maximum yields on any site can only be secured by the growing of species, best adapted to tliis site and to the condition of the land at the time. When land is bare 131 Plot Yields (one acre each) Plot location Species Age years Cubic feet contents Mean annual growth cu. ft. Weight produced per year in pounds 1. Prairie, agricultural 2. Alluvial bottom . . . 3. Prairie, agricultural 4. Alluvial bottom.... 5. Prairie 6. Upper Miss, bottoms 7. Hilly upland. . . . 8. Alluvial bottom. 9. Hardwood bottom.. 10. Prairie 11. Upland, hilly. 12. Sands 13. Upland, thin rocky.. Catalpa Maple, ash, elm, sycamore .... European larch . . Sycamore, burr oak Black walnut. . . . Maple, elm, pin oak, others . . . White pine Pin oak, b 1 a c 1? oak, red gum. ash, others .... White oak, cherry. hickory, others. Black walnut. ... White oa;, black oak, others Black oak, others White oak, black oak, hickory. . 15 132 products. On the average farm wood-lot it was found that the propor- tion of the various classes of product obtained were as follows: Proportion of Per cent average price Fuel wood 65.68 .118 Mine timbers 10.33 .044 Posts 7.44 .063 Lumber 8.19 .051 Cross-ties 3.75 .020 Veneer logs 3.51 .032 Piling .78 .005 Cooperage stock* .32 .002 Weighted average price per lb .335 It is thus seen that the crop from the farm wood-lot averages 0.335 cents per pound. This price is due to the large proportion of low-priced fuel wood. This price is equivalent to $6.70 per ton while the more valuable products bring prices of over $18.00 per ton. The average crop per acre now being harvested is 1415 pounds or about ^ of a ton, worth $4:.?4, or a crop value of nearly $5.00 per acre annually. These comparatively low prices per pound as compared with concen- trated food crops are offset by a much lower cost of actual outlay per pound in the production of the timber crop so that the net profit over cash expenses greatly increases the favorable position of this crop in land economy. The chief objections urged against actually undertaking to grow timber as a crop are based, not so much on the yields per acre or prices which are possible as on the crop-period or time required, which for private enterprise is often regarded as prohibitive, and which results in the accumulation of interest deemed necessary to return a given per cent on the investment, and of taxes at compound interest. For farmers who own wood-lots there are several strong arguments offsetting these factors. In the first place, the wood-lot, unless already badly cut over or nearly ruined by grazing, is often if not usually in position to sustain an annual production approaching the full possible yield of the land in wood crops. It is a going business and, if managed as such, incurs no compound interest charges since each year's expense is met by income from cuttings. This is the ideal condition to maintain, and is exemplified by many wood-lots carefully preserved and cared for, in the southern portion of the state, which continue to yield quantities of high-grade lumber, posts, and other products. •Cooperage stock taken as of same vaUio as lumber. 133 In the second place, it is not necessary to wait 30 to 80 years for yields from a wood-lot. The intensive use to which a farmer can put the small material enables him by thinnings to obtain fuel, stakes, fence posts, and other small-sized material in not over 15 years; even within 8 to 10 years when plantations are made on bare soil, and these returns carry the investment until the more valuable material is ready for cutting, and pay the taxes. The question of taxes is one which requires legislation or change in practice. But in small wood-lots taxes are not the factor which will either encourage or prevent the practice of forestry to any great extent, for the reason that ordinarily the taxes on this land would be about the same whether or not forest crops were grown, and the crop offers a means to pay these taxes, while non-productive land does not. As be- tween pasturing and forest crops, the question is one of relative net an- nual income to the farm as a whole as well as to the land so used. This will be discussed later. Forest land is usually classed as unimproved and as such bears a lesser valuation than improved land. Such a prac- tice, of valuing forest lands lower than lands producing agricultural crops or orchards, is sound in theory and practice, since, as shown, forests are crops which can and should normally be grown on poorer soils unsuited to higher uses of food production, hence worth considerably less per acre than a good quality of agricultural land. When small quantities of high- grade agricultural lands are devoted to the production of special forest crops, such as hedge or catalpa posts, the values of the crops are or should be sufficiently high to bear the usual taxes on lands of this value. One principle can be clearly laid down which will remove any in- justice in taxation of forest property. Growing timber itself should not be taxed, but only the land upon which it grows. It is as sensible to tax growing crops of grain as to tax repeatedly the same crop of timber during its growth. To determine whether the woodland property belonging to the farm- ers of the state is now producing crops which measure up to the possible yields of such lands, the returns from 440 wood-lots were tabulated. The table on page 131 gives the results obtained. In column 3 is indi- cated the area out of the total of 19,986 acres which yielded products of the designated kind within a period of 5 years for lumber, and 3 years for other products. Fuel is cut annually on most wood-lots, and a very high proportion amounting to 8G per cent still continue to yield fence posts for the annual upkeep of the farm. A significant figure is the 134 proportion of wood-lots yielding saw-timber, 60.66 per cent of those re- ported falling in this class. This, however, is probably higher than would apply to all farm wood-lots, for a large proportion of them have been already stripped of the more valuable trees which produce sawlogs. Based on indications from total yields of saw-timber for the state, there are probably 30 per cent of the wood-lots which still contain crops of this class of timber. Production of Wood on Farm Wood-lots, Total froji 19,986 Acres of Woodland Covered by Farm Questionnaire—440 Answers Class of material 135 Oh this basis, the yield in cubic feet from an acre of woodland as returned by owners, was as shown by the following table. YiEij) Per Acre of Wood on Farm Wood-lots Based on Answers to Questionnaire Character of products 136 hence if "cut clean" or completely dissipated it takes many years to build it up again to its full productiveness. The annual yield of these wood-lots as indicated by the farm ques- toinnaire was 43.045 cubic feet per acre. When we compare this yield with the data shown in Table on page 135, indicating the productiveness of dififerent classes of soil, it is evident that average grades of forest soils will grow this much wood annually, hence it is possible to grow timber fast enough to maintain the present rate of cutting forever, and it may be possible to double it. But the probability is that, instead, this yield will continue to decrease. There are two reasons for this. First, the maintenance of an annual cut requires the reservation of a certain quantity of wood capital in the form of young trees partly grown. Depending on the products desired and the period required to produce them, the growing stock required may be roughly calculated by taking one half of the total growth or final yield of the crop. For example, if the yield is 40 cubic feet per year and can be harvested at 50 years, the crop yields 2000 cubic feet. Then 1000 cubic feet per acre is a normal forest capital ; actually somewhat less than this quantity will suffice. But if the stock or capital is exhausted by clear-cutting for cordwood or niine timbers, it drops way below this required minimum, and when this happens it becomes impossible to maintain the same rate of yield until the gradual processes of growth have again built up the stock. This scarcity occurs first for the larger and more valuable products, such as saw-timber or veneer logs. The smaller the material harvested the sooner it can be replaced and the greater the probability of sustaining the yield. The second factor is far more serious, and consists of destroy- ing the reproduction which would naturally take the place of the timber removed. When this happens for any cause, such as fire or excessive grazing, there is no hope of ever restoring the yield to its former volume until such cause is removed and the reproduction re-established, perhaps by expensive measures followed by the long wait for the new crop to mature. The average acre of woodland in Illinois now contains but 635 cubic feet, which, for a low average yield of 43 cubic feet per year, would indicate that this yield can be maintained only on the basis of cutting the material at an age of 30 years. This period is insufficient to pro- duce saw-timber or even cross-ties and will yield only posts, mine, tim- bers, and cordwood. Either the future yields of Illinois wood-lots will be confined to these products after the residue of the larger trees 137 remaining has been cut, or else the cut must actually be reduced con- siderably below 43 cubic feet per acre in order to grow new crops of these more valuable products. It is fair to assume, therefore, that the process of denudation or exhaustion of the average or normal forest capital has proceeded to the danger point, and that this annual cut of 43 cubic feet is not at present being replaced, but that the cut actually constitutes a further depletion of the remnant of forest capital, and may further reduce the yields and growth in the future. The steady diminution of the cut of saw-timber per decade in Illinois gives evidence of this tendency. Census figures give the following production for the state in timber. Year Board feet Year Board feet 1879 r 334,244,000 1909 170,181,000 1889 *\ 218.938,000 1919 64,628,000 1899 [ 381,584,000 1920 56,900,000 The percentage of sawed lumber to total output of wood has un- doubtedly fallen off faster than the total production, since this material came from the older or virgin growth of timber of which there now re- mains but a fragment of the original stands. Some of the above output undoubtedly represents clearing of land for agriculture. But as these figures of actual cut in cubic feet per acre are shown to agree closely, though accidentally, with the yields of wood crops pos- sible on the poorer grades of land which can be termed forest soils, they will serve as an indication, not merely of the present money-yields from farm woodlands, but of the minimum net income which the con- tinuous use of such lands for wood crops may be expected to produce without undue or unusual expense in crop production and by the same natural processes as have served to grow these crops in the past. Great improvement over these figures is ])ossible in the way of increased yields and better money-returns through thinnings and improved prices. These actual yields as reported on wood-lots were then compared with the total production of dififerent classes of material for the state, in order to correct any error occasioned by departure of the replies from this average due to selection of better wood-lots. The figures on total production used for this basis are given in the table on page 138. In applying these totals to the wood-lot areas it was assumed that these would produce fully as much per acre as the total woodlands of the state, given as 2,863,764 acres. •See Appendix, Note 9. 138 In determining the average yield per acre of farm wood-lots it was considered more accurate to assume that when the total production of the given class of product for the state was known, that for the farm woodlands would bear the same proportion to this total as the wood- lands themselves bore to the total forested area. This proportion is 93.166 per cent. The alternative of multiplying the results obtained from questionnaires representing 440 units of 19,986 acres, or 86/100 of 1 per cent of the farm woodlands was considered less reliable and in some instances was manifestly in error for the state as a whole. Pro- duction of cordwood and of fence posts was based upon this question- Peoduction of Wood riioir Illinois Pabm-Woodlaxds OF 2,668,050 Acres Product and unit Total for farm woodlands Average per acre Average per wood-lot of 27 acres Fuel wood cords Mine timbers cubic feet . . . . Posts piece Lumber board feet .... Cross-ties piece Veneer logs board feet . . . Piling piece Cooperage stock cubic feet .... 885,792 11,142,700 10,031,860 53,011,340 952,050 22,701,710 37,708 350.293 .332 4.176 3.76 19.869 .357 8.508 .0141 .131 8.96 112.75 101.52 536.46 9.64 229.72 .38 3.54 Quantities of Wood cut annum.i-y from Farsi Wood-lots Product 139 naire, since state-wide figures on production were not available and for cordwood were open to question. It will be noted that while the yield from the questionnaire was 43.045 cubic feet per acre, that obtained from the check in total state production was 40.435 cubic feet, or nearly identical. But the average wood-lot yields a greater proportion of its output in the form of cordwood and mine timljers and less high-grade products, such as lumber, than did the selected lots, hence its net revenue will be lower. The percentages shown in this table indicate that at present nearly two thirds of the wood produced by farmers goes into wood fuel, which is the cheapest product of the wood-lot. Eleven per cent is utilized as lumber or veneer logs and a little under 5 per cent as cross-ties, piling, or cooperage stock, while mining timbers absorb over 10 per cent and posts nearly 8 per cent, or a total of nearly 85 per cent in small sizes. Although these proportions clearly indicate that the wood-lot is not being worked to its capacity for crops of highest value, yet it must be pointed out that logs measuring less than 9 inches at the small end will yield less than 50 per cent of their contents as lumber. Even with full and close utilization the proportion utilized will be Diameter at small 140 of present production. But if the yield per acre were also increased by at least 50 per cent, which is easily possible, the capacity of the present farm woodland area would be at least six times the yield of lumber and logs now being cut within the state, and would then equal the total annual output of the virgin forests of the state during the decades of their highest production. It is improbable that this result will be at- tained from the existing woodlands because of the pressure for cutting at earlier ages and for bulky products, such as mine timbers or fuel. But the yield of saw-timber can at least be increased threefold by proper management and its percentage of the total crop doubled, so that one quarter of the cubic yield will be in this form, which bids fair to be the product most needed in future farm maintenance, and the most ex- pensive to purchase. Consumption of Wood on Illinois Farms As stated on page 83, the three major forms in which wood is consumed on farms are fuel, posts, and lumber, amounting to 5T6 cubic feet per farm. An additional 7.33 cubic feet of wood is used annually on farms for shingles. (Appendix, page ITl, Note 10.) But the farmer is also the ultimate consumer of much of the wood which enters into the construction of manufactured products, such as farm machinery. boxes and crating, furniture, paper and utensils of various kinds. The total consumption for such purposes in the state has been considered under manufacturing industries but it was not possible to compute the amounts consumed on farms. This consumption, however, nuist be charged to the farmer's account and added to the more obvious major forms of wood which he uses and which to a considerable extent he can produce in the wood-lot. A deduction should of course be made to the extent to which steel and cement are used as substitutes for wooden posts. But in spite of this reduction the actual consumption per farm will be somewhat greater than that shown in the table which follows. • Consumption of Wood on F.vrms Annually Class of product and unit 141 The balance between farm consumption and farm production of wood may be shown best by assuming that the existing woodlands aver- aging 27.14 acres each, on 98,307 farms, is equally distributed among the 237,181 farms of the state, giving each a wood-lot of 11.239 acres. Pbodtjction per Average Farm on 11.239 Acres op Woodland a. Products useful on farms Product and unit 142 Consumption in the following percentages : fuel wood, 14 per cent ; lumber and veneer logs, 13 per cent ; posts, 4 per cent. The enforced purchase of a material capable of being produced on the farm wood-lot is a serious economic handicap to the farmers, which is becoming increasingly evident in the steadily advancing prices he must pay for wood or its sub- stitutes. The value of this wood crop can be measured in two ways, first as a saleable product, second as taking the place of material which must otherwise be purchased. High prices lead inevitably to the curtailment of the use of both wood and its substitutes. Less fuel is bumed; build- ings in need of renewal are not renewed; and money which would ap- pear as a profit is sunk in the cash outlays for upkeep. The farmer who possesses an average wood-lot of 21 acres is cut- ting annually less fuel than the average farmer consumes in a year; if expressed in wood, 8.964 cords as against 14.6 cords consumed in the form of wood or coal.* In lumber and logs he produces 766.14 board feet as against 1250 board feet used. This will supply him with all his heavy timbers and fencing and all of his rough lumber, requiring the purchase of only the finishing grades. He produces 101 but requires only 86 fence posts annually. His total requirements including the ex- clusive use of wood fuel are 1990 cubic feet. He produces 926.03 cubic feet of these same classes of material representing, however, a surplus of posts, and a deficit of lumber and cordwood. To balance this required expenditure he produces for sale 165.73 cubic feet of mine timbers, cross- ties, piling, and cooperage stock. A 27-acre wood-lot in the average neg- lected condition of woodlands today supplies the farmer with 55 per cent of his wood consumption and if adequately managed the increased pro- duction and sale of merchantable products will make him permanently independent of outside markets for wood or wood substitutes, and re- lieve him of the cost of purchasing fuel, building material, and fencing for all time. If coal is substituted in the ratio of 7.66 tons to 13.4 cords of wood, shown as the average for those farms using wood and coal to- gether, and the wood-lot managed for the production of larger percent- ages of higher grade material, the area may be further reduced to about 16.7 acres for the average farm. Under these circumstances there is in the present area of woodland enough productive capacity to supply two thirds of the farms of the state with wood forever. •See Appendix, Note 11. 143 STUMPAGE PRICES IN ILLINOIS FOR SAW-TIMBER From data gathered by the U. S. Forest Service in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, based on 14,102,000 board feet of logs, the average price re- ceived at the mill for hardwood logs wsls $24.93 per thousand board feet. Based on 26,537,000 board feet of logs, the average price received for hardwood stumpage was $12.86 per thousand board feet. This leaves a margin for cost plus profit in logging, of $12.06, agreeing closely with the results of the questionnaire, which indicated that average costs of logging plus 20 per cent profit was $12.32. The returns from the Illinois questionnaire were not sufficiently numerous to indicate a safe average price of stumpage for saw-timber. This varied from an average of $19.86 for the higher grades of logs, to $5.22 for low-grade timber. This would indicate that the average of this much larger quantity, or $12.86, may be safely adopted as the average stumpage value of saw-timber for the years 1919 to 1922, in Illinois. By species the yearly average figures show a wide variation, from a maximum of $85.00 per thousand for walnut in 1920 to a minimum of $3.29 for sycamore in 1922. Little reliance can be placed on these specific averages. Walnut commands the highest stumpage prices, followed by ash and hickory. Veneer logs of white oak command prices up to $25.00 per thousand board feet, while the poorer grades of oak lumber are some- times sold at less than one half this price. The value of stumpage is residual or marginal and is thus dependent on the total of costs incurred to bring the logs to the market, as well as on the price received for these logs, or for the lumber, or products. The receipts and stumpage values for saw-timber were slightly in- fluenced by the demand for walnut during the war. This species con- stituted 13.07 per cent of the total reported sold, while census figures for 1919 show that 3,690,000 board feet was produced in the state, or 6.48 per cent of the total. The relative amount of walnut in the returns from farm questionnaires is, therefore, twice as great as the average per cent for this species in the total state output, and with its high stump- age value of $49.29 per thousand board feet tends to raise the average price of stumpage above the actual. The average price of oak stumpage at $32.44 is undoubtedly higher than cash prices paid for such stumpage by purchasers, who have not often gone much above $25.00. But the greater portion of the lumber reported was cut by the owner and sawed in a customs sawmill. The owner thus realized both stumpage and 20 per cent profit, which, at the U4 average price of $53.07 for the lumber, netted him $32.44 stumpage and $3.42 profit on costs of logging. This stumpage contained a considerable percentage of veneer logs of white oak, and to this extent represents a type of timber found orJy in the remnants of the virgin forest and not likely to be reproduced in the future. But other species, especially red and black oak, will furnish materials for timbers and other domestic use, which, while not bringing as high a price on the market, will serve as fully acceptable substitutes in framing buildings for which purchased lumber would cost approxi- mately the same price as that received for the saw-timber sold. The sale of lumber at low prices is not justified where it can thus be used for local purposes. Returns of 6.46 per cent of the total quantity reported were for inferior species which brought a net price of $29.23 per thou- sand board feet, leaving but $8.70 stumpage value. 1920 Census figures give an average of all species for Illinois as $8.59. The tendency for stumpage values to absorb an increasing per cent of final value of the product is well illustrated by the prices paid for walnut timber, which averaged $49.29 on the stump. So great is the demand for this lumber in certain lines of manufacture, especially furni- ture and gun-stocks, that buyers usually purchase it on the stump, and even buy and grub up large stumps if still sound in order to get the wood they contain in the crown and upper roots. Yet buyers are not averse to purchasing walnut groves at much less than these figures whenever the purchaser is in ignorance of the value of his stumpage and there is absence of local competition. Wood-lots containing virgin white oalj are now quite scarce in south- ern Illinois, and the entire region has been gone over thoroughly. A few owners are found who sell each year a small number of choice trees as logs, at satisfactory prices to net them an annual income from the wood-lot. But except for such species as walnut, which can continue to be grown in plantations, on good soil, the day of the large high-grade sawlog is about over for Illinois woodlands, and the saw-timber of the future will be obtained more largely from 12 to 14-inch trees than from those 20 to 25 inches in diameter. Such trees can be produced in shorter periods and will suffice to supply the needs of the farm in this direction. The sale values, costs of cutting and hauling, and stumpage values of the remaining products were derived from the averages of the replies 145 to the questionnaire to farmers. The resultant income derived from the average wood-lot is shown in the following tallies. Sale Price and Stumpage Value of Products Guown on Wood-ix)ts Product 146 Value of PBonucrs Grown Annually on Wooivlots Average wood-lot per farm, 11.239 acres Average actual wood-lot, 27 acres Product 147 At present prices and costs, fence posts are by far the most profitable wood crop that can be grown. This product commands a fair price nearly equal to that of the highest quality of lumber, when comparison is based on cubic contents of the tree required to yield each product re- spectively. But it requires 100 years or more to grow logs suitable for high-priced veneers, and 50 to 70 years for good piling, while posts can be grown in from 15 to 35 years depending on the soil. By comparing the second table on page 145 with these values, it becomes evident that, in spite of the advantage to the farmer of cutting his own fuel, the prac- tice of utilizing growing timber for this purpose exclusively or to too great an extent does not pay. As shown, the ratio of sale-value per cubic foot of these products to cordwood varies from 2.4 for mine timbers up to around 5 for posts and veneer logs, 3.0 for cross-ties and about 3.5 for lumber, piling, and cooperage. But the true comparison is found in the relative stumpage values, for these measure the value of the timber crop itself and not merely the return of cost of labor in harvesting. These ratios are shown in the last table on page 146. On the basis of these relative crop values, the wood-lot should evi- 3ently be managed so as to produce as great a volume as possible of the higher priced products, utilizing only the non-saleable tops, limbs, and slabs as cordwood. The loss through converting a stand into cordwood when it will make other products is shown in the following table, assuming a stumpage value of $1.00 per cord for cordwood. Product 148 The time element in growing timber must be considered in this com- parison. Posts and mine timbers may be grown in practically the same period as cordwood, with the exception of bars and legs which require about twice as long. Setting this period at 25 years, lumber, cross-ties, and piling will require approximately 100 years, or 75 years longer. With cordwood at $1.00, the value of the other products in order to earn 3 per cent compound interest on price alone, regardless of growth or volume, would be : Lumber, cross-ties, and piling 75 years $ 9.18 Veneer logs, 105 years $22.28 The actual prices and per cents earned are : Price per cord Per cent Lumber $ 6.18 2% Cross-ties 6.09 2% Piling 11.29 3% Veneer logs 15.91 3 The average annual income from farm woodlands is indicated as standing around $1,688 per acre for stumpage alone, clear of all ex- penses of harvesting. It is obvious that such income per acre will not indicate a value equal to corn land. But corn land would grow from 2 to 3 times as much wood as this per acre annually. True forest soils, too rough and hilly or with soil too poor in quality to permit of profit- able agriculture, will not command corn-land values nor a tenth part of them. The capitalized value of an income of $1,688 at 5 per cent is $33.76 per acre. But this allows nothing for cost of crop production. In a wood-lot which is normally stocked with many-aged trees, has abun- dant reproduction, and every prospect for continuing to produce the nor- mal yield of the soil every year, the only deduction from the above value per acre would be such annual expenses including taxes, as are required to protect and maintain the stand in its healthy and productive condition. Even if these expenses reached 50 cents per acre, which, capitalized, is $10.00, the value of the property would still be $23.76. Reproduction in such wood-lots is by natural processes largely, and the chief expense is vigilance to keep fire out of the lot. The above value of course represents that of the land with its stock of standing trees, and not the bare denuded soil, which is worth very much less than this amount. True forest land of this quality is assessed in the southern counties at around $5.00 per acre. 1-19 Forests as a Crop on Soils of Different Qualities introductory The practice of forestry, or forest culture, will produce crops of timber yielding from 50 to 100 per cent more per acre in annual growth than the average now being harvested, of less than 45 cubic feet per acre. A considerable proportion of these increased yields will be obtained in the form of thinnings in even-aged stands. When no cutting is done in a stand or crop until it is finally ready to harvest, the surviving trees which make up the crop at that time constitute a very small per cent of those originally composing the stand. When it happens, as in plantations for post timber, that all the planted trees, thanks to an even start, survive for a time, the rate of growth in diameter soon shows a marked falling off and the growth on the whole stand tends to stagnate until the numbers are reduced by competition and the survivors obtain the increased crown-space required for thrifty development. In cultivated stands of timber this reduction of numbers, instead of being left to nature, with consequent injury to the stand and loss by decay of the dead trees, is forestalled by removing a sufficient number of trees at from 5 to 10-year intervals to release those selected for the final crop. The ultimate number per acre will depend on the age and size of the crop which is desired. Plantations seldom have over 2000 trees per acre, and unless very early thinning is possible they will not be set closer than about 6X6 feet apart, or 1310 trees per acre. At 15 years, post timbers may be cut from such plantations. At 40 years, under natural conditions, this number would not be over 800 trees. At 60 years it would have diminished to 450. while at 80 years, about 370 trees would survive on an acre. Normally, but one half to two thirds of this number should be permitted to survive. Without including the income possible from such thinnings or ad- vance yields, the value of the final crops produced on typical acres of Illinois woodland can be calculated. PLANTATIONS IN STARK, OGLE, AND CHAMPAIGN COUNTIES The possibility of supplying home-grown posts on prairie farms is illustrated by yields of catalpa plantations at 15 years from time of planting. Many such plantations in the state have been absolute fail- ures, but this is due to ignorance as to the soil requirements of the tree. Catalpa will not develop even into post timber unless planted on land of high fertility and supplied with abundant moisture. 150 Plot 1*. Catalpa Plantations in Stark county. Yields from plantations in Stark county, at 15 years, planted 3 feet apart in rows 6 feet apart, produced 2,-130 cubic feet of wood, equivalent to 163 cubic feet or 1.8 cords per year of growth. From these trees 2,000 posts averaging 4 inches could be cut, leaving 830 cubic feet or 34 per cent in the form of stakes and small fuel wood which equals .612 cords per year. The annual average production is, then, 133 posts and .612 cords of stake or fuel wood per acre. According to table on page 86, the requirements of an average farm of 13-1.8 acres if catalpa is used, are 56 posts yer year, or for 100 acres, 42 posts. In order to maintain perpetually the fences on the average farm all posts needed will be furnished by a plantation of .42 of an acre or .315 ac'.'es respectively. In other words, the posts may be grown on the farm by devoting a little over 3^10 of 1 per cent of the fertile or crop area to this crop. The value of these posts, per year, at 30 cents each, is $40.00, and the cost of cutting and hauling should not exceed 6 cents each, or $8.00 per acre, leaving a net stumpage value or income per acre annually, of $32.00 on an average annual expenditure, for planting, of $2.00 (if cost .of establishment is $30.00 per acre). If this sum of $30.00 per acre is expended to establish a plantation the outlay per post is IJS cents, which in 1 5 years will return 30 cents minus 6 cents for cutting at present prices, with the owner in position to profit by every increase in value of post material from now on. This first cost and taxes are the sum total of actual expense in growing this post timber. It is frequently argued that compound interest on these expenses should be included as a cost, since the money so expended might be earning interest for 15 years at 6, 7, or 8 per cent. Quite true ; but the investor who puts his money out at tli^e rates does not consider this interest a cost to him, it is, rather, his income. In the same manner, the compound interest on the cash costs of a plantation may be computed if desired, but these do not represent a dollar expended nor do they increase the actual cost a cent. They do enable the farmer to judge how good his investment is ; but here again, the returns if gaged by compound interest are bet- ter than those ordinarily secured by investors who receive annual inter- est payments, since compound interest, especially at rates of 6 to 8 per cent, increases much faster than simple interest at the same rates. In These numbers refer to the plots listed on page 131. 151 compound interest the money is already reinvested at the end of the year, with no temptation to spend it or expense and delay in placing it. Gaged by direct comparison, then, an outlay of $2.00 per acre an- nually, or a total of $30.00 for one acre, will return a net income of $32.00 per acre annually after an initial period of 15 years has elapsed, or $480.00 on one acre. Spread over the period of waiting, this means a return of the original cost, plus $30.00, or an income of $1.00 per year for each dollar invested, which is $30.00 per acre annually over and above cost of the crop. After the fourth or fifth year, at most, no further expense is required nor is any labor of crop production involved. Money can be borrowed on farm property at 6 per cent. Land at $250.00 per acre must produce a net income of $15.00 clear of expenses to justify this value. If compound interest at (i per cent for 15 years is required, the land, bare of trees, at the year of planting is worth for a crop of catalpa posts $261.55 per acre as follows : Taxes per acre at $1.84 for 15 years, compounded....? 42.83 Initial costs, $30.00 for 15 years 71.89 Total costs 114.72 Net income every 15 years $365.28 Discounted as a recurring crop or rental this gives the above land a value of $261.55. The rental at 6 per cent on this value is, per acre, $15.69 annually. Catalpa when grown in this manner as a crop on rich agricultural soils yields over twice the cubic volume per year that can be expected on true forest soils of average quality. Early maturity into post sizes and a high per cent of utilization in spite of the small sizes of the trees, due to using the material in the round, give 66 per cent merchantable. No account has been taken of the other 33 per cent of wood or stakes, which will serve to defray any protection costs. The wood, even as fuel, should be worth $3.00 per cord, and serve to reduce the coal con- sumption or to supply kindling. The yield of this material, 830 cubic feet, is equivalent to 10.6 cords per acre, which at $1.00 per cord stump- age gives $10.60 or 70 cents per acre annually. After such a plantation or system of post-production becomes estab- lished, the property, or land with growing timber, increases rapidly in value and becomes worth much more than $261.55. If a plantation of 15 acres is established by planting 1 acre per year, or one of an acre in 153 extent by putting in 1/15 acre each year for 15 years, the plantation will be worth per acre, $469.33. The annual costs distributed over each acre are: Taxes on $250.00-land $1.84 Planting and other expenses 2.00 Total cost ?3.84 Stumpage value of crop cut annually per acre 32.00 Net income per acre annually 28.16 Capitalized at 6 per cent 469.33 If 5 per cent were used, values of land and property would be pro- portionately higher. Catalpa posts constitute a crop which may be profitably grown on $^0.00 land. They can not ordinarily be grown with profit, except on Isnd of good quality. Catalpa, to succeed as a crop and to produce in 15 years the indicated yields of 2 good posts per tree, requires in the selection of the site and soil as great care as for any variety of farm crop. A failure with an annual crop may be remedied in one season, but with trees the loss extends over the entire period of growth and is cumulative. Just as corn and other field crops become unprofitable when grown on marginal land, since the rate of income to expense diminishes, so in the planting of this species the same principle holds good. Plantations re- quire a considerable initial investment, which must be returned with in- terest to justify the venture. On poor soil, either sandy or dry. or stiff clay, compact silts, or other soils of medium or low agricultural value, catalpa is a failure and should not be planted. This species, therefore, is a tree with special adaptation as a post timber—though not so durable as hedge, black locust, or mulberry—but with very exacting requirements as a crop, which makes it profitable to grow in competition with field crops on good soil rather than on the poorer natural forest-soils of the state. The utilization of an area of a Httle over 3/10 acre for every 100 acres of crop lands, on farms without other timber, for the purpose of furnishing a perpetual supply of fence posts of good quality, seems justified by the demonstration that the value of such land for this crop equals that for its use for other purposes. Plot 7. White Pine in Ogle county. The planting of white pine may be possible in limited areas which are free from the competition of hardwood sprouts, and in the north- western portion of the state. The growth of this species in the limited 153 area in Ogle county approaches the maximum yields obtainable in north- ern Minnesota and Wisconsin. This stand at 75 years of age has pro- duced lumber of the finest quality though deficient as yet in the quantity of lumber of clear grades suitable for pattern stock or other special uses. The stumpage value of such pine timber in Minnesota has reached an average of $20.00 per thousand on sites approaching this in accessibility. At 39,690 board feet the value of the crop is now $793.80 per acre, giv- ing an average yield per year for the total period, of $10.58 per acre, ex- clusive of the possibility of thinnings. It is not permissible to use over 4 per cent compound interest to apply over a period as long as 75 years, and any investment which yields this total, which returns 18 times the initial investment, must be considered a very profitable one. This seeding was natural, hence the only expense was taxes. The value of the crop, $793.80, properly discounted, would indicate a land- value of $44.23, which at 4 per cent would yield an annual rental of $1.77 per acre. Annual taxes would have to be met in theory from this rental. These data indicate that crops of white pine should not be grown upon agricultural soils in place of farm crops, but that they possess possi- bilities for sandy or poor soils whose value falls below $40.00 per acre. Once the forest on such soils is brought to a condition of annual yields, the value per acre based on gross income would be —^ or $264.50 per acre, approximately that of good agricultural land. But this value in- cludes the average stand of half-grown timber. It is just these timber values which restore the balance of value to the poorer classes of soil and cause these soils to bear their proportionate burden of production and of taxes. On poorer sands, experiments should be made with other pines. These pines on account of their straight form and comparative light- ness of wood produce a far greater ratio of lumber per cubic foot of wood than do hardwoods, and the proportion is still greater when weight is considered, or fuel value. Plot 3. European larch in Champaign county. This species weighs 30.65 lbs. per cubic foot as against 22 lbs. for white pine. The yield of a plantation of larch at Champaign on rich black loam exceeded that of the pine in Ogle county in weight per year, giving 3,414 lbs. annually as against 1,929 lbs. for pine. In cubic feet, , the relative yields were, for larch 111 cu. ft. annually and for pine 85 154 cu. ft., but reduced to board feet, larch yielded but 491 ft. per year as against 529 for pine. The larch plantation was but 52 years old. had never been thinned, and had stagnated badly for over a decade, else this latter comparison might have been more favorable. Used as lumber. this species is not as valuable as the white pine. At $15.00 per thousand stumpage, the crop is worth at present, based on a yield of 25,552 board feet, $383.28 per acre, which at 5 per cent discounts to $32.93 per acre, giving a rental of $1.65 per acre. This allows nothing for the expense of planting, or for taxes. At $15.00 for planting, the soil value shrinks to $16.63, yielding $.83 with which to meet taxes. Larch can not be raised on agricultural soils for saw-timber at a profit. It grows well on black loam soils and would pay better returns if cut at an earlier age for fence posts. PLANTATIONS IN EDGAR. FULTON. AND WHITESIDE COUNTIES Plot 5. Black 7i'aliiuf in Edgar county. Plantations of this species if on soil of good agricultural quality will yield up to 100 cubic feet and 3,000 lbs. of wood per year, giving, as in this case, over 300 (328) board feet per year on an acre. Aver- age prices for walnut logs of good quality, on the stump, are about $50.00 per thousand feet B. M. This crop yielded 16,432 board feet, valued at $821.60 per acre, at 50 years of age, or an average per year of $16.43. Without considering expense, the indicated soil-value at 4 per cent is $134.54. From this, planting must be deducted, which at $15.00 per acre, discounted, still leaves a value of $117.08 per acre for the land if put to this use, equivalent to an annual rental of $4.68 from which to meet taxes. This indicates that walnut plantations, while they may serve as a grove and shelter or windbreak in part, give the soil a reason- ably high value though not as high as under farm crops. Plantations made for the purpose of producing large trees should if possible be of walnut, at least in part, due to the relatively high stumpage value which should be maintained or even increased in the future if sufficient quanti- ties of the species are produced to maintain its use. Its qualities for certain j)urposes, such as gun-stocks and furniture, are so superior that its future use seems assured. Plot 2. Plantation of Hardwoods in Fulton county on alhn-ial IhUtom. Alluvial bottoms subject to flooding and capable of being drained, produce rapidly growing crops of hardwood timber of good quality with- 155 in reasonably short periods. This plot in Fulton county yielded 4,595 poimds per year, or 144 cubic feet of wood, and at 37 years of age had produced a possible cut of 13,413 board feet of lumber or 363 feet per year. Due to the small sizes produced at this age, the maple, elm, and sycamore lumber would not command a high price as such. Ash, com- posing 9 per cent of the stand, has a higher value. Adopting the aver- age value of $12.86 per thousand board feet, the crop of timber is worth $178.48 per acre. In addition to the sawlogs, 30.8 cords of wood are yielded from tops, limbs, and smaller trees, worth 93 cents per cord on the stump, or $27.42, a total of $199.90 per acre. Using 5 per cent for this period of 37 years gives a soil value of $39.34 per acre, equivalent to a rental of $1.96 per year out of which to pay taxes. There is no expense for planting. Such soils, unless stumpage prices received are considerably higher than $13.86, can not be retained as forest land if they are capable of being drained and farmed; but if not, the forest crop gives them a definite productive value and should not be neglected. Plot 11. Oaks in IVhitcside county on hilly land. This typical plot, on land of poor agricultural value, yielded at the rate of but 1,561 lbs. or 43 cubic feet per year, or about the average which the woodlands of the state are now yielding under the existing lack of management. The species were 89 per cent oaks, and at 71 years would give 7,427 board feet of lumber, or 105 feet per year, worth at $12.68 on the stump, $94.17 per acre. In addition, 1,124 cubic feet of mine timbers can be secured, at 5.2 cents stumpage per foot, or $58.45, leaving a residue of 3.33 cords at .92 or 3.05, a total yield per acre of $155.67 or $2.19 per year. Such investments if capitalized at 4 per cent indicate a soil value of $10.24 per acre, equivalent to a rental of 41 cents per year to meet taxes. Such lands if valued at more than $10.00 do not pay 4 per cent compound interest on timber crops, though it must never be lost sight of that over 70 years this rate gives a return of 155.7 per cent on the dollar, or $15.57 for every dollar invested and that when established as a business yielding annual returns, such crops give the soil with its average stand of half-grown timber a value of $54.75 per acre, which is higher than they would have for any other purpose if essentially unprofitable for agricultural use. 156 The Grazing of Farm Woodlands Grazing or pasturage forms an alternative use for practically all farm woodlands in Illinois. Being under fence for the most part, it is an accepted practice in the farm economy to give certain classes of stock the run of woodlands to get what grazing they can. The attitude of farm wood-lot owners toward this portion of their holdings is shown by the results of the questionnaire as follows : Land which should be cleared for agriculture 16.45 per cent Land which should be cleared for pasture 15.00 per cent Total which owners desire to devote to other use than wood- Jand 31.45 per cent Land which should be permanently retained as woodland. .. .68.55 per cent This large percentage, over two thirds, of the present woodland area which the owners desire to retain as woodland indicates the in- creasing value placed upon forest property by farmers, without any sys- tematic elTort by the state to demonstrate this value, or to educate such owners in the possibilities of timber as a crop, or the methods of pro- duction. Nevertheless the tendency in the past to regard all forest land as non-productive and to clear it as rapidly as possible still sways the thought of many who own woodland which occupies fairly level and fertile soil. A certain percentage of this remaining woodland probably should be cleared and will be in time. If the owners' estimates are car- ried out the ultimate area of farm woodland will shrink from its present acreage of 2,668,050 acres to 1,828,948 acres. An area of 442,894 acres will be added to the cultivated lands, and 400,207 acres to cleared pas- tures. It may be seriously doubted whether such results will actually be secured as a whole, for parallel to the possible clearing and conversion of these woodlands there has appeared a marked tendency towards abandonment of the poorer grades of farm land as unprofitable for cultivation. In the one decade from 1910 to 1920 an area of 753,790 acres went out of cultivation, or more than the total combined area of proposed clearing of woodland for grazing and cultivation. Again, on the estimates of farm owners, some 221,477 acres, or an area 55% as great as that to be cleared for pasture, should be restored to forest by planting. Without doubt the area which could be profitably planted or restored to forest is many times as large as this, but the individual farm-owners do not yet see the value of such a policy, or else they are so impoverished by endeavoring to cultivate inhospitable soils that they 157 have no desire to undertake forest improvement for the sake of the future. The questionnaire returns indicate an average of two acres of forest plantations for every hundred acres of woodland, but it is not thought that a complete census would quite bear out this total, which would indicate 53,361 acres of forest plantations in the state. Considerable planting has been done, however, especially in prairie sections, and when these are added Illinois may well have over 40,000 acres all told. In spite of the intention of Illinois farmers to retain over two thirds of their present wood-lots as forest land, grazing of stock is practiced on 84.57 per cent of all farm woodlands, and stock is excluded from only 15.43 per cent of the total. The practice is thus well-nigh universal of considering the woodland as available for pasture, due partly to con- venience and the arrangement of fences, partly to the desire for shade for the stock in hot weather, but primarily to the desire to extract from the woodland a greater annual return. This pasturage yields an annual income and increases the carrying capacity of the farm in live stock. It utilizes land which has generally been regarded as non-productive of in- come. So logical does its use as pasturage appear that exclusion of stock even from the residual 15 per cent is not usually intentional so much as it is due to inaccessibility, lack of fencing, or inconvenience. This practice will continue unless woodland owners become convinced that it does not pay. To demonstrate this two ciuestions must be cor- rectly answered. First, do forest crops pay better than grazing or pasturage? Second, are the two uses incompatible or mutually exclusive? It is generally conceded that the quality of grasses growing under the shade of timber is poorer than when grown in sunlight, and that the grazing on a woodland or shaded pasture is poorer, in contrast with open lands, in direct proportion to the amount of shade. The carrying capacity of more or less open woodland pastures, was found by E. R. Ilodson, of the U. S. Forest Service, to be 2.4 acres per head of cattle. Its value in Illinois is estimated at one fifth of that of good bottomland pasture. In Ohio, the value of the grazing is placed at an average of 35 cents per acre as against $3.00 to $4.00 for good grazing. The most liberal estimate of the value of grazing on woodland pastures for Illinois is from $1.00 to $1.50 per acre annually, or not half the value of improved pastures, which are placed at $3.00 per acre. Stock does not need the amount of shade furnished by such wood- lands. A few scattered trees in an open pasture are sufficient for this Produced on farm 159 true aspects. In order to perpetuate this annual yield of the wood-lot it is not sufficient that the existing stand continue to lay on wood, for every time a tree dies or is cut the stand becomes thinner and more open. Under normal or natural forest conditions, young saplings are constantly springing up to replace the veterans and fill in these gaps. The forest is densely stocked with trees of all ages and sizes. Very little grass is on the forest floor, and but little underbrush. A carpet of leaves, slowly decaying into humus, keeps the soil moist and permeable to water. The forest thrives, and the trees are healthy, sound, and vigorous. Many wood-lots in southern Illinois well cared for by their owners, show such conditions. But on woodland areas which are grazed by cattle, horses, or sheep, a change sets in almost immediately, and continues progressively as long as the practice is maintained. The stock devour readily all the leafy foliage within reach, and this includes all seedlings and young saplings not too tall for them to get at the crowns. Their trampling hardens the soil and decreases its moisture content. Under these conditions, the re- moval or death of an old tree is not followed by a thicket of vigorous young reproduction, but instead a permanent opening is formed. These openings extend, and grasses, resistant to grazing, form a sod which makes it difficult or well-nigh impossible for tree-seedlings to start, or else favors the less valuable species, such as ironwood or elm, instead of oaks, tulip-poplar, and basswood. The process of degeneration may be prolonged over a period of half a century, but the forest is doomed as certainly as if it were allowed to burn over every year or two. With the final cutting of the last decre])it veterans, the revenue for the woodland ceases, the forest capital is bank- rupt, and the only possibility of annual income lies in continuing the practice of grazing which has brought about this destruction, mean- while possibly permitting the barns to deteriorate because the high price of lumber makes the cost of their replacement prohibitive. It is certain that such a policy is self-determinative. The forest land is not being used as such, and the future forest revenue is being sacrificed for the sake of an immediate return for grazing, which in it- self does not constitute a complete or efficient use of the land. The gen- eral policy indicated by these facts is the separation of forest from pas- ture. The two uses are actually incompatible. The forest will not re- produce in the presence of grazing, yet its presence depresses grazing values. The continuance of this policy is a deliberate rejection, whether 160 conscious or otherwise, of the policy of growing wood crops for the farm. Instead of retaining two thirds of the farm woodland as forest, the owners are actually engaged in clearing for pasturage 85 per cent of their present woodlands by a most inefficient and time-consuming method. It seems probable that a more enlightened and profitable policy would be to recognize this conflict, and to definitely decide upon the areas de- sired for permanent forest and for permanent grazing. Then these areas should be separated by fence, excluding the stock from the true forest area, and the pasture areas should be cleared as rapidly as possible of all forest growth. The relative percentage of forest and pasture desired must be worked out by each owner, with the advice of the state depart- ment of forestry as to true forest values as a guide in this determination. Fire in Forest Lands Forestry Circular No. 2 of the Natural History Survey has set forth the damage done by fires in Illinois woodlands. It is sufficient here to summarize. In the hardwood forest areas, which comprise practically all of the Illinois woodlands, fire is an unmitigated evil. There is no class of fire which does any benefit whatever to the forest. It neither benefits reproduction nor reduces the danger of subsequent fires. Instead it makes the recurrence of fires more certain and their character more disastrous. There is but one thing which fires accomplish; they pro- gressively destroy the forests. The process is much the same as that of grazing. The reproduction of seedlings is killed as fast as it occurs, and this eventually—by opening up the forest and bringing in hea\'y sod and a tangle of briers and brush—prevents tree reproduction from sur- viving or even starting. Fire acts far more rapidly and disastrously than grazing upon the mature stand. Occasionally the entire stand is killed. With hardwoods this usually occurs when the stand is fairly small and young. The butts of the older trees, even though protected by heavy bark, are sooner or later fire-scarred by killing the cambium or live tissue on the most exposed side and this would eventually, perhaps many years later, cause the destruction of the tree by rot and blow-down. It is safe to say that every fire permitted to burn through a woodland area destroys the equivalent of a year's increase at the very least.. This when harvested would be worth from $3 to $12 per acre. 161 Most fires destroy far greater values than this. Periodic fires burn- ing at three or four-year intervals, or even at ten-year intervals, may de- stroy all the reproduction for the period ; hence effect a loss equaling from three to ten times the annual income, when harvested. This loss is seldom visualized or reckoned, but constitutes a damage far greater in its eventual total than the complete destruction of the existing stand of old timber. It would be as sensible for a farmer to try to continue a live-stock industr}' and pay no attention to losses of young stock because at the time of birth they had no market value as for an owner of forest land to expect to continue to derive revenue from it while permitting fires to consume the progeny of the forest. The questionnaire here gave interesting results. Out of 217 replies 44 or 20.28 per cent were not opposed to fire in wood-lots, in fact favored it, while the remaining 173 or 79.78 per cent desired its complete exclu- sion. As was to be expected the chief cause of fire in these woodlands is the hunter or camper. Fox hunters, bee hunters, coon hunters, nut and berry pickers, and ginseng hunters are all charged by the woodland owner with a share in the guilt. The following causes w6re listed by the given number and per cent of owners, and the list serves to indicate the relative prevalence of these agencies in the starting of fires : No. Per cent Campers and hunters 103 35.7 Carelessness 54 18.7 Burning to kill insects 37 12.8 Brush and grass burning 32 11.1 Railroads 26 9.0 Smoking 25 8.7 Lightning 8 2.7 Incendiary 3 1.0 288 99.7 Of these causes the burning to kill insects and the burning of brush and grass are due to practices of the land owners. Comparatively few rail- road fires occur since most railroads do not run through forest lands, yet such fires do occur frequently along timber stretches, especially in southern Illinois. The Chief Entomologist of the Natural History Sur- vey, in an effort to correct the practice of broadcast burning of wood- lands against the chinch-bug, has called attention to the fact that these insects do not hibernate in damp or shady spots, but seek the sunny borders of woods or fence-rows, where it is comparatively dry. The burning-over of a wood-lot to kill bugs when a 50-foot strip along the 162 south border would get them all is as bad as burning down a house tc roast the pig instead of using the oven. In most regions the individual wood-lot is fairly well protected against fires occurring on the land of others. Cultivated fields and roads form effective fire-lines, hence the predominance of the fire directly set by persons making use of the woodland, and abusing the privileges thus accorded them by burning over the property. A certain measure of pro- tection may be had by posting such lands against all trespassers, but in the greater areas of forests in southern Illinois the ability of the owner to keep fire off his land is largely determined by its location, and where it is surrounded or joined on one or more sides by unprotected forest- lands constant vigilance is necessary in the dry seasons to prevent the inevitable annual fires from burning him out. As a result, some owners secure protection by back-firing at the first intimation of the approach of the blaze and thus secure immunity at the sacrifice of other lands ; while others, less favorably situated, make no attempt to check the fire but breathe a sigh of relief when the conflagration is over for the season and their buildings are still standing. The owners who by reason of fortunate location or diligence have succeeded in excluding fires and who have in addition kept out grazing, have had the reward of seeing their forest areas restocked densely with all manner of vigorous young trees. The reproduction of these hard- woods in southern Illinois is especially prolific and when lacking, the cause is not far to seek. Many of these owners take great pride in their wood-lots as well they may, but for one wood-lot so nurtured there are twenty which show the frightful ravages of either fire or grazing, or of the two combined. These, and not timber-cutting, are the factors which threaten to destroy 90 per cent of the remaining forests of Illi- nois and put an end to their productiveness and future yields. If the present practices of firing the woods and grazing are continued, then inside of two more decades the production of Illinois woodland will drop permanently to not over a fifth of its present low capacity. More may be accomplished and at less cost by correcting these conditions in existing woodlands than by replanting an area equally great at enormous outlay. A Forest Poi,icv for Illinois The woodland area of Illinois is comparatively small, yet to^gether with the waste lands which might be forested it comprises some five 163 million acres capable of producing at least 250,000,000 cubic feet of wood annually. The present annual production is but 115,000,000 cubic feet, and is rapidly diminishing. The stock of timber or forest capital is being exhausted with no thought of the future and no wide-spread application of sound principles of crop renewal and production. Grazing is progressively ruining the best forest areas and fires are destroying the poorer and less well-protected tracts. Yet these forests are still sup- plying one half of the farmer's total needs for wood, one sixth of the railroad ties used in the state's transportation system, sixty per cent of the timber used in its mines, thirty per cent of the piling and twenty- five per cent of the farmer's fuel, and one half of his fence posts. The ex- haustion of these supplies will be felt in several industries, but its in- fluence will fall most heavily upon the farmer who, deprived of local sources of wood for fencing and buildings, will be forced to pay increas- ingly higher prices for these necessities or cease to operate. On the other hand, the ownership of ninety-three per cent of the woodlands of the state is in the hands of these farmers, who would be the largest beneficiaries of their intensive use. There is enough wood- land on farms to supply all the present needs of these farmers for wood products if the wood-lots are properly managed. Farmers can get along without extending their areas of pasturage, but they can not avoid the use of wood or high-priced substitutes. Those who still have an over- abundance of wood and perhaps have had wood for sale and failed to realize a profit, are too apt to underestimate the value now and in the future of the home supplies which they are drawing upon. They see only the labor of getting out the wood crops. The farmer, because of his ownership of comparatively small areas of woodland, can give it more intensive care than any other class of owner and can make it produce more per acre. His utilization can be practically 100 per cent. The tops not suitable for lumber, ties, or even posts or props, can still find service as home fuel or even sale as cordwood. It is to the farm- owners of woodland, then, that the state must look first for the turn of the tide and the establishment of proper practices in the care of forest lands. With farm wood-lots in thrifty condition there will be a constant production for sale of railroad cross-ties, mine timbers, and even saw-timber, as well as of cordwood for consumption in cities. The farm owner knows many things about his woods, but as a rule he does not know enough about either the possible future value of this woodland or the methods necessary for its protection, reproduction, and 164 management. Farmers were slow to recognize the need of agricultural experiment stations and county farm bureaus. They will more readily admit their need for information regarding their wood-lots. Informa- tion must be formulated regarding production on farm wood-lots, and disseminated throughout the state by means of direct contact with the farmers and by co-operation with the county farm advisers. Next in importance in this program of farm extension in forestry comes the teaching of farm forestry at the state university, in order to supply its agricultural students with basic 'information on the manage- ment of such woodlands for use either in the role of owners or as teach- ers and demonstrators connected with farm-extension work as county agents. The first duty of the state is to provide for this instruction. This should require a definite organized department of forestry as one of the main branches of the state experiment station at Urbana. The purpose of this department should be, first, to establish experimental areas in forestry, located at several points within the state on diflferent classes of soils, on which experiments may be conducted in the management of existing tracts of natural forests, the reclamation of eroded lands by forest planting, and the testing of methods of treatment of woodlands for greater profit. Second, from the results of these experiments supplemented by ex- tensive observations and study throughout the state, definite practical recommendations should be formulated for the management of farm woodlands and this information should be carried directly to the farmer by personal contact as well as by bulletins and other methods of pro- moting publicity. Third, Illinois must make a definite efYort to put an end for all time to forest fires. This will ultimately mean, at least in certain portions of the state, a system of fire-wardens similar to tliat in successful oper- ation in other states. A .system of unpaid local or township fire-wardens might be inaugurated to begin with, until experience indicates the needed measures for improvement. The laws now on the statute botiks prescrib- ing penalties for the setting of fires in woodlands are jirobably suffi- cient with a slight overhauling. The essential thing is to have fire pro- tection of forested lands placed under the jurisdiction of some branch of state government sufficiently interested and with machinery at its command for the sticcessful enforcement of the fire laws. 165 Fourth, the state should acquire by purchase a tract of about 75,000 acres in certain counties in the southwestern portion containing the larg- est unbroken areas of forest land, and consequently most exposed to damage by fire. Upon this area fire-protection should be undertaken by the use of modern methods and equipment already successful in many other states, such as look-out-towers, paid fire-wardens, and a telephone and trail system. The cost should be kept within reasonable proportions, based on the area acquired, but the protection should extend over the entire region tributary to the state-holding of land. As is now the case in Ohio, it would be desirable for this organization for fire-profection in the comparatively small and relatively inaccessible state forest area to be i>laced under the direct jurisdiction of the state forestry division at the agricultural experiment station rather than have it attached to some other administrative department where it would not receive proper attention or guidance and might completely fail of effectiveness. All such projects on the part of the state, for the present at least, must be purely educational in intention, the purjiose being to reach and influence ihe fanil-woodland owner as rapidly and effectively as possible. The establishment of forest parks for recreation, as exemplified by the creation of the Cook County Forest Preserves, is not forestry in the economic sense, nor is it intended to provide supplies of wood for Illi- nois industry or consumption. There are several areas of woodland of great scenic beauty in the state where the timber is still preserved by the owners. These tracts should be acquired by the state or by counties as parks and managed as such for the absolute preservation of the forests and the beauty of the site. The management of these park areas requires but a limited knowledge of forest economics or silviculture, though this knowledge is helpful in protecting and improving the forest. The urban populations of the state will be directly and intensely interested in these park projects, which should be encouraged in every possible manner. But for the present at least, they should be kept sharply distinct from forestry, and their acquisition and management should not be confused with that of state forests acquired for forest production or with the project for farm wood-lot extension. Opportunities for the State of Illinois to constitute large public hold- ings of forest land, outside of a few tracts in the south, are circumscribed by the divided and scattered character of the remaining timber lanth which will continue to be owned by farmers as part of the farm economy. The great wood-using industries of the state, now drifting with the tide 166 and for the most part adopting a fatalistic attitude regarding the future of their wood supplies, should be the first to encourage tlie forestn.- movement in the nation at large, and in this movement the general public of the state, through the State Forestry Association and other organiza- tions, should heartily join. i 167 APPENDIX NOTE I.—Cooperage, Veneers, and Shingles. For cooperage, U. S. 1921 : Multiple for M pieces cubic feet Cubic feet Tight staves 532,000 83 44,156,000 Heading 178,000 333 59,274,000 Slack staves 362,000 25 9,050,000 Heading 333,000 167 55,611,000 Hoops 21,500 25 537,500 168,628,500 For veneers. U. S. 1921 : 576,000 M ft. B. M. log scale. Based on log scale, a divisor of 6 is used for cubic feet = 96,000,000 cu. ft. For Illinois, no statistics on consumption of cooperage stock or veneers are available, hence the quantity consumed must be obtained by proportion from the total produced in the U. S. The result can only be an approximation, but it is more accurate to include such an approxi- mated total than to omit the item altogether. For total cooperage and total veneers, then, the per cent consumed has been based, not on relative population nor on the relative per cent of manufactures in the state to total for U. S., namely, 8.12 per cent, but on the state's relative consump- tion of lumber, which is 6.81 per cent, falling below the other two figures. Total cooperage, 1921 : 168,628,500 X .0681 = 11,483,600 cubic feet. Total veneers, 1921 : 96,000,000 X .0681 = 6,537,600 cubic feet. These quantities may be considerably in error on the basis that Illi- nois consumes larger or smaller proportions of the total production than those adopted. Shingles. The consumption of wooden shingles in Illinois was based on the same percentage, namely, G.81 per cent of the total for the United States 168 Total consumption in U. S., 1921 : 9,192,704 M shingles. Conversion factor 9 cubic feet per M shingles. 9,192,704 M X .0681 = 626,023 M, or X 9 = 5,634,207 cubic feet. The years on which our data are based are given below : Fuel 1922 Veneers 1921 Cross-ties 1921-1922 Shingles 1921 Mine timbers 1922 Piles 1922 Posts 1922 Poles 1922 Cooperage 1921 Lumber 1920 NOTES 2, 3, AND 4.—Automobilcs. Note 2.—Although cars are made largely of other materials, yet the average quantity of wood used in their construction was: Passenger cars, Trucks. All cars. Year board feet board feet board feet 1921 184.8 231 189 1922 173.6 217 176 Note 3.—Consumption of lumber in the United States for Auto- mobiles (from National Automobile Chamber of Commerce) : 1920 Passenger cars 1.883,158 board feet. Trucks 322,039 Total used, approximately 400,000,000 1921 Passenger cars 1,514,000 Trucks 147,550 Total lumber used 313.800,000 1922 Passenger cars 2.406,396 Trucks 252.668 Total lumber used 468,074,640 Note 4.—According to the Forest Products Laboratory, the pro- portion of lumber used in passenger cars and trucks bears the relation of 160 to 200. U. S. figures show that in 1922 trucks made up 9.5 per cent and passenger cars 89.5 per cent. Multiplying 160 by 89.5 and 200 by 9.5, a weighted average of 162.2 is obtained. But the total average is actually 176 feet, or 108.5 per cent of the trial average. The average for each class is obtained by increasing the 160 to 200 feet by 108.5 per cent, which gives the values shown in table . . . The figure on consumption for both classes has been obtained by taking 3 per cent of the output of the U. S. for each class, autos and trucks, and multiplying by these figures. The Forest Products Labora- tory gives 12,000,000 board feet for passenger car bodies alone, not counting blocking and other incidental uses. It is not certain whether the figures for actual output for Illinois arc 3 per cent for each of the 169 two classes, which would indicate for passenger cars 12,532,531 board feet and for trucks 1,644,860 board feet, but tlie agreement with the above figure is significantly close. NOTE 5. Group B—Continued Miscellanies Itemtzes). Census of 1920 170 Note 7.—The U. S. Department of Agriculture has figures which indicate a consumption of cordwood for IHinois as follows: 1917 2,400,000 cords 1919 1,896,000 cords 1920 1,422,000 cords 1921 1,659,000 cords These figures are considerably in excess of the deductions made by this study and, if correct, indicate a production of cordwood for 1921 of .591 cords per acre of woodland for the state, in addition to the yield of all other products. It is not thought that such yields are probable. If correct, it indicates a still more rapid exhaustion of the forests of the state by over-cutting. Note 8.—For cordwood, 80 cubic feet is taken as the converting factor. For saw-timber, the lumber output is reckoned as requiring 1 cubic foot from the tree to produce 6 board feet, giving a factor of .16%. For fence posts, an average size of 4 inches at the top end of a 7-foot post was fixed, giving about .8 cubic feet per post. For cross- ties, 35 board feet per tie, and 8J/S board feet per cubic foot gave 4.25 cubic feet per average tie. allowing for waste in hewing. Mine timbers were estimated directly in cubic feet by converting factors as follows : Mine props 83 cubic feet Bars and legs 1.91 cubic feet Mine ties 70 cubic feet which was fotmd to be the average for material consumed in the mines. (See p. 77 on consumption of timber in mines.) Piling was taken as averaging 22.3 cubic feet per piece. Note 9.—Tabulation of census figures for lumber production by decades in Illinois shows 334,244,000 B. F. in 1879 and 56,900.000 in 1920. During the eighties and nineties the relatively high production was largely accounted for by logs imported from other states. During the eighties Rock Island county produced annually 70,000.000 B. F., lead- ing all other counties. The second in amount at that time was Massac county with 14,000,000 B. F. The Rock Island production was from Wisconsin and Minnesota white pine logs, the Massac from both local and imported hardwoods. The importation of logs into southern Illi- nois is probably still considerable, but it is negligible elsewhere. 171 Note 10.—Consumption of shingles on farms. It is assumed that the same proportion of shingles is consumed on farms as of lumber. This is 31.523 per cent of the total for the state. This proportion of 5,516,110 cubic feet of shingles gives 1,738,788 cubic feet consumed on farms, or 7.331 cubic feet per year. This is a total of 193,11)8 M shingles, or Sl-t shingles per year on each farm, taking no account of the substitutes for shingles, which considerably increase the total of roofing used. Note 11.—Total coal and wood, 2,769,680 tons, converted to cords by .8 equivalent and divided by 237,181 farms. Note 12.—Origin of data concerning consumption of lumber. In distributing the total quantity of lumber, 2,353,662,000 board feet, consumed in the state in 1920, accurate statistical data are not available. The results are approximate only, and are based on percentages derived from previous studies and partial data. The total consumption of lum- ber in the Chicago district in 1920 was 1,454,712,000 board feet*. This agrees closely with the average for the decade 1911-21 of 1,466,820,300 board feet. In 1909 the total consumption of lumber in the Chicago district was 1,622,690,000 board feet of which the building trades used 31.172 per cent, or 505,835,000 board feet, and the wood-using indus- tries, 1,116,855,120 board feet or 68.83 per cent. Assuming that the same ratio of consumption applies between the building trades and the total consumption in Chicago for 1920 as for 1909 and applying this 32 per cent to the total consumption in the Chi- cago district for 1920 the building trades would have consumed in that year 465,507,000 board feet, which would leave 989,205,000 board feet for the wood-using industries of Chicago alone. The best information available in Chicago for 1923 places the consumption by the building trades at 600,000,000 feet, so that it seems safe to place the annual con- sumption for that purpose at between 500 and 600 million feet, exclu- sive of planing-mill products. That there has been a decrease in the total consumption of wood in these wood-using industries in the last decade is indicated by the ap- parently large decrease in the amount of hardwood timber shipped into the state (page 98). The decrease in Chicago alone, on this basis, is indicated as approximately 11.5 per cent since 1,116,855,120 board feet was used in 1900 in these Chicago industries. Outside of Chicago the • Chicago Board of Trade. 172 apparent decrease had been greater. Chicago manufactures constitute 72 per cent of the manufacturing industry in Ilhnois. Applying this pcT cent to wood-using industries, the indicated consumption of wood in these industries outside of the Chicago district is 384,605,000 board feet and the total for the state is 1,373,900,000 board feet. The indicated de- crease in wood consumed outside of Chicago by these industries, based on 664,681,000 feet in 1909, is 42.12 per cent and for the state as a whole is 22.9 per cent. The consumption of lumber for building purposes in the state as a whole including Chicago is thus indicated as 979,762,000 board feet and in the state outside of the Chicago district as 514,255,000 board feet. Of this amount, approximately 296,476,250 board feet is used on farms or an average of 1250 board feet per farm annually, leav- ing 217,778,850 board feet for building construction in towns other than the Chicago district (Cook and DuPage counties). ERRATA p. 85, line 13 from bottom, for S7 read 86. P. 115, in table, for areas and area, read acres. P. 136, line 5, for 135 read 131.