THE USES OF LUMBER For several years the United States Forest service, in many cases with the assistance of State authorities, has been making studies of the more important wood-using industries, so that there are now available printed reports covering nearly every State in which there are large industries of this kind. These reports deal chiefly with the consumption of sawed lumber; but a few industries are included, in which raw material goes to the factory in log or bolt form. For such industries, the wood consumed has been reduced to board feet, to afford a proper basis for comparison with the requirements of other industries. Although both the total lumber consumption and the uses of the various species are unquestionably greater than is indicated by the available statistics, the figures presented are valuable for purposes of estimate and comparison.
Grouped in order of magnitude and stated in round numbers, it appears that the present annual wood consumption (chiefly in the form of lumber) for various special purposes, in the United States, is nat less than the amount shown in Table 16.
1. General Building and Construction. Probably more than 40 per cent of the total lumber Table 16 Annual Wood Consumption for Various Special Purposes Million Purpose Board Feet 1. General Building and Construction 19,000 2. Planing Mill Products 15,000 3. Boxes and Crates 4,600 4. Furniture and Fixtures 1,400 5. Car Construction 1,260 6. Vehicles 740 7. Woodenware, Novelties, etc. 400 8. Agricultural Implements 320 9. Handles 280 10. Musical Instruments 260 11. Tanks and Silos 225 12. Ship and Boat Building 200 13. Caskets and Coffins 150 14. Refrigerators and Kitchen Cabinets 140 15. Excelsior 100 16. Matches and Toothpicks 85 17. Laundry Appliances 80 18. Shade and Map Rollers 79 19. Paving Materials and Conduits 76 20. Trunks and Valises 75 21. Machine Construction 69 22. Boot and Shoe Findings 66 23. Picture Frames and Moldings 65 24. Shuttles, Spools, and Bobbins 65 25. Tobacco Boxes 63 26. Sewing Machines 60 27. Pumps and Wood Pipe 56 28. Automobiles 37 29. Pulleys and Conveyors 36 30. Professional and Scientific Instruments 35 31. Toys 29
32. Sporting and Athletic Goods 25 33. Patterns and Flasks 24 34. Bungs and Faucets 21 35. Plumbers' Woodwork 20 36. Electrical Machinery and Apparatus 18 37. Brushes 13 38. Dowels 12 39. Elevators 10 40. Saddles and Harness 9 41. Playground Equipment 9 42. Insulator Pins and Brackets 9 43. Butcher Blocks and Skewers 8 44. Clocks 8 45. Signs and Supplies 7 46. Printing Materials 47. Weighing Apparatus 5 48. Whips, Canes, and Umbrella Sticks 5 49. Brooms and Carpet-Sweepers 2 50. Firearms 2 51. Other and Minor Uses 37 Total 45,300 production of the United States goes directly from the sawmill into general building and construction, without passage through an intermediate wood-working factory. This includes all ordinary lumber used for structural work, sheathing, roofing, fencing, etc. Almost every kind of wood is used to some extent for these purposes; but the chief building material is the softwoods, because they are more easily worked, lighter, and usually cheaper than the hardwoods in the grades suitable for building purposes.
2. Planing Mill Products.Planing mill products (flooring and finishing lumber, sash, doors, blinds, etc.) are closely connected with the use of general building material, and consist of almost every kind of native and foreign timber. The softwoods—especially yellow pine, Douglas fir, and white pine—are the principal woods used for sashes and doors, while almost every kind of hardwood is used for flooring and interior finish.
Among the more costly native and imported woods which are improved by mill work, are mahogany, black walnut, cherry, circassian walnut, padouk, prima vera, teak, ebony, sandalwood, Spanish cedar, rosewood, koa, and holly. Some of these are used chiefly for inlaid work, and others for panels. Altogether, the government reports indicate the use of more than 60 kinds of wood in the planing mills and sash and door factories of the United States.. The States in which these factories are most largely operated are New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan, although they are found to some extent in every State of the Union.