LUMBERING, a term applied to the harvesting of the prod ucts of the forest, and their conversion into various shapes and sizes for further commercial use. Lumbering deals with the grow ing, manufacture and distribution of lumber and lumber products. One of the first great obstacles encountered by the early American settlers was the forest, and other than supplying logs for the shel ter then needed, the forests were deemed useless. Trees were felled primarily to clear the ground, and the logs were referred to as "lumber," according to the original meaning of the word. Later, when small amounts of "lumber" were shipped to England —sometimes as mere ballast—the British sailors are said to have referred to the bothersome material as "just so much lumber." For clarity, the definition of lumber is restricted to include only those products of the saw and planing-mills not further manufac tured than by sawing, re-sawing and passing lengthwise through a standard planing machine, cross-cut to length, and matched. These are classified as follows: (I) Yard lumber—intended for general building and construction purposes; (2) shop or factory lumber— intended for further manufacture ; (3) structural lumber— sin. or more in thickness and width, intended for use where working stresses are required. (See American Lumber Standards, Dept. of Commerce, Simplified Practice Recommendation R 16-39.) Lumbering, one of the leading American industries, involves much more than the mere manufacture of lumber. Millwork prod ucts, such as sash, doors, frames, blinds, etc.; veneers, shingles, lath, poles, posts, piling, cross ties, flooring, box shooks, etc., all are produced by the lumber industry. Pulp wood, consumed by the paper industry; bark for tanning, medicines, mattings, etc.., resinous products such as turpentine, rosin, tar, pitch, etc. ; chemi cal products such as wood alcohol, pyroligneous acid, charcoal, creosote, etc., are directly dependent upon the lumber industry, and in many cases these various secondary industries incorporate lumbering into their operations as an integral part.
coast, the forests had to be penetrated and trails blazed and roads made. Thus lumbering was the first industry in the United States. Spars and ship timbers were shipped even before tobacco and other agricultural products were exported. The first sawmills were located at Jamestown, Va., in 1625, and Berwick, Me., in 1631. These early mills were operated by water-power and produced only a few hundred board feet of lumber a day. They were an un important factor until the advent of steam about 200 years later. Timbers were hewn, shingles were split and boards were sawed by hand. The development of the American lumber industry can be traced concurrently with the expansion of agriculture. Likewise, the shifting of lumber centres from New England to the north, south and west closely parallels the industrial development of America. For years Maine led in lumber production and supplied home and foreign markets with white pine spars, staves, ship building lumber. Virginia and the Carolinas produced large quan tities of oak and other Southern States yellow pine and rosin. By 1840 the lumber production of the United States approximated 8,000,000,000 board feet. The centre of the industry had shifted to the State of New York, which was then producing 2o% of the lumber manufactured. In 1859 Pennsylvania took the lead, but ten years later gave way to Michigan, which led in lumber production until about 1899, when, according to U.S. Govern ment statistics, Wisconsin ranked first. Minnesota also came into prominence about the same time; but the peak of lumber produc tion in the Lake States was reached in 1892. Since 1895, southern yellow pine has supplied from 20 to 40% of the total lum ber production of the country and more lumber has been pro duced in the South and South east than in any other one sec tion of the country. The Pacific coast States, and principally Washington and Oregon, came into prominence as a lumber-producing region about 1900. From 1905 to 1922 (except 1920) Washington and Louisiana were the leading lumber-producing States. In 1920 and from 1923 to 1937, Wash ington and Oregon led in the order named. In 1938 lumber pro duction in Oregon was largest for the first time on record.