Northeastern Hardwoods

(PART ONE)

This is the first of a four part segment on the mojor and minor commercial hardwood species of the Northeastern United States. The second of the four parts will appear in next month's issue.ed.

T HEhilly and mountainous

I regions of the Northeastern United States-New York, New England ancl Pennsylvania-produce some of the most desirable hardwood timber grown anywhere.

Northern hardwoods are in a class by themselves, and the principal species from all the Northern latitudes have the same general qualities; the Northeast. the Lake States and some sections of Ontario and Quebec. The north country is well known for its favorable soils, rugged climate and rugged topography. These factors are important for the growth of uniformly textured, dense hardwood. The rate of growth is not fast, but nature does not produce quality with speed or in quantity.

These forests have been in production for many years, 4nd they are still growing. "The timber is getting farther back all the time," is a commonly heard expression. And it's true. Bulldozers can make roads to reach it, howeverl and tractors can "draw" it from places the faithful old horse could never reach. The machines used to build roads and get out the logs are very expenslve.

That is one of the reasons whv Northeastern hardwoods must necessarily be priced higher and higher; production costs are forcing the prices upward. In the future the cost of lumber will have to reflect truly the costs of growing it. That point has not yet been reached.

Technological advancement and increased production do not have the same impact on cost reduction in the lumber industry that they do in the production of other materials. In the first place, at least 600/o of the cost of producing lumber is labor, regardless of how it is done.

In the second place, the lumber industry is rapidly becoming more conscious of its raw material supply. Conservation of existing stands of ripe timber, and the realization of the necessity for growing it, in order to protect capital investment in standing timber, machinery and equipment, must be considered in production schedules.

As the cost of producing lumber increases, so the selling price of lumber and its products must lncrease.

That lumber will ever price itself out of the market is highly unlikely. It is still the cheapest of all building materials and there is still no

Sfory at a Glance

A brief review of the hard- wood species of the Northeast.. major spe- cies include yellow blrch, hard maple, black cherry, beech and red oak.. minorspecies are soft maple, basswood, ash, white birch and yellow poplar or tuliptree. Part one.

substitute for most of its principal USCS.

From time to time in the past, the industry has suffered heavily, but only temporarily, by the inroads of substitutes.

In the 1920 s, the automobile industry was the largest consumer of hardwood lumber. When automobile body construction was changed from wood to steel. the doom of the hardwood industry was forecast by nearly everyone. That is the outstanding example of the loss of a tremendous market and yet the industry did not die. Few now will argue that wood makes a better automobile body than does steel.

On the other hand, hardwoods do some jobs far more effectively than steel. For example, no practical substitute has been found for wood cross ties for railroads. Great quantities of hard, heavy hardwoods, unsuitable for more exacting quality purposes, are used each year for railroad cross ties. At the other extreme of hardwood uses is the warmth and beauty of wood furniture and wall panelling, two qualities which cannot be counterfeited.

It is a great tribute to the ingen- uity of the leaders of one of the oldest industries, that they have continued to find new and more uses for their products, as old applications have been displaced. Research and development in the hardwood industry have made tremendous strides in the comparatively recent past. Continued progress in that direction is assurance of wider and more profitable markets for the producers of Northeastern hardwoods. The use of substitute materials was reallv a blessing in disguise. otherwise hardwood timber supplies of this country would be lost beyond recovery.

INI)T S1'RIAL SALES

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