How lrumber Irooks

l'ortland, Oregon, I)ccenrller 29-Lumllcr stocks xt f)ouglas fir sawmills dropped sharply during November, and lI. V. Simpson, executive vice president of the West C<last l,umbermen's Association, said the inrprovcd freight car supply, enabling mills to meet comnritments, rvas thc biggest factor in this reduction of lumlter at thc mills.

Unfillcd orders also dropped off some 50 million feet during November and Simpson reported ability to ship was the principal reason.

Orders during November continued to exceed prodttction on the heels of a buying splurge occasioned by an open winter in the eastern centers, Simpson said. Shipments from the l)ouglas fir mills of western Washington ancl Oregon topJred orders by some 10 million feet a week during November.

For thc 48 weeks of 1949 through November, prodttction in the l)ouglas fir region reached 8,772,134W board feet, or 114.5/,' of the 1943-1948 averages. Orders for the sarne periorl totaled 9,165,583,000 board feet and shipments hit 9,026,8(>9,000 board feet. Production of l)ouglas fir lumber for 1949 may exceed 1948's record cut, Simpson pointed out.

The weekly average of West Coast lumber production in November was 193,626,m0 b.f. or 121.4% of the 19431948 average. Orders averaged 204,170,m0 b.f.; shipments 214,475,000 b.f. Weekly averages for C)ctober were ; pro<ltrction 196J76,N0 (123.3% of the 1943-1948 average). Orders 213,777,000 b.f.; shipments 208,177,000 b.f.

1950 Advortlrtng Bctes on Appltcctioa

Iiorty-eight weeks of 1949 cumulative production 8,765,058,000 b.f.; forty-eight weeks of 1948, 8,772,134,000 b.f. ; forty-eight weeks of. 1947, 8,157,253,000.

Orders for forty-eight weeks oI 1949 breakdorvn as foll<rrvs: Itail (r,484,0O4,000 b.f. ; truck 412,872,000 b.f. ; dornestic cargo 1,337,199,000 b.f.; export 312.791,000 b.f.; local 618,817,000 b.f.

The industry's unfilled order file stood at 577,347,W0 b.f. at thc end of November. Gross Stocks at 670.741.000.

I-umber shipments of. 396 mills reporting to the National Lurnber Trade llarometer were 0.7 percent above production for the rveek ended December 24, 1949. In the same (Continued on Page 46)

la That lup

II They'd Vote The Way They Tcrlk.

Vcrgcbond Editoricls You Should Be Doing This!.

Red Cedcrr Shingle Bureau Annucl Meeting. My Fcvorite Story

Cqlilornia Hcrs Forestry Cooperction, By Wendell Robie. Stcnrley Moore Promoted By Fir-Tex.

By James Slevens. .36

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