One of the most interesting papers read at the convention dealt with
the Pulpwood Supply of the Future. It was by Prof. P. S. Lovejoy of the
University of Michigan.
Mr. Lovejoy pointed out that the amount of cotton or corn raised in the
country each year, the regions of production and the approximate costs
and the sale values were known, and that with about the same relative
degree of accuracy the principal items of timber production were known.
In the case of pulpwood, statistics compiled from reports of the mills
showed the consumption by species, by States, the amounts and kinds
imported and how these items compare with past performances.
Attention is now being devoted, Mr. Lovejoy said, to learning where
our remaining forests are and what is in them, but the results are
far from satisfactory as compared with the record of manufacturing.
He asserted that we did not know now, within 25 per cent., what our
stand of saw timber is for the whole community or for a given region or
State. Practically nothing is known about the existing pulpwood supply,
so that guesses as to the future cannot be accurate, but Mr. Lovejoy
explained that there were many things upon which such guesses could be
based.
Competition Between Saw Mill and Pulp Mill.
A condition that would have to be met was greater competition between
pulp mill and sawmill, Mr. Lovejoy said, as the value of lumber was
constantly increasing while the merchantable grades of lumber were
declining. The pulp mill is at a disadvantage in this respect; that it
represents a greater capital than the sawmill and cannot be moved to a
new location.
On the other hand, Mr. Lovejoy continued, the pulp mill owner is able
to use a poorer grade of material than the sawmill, and every time a
new way of using still poorer material is found he increases his supply
of raw material and extends his period of operation at one place.
Another way in which to increase his available raw material is to see
that the forests which are tributary to his plant are not burned out.
Forest fires cannot be insured against and always result in the end in
considerable loss to the industry. A really efficient organization for
the prevention of fire can usually be maintained at from 2 to 10 cents
per acre each year, Mr. Lovejoy stated, and it is cheaper and more
effective to protect large areas over a long period than otherwise.
Wood End of Pulp Production Wasteful.
Mr. Lovejoy pointed out that in many cases the woods end of pulp
production was very wasteful. As an example, he cited a given forest
area, having a stand of one-third beech, birch and maple, one-third
spruce and one-third hemlock and balsam. Only a small part of the
stand offers good log timber, not sufficient to attract a sawmill. A
contractor is obtained to get out the pulp stock, the mill specifying
that the stock shall not exceed 5 per cent. species other than spruce.
The spruce comes out, together with all the balsam that the contractor
can get by with. That skins the stand, but is not the worst of it. A
lot of slash is left on the ground offering good material for a fire.
If fire does not come the wind throws a lot of balsam. Side-light
hitting the hemlock parch-blights it and it dies. Conditions are
favorable to tree-destroying insects. If the forest finally survives it
will not longer be a pulp-producing forest.
As a remedy for this condition, Mr. Lovejoy urged a dependable
inventory of the forest resources by combined Federal, State and
private agencies and the development of greater co-operation between
wood-using plants, so that everything the forest produced could be
utilized. He suggested that private owners might be induced to go into
the business of raising timber, rather than have all the forests owned
directly by the mills.
Conservation of Raw Materials Essential.
The conservation of raw materials was essential to a well-organized
industry, and there was danger that the pulpwood supply might not
be protected. Growth of timber was slow, a cord an acre being the
approximate annual rate for well worked forests. The annual consumption
is about 5,000,000 cords of pulpwood in this country; a tree of 50
years of age is the best for the purpose. Working on this basis, it
would clean-cut from 150,000 to 200,000 acres each year to meet the
demand. Under the present system of unscientific cutting, the number of
acres cut over each year reaches several million.
5,000,000 Acres of Timber Land Needed.
Putting it another way, Mr. Lovejoy asserted that 5,000,000 acres of
timber land were needed to establish the industry on such a basis,
provided that only 100,000 acres were cut over each year. Compared with
the 500,000,000 acres needed for all timber requirements of the United
States, this is a small amount, he explained, and it is up to the
pulpwood men to see that it does not get lost in the shuffle.
Fire and heavy taxes prevent the growing of timber from being an
attractive investment proposition to the individual, but for a
corporation it is different, said Mr. Lovejoy. Under proper management
the forest land will begin to render return at once. Several pulpwood
mills are already on this basis.
In closing, Mr. Lovejoy urged the importance of less severe competition
and greater co-operation. Such changes were radical, but they must be
undertaken to preserve the industry.