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.