. Bulletin (Pennsylvania Department of Forestry), no. 31-33. Forests and forestry. 16 sale values for the eastern markets this report shows that in 1840 first quality soft woods sold for $ a thousand feet. In 1900 the price had risen to $ per thousand, and in 1920—figures based on the first three months of the year—the price has reached the amazing height of $ The wholesale price for one-inch plain oak boards in Philadelphia in February, 1915, was $ a thousand feet. In February, 1920, this same kind of lumber sold at wholesale in Philadelphia for $ a thousand feet.
. Bulletin (Pennsylvania Department of Forestry), no. 31-33. Forests and forestry. 16 sale values for the eastern markets this report shows that in 1840 first quality soft woods sold for $ a thousand feet. In 1900 the price had risen to $ per thousand, and in 1920—figures based on the first three months of the year—the price has reached the amazing height of $ The wholesale price for one-inch plain oak boards in Philadelphia in February, 1915, was $ a thousand feet. In February, 1920, this same kind of lumber sold at wholesale in Philadelphia for $ a thousand feet. It is but fair to consider that the very high prices for lumber now prevailing are due in part to the abnormal conditions in busi- ness generally. Much lumber is sold at "spot" or at auction, where bidding prevails, and where prices are determined by the desire of the purchaser to get the lumber, rather than by a consideration of its real value. But this does not explain it all. The rise in lumber prices has been gradual and is due to the law of supply and demand. Forests have not been maintained as lumber producers and operations hnve been moved to where lumber is most plentiful. The less timber we have, the higher price we must pay. Even before the war, prices had risen tremendously. In 1917 the average price of retail lumber had increased forty-eight per cent, over the prices of 1905. As lumbering shifts to distant points one of the biggest items in the cost to the consumer is transportation. Here in Pennsylvania we pay an annual freight bill on lumber of more than $25,000,000. Al- ready transportation absorbs as much as per cent, of the retail price. In 1919 the percentage was , while the percentage of freight increase over 1905 was per cent. In its summary of principal conclusions in response to the Capper resolution, the National Forest Service, commenting upon the national situation as to prices, says: "If large-scale production had still
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