Cafifornia's Greatest Fortune is Her Commercial Softwood Forests

.In the beginning,-it was the lure of gold, and the fame o.t gold, and the rush for gold, that brought California into the world's brightest limelight.

And, though the golcl mines have come and gone and are mostly a thing of the past, yet the thrill of eoia still clines round the name and fame of California. zCalifornia t[e Golden", is a term of e.ndearment frequently indulted 1n. One would think that the past, p..r.ni, and future of this commonwealth were predicated-largely on the wealth of her mines.

Yet, if credit were given where credit is due, ,.California the Wooden" would be_a much more appropriite "a*e foi this commonwealth. Not as euphonioirs-not as poetic_ not nearly as romantic-but infinitely more truthftil-

For,.translated into t-aqgible and practical units of value, any other possession of Californir *itn only the exceotion of her climate and her su -rshine-pales intb insignifiiance in comparison with the value of hir commercial "iorerts. -

So far as the past is concerned, the forests of California have already yielded more than twice as much wealth as have the gold mines of Californiaand white the gold mtnes .are- practically gone, the forests are comparatiiely untouched.

But let us discuss the future value of the California for- ests. {n{, in order to arfive at something like a practical method of valuation, let.4s cbtilt?fer some io-parative tim_ Der values ln oth€r species.

Immedjately , previ,ous to the present business depres_ ston, trmber values in the Old South had reached magnifi_ cent proportions. Long Leaf Yellow pine reached a ioint where.milling quantities of same were sold all the'wav from. g8 to. $1.S per thousand. $12 per thousand was no't constdered hrgh tor y.ears 1t a stretch, for good virgin Long Leaf. Short L-eaf Yellow pine brougi.,l ir6* gd to-$tZ, ael pending on conditions- and qualit!. Cypress timter -in Louisiana was worth from $f2 to'$15 f", tto".""a, tfr" mill a.v:llCefo-t Cypress lumber 'for' years averaging around $55 per thousand.

Cypress is gone, except in Florida, and California Red_ wood is the only Afrreiican softwood comparable to Cv_ press tor numerous commercial uses and values. If ei_ ploited, ad_vertised, and merchandised as was Cypr..r, -C"ii_ fornia Redwood should easily in days to come, equal the past commercial values of -Cypress, both in standing tim_ ber, and lumber market value.-

^ Of course, the future valrre of Redwood will depend en_ tirely upon the character of the merchandisi"e- -'C;Dr.". made its own market,..by advertising and meichanifui"s. From an almost unkno-wn wood of vJry low market ";1"-.; 9ypt."r came to be the most valuabie of ,tt ,oit*ooJs.

That its merchandising campaign was wholly ,.rp""Jfi" for its prosperity is incontrovirtibly proven bv the f'J-th"i for is inc6ntrov-etiibly prolr." nitt.-f'""t-tt"i rur rLr pruspcrrry rs rnconrroverttDlv proven by fact that rt completely..changed its. fields of consumpiion. Through the merchandising drive the channels of Cypress ";;?; completely rearranged. They built an entirily new world tor. Uypress. .tsut when the supply dwindled, the merchan_ dising.ceased, a-nd people forgot-Cypr..r. Tlr. :;"ll-;;;_ ply today trom Louisiana is in little demand.

There is somewhere around seventy billion feet of Red_ wood in California. It is one of the most valuable woods in the world. It should be worth at least $10 a thousand feet five years from today, if properly merchandised in the meantime. After the present depressi,on ends, a great drive should be made for Redwood, fo sell the Redw6bd idea to the nation. It is to be hoped that the rush that follows the termination of the busineis depression will not lull the Redwood people.into a false feeling ofsecurity. For THAT will be the time to make the <i?ive on which will depend to a large extent the future value of the species. The next time the market sweeps upward and th6 books show a profit, will be then or nevel for Redwood. In bad times they CAN'T merchandis.; t"**o*od times they MUST.

In the next five years Redwood will either become one of the world's most prized and valuable softwoods, or it will sweep intj_oblivion. It will depend entirely on its mdr- chandising. The days of automalic prosperiiy for ANy wood, are gone.

This is a warning that any student of lumber economics will endorse. The per capita consumption of lumber de_ creases rapidly. Only those woods will be remembered in the future that force people to remember them.

. But, taking advantage ofits opportunities, five years trom now Redwood should be worth at least $10 a ihou_ sand, on the stump.

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But Redwood is only one item of California's timber wealth. In addition there are more than two hundred billion feet of other valuable softwoods, the large majority of which are premium woods. They are woods that, when prosperity lwings back again to the world, should be worth a -stupendlous fortune. The world's only stand of Sirgar Pine, one of the most valuable of all softwoods, is in California. A tremendous stand of Ponderosa Pine, the so-called California White Pine, of high quality and innumerable uses. And many billions of feet of the various species of Fir, all useful, all valuable commercially.

In all there is about 28O billion feet ofvirgin commercial timber left standing in California. Based on the values of Yellow Pine and Cypress a few years ago, the entire timber stand of this state should be worth in the next few years in the near neighborhood of ten dollars a thousand feet.

That sounds big, and some of our faint-hearted brethren will gasp at it, but why not ? Yellow Pine and Cypress in the South were worth more than that years ago: These California woods are premium woods, and if they do NOT come to the value stated it will only be because of a continued decline in the industry generally, and not because of any lack of potential value in the wood.

Of course, the same statement goes for all the other California woods that was made about Redwood. In the future, only those woods will know prosperity whose proponents create prosperity for them.

If the lumber industry, when this depression is over, sits on its tail and continues to let nature take its course as it has done during its previous epochs of prosperity, then the substitutes will get all the business, and the lumber industry will go into a permanent decline. No doubt on earth about it'

But California has a practical potential value in its forests of something like two and a half billions of dollars, based onthe recent values of comparatively useful andvaluable Southern forests.

- It is a fortune tremendous in itself, and one whose blessings will be scattered over one hundred.years of production and distribution.

Newyard At Fresno

A contract has been awarded for the construction of a lumber plant and planing mill for the Willard Lumber Co., nzl H Street, Fresno. The principals of the firm are M. W. and W. W. Terrill and E. E. Schlotthauer. The latter was formerly manager of the Tilden Lumber & Mill Company's yard in Fresno.

National Lumber Manufacturers Association Offers Granary Plans For Farmers

The National Lumber Manufacturers Association calls attention to the fact that its engineers have studied and created plans for grain storage buildings for farms, which are available at the present time to all lumber dealers. Cheap and efficient storage is furnished by use of these scientific plans, which are for granaries of from 2,50O to 50,000 bushels capacity. The bumper wheat crop and the low market price of wheat is going to cause more storage of grain than ever before. Wheat is selling for the lowest price in a hundred years.

He's a real sales-h"lp

Old "Jupe Pluviour" never fails to find leaky roofs. Or start lerks in old worn hou3e tops. And Weever-Henry dealers .re rlw.yr able to trke more advantage o[ there good businesr breakg developed by the rriny rs.son, which is nearly here. t[ Yes. . . Buyers ol good rooling choore WerverHenry. lt ir a more diversilicd line. More colorful and individual patterns, particularly adaptable to Pacilic Coast architecture. Also, Weaver-Henry usuclly lerds in new shingle creations and. improvements. Most alwayr other concerns bring forth imitations ... a tribute to the \(/eaver-Henry line.. { Our lactory prices give Weaver - Henry dealerc . te.l opportunity to profit on rales.