CURRENT LITERATURE 



629 



The Use of Odd Lengths 



The investigation carried on last year by 

 the United States Forest Service, cooperat- 

 ing with lumber manufacturers in the 

 south, to determine the saving that can be 

 effected by using odd lengths of lumber as 

 well as even, has begun to bear fruit. That 

 investigation showed that a material saving 

 was practicable, and at a recent meeting of 

 a southern lumber manufacturers' associa- 

 tion the fact was brought out that a begin- 

 ning has been made in putting the new plan 

 into practice, and that an increase in the 

 sale of odd lengths is anticipated for the 

 near future. 



It was formerly the custom, and gener- 

 ally is so still, to seu lumber in even 

 lengths only. Waste resulted from cutting 

 off the ends of odd lengths to make them 

 even. A considerable percentage of the 

 boards in a sawmill's output have knots, 

 decayed spots, or split ends, and the defec- 

 tive parts are cut out. To make an even 



length of what remains, it is often neces- 

 sary to cut off a foot of good wood with the 

 bad, and it is wasted. The practice of 

 marketing odd lengths as well as even is 

 meant to lessen this waste. The sale of odd 

 lengths of lumber will frequently lessen 

 waste in the woods also; for example, a log 

 may be cut fifteen feet long which, follow- 

 ing the old custom, would be cut only four- 

 teen and the extra foot left in the woods. 



The introduction of odd lengths meets 

 with opposition from many builders who 

 are prejudiced in favor of even lengths sim- 

 ply because they have never used any other 

 kind. Nevertheless, there are many places 

 in which odd lengths are more economical 

 than even ones — for instance, where nine- 

 foot studding is used. Following former 

 custom, the ends must be cut from even 

 lengths to make the timbers fit. Some 

 manufacturers of flooring successfully sell 

 odd and even lengths, thus lessening waste 

 in the woods, at the mill, and in the con- 

 struction of buildings. 



CURRENT LITERATURE 



REVIEWS 



The Principles of Scientific Management. 

 By Frederick Winslow Taylor, M. E., 

 Sc. D., past president of the American 

 Society of Mechanical Engineere. New 

 York and London: Harper and Broth- 

 ers, 1911. Pp. 144. Price $1.50 net. 

 For thirty years Mr. Taylor has been 

 developing the theory and practice of more 

 perfect utilization of human effort. This 

 book sets forth the underlying principles at 

 which he has arrived. We do not need to 

 go into the controversy in which some of 

 the labor unions have enrolled themselves 

 in opposition to something which they have 

 apparently taken too little pains to under- 

 stand. Nor do we need to accept the ex- 

 travagant claim, resting upon a misuse of 

 terms, that here is the birth of a new 

 science. What is worth noting is whether 

 the author has any valuable ideas for the 

 promotion of human efficiency and for do- 

 ing away with much of the wasted energy 

 and lost motion that every intelligent per- 

 son knows there is in both the physical and 

 intellectual activities of most of us. Look- 

 ing at it thus, Mr. Taylor's thesis is worth 

 careful study. It is intended presumably 

 for the organizer and director of industry, 

 but it may be suggestive to every worker. 

 Scientific management will now be much 

 in evidence before the country, in theory at 

 least, and it behooves every one to under- 

 stand its real significance. It certainly 

 does not mean, as some have hastily as- 



sumed, making men work harder. It does 

 mean, we take it, making men work better 

 and hence more easily. If anything will 

 lead to shorter hours and better pay, look- 

 ing at it from the labor side, this should 

 be the touchstone. In any aspect of the 

 case, the leader of the new movement is 

 entitled to his demonstration. 



The Better Country. By Dana W. Bartlett. 

 Boston: The C. M. Clark Publishing 

 Company, 1911. Pp. 555. Price $1.50 net. 

 The chief value of this book is as encour- 

 agement to optimists. It is a rapid fire 

 summary, reading almost like a catalogue, 

 of the many things that are being done for 

 the physical, mental and moral benefit of 

 the people. As such it is a good antidote 

 to the disheartening destructive criticism 

 with which various publications have 

 teemed for a few years. It treats of social 

 service, raising the standard, nations at 

 work in social uplift, wealth for all the 

 people, conservation of the nation's re- 

 sources, agriculture's opportunity, home 

 building, enrichment of life, life saving, 

 education, immigration, serving others, the 

 peace movement, and the broadening of 

 democracy. This is a wide field, covering 

 all the great progressive activities of the 

 people and it is almost unavoidable that 

 such a summary should be too much of a 

 catalogue and contain too little of the sig- 

 nificant and useful facts about the move- 

 ments to which it refers. It is a book of 

 temporary Interest and will serve to give 



