HARDWOOD RECORD 



A New Profession. 



A comparatively new calling is that of the business systematizer. 

 That a large and successful corporation should turn the manage- 

 ment of its business over to a stranger without experience in its 

 particular line, seems almost incomprehensible; this very thing, 

 nevertheless, is frequently done in modern business practice, with 

 results highly profitable to the business concerned. 



Thus H. A. Wright, in American Industries for August, prefaces 

 a very interesting article on the business systematizer and his 

 work. Undoubtedly the rise of this calling is merely a new appli- 

 cation of the modern scientific spirit. The reasons for the origin 

 of a practice so foreign to tradition come about from the fact that 

 business of late has become a science. It is gsnerally recognized 

 that men who spend their lives in studying this science have expe- 

 rience and ability which should be of value to the busy merchant 

 or manufacturer. 



"Business systematizer" is the name which best describes this 

 calling which has sprung out of twentieth century commercialism, 

 although many who previously adopted it have dropped it from 

 the fact that the term has been applied to and abused by some 

 who have no right or title to it, and who use it as an excuse to 

 secure a "snap" job, and eventually are found out to be of no 

 service to their employers. Hence the terms business economist, 

 production engineer, developer of business systems, etc., have been 

 adopted by many earnest members of this new profession, and it 

 is difficult to appreciate their value, and the scope of their efforts. 



The systematizer may be termed the surgeon of commercial war- 

 fare, says Mr. Wright. Problems are now presented to him which 

 in previous years would have worried the sufferer from them until 

 long experiment disclosed a solution which had perhaps been 

 known to his neighbor or competitor for years. Such cases may 

 be discussed with the commercial counsel just as legal problems 

 are referred to an attorney, or matters of health to a physician. 

 This sort of service, common enough in such line?, has but recently 

 been taken advantage of in connection with business problems. 

 Today, however, the services of a man trained in this special line 

 can be had at a reasonable rate, and for just such length of time 

 as may be desired. 



Truly, this new calling is a tangible reflection of the trend of 

 the times. 



Retail Yards as Hardwood Consumers. 



I'p to a comparatively recent time the retail buikling wcioil yards 

 have been very inconsequential as consumers of hardwoods. But 

 during the last few years yards of this type have become such a 

 considerable factor in hardwood consumption as to now be re- 

 garded of considerable importance in the disposal of a good many 

 varieties and grades of hardwood lumber. 



For years past many yards have handled poplar in the form of 

 finishing lumber, cornice lumber, and bevel and patent siding, and 

 latterly have taken on considerable Cottonwood and gum for these 

 same purposes. The advancing prices of soft woods have caused 

 many retailers, especially in the Middle West, to become large 

 buyers of the coarser grades of birch and other northern hard- 

 woods, in the form of ship-lap for sheathing purposes, floor lining, 

 etc. Now more than ever, these retail dealers are carrying stocks 

 of oak, beech and maple flooring, as nearly all modern house con- 

 struction demands this sort of material. Again, retailers are almost 

 universal buyers of cypress lumber for finishing and other pur- 

 poses. Many of them carry stocks of high-grade oak for finishing, 

 as well as low grades for bridge planking and other purposes. 



In the aggregate, therefore, it will be seen that the retail himber 

 yard is becoming an important factor in the hardwood trade, and 

 it would be well if hardwood manufacturers and jobbers would bear 

 this in mind in their work of securing a wider distribution of the 

 woods they handle. This observation is especially true from the 

 fact that the highest qualities of bevel siding made from white 

 ].iiii>, have become so extremely liisrh that every effort is lieing 



made to obtain a substitute at less cost. It has been demonstrated 

 that red gum makes a very fair article in both bevel and patent 

 siding. -This, however, should be taken into account by gum pro- 

 ducers, who certainly can sell a large quantity of worked .stock to 

 these retail yards. 



Hickory Handle Matters. 



As will be noted by the announcement at the head of the edi- 

 torial columns of this issue of the Eecord, the second annual meet- 

 ing of the Handle Manufacturers' Association of AmerioU will be 

 held at the Gayoso hotel in Memphis at 10:30 a. m., Wednesday, 

 November 11. A luncheon will be served to members and visitors 

 at 1 p. m. 



This promises to be the most important meeting ever held by 

 the association^ as the letters received by the secretary indicate 

 very strongly that the three-grade method of inspection, as recom 

 mended by the special committee on grades, will be put into effect, 

 together with a new base price list. The numerous grades involved 

 in the old system of inspection which has prevailed for some years 

 have tended to demoralize both grades and prices to a marked 

 degree, and it is believed the new system would put the hickory 

 handle manufacturing business into very much better shape. To- 

 day the trade is a good deal upset and although the average handle 

 plant is running only half to two-thirds capacity, there is an 

 accumulation of- stock, especially in low-grade handles. 



Common Sense in Inspection. 



Originating among a certain element in the eastern liardwood 

 trade there is manifest dissatisfaction over the present status of 

 the inspection rules of both the National Hardwood Lumber Asso- 

 ciation and the Hardwood Manufacturers' Associajion of the 

 United States. The contention is particularly against those of the 

 former named association. This dissatisfaction has spread among u 

 part of the jobbing element as far west as Buffalo and Cincinnati. 



The people -who are arguing against the accepted inspection 

 methods of the chief lumber associations of the country are of 

 two classes. One is the old-fashioned element which fails to con- 

 sider the lower quality of the timber now available for the making 

 of lumber, and the modern methods indulged in by the remanufac- 

 turers of lumber into furniture and kindred lines, who have dis- 

 covered that the extra labor cost and waste in utilizing coarser 

 grades is more than made up by the lower price of the lumber. 

 This element seeks to maintain the old time standard of grades 

 and fails to recognize the evolution in hardwood production and 

 utilization. 



The second element that is antagonistic to the prevailing systems 

 of grading is the "scalper" who seeks the privilege of "salting'' 

 original grades and working off a lower or mixed assortment tor a 

 higher grade, thus achieving a profit in his transactions beyond the 

 legitimate. 



Paramount in this entire inspection controversy is the essential 

 desirability of uniformity in hardwood inspection — a universal 

 base of inspection by which the value of lumber in dispute can be 

 determined. 



A grade of lumber determines its value and not its name. If 

 the grade is lowered the price is lowered with it. If "firsts and 

 seconds" be applied to culls they will not command the price of 

 firsts and seconds. 



The crux of the whole matter is that the specific division of 

 hardwood lumber into grades, so long as they are made to reason- 

 ably accommodate the product of the present quality of logs, and 

 so long as the grades will reasonably satisfy the wants of the 

 users, is a subject unworthy of discussion or dispute. 



The honest efforts of the best brains in lumber affairs in the 

 country are standing right up to the rack in this matter, seeking 

 only justice between hardwood producers and hardwood users. 

 Their good work has been endorsed by the majority and should 

 be bv all. 



