HARDWOOD RECORD 



31 



of the association regarding the proposed changes. The motion 

 calling for an endorsement of the committee 's actions was passed 

 b}' a unanimous vote. 



President Hamar suggested the need for more grades in hemlock 

 lumber and stated that they would probabh- be effected by the first 

 of the year. The recommendations of the grading committee in 

 this direction were explained and the proposed new grades discussed 

 by the members. It was suggested that present rules are not ade- 

 quate, which is shown in the fact that the various manufacturers 

 are using their own grades for hemlock lumber. It was suggested 

 that the chief inspector visit the various mills and go into the 

 vards, making hemlock grades which would conform to the sug- 

 gestions of the committee and which would therefore be uniform 

 throughout the membership. It was subsequently moved that this 

 suggestion be carried out. 



M. P. McCullough, chairman of the advertising committee, re- 

 ported on the work done by that body since the last meeting. The 

 association, through its committee, has contracted with two farm 

 papers circulating principally in Wisconsin and northern Illinois 

 for hemlock advertising and has taken space in three architectural 

 and building papers in order to cover birch in an advertising way. 

 In addition, books of plans have been prepared and follow up on 

 the hemlock advertising and birch books illustrating the wide 

 adaptability of that wood have been prepared to back up the ad- 

 vertising of birch. 



The committee has also sent reprints of the hemlock ads to some 

 eight hundred retail dealers in the territory reached by the ad- 

 vertising, together with a letter explaining the campaign and offer- 

 ino- to send them the building books. In this way a considerable 

 interest has been stirred up among the retail yards. 



The efficiency of the committee's efforts is shown in the fact 

 that, while the ads first appeared October 1 and in no case had 

 run more than one issue to the date of the meeting, 144 replies 

 had already been received, 93 being on birch and 51 on hemlock. 



It was later determined to allow the advertising committee to 



print any number up to 5,000 of hemlock books and 1,500 birch 

 books for the use of the members. 



Chairman W. G. Collar of the railroad committee, said that since 

 the last meeting the committee s attorney, Mr. Ewing, has filed a 

 brief with the Interstate Commerce Commission covering the mat- 

 ter of transit rates on logs and lumber, but that nothing more can 

 be done along this line until the decision of the commission is 

 rendered. Mr. Collar requested that the members read this brief 

 carefully, as copies have been sent to each. He stated that as soon 

 as the commission renders an opinion it will be necessary for the 

 committee to take up the matter with the individual railroads, in 

 order to have tariffs which are put in to conform with the decisions 

 of the commission worded in such way as to do the least possible 

 damage. He further suggested that if such a conference is neces- 

 sary it will be extremely important that some other representatives 

 of the association meet with the committee. The report carried with 

 it a request that the president be authorized to appoint other mem- 

 bers to join with the committee in taking up the matter with the 

 railroads at the proper time. Inasmuch as this request was em- 

 bodied in the report, the acceptance of the report was equivalent 

 to a motion to that effect. 



President Hamar endeavored to start a discussion on market 

 conditions but it seemed to be the general opinion of the members 

 that it is pretty hard to give any opinion on a market when they 

 didn't have any lumber to sell. Discussion of the question of woods 

 labor brought out the fact that there have been a number of va- 

 cancies filled in the woods by woods laborers returning from the 

 harvest fields of Minnesota and the Dakotas. The situation seemed 

 to be somewhat easier. 



The secretary's statistics on labor showed that wages this year 

 are ten per cent higher on an average than at the same period last 

 year. 



The discussion of the labor situation was followed by a number 

 of suggestions from the members covering various topics, after 

 which the meeting adjourned. 



\;TOiiamaiiTOimim^mi>iii«wa*TO>^^^ 



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i 



Specific Heat of Wood 



The United States Forest Products Laboratory, at Madison, 

 Wis., has issued Bulletin 110, in its series of publications. "The 

 Specific Heat of Wood" is the title, and it indicates the line 

 of investigation. The author is Frederick Dunlap, first assistant. 

 The publication is strictly technical, but the purpose in view 

 is to reach results and conclusions which will be of practical 

 value to those who handle wood in any form, but particularly 

 those who operate dry-kilns. Experiments with sixteen species 

 which grow in the United States, and four which are foreign, 

 show that not quite one-third as , much heat is required to raise 

 a given body of wood to a certain temperature as to heat an 

 equal body of water to the same temperature. The samples of 

 wood were exposed to temperatures from to 106 degrees, centi- 

 grade, and were all oven dry at the beginning of the experi- 

 ments. They consisted of hard and soft woods, and those very 

 light and very heavy. 



The results are so nearly the same for all these woods as to 

 lead to the belief that the capacity to receive heat is practically 

 the same for all. 



The fact that the specimens were oven dry appears to detract 

 somewhat from the practical application of the information by 

 <lry-kiln operators, for wood that is oven dry has no place in a 

 dry-kiln. It is already as thoroughly seasoned as any kiln can 

 make it. Anticipating, perhaps that this criticism might be made 

 by persons who are looking for immediate practical results which 

 can be applied in a business way, the author is careful to say 

 that the search is for exact information and precise figures, 

 rather than for something which can be used immediately and 

 in its present form. The real character of the wood itself — the 



ultimate structure and constituents — is one of the matters under 

 investigation, and hope is expressed that the experiments will 

 throw light on that subject. 



The real substance of wood — known as lignin — is yet a chemical 

 puzzle. Investigators have found out a great deal about it, but 

 some things are still being investigated. The microscope shows 

 the physical structure, the cells, the pores, the fibres, and other 

 elements; but the microscope is powerless to penetrate the mys- 

 teries of chemical combination. It is known that wood dried at 

 a temperature of -300 degrees contains only about one per cent 

 of inorganic matter; the other ninety-nine per cent is organic. This 

 combination is lignin. 



In a study of the ultimate character of wood, the chemist 

 begins where the microscopist leaves off. The bulletin just issued 

 from the laboratory at Madison is a beginning along that line, 

 though it is not a chemical investigation thus far. One thing 

 which is indicated by the investigation is that wood which has 

 been steamed requires more heat to raise it to a given tempera- 

 ture than is required by unsteamed wood. This result has not 

 been announced as a fact, but simply as an indication. "It 

 appears possible," says the report, "that exposure to moisture 

 at high temperature increases the specific heat of wood. If this 

 is true, other properties, and with them technological character, 

 may change also. This behavior needs further study." 



This suggestion gives a hint which may lead to important 

 results in lumber seasoning. If the application of steam pro- 

 duces a change in wood which may be measured by an increased 

 specific heat, results may be worked out which will be of great 

 practical value in seasoning timbers. 



