HARDWOOD RECORD 



31 



formal notice than a line to the effect that "we are this day shipping 

 you ear 90178," etc. If a letter of that kind were to be mailed, 

 with a copy going to the salesman, the latter would have a chance 

 to get to his customer, explain that a mistake has been made iad 

 settle the questions before, and not after, ihe irate buyer had a 

 chance to unlimber his batteries against the house. 



There are scores of occasions in which permitting the salesman 

 to see the correspondence would not only aid in reduciqg the friction 

 which seems inevitable in the operation of a business of any size, 

 but would give the men on the road a chance to be real business- 

 builders in the sense of building up the good-will of the concern in the 



mind of the customer, since good-will is -a. purely mental, proposition. 

 The fact that the Salesman supplies thq-'missing link between buyer 

 and seller in the form of. personal contact, which can be made the 

 most effective lubricator of the wheels of' business, seems to suggest 

 that the statement which is 'occasionally heard from those who 

 have set ' ' efficiency " up as the only thing to be striven for, that 

 the salesman will one day be eliminated when the machinery of 

 distribution is more nearly perfected, is not likely to be realized. 

 Perhaps the day may come when he will not be called the salesman, 

 but will be an emba.ssador extraordinary. But even then he will 

 sell the firm itself, if not its products. G. D. C, Jr. 



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Tests of Structural Timbers 



Bulletin 108 has just been published by the United States Forest 

 Service. It was prepared at the government laboratory at Madison, 

 Wis., by McGarvey Cline and A. L. Heim, and deals with the 

 strength and seasoning of wood. Much of it is strictly technical, 

 and is of interest chiefly to architects and engineers; but certain 

 points are of value to any one dealing with timbers of large sizes, 

 or lumber of any size. 



It is shown that small pieces of a wood, as they are used in 

 practice, are proportionately stronger than large beams. The reason 

 for it is that a large beam is liable to have more defects, in pro- 

 portion to its size, than a small stick. In other words, it is more 

 difficult to find a large, clear beam than a small, clear piece. Defects 

 govern the strength of timbers in most cases. A beam is no stronger 

 than its weakest point, and a knot or a check may make one point 

 much weaker than another. "When a large and a small piece are 

 both clear, and other things are equal, they are of the same strength, 

 in proportion to size. 



The bulletin gives interesting data in regard to the moisture in 

 wood. Measurements were made of the amount in different parts 

 of heavy beams, that is, the outer shell, the intermediate part, and 

 the center. The.y were tested both green and air dry. The follow- 

 ing table, compiled from figures in the bulletin, gives the moisture 

 in percentages of the dry weight of the wood. For example, if the 

 center of a green longleaf pine beam shows thirty per cent moisture, 

 it means that the contained water weighs thirty per cent of what 

 , the air-dry wood will weigh. The width of beams tested was twice 

 the thickness, that is 8 by 16 inches. 



MOISTURE CONTEXT OF BEAMS 8x16 INCHES IN PERCENTAGE OF DRV 

 WEIGHT OF THE WOOD. 



Outer Intermediate Central 



portion portion portion 



Species — Green. Air-drv. Green, Air-dry. Green. Air-drv. 



Longleaf pine 23.4 17.2 28.6 19.1 30.8 21.2 



Douglas fir 32.1 14.4 33.3 17.8 34.1 19.7 



Shortk-af pine 59.4 13.9 45.5 16.5 34.4 17.3 



Western larch 44.0 15.3 54.5 18.2 55.4 20.1 



Loblolly pine 31.5 16.4 36.0 18.1 35.7 19.3 



Tamarack 37.8 16.3 43.2 19.7 45.0 28.4 



Western hemlock 46.9 16.4 48.4 17.8 47.4 19.0 



Redwood 82.5 15.8 89.1 21.2 91. 25.7 



Norwa.v pine 63.7 15.4 43.8 15.6 39.4 16.0 



In general, timber S by 16 inches must season through two entire 

 summers before it reaches a thoroughly air-dry condition. If season- 

 ing is started m the hot summer months, the loss of moisture at first 

 is very rapid, even though the timber is protected from sun and 

 wind. The loss in weight in a stringer 8 by 16 inches, and 10 feet 

 long in three months varies from forty to sixty pounds, the loss 

 being proportioned in a .general way to the amount of sapwood, which 

 often contains much more water than heartwood. Checking is less 

 serious when the timber contains a considerable amount of sapwood 

 than when it is all heartwood. 



The heartwood of each species of timber has a characteristic color, 

 due to the presence of gums, tannins, and other substances due to 

 the process of growth. Coloration from such causes apparently 

 does not affect the mechanical properties of the timber; but marked 

 variation from the characteristic color often indicates incipient deca.v, 

 po.rticularly when it produces a streaked or spotted effect. Some 



fungi which produce stain do not injure the timber, because they 

 live on the organic matter contained in the sap and do not attack 

 the cell walls. Many of the blue stains noticeable in sapwood are 

 from this source. 



Sapwood, except from old, over-mature trees, is as strong as heart- 

 wood, otlier things being equal. It is not apparent that the position 

 of the pith in timber bears any relation to the strength of the 

 timber, but checks developed on account of the position of the pith 

 may affect the strength. It was shown by the tests that the mechan- 

 ical properties of a wood vary directly with its dry weight, and, 

 other things being equal, the heavier the timber, the greater its 

 strength. 



The presence and position of knots in timber are a great source 

 of weakness, and it is not unusual for the presence of a knot in a 

 beam to lower its strength more than half. 



Burls are described as "local disturbances in the grain of the 

 timber, usually associated with knots or produced by the healing of 

 wounds during the life of the tree." 



Forests in Chile 



In view of the interest which many lumbermen are taking in 

 South American forests, the following statements, condensed from a 

 recent consular report, will prove interesting: 



The estimated area of Chile's natural forests is about seven 

 million acres, and in addition there are about thirty thousand acres 

 of planted forest. The Chilean government is taking measures to 

 stop the destruction of timber, and to plant trees in certain arid 

 regions where little wood of any kind exists now. Tha forested area 

 of Chile is about one-half that of West Virginia. 



Most of the Chilean timber is very heavy and will not float. 

 This has stood in the way of operations in the interior where rail- 

 roads are few. At present there is no prospect of more railroads 

 through the timbered regions. United States dealers last year 

 shipped 34,000,000 feet of lumber to Chile, and paid import duties 

 on it amounting to $20,000. 



Utilization of Timber in Mexico 



The Sierras which traverse the western part of the state of Durango, 

 Mexico, are plentifully wooded on both east and west exposures. 

 While pine is the most important of the tree species, there is a con- 

 siderable quantity of cedar, oak and other hardwood, while far down 

 on the Pacific slope there are many valuable cabinet woods. - In all 

 there are thirty-six separate and distinct varieties of timber noted 

 in the timber production statistics of the state. 



The timber area of Durango is approximately 6,250,000 acres which 

 has been scarcely touched on account of lack of transportation. New 

 railroads either actually being projected or under consideration will 

 open up this vast territory to exploitation. Some of the best timber 

 tracts in the state will be made available, which will mean that 

 Durango will be one of the most important lumber producing states in 

 the northern part of the Republic. The industry at present is entirely 

 local. 



