22 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Poor Matching versus Profits 



An article appearing in this cover treats somewhat at length of the 

 folly as shown in some manufacturing plants of giving too little 

 attention to the question of matching lumber so as to turn out an 

 article which embodies the maximum of beauty contained in the wood 

 going into its manufacture. The question is not in any way an 

 esthetic one, but merely involves a question of dollars and cents. It 

 surely has a bearing on the ultimate profit balance of any manu- 

 facturing concern turning out wood goods. It is not reasonable to 

 suppose that a dealer in furniture or the ultimate consumer buying 

 in single pieces will consider an article showing poor matching where 

 strikingly different color and grain are shown in direct contact in 

 different pieces of wood in the same article as of equal value to an 

 article which distinctly shows great care in matching. It is hard to 

 conceive of any real reason for not giving close attention to this 

 feature of manufacture. It may be argued that the additional cost 

 of selecting stock is prohibited. The human element undoubtedly 

 also comes in strongly. It is of course difficult to train a mere trades- 

 man to the finer points of proper utilization, but nevertheless efforts 

 along these lines will react to considerable advantage. There has 

 been some little complaint among the woodworking factory trade that 

 keen competition has inaugurated a condition of competition on 

 price. It would seem that the concern paying particular attention to 

 the question of satisfying as far as possible the esthetic taste of the 

 purchaser of his goods is going to have a big bulge on the man who 

 simply grinds out work, taking the lumber as it comes from the kiln. 

 At least the question is one which might well be considered seriously. 



Imports and Exports for October 



A summary of comruerce and finance showing the imports and 

 exports for October, 1912, compiled by the Department of Commerce 

 and Labor, shows a healthy increase in the total export of woods 

 and the manufactures of woods over October, 1911. The total for 

 October of this year was $8,463,490 and for October a year ago 

 $7,823,634. The total export value of logs and other round timber 

 decreased during this period from $216,590 to $154,296. This can 

 undoubtedly be attributed to a great degree to the serious condition 

 of the export ocean freight situation. 



The total value of hewn and sawed timber fell from $757,338 to 

 $616,076. On the other hand the total export of lumber in boards, 

 planks, deals, joists, etc., increased from $4,342,104 to $4,398,964. 

 Of the remaining export of manufactured wo6d goods decided in- 

 creases were shown in shingles, shooks, staves, headings, sash, doors 

 and blinds, furniture, hogsheads and barrels, interior trim and other 

 house furnishings, woodenware, wood pulp and several other lines of 

 smaller manufacture. The increase in total export was noted mainly 

 in these items. 



The import value of wood goods manufactured and unmanufactured 

 increased from $5,682,800 in October of 1911 to $6,208,570 in October, 

 1912. There was an .increase in the import value of all unmanufac- 

 tured round timber, mahogany of course being the most inrportant 

 of the lumber items. ■ The value of mahogany brought into this 

 country in October, 1912, was $550,248. The value of pulp woods 

 imported increased from $524,091 to $565,661. Manufactured lumber 

 of various kinds to the value of $2,141,401 was imported in October, 

 1912, as against a total import value of $1,790,663 for October, 

 1911. 



The import value of lath increased materially, while the import 

 value of shingles fell off considerably. The import of foreign fur- 

 niture remained practically the same. The total value of wood pulp 

 imported increased from $1,306,139 to $1,502,190. 



Sugaring the Grade 



An enterprising advertiser in Hakdvcood Record uses this sen- 

 tence among others in his advertising: "When you specify a certain 

 grade of lumber, you get just that grade." It is a safe guess tlmt 

 most people interpret this to mean that there is no stuffing or salting 

 of the grade with a percentage of something lower, in the hope that 

 it will get by, and with the feeling that if it does not, the shipper 



will at least get its grade value. Sticking to a grade, however, means 

 more than that. It means, or should mean, including neither that 

 which is better nor that which is worse. It means freedom from the 

 reverse of salting grades (sugaring the grade). It is not generally 

 considered objectionable for the millman to ship stock that is above 

 grade if he wants to and is willing to stand for it, but there are 

 objections, and trade troubles which result from this practice as well 

 as from salting, though perhaps they are not so frequent nor so 

 acute as the former case. 



A country customer of a lumberman recently called him over long 

 distance and registered a kick on a carload of lumber. The customer 

 admitted that the lumber would pass inspection and make the grade 

 the order called for, but said it was so much below the grade he had 

 been in the habit of getting that he wanted the lumberman to make 

 a reduction of $2.00 a thousand on it. This led to a lot of corre- 

 spondence between the lumberman and the mill shipping the lumber. 

 The mill had built up a reputation for shipping out stock above 

 grade, and for this reason was often able to get preference on orders 

 at equal prices with other mills. When this claim of the customer 

 reached the main office in another city, the owners objected, and said 

 that if the mill had been shipping stock that was above grade it was 

 without their knowledge and that it would have to stop. The upshot 

 of it all was that the lumberman had a dissatisfied customer, and 

 the inspection department at the mill got a jacking up, and the mill 

 manager probably felt that his prestige on orders was gone. 



From a monetary standpoint that millman would have been as 

 well justified in cutting his regular price as in shipping lumber that 

 was above grade, but he perhaps persuaded himself that it looked 

 better morally to sugar his stock, and that technically he was main- 

 taining prices. In reality he was not, and the morals of the thing 

 are subject to fully as severe criticism as cutting prices. Then, 

 entirely aside from the question of right and wrong to other members 

 of the trade, he was spoiling his customers, detracting from the value 

 and usefulness of specific grades, and letting down the bars to 

 wrangles about quality which would be without any reliable guide for 

 adjustment. 



Sugaring a grade may not be as gross a fault as salting it, but 

 neither is right, and what is not right is wrong. If you are selling by 

 grades, stick to them; you needn't strip everything down to line 

 boards that will just barely make the grade ; neither should you make 

 the grade markedly better than the specifications call for. It is the 

 specific grades that are the more satisfactory in the long run, and 

 it is sticking to the grades faithfully that helps make them worth 

 more in your business as well as to the trade in general. 



Dimension Stbtk in Handle Making 



Some broom handle manufacturers are under the impression that 

 they can make handles only from logs or lumber, but in the case of 

 the handle man who does not saw his own timber but buys it cut 

 into lumber, it is very convenient to buy it in boards cut two inches 

 longer than the finished handles, or in blanks ripped to size. The 

 troubje always has been that the lumberman furnishing this stock will 

 not cut it out as it should be done. A broom handle square must 

 be large enough to allow for plenty of stock for turning, and many 

 millmen, if ordered to rip stock one-and-one-eighth inches square, will 

 try to skimp that measure a sixteenth of an inch or so. This practice 

 will practically spoil the squares for the purpose that the handle 

 man desires to use them. 



It is the practice of some mills to rip out large piles of blanks 

 in warm weather from green stock, and let them ]ay in bulk so long 

 that rot sets in. Consequently, when the handle man puts them on a 

 lathe he finds that a lot of them are worthless to him. 



It would seem that it would work to the advantage of the lumber 

 manufacturer to look to this phase of lumber consumption with more 

 care, because good blanks and short boards for broom handles can be 

 made from the edgings and butts, and also from the short lengths 

 which would not saw into a good grade of lumber. It would be well 

 for the sawmill man to look this matter up as there are hundreds of 

 handle factories which are willing to buy this class of stock. 



