28 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



cnAii! 



A Nil WAOON STOCK SA 

 LKSLII- 



bolts, and in nine cases out of ten. this is the last the purchaser 

 ever sees of this timber, until it is delivered in his yard, either 

 in staves or bolts. And what a pitiful sight to behold: bolts made 

 of every conceivable shape ; staves sawn too light, too short ; thin 

 edges and no proof on staves — this is what he actually sees. He 

 does not know what has happened in the woods. He has not had 

 time to go and see. He must buy another tract of timber and 

 keep his mills running. ' ' 



Here then is evidence of unnecessary waste. In dealing with a 

 wood like white oak fit for staves there should be no excuse for 

 bungling. Surely the wood has become scarce enough and the 

 ]irice liigh enough to put a premium on good workmanship. And 

 how about the work in the 

 woods? Perhaps if the pur- 

 chaser of the timber wouM 

 spend a little more time on the 

 ground where his bolts or 

 staves were being cut he could 

 improve his material and effect 

 sufficient economy to make it 

 unnecessary to hustle after new 

 tracts so strenuously. 



One of the most promising 

 methods of securing complete 

 utilization is through a proper 

 combination of different kinds 

 of wood-using plants. Opera- 

 tors engaged in the manufac 

 ture of special products, such 

 as cooperage stock, wagon 

 material, handle wood, etc., 

 take out only such material as is 

 suitable for their individual uses 



and leave the unused portions of the trees to waste on the ground. 

 Often not to exceed one-half of the merchantable material in the 

 tree has been utilized. Other timber is injured by the felling of the 

 particular trees desired. Stumps frequently arc as high as three 

 feet, or twice what is necessary. 



The argument of the small specialty man is tliat in his locality 

 only certain choice products can be taken at a profit. He contends 

 that there is no demand for lower grade materials. The fact in the 

 ease is that it is not so much because there is no market for the 

 other material as it is that the operator is not equipped to supply it. 

 The small specialty men have little portable mills and operate as 

 jobbers for the manufacturers who handle their products. These 

 concerns afford financial backing and either give the jobber a contract 

 to reniovo timber from company lands or assist him in securing 

 stumpage here and there from settlers. The price he is to receive 

 is fixed bv the company and often he is under such financial obliga- 

 tions that independent action is prevented. He gets out only such 

 material as the company desires and as this is usually limited to one 

 or two choice products, excessive waste of merchantable timber 

 results. 



For instance one large cooperage concern in the Ozarks has about 

 twenty-five small millmen jobbing for it for stave bolts alone. There 

 is food for thought in the fact that the company does not let these 

 jobbers work on its own lands but gives them contracts to cut out- 

 side stumpage it has secured. Comparison of the cutting areas left 

 by the jobbers with those of the company's own men reveals the 

 extent of the unnecessary waste. In the former ease only half the 

 commercial material in the tree has been taken, the remainder left 

 in high stumps, top logs and somewhat defective portions which 

 would not make prime staves but were capable of supplying material 

 for other purposes. 



This particular cooperage company logs its own timber and trans- 

 ports the logs from the cutting area to the mill by rail. There every 

 log is converted into the particular products for which it is best 

 suited. While cooperage is the principal product, the company finds 

 it highly profitable to secure thorough utilization of iis timber by 

 producing lumber, ties, construction stock, hubs, felloes, chair and 



furniture squares, insulator pins, etc., from material which is not 

 suitable for cooperage. 



This ability to secure complete utilization is not confined to the 

 large mill. Small portable mills can be equipped at reasonable cost 

 for w'orking up all sorts of material. Instead of cutting the bolts 

 all over the woods the logs are hauled to mill and such as will 

 produce staves are so utilized without waste. If there is handle stock 

 it can be separated, and so on for many things from the choicest to 

 the most common. The man who says there is no market for th« 

 bv-produets is moic often than not speaking without knowledge of 

 actual conditions. The demand usually exists or can be created but 

 it requires some business ability to take advantage of it. 



Following are some examples 

 of the grades and specifications 

 of rough stock aud squares for 

 factory use in making special 

 hardwood products: 



Wagon axles : Squares from 

 2%" to 6" X 7" and 6 feet long. 



Wagon bolsters : Squares from 

 :i" X 4" to 4" X 6" aud from 4' 1" 

 to 4' G" long. 



Wagon roaches : Squares from 

 2" X 4" to 21^" X y and from 8' 

 :0" to 14' long. 



Wagon poles : Squares from 

 2%" X 4" tops and 4" x 4" butts 

 to 314" X 314" tops and 31,4" x 5" 

 butts and 12 feet long. 



Wagon eveners : Squares from 

 i" X 4" to 2ii" X 5" and from 

 4' 2" to 4' 6". 



Singletrees ; Squares for turn- 

 ing, 2 Mi" X 3" X 36". 



Xeckyokes : Squares for turn- 

 ing. 4" X 4" and from 44" to 48" 

 long. 



short clear cutUngs 10" 



WN I'HOM SI.Al'.S 

 AI!K. 



AMI (ILLS. 



to 14" 



10 12 



Wagon felloes : Squares for sawin 

 wide and from 24" to 30" long. 



Hub stock: Blocks in the round for turning, from nu 

 diameter inside bark and from 12" to 1,5^2" long. 



Spokes: Squares for turning, 2"x2V2"x30". 



Implement stock : Factory stock, boar-l and planks for cutting, to 

 grade No. 1 common and better. 



Handle stock : Bolts 40" long, split or in the round. 



In addition there is usually a market for railroad ties, fence posts, 

 piling, poles and occasionally for cordwood. That it pays to manu- 

 facture diversified products rather than a specialty alone is proved 

 by the fact that it is being done and in places, too, where the single 

 specialty man says it can't be done. It means getting out of the old 

 rut and that for some is impossible; it also means getting a price 

 for the special stock commensurate with its intrinsic value. 



Woods for Shuttles 



A recent consular reijort from Bradford, England, gives figurosi 

 on dogwood and persimmon used in that country for shuttles. These 

 woods are cut wholly in the United States. England dogwood is 

 known as cornel. The shuttle manufacturers purchase their supplies 

 of wood from wholesale merchants at Liverpool, either in the form 

 of logs or, more generally, in blocks, packed in bags, cut to sizes 

 ready for working up. The dogwood logs vary from 4VL' to 6 inches 

 in diameter and 4 feet 4 inches to 6 feet in length; the persimmon 

 logs vary from G to 20 inches in diameter and 6 to 10 feet in length. 

 These are sold by the ton (2,240 pounds) at prices that range from 

 ,$15,82 to $19,47, depending on quality and the state of the market. 



The dogwood blocks cut to sizes are said to be selling at the 

 following prices: Width, 1% — 1% inches; depth, 1% inches; length, 

 12 — 13 inches; price, .$6,57 to $9.73, There are said to be three 

 qualities. 



One firm states that $19.47 is the highest price it has hitherto paid 

 for persimmon blocks. Quotations follow: 2 by 1% by 14 inche.s, 

 ,$6.0S to $7.30; 2% by 2 by 18 inches, $17.52. A ton is equal to 

 about half a cord. 



Some of the English shuttle makers use African boxwood. For- 

 merly most shuttles were made of Turkish boxwood, which is now 

 loo expensive for that use. 



