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HARDWOOD RECORD 



sirable as compared with the beautiful results obtainable in high- 

 class hardwood finish. At one time steel as a finishing material 

 was regarded as a menace to future utilization of hardwoods for 

 this purpose, but it is fair to assume today that this is a bugbear 

 which will never seriously militate against hardwood utilization. 

 From every viewpoint then hardwoods . and the prospect of 

 money-making in their production is the one best bet in the 

 entire lumber business. No owner of hardwood stumpage who 

 does business on even reasonably good lines can fail to achieve 

 a handsome profit out of lumber production. Hardwood stumpage 

 is. the best and cheapest thing there is on the market today, and 

 the one good place for logical investment. 



On Oak Grading 



AN ESTEEMED AND COMPETENT southern hardwood lum- 

 berman writes Hardwood Eecord substantially as follows: 

 "I am coming in contact with all kinds of oak values being 

 shipped under the same name, i. e.: firsts and seconds. No. 1 

 common and No. 2 common coming from different points, in which 

 the values of these grades, from one point in some cases, are 

 almost double what they are from another. 



"Another method that I find is being pursued quite largely 

 is the splitting up of the different grades, making two and some- 

 times as high as three different values from one grade of lumber, 

 not described by either of the grading rules of the two chief 

 hardwood associations. As a matter of fact as things are now con- 

 ducted I find that the name of the grade of lumber does not signify 

 very much. Some people are offering one grade of lumber on a given 

 grade and name, where the other is on another, and the buyer is 

 not justified in paying the price that is asked in certain places. 

 I find that there is as much as five dollars a thousand difference 

 being asked for the grades of firsts and seconds, No. 1 common 

 and No. 2 common, and also that there is fully that much dif- 

 ference in the value of the stock. This is the only demoralizing 

 thing in the hardwood situation today. 



"For the present, closer utilization of oak in ultimate con- 

 sumption seems to be the desire on the part of buyers, who seek 

 specific grades made best suited for their use, and I believe the 

 time has come when more grades should be made in oak. Con- 

 sumers of lumber today are getting to a point where they are 

 figuring on getting values in the lumber they buy, and are spe- 

 cializing more on the grades they use. They are willing to pay 

 a premium in order to get the grade they require that will show 

 as little waste as possible. With this tendency in view I believe 

 the time has come when those having inspection matters in charge 

 should accommodate their grading systems to the requirements 

 of the buyers, which at the same time would develop a better 

 profit for the manufacturer." 



The matter of inspection of hardwoods is one that is perennial, 

 and inasmuch as the present system, which no one holds is per- 

 fect, is fairly satisfactory, it matters not how desirable amend- 

 ments may be in the grading of lumber, and is quite doubtful if 

 the majority will ever consent to any radical amendments in the 

 present rather crude, and in many instances unsatisfactory 

 methods of inspection. However, there is meat in what Hakd- 

 WOOD Kecoed's correspondent has to say on the subject of 

 oak inspection. There really is no accurate basis today for de- 

 termining values. 



The Consignment Evil 



FOR THE FIRST TIME in four years Gustav A. Farber, Lon- 

 don representative and partner of Russe & Burgess, Inc., 

 Memphis, Tenn., is visiting the United States. He spent the 

 holidays with a number of his relatives at Baltimore, and in- 

 cidentally called on a number of his old friends among whom 

 his memory is kept green. While in this country, Mr. Farber 

 will visit several of the hardwood sections of the country, and 

 then go to Memphis to confer with members of his company on 

 business matters. 



Mr. Farber was interviewed by a Hardwood Record repre- 



sentative a few days ago and talked most interestingly and in- 

 structively about trade export conditions. Mr. Farber makes the 

 emphatic assertion that the foreign business can not be suc- 

 cessfully conducted except by the aid of a foreign representative 

 who is always on the ground to look after shipments and settle 

 any possible controversies that may arise between seller and 

 buyer. 



Mr. Farber certainly has made a great success of his work 

 abroad, and being not only a thorough lumberman, but a linguist 

 as well, has helped him greatly in his ability to grapple with the 

 constantly changing conditions arising in the hardwood export 

 business. He is a man of extreme perseverance and taetfulness, 

 and has attained a reputation for fairness that makes him very 

 popular with buyers of Great Britain and the Continent. 



While Mr. Farber 's relations with foreign wood brokers are 

 pleasant, he does not hesitate to assert that many of them do 

 not always carefully look after the interests of the shippers as 

 they should, and that their position as intermediaries between 

 the exporter and buyer renders them less zealous in securing at 

 all times for the shipper his just due. They seem to feel that 

 they can not afford to incur the ill will of the buyer and this 

 tends to make them unmindful of the interests of the shipper. 



To illustrate this point Mr. Farber stated an instance in which 

 a broker having information that a shipment of lumber was in 

 transit, went around among the trade offering it for sale. The 

 prospective buyer knowing that the lumber was being forwarded 

 on consignment was not willing to pay the very fair price men- 

 tioned, which would have left the exporter a small margin of 

 profit. The broker immediately asked the buyer what he would 

 give for the stock. A price was named, which meant a definite 

 loss to the shipper, but which price the broker accepted and ad- 

 vised the exporter that this was the best figure obtainable. This 

 situation Mr. Farber states is merely a sample of what is being 

 repeated with great frequency on consignment shipments, and 

 illustrates the weakness and foolishness of this system of doing 

 business. Almost invariably customers who do business on these 

 lines unload their stock at a heavy loss and at a much less price 

 than they could get for the lumber at home. 



Mr. Farber says that one of the greatest drawbacks to the 

 export lumber trade is the English credit system under which 

 the buyer demands six months' terms of settlement. This method 

 imposes a financial strain upon the seller which few of them can 

 stand, and furthermore is bad all around for the reason that it 

 places business upon a false basis. It virtually gives the buyer 

 the use of the seller 's money for six months without any return 

 to the seller and renders it extremely diflicult to hold the buyer 

 down to a volume of credit to which he is entitled within the 

 limit of safety. 



Under this system the broker has found his opportunity, and 

 usually allows the exporter to draw against shipments for a por- 

 tion of the amount due and carries the buyer. This system places 

 the exporter and to some extent the buyer at the mercy of the 

 broker. Mr. Farber insists that the only correct method of 

 handling the export lumber trade is to handle it as other lines 

 are handled, i. e., on a cash basis at the usual discount, with the 

 six months' time feature eliminated. He is further insistent that 

 the consignment business for the best interests of all concerned 

 should be eliminated as at its best it is full of dangers and pit- 

 falls, which have resulted in very few American hardwood ex- 

 porters ever having made any considerable profit out of foreign 

 business, where logically they should have made no inconsiderable 

 profit. 



Cover Picture 



COMMENCING WITH THIS NUMBER of Hardwood Record the 

 front cover of each issue will be embellished with a picture illus- 

 trating some important phase of forest growth, woods operations, or 

 lumber utilization. The picture on the front cover of this issue illus- 

 trates the most recent and economical type of log slides, which is of 

 the plank type. This system of getting logs off steep mountain sides 



