38 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



that wholesalers are specialists of sales, would leave the manufac- 

 turer to devote all his time to manufacturing problems and — but 

 you know the rest of it. 



Ask any salesman who has been employed by a large 

 manufacturer who had a sales organization and who then has 

 been employed by a representative wholesaler operating in a 



specific section, to tell you which he prefers; there's a good way 

 to tell. The writer thinks you'll find that in the former case he 

 was simply a cog-in-the-machine and that nothing was left tc> 

 him to use his judgment on, but that in the latter case he had a 

 chance to develop and become a valuable factor in his concern. 

 It's reasonable, isn't it? • H. E. S. 



'^ i croiiaaMW&BTO ! !TOtBiii>^taiTOa6^^ 



The state of Maine, in co-operation with the United States 

 Forest Service, has published a comprehensive report on the 

 forest resources and the utilization of wood in that state. Frank 

 E. Mace, forest commissioner, compiled the data bearing on the 

 resources, the forest laws, and the damage by fire; and the 

 statistics relating to utilization were compiled by Jesse C. Nellis 

 of the Forest Service. It is, therefore, a double report, dealing 

 first with forest resources, and then with the manner in which 

 those resources are put to use. 



The 3'ear 1911 was disastrous for its fires. The burned area 

 covered 111,077 acres, entailing a loss estimated at $337,355. 

 Conditions were much better in 1912. During that year twenty- 

 one forest fires were started by lightning, and one by a somewhat 

 unusual cause, a balloon. The record for the year 1912 was 

 20,240 acres burned, damage $71,248. The patrol system in Maine 

 has proved highly satisfactory. Men are employed as needed, 

 that is, when the weather is dry and danger is great, and they 

 are taken off when weather conditions render their services 

 unnecessary. A well-planned system of telephones has been 

 established to assist in fire protection. Under the terms of the 

 Weeks law, Maine received $10,000 from the Federal Government 

 to assist in controling fires in 1912. Only one other state, Minne- 

 sota, received as much. 



The sawmills of Maine cut 860,273,000 feet of lumber in 1911, 

 about one-tenth of which was mixed hardwoods, principally birch, 

 oak and maple. In addition to this the output of pulpwood 

 was equivalent to 458,379,500 feet, slack cooperage 24,855,333 feet, 

 tight cooperage 2,332,000 feet, veneers 3,554,000 feet, and firewood 

 the equivalent of about 737,000,000 feet; total forest output for 

 the state, 2,086,393,833 board feet. That shows Maine to be an 

 important producer of forest material, and it stands high in 

 comparison with other states. 



The wood-using industries of Maine convert 245,614,150 feet 

 of rough lumber into finished products. This does not include 

 pulp, cooperage, veneers, and fuel. It refers only to factory 

 products such as boxes, furniture, vehicles, interior house finish, 

 agricultural implements, and similar articles. The reports made by 

 manufacturers show that fifty-two different kinds of woods are 

 used as raw material from which the finished commodities are 

 made. That number is evidently too small, for the reason that 

 several kinds are grouped as one. For instance, all spruce is 

 listed as red spruce, though both white and black spruce go to 

 Maine factories, but in rather small quantities. The same observa- 

 tion holds for the oaks, maples, ashes, and others. 



Of the fifty-two woods listed, nine are foreign. The most 

 important of the foreign woods is mahogany, but the combined 

 use of all the nine falls considerably below 200,000 feet a year. 

 It is thus shown that Maine is not a large user of foreign woods. 

 In fact, the manufacturers there depend largely upon the forests 

 of their own state for what they need. Less than 34,000,000 

 feet were brought into the state and this was made up chiefly 

 of white pine, red spruce, balsam fir, yellow birch, sugar maple, 

 longleaf pine and loblolly pine. White pine, spruce and birch 

 grow abundantly in Maine, and that which came across the 

 border was imported only because it was convenient. The largest 

 quantity of outside wood shipped in was longleaf pine from 

 the South. Of the birches used, the largest amount was paper 

 birch, which is the chief material for spools; yellow birch, useful 



for flooring and furniture, was next in quantity, while sweet 

 birch was used to the extent of only 5,000 feet. 



Though the hardwoods in Maine constitute only about one- 

 tenth of the total sawmill cut in the state, the hardwoods going 

 to factories for conversion into finished commodities exceed one- 

 third of all wood reported, indicating that, as material for manu- 

 facturing, hardwoods are in much more demand than softwoods. 

 In this comparison, the hardwoods are broadleaf trees, and the 

 softwoods are those with needleleaves. Three woods constituted 

 sixty-five per cent of all. They were white pine, paper birch, and 

 .spruce. Willow at $12 per 1,000 feet was the cheapest wood, 

 while teak at $400 was the most expensive. 



The principal industries in Maine which use wood as raw 

 material, and the annual quantity demanded by each are the 

 following: 



Industry Feet. Cost. 



Boxes 25,741.000 $617,530 



Pl.ining Mill Pioducts 21,333.000 511,244 



Shuttles, Spools, Bobbins 13,053,400 438,096 



S.isb, Doors, Etc 10,734,200 180,503 



Boot and Shoe Findings 10,299,400 355,214 



Ships and Boats 9,310,000 193,508 



Handles 8,196,500 189.405 



Woodenware 7,532,000 112.434 



Dowels 5,704,500 105,915 



Laundry Appliances 4,431,500 133,955 



Car Construction 4,269,000 85,559 



Toys 3,765,000 86,742 



Furniture 3,050,000 86,775 



Matches and Toothpicks 1,054,500 23,633 



Vehicles 647,600 14,471 



Caskets and Coffins 645,000 12.245 



Brushes 533,000 11,337 



Printing Material 389,000 23,046 



Fixtures 320,000 5,120 



Dairy Supplies 302,000 4,475 



Butcher Blocks 285.000 5!375 



Bungs and Faucets 269,500 5,260 



Chairs 230,000 4,818 



Athletic Goods 94,250 3,386 



Patterns 54,400 1,780 



Pulleys and Conveyors 41,000 880 



Miscellaneous 4.456,000 70,625 



Total 245,614,150 $4,957,035 



The average cost of the woods used in the above industries, 

 when delivered at the factories, was $20.18 per 1,000 feet. 



An Old Roof 



The lasting properties of wood have been discussed many times 

 and by some persons it is looked upon as an old story; but a 

 recent order to examine the timber roof of Westminster Hall calls 

 attention to a famous wooden structure which has stood in the 

 damp climate of England 514 years. The roof was placed on that 

 building in 1399 in the reign of Richard II. It displayed the origi- 

 nal Norman structure. The roof which is to be examined includes 

 the timbers and supports only. The part which is exposed to the 

 weather and sheds the rain is made of sheets of lead. The pur- 

 pose in examining the roof is to make sure that decay has not 

 weakened the timbers. 



No man ever invented a system that was good enough to run a 

 business by itself; but there are several, either of which will help 

 a man considerably in the conduct of his business. 



