HARDWOOn RECORD 



41 



The most interesting and instructive trip during tlie .iourney tliroiigli 

 the Black Forest was tlie visit to the Schitt'erschaft. This forest con- 

 sists of 1.200 acres and has been under the control of the same corpora- 

 tion for seven hundred years. It possesses a most unique history. The 

 <ir!ginal owners were lumbermen who cut the timber and sent their 

 <irives down the Murg and Rhine rivers to the Holland trade. Prior to 

 ITIS the existence of many small principalities through which the logs 

 liad to pass before reaching the market brought about conditions under 

 which it paid to cut only the very best of the trees. Within recent 

 times the increase of transportation facilities and tbe consequent broaden- 

 ing of the market, together with the possibility of marketing any and 

 iill of their wood products, has made the enterprise very profitable. 

 Many of the stockholders are also mill owners and. buying their own ■ 

 timber, make a double profit. They demanded, however, the best and 

 most accessible logs, with the result that the lower strips were soon 

 stripped of the l)est growing timber. The results of their destructive 

 methods are still to be seen in the varying treatment which has had to 

 \>e applied to each portion separately in order to restore it to a paying 

 basis. With the advance of lumber prices, the old methods were dropped 

 <iad it became imperative to treat the forest to constructive rather than 

 <iestructive methods The old splash dams are a thing of the past and 

 everywhere the forests are traversed by the finest of macadam roads. 

 On steep slopes, the logs are lowered at the ends of ropes. By taking 

 a turn of the rope around a standing tree, the progress of the logs can 

 he easily controlled. 



In the Black Forest the forest rotation is one hundred and twenty 

 years. This means that It takes that time to develop a stand of tim- 

 ber to the point of maturity, when it is cut and the process started over 

 again. Inasmuch as different sections are maturing each year, there is 

 A constant source of supply and constant work being done to regenerate 

 where the mature stands are cut. There is still a considerable amount 

 of big timber in the Black Forest. 



The students also visited an extensive furniture manufacturing plant 

 near Darmstadt where they had an opportunity of comparing German 

 with American methods. The general methods are not unlike those em- 

 ployed in American furniture factories, but the finished product is far 

 more artistic in design than the average high-grade American product. 

 It is often more solidly and perfectly made in all of its parts. Genuine 

 ■old pieces of furniture are used as models. French cottonwood is used 

 lor the veneer cores. Walnut root wood veneer was shown costing $2.00 

 per sheet of 16xlS inches. 



In the last excursion of February the students found themselves, in- 

 stead of in the woods or at sawmills, traveling the narrow and crude 

 streets of "Old Frankfort." No city of Germany has a greater wealth 

 of history behind it than has Frankfort, which first came into prom- 

 inence in the time of Charlemagne. From then on it grew steadily in 

 Importance and in 822, at the time of Louis the Pious, it was looked 

 upon as the capital of the Prankish empire. ITrom the time of Frederick 

 Barbarossa, the German sovereigns were chosen at Frankfort. All the 

 emperors from Albrecht to Francis II were crowned in this quaint old 

 city. From the tenth down to the nineteenth century, when it became 

 part of Prussia, Frankfort was a free city. At the present time it con- 

 tains 370.000 inhabitants and is one of the most important commer- 

 city centers of Germany. Its money market is almost as influential as 

 that of Berlin and the whole appearance of the newer city indicates 

 general prosperity. It was the old part of the city, however, which 

 commanded the interest of the students. They were shown all types 

 of German architecture from the Roman to the German renaissance 

 and it can be said that Frankfort contains some of the best examples to 

 be found in Germany. 



As announced formerly, the students sailed on Mar. 15 on the S. S. 

 New Amsterdam of the HoUand-.imerlcan Line. Headquarters upon re- 

 turn to America will be Tupper Lake, N. T., in the heart of the Adiron- 

 dacks. 



A Splendid Example of End-drying 



Accompanying this story are two photographs illustrating well the 

 splendid results obtained by careful end-drying in northern stock. These 



sheds are part of the extensive equipment of tbe Stearns Salt and Lum- 

 ber Company of Ludington, Mich. W. T. Culver, vice-president and active 

 manager of this company's extensive operations, has made an exhaustive 

 study of the possibilities of end-drying and has come to the unqualifled 

 decision that this method produces the very highest and most uniform 

 results in all species of high-grade northern stock. As a consequence, 

 while this company devotes its end-drying sheds principally to the drying 

 of white maple, it is putting various kinds of high-grade lumber up in 

 this way and it is its intention to expand considerably in this line. The 

 experiments, which covered a period of two years, established the fact 

 that while the cost is somewhat greater, the results are so far more satis- 

 factory as to leave no more room for doubt as to which method should 

 be pursued. The greatest benefit is derived from drying stock in this 

 way, which is In any way designed for special requirements. The 

 superior condition of the stock will more than offset the cost. 



It can be seen from the exterior view of the shed that narrow strips 

 are used on the outside of each course. These strips are of dry hem- 

 lock and prevent side discoloration, along the edges of the outside pieces. 

 The Stearns company uses only one narrow crosser, which is thoroughly 

 dry and therefore prevents the possibility of sticker marks. The floors 

 of the sheds are built up even with the tramways which allows a per- 

 fect air circulation. Thus far, the experiments have covered bird's-eye 

 maple, white maple, straight-grained maple, red birch, sap birch, straight- 

 grained Iweeh, white basswood and various other special orders of un- 

 selected stock. The company's sheds now have a capacity of from 

 3. .500.000 to 4.000,000 feet a year and it is hoped that this capacity will 

 eventually be doubled. 



Suffered Small Loss by Fire 



The New England Hardwood Company, of Mountain Mills. Vt., suffered 

 a small loss by fire on the morning of March 9. Its oflice building, con- 

 taining its oflice, store and the postoflice, was completely destroyed. The 

 new mill, which stands only about one hundred feet from the burned 

 buildings, was saved by a fortunate wind which shifted the fire in the 

 opposite direction. The fire was discovered a little before five o'clock in 

 the morning, and owing to want of fire protection the loss, so far as 

 the buildings and contents were concerned, was pretty nearly a complete 

 one. However, the loss to the company is not serious, as it was fairly 

 well covered by Insurance. 



Expansion of 'Willey Interests 



An important expansion of the manufacturing interests of C. L. Willey. 

 the leading mahogany lumber and veneer producer of the country, at 

 his Chicago plant is in its initial stages. Mr. Willey has just closed 

 for the purchase of a frontage of 1.443 feet lying between Slip E and 

 Robey street, immediately south of his present big plant and land hold- 

 ings, for a consideration said to be about §200.000. The vendor of the 

 property was Mrs. Charles P. Taft of Cincinnati. 



This purchase gives Mr. Willey about twelve and a half acres of land 

 with railroad trackage on two sides extending from a point a short dis- 

 tance south of Blue Island avenue, on the south branch of the Chicago 

 river, clear to the Drainage canal. 



From a historical viewpoint this purchase has a special interest as 

 it is on this site that the landing of Marquette in 1673 took place, which 

 is recorded by a big mahogany cross erected by Mr. Willey a few years 

 ago, which was dedicated by the Illinois Historical Society. 



At the present time Mr. Willey is engaged in remodeling his sawmill 

 and veneer plant, and extending it with a view of increasing his output 

 materially. He has just purchased from the AUis-Chalmers Company a 

 Pacific coast type band sawmill, which will supplement his present band 

 mill, and will shortly install another and smaller one for the conversion 

 of core stock into crating material, making the whole equipment a three 

 band sawmill. He has also just placed in commission a Kraetzer Prepa- 

 rator for the steaming under pressure of mahogany and other high-class 

 cabinet woods to prepare them for prompt and accurate seasoning. 



Right now Mr. Willey has what is probably the largest and finest hold- 

 ings of mahogany and Circassian logs that were ever seen at one time 

 in the history of the trade ; and besides he has other large log purchases 



MODERN ENDDRYING SHED. STEARNS SALT & LUMBER COM- 

 PANY, LUDINGTON, MICH. 



END DRYING HIGH-GRADE STOCK. .-iU'jW l.\' , riLLiTECTluN .STRIPS 

 ON EDGES OF BOARDS, 



