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HARDWOOD RECORD 



June 10. 1919 



help, and the management of the laboratory has won the confidence 

 of the men in charge of the lumber business. 



If it has to change hands, it is sincerely to be hoped that its in- 

 vestigations in the future will follow lines similar to those of the 

 past. The average lumberman looks upon scientific forestry with a 

 good deal of respect, yet at the same time, he cannot help viewing 

 with rather cool enthusiasm the algebraic equations which show 

 what the forests will be worth a hundred years from now; but he 

 sees an immediate value in tests on veneers, stave ware, boxes, 

 glue in panels, dry kiln processes, the preservative treatment of 

 wood, and the many other practical problems on which the labora- 

 tory has recently been at work. It is said to be risky to swap horses 

 in the middle of the river. 



Suppose a Case 



CERTAIN MANUFACTURERS of forest products stated at a 

 recent meeting that their plants were idle and would remain 

 closed until the price of their product advanced to a level at which 

 it could be sold with profit. They had been figuring that current 

 prices of the stock they had been making were just about enough 

 to cover actual cost of manufacturing; and, since they were not in 

 business for their health, they had closed their plants to wait for 

 business to pick up. 



Now, suppose a case. Suppose that all manufacturers who find 



bound to come sooner or later. Business has seldom been hurt by 

 too much production. There is generally need for most everything 

 that can be produced, and the problem is solved by getting it into 

 the hands of those who need it, and not by stopping production. 

 At any rate, it seems safe to act on the advice which the Rebel 

 officer gave his men during a forced march down the Valley of 

 Virginia: "Keep up if you can, but if j'ou can't keep up, keep 

 coming. ' ' 



Lumber from Government Land 



ONLY THREE PER CENT of the country's lumber supply is 

 cut on government land. The remainder comes from land in 

 private ownership. The cutting of government timber is not carried 

 on so extensively, acre for acre, as on private land, for two rea- 

 sons: First, there is so much red tape to be unwound before gov- 

 ernment timber can be cut; so many rules and regulations must be 

 observed, that operators hesitate to enter into contract to cut 

 government timber. The second reason is that the best and most 

 accessible timber is in private hands, and operators prefer it. 

 That is a general rule, but it has its exceptions. 



The government insists that those who cut its timber must 

 strictly observe regulations with regard to low stumps. The trunk 

 must be utilized as far up as it will make anything saleable; 

 small timber must be left and protected; the ground must be 



National Hardwrood Annual Convention Will Be Worth While 



It is a human trait to desire to participate in epoch-making events. Therefore, the bare fact that 

 the coming annual convention of the National Hardwood Lumber Association to be held at Chicago on 

 June 19 and 20 is certain of being the biggest gathering of lumbermen in the history of the industry 

 should in itself be sufficient to bring many men here who desire to participate in such an occasion. 



The reward for attendance will be substantial. The program this year is bright and full of a well 

 assorted and highly pleasing variety of events. Anyone who has heard Harry A. Wheeler of Chicago 

 or Ex-President Taft speak need not go further on the program than this to find sufficient justification 

 for attending. Never before was there the opportunity of meeting so many lumbermen assembled at 

 one point, it is not likely that ever again ■will the opportunity of congenial contact be existent as at 

 this convention. The meeting will be epoch-making in many respects and what one gets out of attend- 

 ance will be fully commensurate with any inconvenience that might result. 



the margin very narrow between cost and selling prices, would 

 rake the fires from under the boilers, let the hired hands go, and 

 then sit down to wait for business to get better? "Would business 

 be apt to get better? Would idle machinery in the mills, and idle 

 men sitting around the place or walking up and down the roads 

 hunting for jobs, help business much? Would public confidence be 

 strengthened by the Sabbath stillness prevailing about the former 

 busy plants or by the tales of discouragement told by men who 

 had lost their jobs? 



There is no denial that the situation would be bad, and that it 

 would become worse with every day of idleness and with every 

 wheel that stopped turning. The professional tramp's business is 

 the only business that improves as work decreases. Even Micawber, 

 who was always waiting for something to turn up, kept pegging 

 away at something or other while waiting for the main chance. He 

 never announced that he proposed to close down until business 

 picked up. 



It must be admitted, however, that the nut is not an easy one 

 to crack. It is not an easy matter to keep wheels turning when 

 the margin between income and outgo is so small that it takes a 

 microscope to see it; and a wiser man than Solomon might miss 

 his guess as to the best thing to be done. Yet, it is a self-evident 

 truth that business in general is never helped much by the man 

 who sits down to wait for opportunity. As a general proposition, it 

 is better to keep going. By so doing, the man may help himself, 

 but whether he helps himself or not, his example will help others 

 by encouraging them to keep going. 



With everybody at a standstill, improvement is impossible; but 

 with everybody trying and persevering, a change for the better is 



cleared, in a measure of limbs and tops to lessen the fire hazard; 

 and numerous other rules are enforced. These regulations are 

 based on the rules of practical forestry, largely European forestry. 

 They are intended to conserve the forests, and they do it; but the 

 average American lumberman, who has always followed the prac- 

 tice of taking all the timber he wants and leaving the devil to 

 take the rest, does not like so many restrictions. Consequently, 

 he prefers to lumber private forests where he can do as he pleases 

 and "no man dare molest him or make him afraid." 



These considerations exjilain why thirty trees are cut on private 

 land to one on government land. There is no question that private 

 forest land is being stripped of timber much faster than the land 

 belonging to the government; but there is hope that a change for 

 the better is taking place, and that private timber owners are 

 conserving more and destroying less than formerly. They will 

 improve their practices still more as soon as they can see that it 

 will be profitable to do so. 



The suggestion that the government undertake the regulation of 

 lumbering on private land is not apt to meet a friendly reception, 

 either from lumbermen or from the general public. Government 

 regulation of railroads and telegraph lines has not created a very 

 good impression, and the public would rather not have any more 

 regulation of that kind. It has been no improvement upon the 

 worst sort of private waste; while, as to efficiency of management, 

 it has fallen far short of the management which a private busi- 

 ness man gives to his own business. The war furnished the excuse 

 for government regulation of business, but the sincere wish of the 

 people is that such regulation, and all other like it, end when the 

 war ends. 



