HARDWOOD RECORD 



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Up to this time sassafras wood can scarcely 

 be regarded as a commercial quantity from 

 the fact that comparatively little of the 

 range of timber growth where sassafras has 



FRUIT AND FOLIAGE OF SASSAFRAS. 



reached the size of saw timber has been ex- 

 ploited and developed. Such of the wood as 

 appeared in a minor quantity in some sec- 

 tions of the country was not even felled 

 when the general area was cut, as there was 



first limb, and was not of exceptional size 

 for this section. As this range- of forest is 

 developed, the excellent qualities of sassafras 

 for many purposes will undoubtedly be rec- 

 ognized and exploited, for it is one of the 

 many splendid woods growing in eastern Ten- 

 nessee, western North Carolina and northern 

 South Carolina that has a future as a com- 

 mercial lumber commodity. 



Annie Oakes Huntington writes of this 

 tree as follows: 



' ' In certain old English books about trees, 

 a quaint story is related of the sassafras, 

 which is made to play an important part in 

 tue success of the voyage of Columbus. His 

 courage was nearly exhausted, we are told, 

 and his hope of accomplishing the purpose of 

 his voyage had almost reached its end, when 

 tlie perfume of sassafras flowers, borne by a 

 breeze from the land, convinced him that the 

 long sought land could not be far distant. 

 Stimulated by this assurance, he continued 

 upon his course, and when his crew mutinied, 

 the fragrance of the tree enabled him to per- 

 suade the men that they would soon reach 

 land. We are thus obliged to conclude that 

 if it had not been for the sassafras-tree, there 

 would have been small chance of the discovery 

 of America in 1492. * * * 



PRINT OF SASSAFRAS LEAVES, ONE-THIRD ACTUAL SIZE. 



very little market for it, and its qualities 

 and uses were unknown. 



Probably the largest area of sassafras 

 growth is in the lower Appalachian range. 

 The illustration of the splendid sassafras tree 

 shown in connection with this article was 

 made from a photograph taken on the prop- 

 erty of the Little River Lumber Company, 

 near Townsend, Blount county, Tenn., in that 

 portion of the lower Appalachian range show- 

 ing the highest type of forest. This tree was 

 fiftv inches in diameter and sixtv feet to the 



"The sassafras is the last survivor in our 

 country of a race of trees which once flour- 

 ished in the forests of both hemispheres. The 

 cinnamon and camphor of the tropics belong 

 to this family, but in our climate the sassa- 

 fras was the only one which could bear the 

 intense cold, and it is now found solely in 

 the temperate states of eastern North Ameri- 

 ca. Its picturesque form, exquisite green 

 leaves and delicate fragrance make it promi- 

 nent in the woods, and it richly deserves a 

 place m our parks and gardens. ' ' 



A Lumberman's Letters to His Son. 



Chicago, Oct. 22, 1905. 

 My Deae Son : I note what you say about 

 the difficulties you encounter on the road 

 in selling lumber, and am very much grati- 

 fied that you seem to be willing to accept a 

 few suggestions from your dad. I begin to 



have a little hope for you. Every young 

 man who starts out in the bush selling 

 lumber has about your experience. After 

 he has sold his first five cars he has learned 

 the entire trade and there is nothing doing 

 with him in the way of accepting advice. 



Down in the country from which you are 

 sending weather reports and expense ac- 

 counts there are few who were born yes- 

 terday. Every man of them has played the 

 game from soda to hock. On your first trip 

 you get the glad hand just as freely as the 

 fresh-landed sailorman does at a Bowery 

 dance hall. They are all looking for a 

 good thing. 



Attend to your business; take it slow; 

 and don't talk too much. You can make 

 friends of customers by listening to their 

 stories. Don't pretend to know it all. 



Under no circumstances be beguiled into 

 passing an opinion on lumber shipped by 

 some other concern, or into telling the 

 buyer how much better lumber you can ship 

 than other people from whom he has pre- 

 viously purchased. Tell him the truth, but 

 don't tell him too much of it. If he likes 

 National Hardwood inspection, why that 

 inspection is good enough for you. If he 

 is stuck on Hardwood Manufacturers' in- 

 spection, tell him that is your long suit. If 

 he tries to pin you down to New Tork 

 Lumber Trade rules, tell him the inspection 

 is all right, but you are not familiar with 

 the application, and therefore would prefer 

 that he accept one of the other two. If he 

 wants Boston Survey, duck! The real way 

 to sell lumber is on our own inspection and 

 our own measurement. Coax him into the 

 "sample car" order proposition wben you 

 can, but don 't sell any lumber unless the 

 rules of inspection and the method of their 

 application are clearly defined. It is not 

 safe nowadays. We are likely to get only 

 20 per cent of common into our firsts and 

 seconds, when he has been in the habit of 

 getting 40. It is not well to spoil a good 

 cu.stomer. 



You know that poets are born and not 

 made. If this applies to lumber salesmen 

 you are up against a hard proposition. 



Keep on plugging and do the best you 

 can. Your affectionate 



Father. 



P. S. — I have requested your mother not 

 to forward your dress suit. In my long 

 experience on the road I have always con- 

 tended that there are three things which 

 are unnecessary for a salesman to burden 

 himself with — a dinner coat, a whisky bot- 

 tle and a walking stick. You already have 

 the cane — let bad enough alone. 



Ontario Hardwood Market. 



The hardwood buying conditions in Ontario are 

 very promising. There has been an extraordinary 

 demand for hardwood throughout the manufac- 

 turing districts of the Dominion all the year, as 

 the chief cities have been building very exten- 

 sively. The demand for hardwood throughout 

 the country is increasing as time progresses. As 

 Canada is deficient in many hardwoods, notably 

 oak, which enters into high-class house finish 

 and furniture, and as it has scarcely commenced 

 to develop its own hardwood forests, it remains 

 one of the best if not the best market for Ameri- 

 can hardwoods that this country enjoys. The 

 call for maple and birch flooring is excellent, and 

 prices are firmer than earlier in the year, owing 

 in part to the higher values prevailing In the 

 United States. 



