10 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



stock fonvard his address to Henry H. Gibson, editor of the Hard- 

 wood Kecokd, 355 Dearborn St., Chicago, that the! list of names may 

 be collated and classified. Information pertaining to the futvire work 

 of the association will be furnished to all interested. The cooperation 

 of all manufacturers of these classes of material in the work being 

 undertaken by the association is earnestly solicited. In forwarding 

 these communications manufacturers are requested not only to sup- 

 ply their own names and addresses, but those of other manufacturers 

 of dimension material with whom they are acquainted. It is the 

 <lesire of President Davis that a complete list of manufacturers of 

 dimension stock be collated, that every one in the trade may receive 

 the benefit of the work of the association, and that every one shall 

 have an opportunity to participate and eociperate in the undertaking. 

 It is further requested that in forwarding these addresses, con- 

 cerns outline specifically the kinds of wood they cut into dimension 

 stock, and the variety of material which they manufacture. If manu- 

 facturers of dimension stock will interest themselves in this movement 

 and will take pains to communicate this information they will not 

 only be doing themselves a manifest service^ but will contribute much 

 to the general good of the hardwood dimension business. 



High Lumber Prices vs. Profits. 



•Singular as it may seem, a range of high lumber values by no 

 means presages that manufacturers are making unusual or even ordi- 

 nary profits out of the manufacture of lumber. It must be recalled 

 that within the last eighteen months hardwood stumpage values have 

 advanced by leaps and bounds, and that even $30 an acre for timber 

 that will not show a stand of over 8,000 feet is not unusual. In the 

 high-class oak country of Indiana and some parts of Ohio, values 

 on small lots are running from $15 to well toward $30 a thousand log 

 scale. Hardwood timber of scattering growth in the South, that even 

 two or three years ago could be bought for $1.50 to $3 an acre has 

 risen from $4.50 to even more than $10. Wisconsin mixed hardwood 

 and hemlock lands, which a few years ago could be bought for from 

 $5 to $6 an acre, are now being held at from $12 to $18. 



Again, it must be borne in mind that labor, rails, sawmill and 

 planing mill machinery, food supplies, and every item that figures 

 in the cost of producing lumber, have advanced more than ten per 

 cent in the last eighteen months. The last advance on material of the 

 sort noted is that of leather belting, which has had a boost, which 

 promises to be permanent, of ten per cent. 



It is therefore safe to say that, notwithstanding the comparatively 

 high range of values that has been received for lumber during 1905, 

 the average manufacturer has not made as much money per thousand 

 feet of output by a good deal as he has in former years. The propo- 

 sition is getting closer and closer year by year, and it behooves every 

 manufacturer to study both forest and manufacturing economies if 

 he would make any considerable sum of money out of the hardwood 

 manufacturing business. 



The hardwood jobber is also finding his profits whittled closer and 

 closer year by year, and it is becoming a serious problem with him 

 how to buy lumber and pay the cost of handling and selling, and 

 make a reasonable profit for his investment and time. While con- 

 sumers are constantly growling about the increase in lumber prices, 

 they still have decidedly the best end of the proposition. They are 

 buying lumber at a relative price, as compared with other materials, 

 that in view of its value is decidedly and illotji'illv cheap. 



Red Gum as a Substitute for Hickory. 



The present active inquiry for hickory stock for vehicle and kin- 

 dred work serves to again forcefully remind the trade that the supply 

 of good hickory is decidedly limited as compared with the require- 

 ments. The question arises, what is to be done a few years hence, 

 %vhen hickory has become still scarcer and trade demands have been 

 further extended f 



At the St. Louis Fair last year the government forestrj- department 

 made quite a feature of displaying red gum as a possible substitute 

 for hickory in vehicle Woodstock work. Numerous samples were 

 shown of bent shafts and other carriage work, made of red gum, 

 and a number of comparative tests of strength were given which were 



indicative that the chances are favorable for red gum to be used as 

 a substitute for hickory, at least in the manufacture of the cheaper 

 grades of vehicles. Just how far this idea has been developed or 

 made use of by the trade is more a matter of conjecture than actual 

 knowledge at this writing. It is undeniably true that the government 

 display awakened considerable interest in the use of red gum for the 

 purposes outlined, and the Kecoud would be glad to be informed of 

 the result of further experiments along this line. 



One thing is certain, that some material other than hickory will 

 needs have to be substituted to a large extent in certain lines of 

 work, and whether this other material is to be largely metal or 

 largely wood depends considerably on whether red gum proves to be 

 a valuable substitute. 



On account of the relatively large quantity of gum as compared 

 to other hardwoods growing in the United States, it seems that a 

 thorough experimentation with it as a substitute for hickory, rock 

 elm, ash and quite a number of other woods of limited supply should 

 be well worth the effort of every vehicle manufacturer, and the sub- 

 ject should be of paramount interest to gum stumpage owners. 



Wtiat Is Worrying tlie Refrigerator Manufacturers. 



Black ash has been the standard material for a good many years 

 for the making of refrigerators. It is a wood that seems to stand 

 up under the alternate dryness and dampness to which the case- 

 work of the refrigerator is subjected better than any other wood of 

 equal cost. Therefore, it is with alarm that refrigerator manufac- 

 turers find that black ash is so nearly exhausted from the northern 

 forests as to render it extremely scarce and the price has reached 

 an altitude that makes its use for this purpose almost proliibitive. 



Eefrigerators are a line of goods that have been produced for 

 the past few years, owing to overproduction, at a price that was ex- 

 tremely close. In addition to the high price and scarcity of ash, 

 refrigerator people find that they are obliged to figure against a 

 considerably higher wage scale than formerly, also the price of zinc, 

 porcelain and trimmings has advanced materially, and they therefore 

 face a necessity of either very greatly increasing their price or sus- 

 taining a loss. 



It is more than likely that some other wood will very promptly be 

 substituted for black ash in refrigerator making. The success which 

 producers of kitchen cabinets have met in the utilization of red gum 

 will probably lead quite a number of refrigerator manufacturers to 

 attempt to utilize this material. A kitchen cabinet is subjected to 

 extreme heat from the cooking range, extreme moisture from the 

 steam in the kitchen or usually adjacent laundry, and if gum will 

 itand up for furniture such as first-class kitchen cabinets, it certainly 

 can be utilized in the manufacture of refrigerators. When finished in 

 natural color it certainly will have all the beauty that is possessed 

 by black ash. However, it is doubtful if refrigerators will ever be 

 put on the market at as low a price as they have been in the past. 



Status of the Machinery Business. 



Good times always reflect to the advantage of manufacturers of 

 sawmill and woodworking machinery. When the lumber business is 

 dull, when prices are low, manufacturers neither build new mills nor 

 install new machinery in their old plants, but get along somehow 

 or anyhow with the old tools. However, just so soon .as demand 

 strengthens and prices rise does the progressive spirit of the lumber- 

 man insist that he shall have a new machinery cqui])nient of the very 

 latest type, figuring that the economy in cost of production will 

 more than make up for the initial cost. 



Today every manufacturer of sawmill and woodworking ma- 

 chinery in the country is busy. Producers of power plants ordinarily 

 are months oehind their orders and in many cases orders placed last 

 spring for sawmill equipment are not yet executed. The builders 

 of planing mill, door factory, flooring and veneer machinery are 

 also behind in their orders and a good many will have to be carried 

 over until the first of the year as the facilities of the plants are not 

 equal to the demand. At least a half dozen of the larger sawmill 

 and woodworking machinery plants are now building large and sub- 

 stantial additions to their factories and soon hope to be in shape 

 to meet the full d(^niaiid3 made upon them. 



