lO 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



venture quite so extensively into the sawing of thiek stock (luring 

 the coming winter and spring :is they did a year ago. The excelk-nt 

 present and prospective demand for inch maple should induce cutting 

 a larger proportion of logs into that thickness. 



The minor high class furniture woods, black walnut and cherry, 

 have been produced during the year in about normal quantity, per- 

 haps approximating y5,(i00,00U feet of each. The foreign ilcniimd is 

 absorbing the greater portion of walnut, and the local trade is fully 

 taking care of the cherry output. Prices on both woods are from 

 fair to good. 



The volume of mahogany trade seems to be showing a sliglit in- 

 crease, the high price of oak inducing the use of this wood in its 

 place. This is true in the finishing of high class office buildings as 

 well as in furniture and ear construction. 



The veneer people are having all the orders that they can under- 

 take to fill and such as are equipped to produce made-up stock in 

 panels, table tops, door material, carriage and cutter l)odies, etc., 

 are extremely busy. 



The hardwood flooring manufacturers in both maple and oak 

 have enjoyed the best year in their history, as the public has goner- 

 ally become very well educated to the value and utility of hardwood 

 floors, and there is every prosi)e(t that the immense demand of 1905 

 will be increased rather than diminished during the year to come. 



While it has been a great year in hardwoods, the cost of stump- 

 age and production has increased to such an extent that it is doubt- 

 ful if manufacturers have made any more money than usual. That 

 same doubt prevails in connection with the jobbing trade, as the cost 

 of securing .stock this year has been much higher than ever before in 

 the history of the industry. The jobber that has made any extraor- 

 dinary amount of money during 1905, must needs have exercised a 

 good deal of forethought and judgment in securing his stocks early, 

 or has had a ileal of aood fortune. 



Ideal Hardwood Lumber Operations. 



When, through the cH'orts of the Hardwood Dimension Associa- 

 tion, it is possible to secure a satisfactory and just price for hard- 

 woods cut up iiUo large and snuill dimension stock, it will transpire 

 that model, economical and satisfactory hardwood lumlior openitinns 

 can be maintained with a handsome profit. 



The ideal hardwood operation is one in which all the firsts and 

 seconds possible are secured in the foi-m of lumber, and the common 

 and cull utilized in either large or small dimension stock. This 

 dimension stock may comprise everything from the large timbers 

 employed in dock buililing and heavy structural work, railroad ties, 

 ■•ar material, etc, to tlie liigher grade of smaller material used in the 

 manufacture of agricultural implement stock, wagon stock, fur- 

 niture and chair dimension, etc. Thus it will be possible to leave at 

 the sawmill the lumber refuse and not pay the ordinarily high freight 

 that is necessary to get the coarse material to market, the freight 

 on which in many cases is in excess of the total value of the good 

 material contained in it. 



To acfomplish tliis desideratum MKiny liardwoorl manufacturers 

 must needs Icaru a new trade, and that trade is the manufacture of 

 dimension stock to suit the requirements of the ultimate users and 

 the seasoning of this stock in a satisfactory manner. 



Some American hardwoods can be satisfactorily converted into 

 dimension material when green. Others muft be seasoned in the live- 

 edged plank before being reduced to dimension sizes. Some woods 

 will dry square and straight when cut grtM-n into small difiiension. 

 Others will twist and should only be converted into such material 

 when dry. Ordinarily, Indiana oak, black walnut and woods of 

 kindred physics can be cut green from the log into dimension mate- 

 rial and dried out, showing but a very small proportion of culls. 

 On the contrary a good many types of southern oak, the various 

 gums, northern maple and woods of similar physics must be reduced 

 to dimension stock after the lumber is pretty thoroughly seasoned to 

 achieve the best results. All this is the subject of experiment and 

 judgment on the part of manufacturers, but it is certain that the 

 majority of dimension stock makers still have much to bairn about 

 the production of this material. With the growing shortage and 

 increased value of hardwood stumpagc it behooves every manufac- 



turer to make a close stu<ly of the dimension stock problem. There 

 are a few manufacturers of this material today who are making 

 money out of it, but the majority have made crude exi)eriments with 

 the business and have not only lost money but have given up the 

 proposition in disgust, as one not susceptible to good commercial 

 results. The average manufacturer of wagons, agricultural imple- 

 ments, furniture, chairs, etc., would undoubtedly be willing to pay 

 a price approximating the value of firsts and seconds if he could 

 secure absolutely clear, perfectly manufactured and well seasoned 

 dimi'iision stock; and there is no reason why clear dimension mate- 

 rial, cut to accurate size and properly seasoned, is not worth more to 

 the manufacturer of a wagon, a piece of furniture or a chair than a 

 corresponding quantity of firsts and seconds lumber. As it looks to 

 the Hardwood Record it is "up to" the manufacturer of dimension 

 material to raise the standard of quality of the product, and thus 

 easily achieve first-class commercial results from its production. 



Interest of Railroads in Wood Preservation. 



Uwing to the scarcity and higli price of oak and certain other 

 hardwoods railroad managers are casting about for some adequate 

 method of preserving indefinitely timber gsed in the building of 

 bridges and for ties. I'rom the very nature of things, wood deprived 

 of its sap and expo.sed to hard usage and varying temperature, will 

 decay. Fungi commence their destructive work upon timber as soon 

 as it is felled, only remaining dormant when it is perfectly dry or 

 when it is kept in water or frozen. Changes of weather or alternate 

 wet and dry accelerate their development. Xeverthelcss modern 

 ingenuity has discovered methods whereby Nature's plans may be 

 circumvented for a time at least, although sterilizing timber and 

 impregnating it with preservatives in a manner to insure its lasting 

 for an indefinite period is an exceedingly expensive proposition. It 

 has been tried by railroads in the past, but owing to the fact that 

 changes occur frequently which demand the removal, overhauling or 

 transfer of bridges or tracks for reasons that do not pertain to the 

 structures themselves', it is doubtful if this preservation work has 

 proved a good investment. 



J. P. Snow, bridge engineer of the Boston & Maine Railroad, at a 

 recent meeting of the Association of Railway Superintendents of 

 Bridges and Buildings, gave it as his opinion that careful judgment 

 in the selection of timber, and protection as far as possible of that 

 most exposed, is calculated to produce better results than the u?e of 

 costly artificial methods for its preservation. In an ordinary ship- 

 ment of ties, for instance, some are not as good as others, but far 

 too good to reject. These, with all the sappy and open-grained ones, 

 should he separated from the best and need on short bridges; or it 

 the entire shipment be intended for a single bridge, the poorer ties 

 should be bunched in one section, so that a part at least will not 

 soon require rebuilding. 



That timbers in a vertical position are much more durable than 

 those placed horizontally is a matter of universal knowledge. For 

 this reason the posts of trestles endure longer than the caps. How- 

 ever, by covering the caps with zinc, they may bo made to even 

 outlast the posts. To prevent the checking of horizontal timbers the 

 Boston & Maine has successfully used a solution of paraffin, after 

 which the pl.unking is sanded or ballasted. This treatment has been 

 known to preserve some of their bridges for twenty years of hard 

 usage. Salts of various kinds are not desirable as preservatives, 

 since they are dissolved and was-hed out by rains. Creosotes eat the 

 ironwork and Haste rapidly. .\s the result of long experimenting 

 railroads hope to soon discover an inexpensive emulsion that will 

 spread readily, be thoroughly absorbed, and which will not dilute nor 

 dry u|i. Until they do desirable wood preservation nu>thods must 

 remain a serious problem. 



Mexican Forests. 



It is said lliat .M<'.\ir:in lurcst.'t fijual in area those of tlic United 

 States. They contain large quantities of high-class woods, as mahog- 

 atiy, I'cdar and rosewood, which are not native to this country. These 

 rich timber lands are almost untoucheil, owing to the fact that homes 

 .•md inilu-stries were first established in regions suitable for agricul- 

 ture, and railroads and bridges constructed throngliout the same sec- 

 tions. At j)reseiit, however, more than l.Odii ujiles of railway are 

 being built, a large part (.f which will go through tliese dense forests, 

 as well as traverse the farming and mini'ral lands. 



