8 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Shortage of Hardwood Stocks. 



The prophecy of the Hard'wood Record for months past, that hard- 

 wood stocks on January 1, 1906, would be the lowest in the history 

 of the trade since this industry became a great commercial pursuit, 

 has been fulfilled. Every foot of territory in which oak is produced 

 has been scoured and scoured again during the last few months by 

 buyers seeking stocks for present or even remote delivery. Buyers 

 who have gone out after millions of feet have been obliged to be 

 satisfied with a comparatively few carloads. There is very little oak 

 for sale in the country. 



Mill men in districts like llemphis, "who depend so largely on rail 

 receipts, have been unable to secure cars to transport their logs to 

 their mills. The extremely wet weather in the South during the past 

 summer, fall and early winter has precluded the possibility of working 

 in the woods, and the logs could not have been produced if trans- 

 portation facilities had been normal. The yellow fever scare was 

 another feature that militated against the lumber business for several 

 months. In oak the output was way below normal, with the demand 

 the greatest ever known in the history of the trade. Conditions pre- 

 vailing in the Memphis district were repeated throughout the entire 

 South. M'ork of all sorts that pertained to the production of lum- 

 ber has been impeded from one cause or another, and tlie output 

 has been low. 



The north country has suffered from car shortage, scarcity of 

 labor and other cau.ses to such an extent that it is doubtful if the 

 output there has been up to normal. Michigan and Wisconsin never 

 saw such low stocks generally as exist at the present time. Beyond 

 question every effort will be made, both in the North and South, to 

 make a large delivery of hardwood lumber for the year's trade, 

 but with the growing scarcity of hardwood stumpage it is doubtful 

 if the market is ever again materially overstocked with any item 

 of hardwoods. 



Development of Hickory Growth. 



Up to this date a substitute, cither excellent or passable, has 

 been found for every wood heretofore in general use, save hickory. 

 The wonderful physical qualities of this wood for many purposes 

 are not equaled by any other form of wood growth. The wagon 

 and carriage manufacturers are at their wit's end to keep up the 

 supply of hickory suitable for the carrying on of this great industry. 



It would seem that a well defined and practical test, looking 

 toward the possibilities of hickory reproduction in forest form, 

 should now be put into effect. Generally speaking, hickory growth 

 is an isolated one, and rarely appears in the forest as a pure 

 stand. There have been occasional exceptions to this. It is said 

 that hickor)' of scattering growth, among other kinds of hardwoods, 

 is of a higher quality and freer from worm and other defects than 

 that growing in a pure stand. It is also alleged on good authority 

 that hickory, contrary to the general belief, is not a remarkably 

 slow growing tree, but one of medium rapidity of growth. 



Such being the case, it should be possible, within a comparatively 

 few years, to produce a young growth of hickory on a commercial 

 basis that should perpetuate a good many industries now largely 

 dependent on this wood for their use. Without doubt, if a move- 

 ment to this end were instituted by prominent users of the wood, 

 the government, through the forest division of the Department of 

 Agriculture, might be induced to make the preliminary experiments 

 for the general good of the trade. It is also more than likely that 

 many lumbermen, having cut-over lands suitable for hickory repro- 

 duction at their command, would be glad to cede to the governmenf 

 areas of sufficient size to put this experiment into logical execution. 

 It is a proposition well worth considering. 



Integrity of the Hardwood Trade. 



There- Jr> 111) gainsay ii)g tin; lai:l. that there is a manifest increase 

 in the integrity prevailing in tho commercial transactions involved 

 in the hardwood industry. The general tide of purification of com- 

 mercial morals that swept over tho country last ycjir has at least 

 had a reflected effect on the hardwood industrj'. This sentiment, 

 if sentiment it be, toward the handling of the hardwood business 



on lines of strict integrity has been augmented in a marked degree 

 by the spirit of "to every man a square deal" that has prevailed 

 among the various hardwood associations of the country. 



In this great city of Chicago there was ,i time when a large 

 portion of the hardwood element thought that money making in 

 this line of trade was impossible when honest grades and fair tallies 

 were rendered. Today concerns whose former record was more or 

 less unsavory are very generally doing business on fair and equitable 

 liiii's. Complaints concerning salted grades and deficient tallies 

 .111' MOW ran-. This same condition exists in every other hardwood 

 trade center in the United States. The hardwood trade as a whole, 

 and not as heretofore in isolated cases, has learned that there is • 

 money in the business only when high-class and just commercial 

 practices are pursued. It is a hajipy consummation and the hard- 

 wood man can congratulate himself on the fact that there is now as 

 little graft and chicanery in his calling as there is in any commercial 

 inirsnit in America. 



Uses of Hardwoods. 



The ultimate uses of a very large percentage of hardwoods manu- 

 factured are essentially -^a different from those of the so-called 

 building woods as to be worthy of notice. Much of the latter class 

 of material enters into lu)use construction as an entire piece of tim- 

 ber or lumber as it leaves the sawmill, in the form of sills, girders, 

 posts, joists, studding, rafters, etc., while another iiortiiiii linds its 

 eventual use in the form of siding and shingles. 



Hardwoods, save a very small percentage utilized in the form in 

 which it comes from the mill, as posts, bridge, or car timbers, or for 

 some structural purpose, are a cut-up proposition. It is safe to say 

 that ninety-five per cent of all hardwoods manufactured find their 

 eventual use after having been cut to smaller sizes. For example, 

 there may be considered the items of hardwood flooring, interior 

 finish, doors, furniture, wagon and carriage Woodstock, railway and 

 street car material, agricultural implements and an infinity of other 

 purposes to which hardwoods are put. This makes the several grades 

 of hardwoods, from firsts and seconds down to No. 3 common, various 

 items of cutting material, and the better systems of hardwood grad- 

 ing as practiced in this country generally consider this fact in tlic 

 eventual disposal of the lumber. There is another feature of hard- 

 wood grading which is in counterdi.stiuction to the necessities of 

 grading any of the building woods. Outside of such portion of hard- 

 woods as is used in the manufacture of chairs and a few other items, 

 the greater quantity goes into final use showing only one surface of 

 the piece. This is essentially trne <if lumber used in the production 

 «f flooring, interior finish, furnitiiro and compound doors. There- 

 fore there is a considerable sense of justice in a one-side inspection 

 of hardwood lumber. This rule, however, would not justly prevail 

 in wagon stock, agricultural ituplciMcnt material, general car building 

 stock or chair dimension. 



The Wasteful West. 



Under the title of "The Wasteful West," one Hmersou Hough 

 ha.s palmed oft' on the Saturday Kvening Post a yellow journal 

 story attributing the total ravages of the forests of this country 

 to lumbermen, and further giving utterance to many reflections on 

 the dishonest methods pursued by the trade as a whole that are 

 not borne out by facts. Mr. Hough also indulges in statistics for 

 which there is no authority, and on the whole the article, to para- 

 phrase the words of a fannnis Knglish critic, contains much that is 

 both new and true, but unfortunately what is true is not new, 

 and that which is new is not true. 



The Furniture Sales. 



Tho furniture exposition sale season is just opening at Chicago 

 and (jrand Rapids. It is yet too early to announce the exact con- 

 dition that will prevail, but there are. prospects of very large sales 

 oven at the increased values that furniture manufacturers have been 

 obliged to place upon their products. It is more than likely that 

 tho total of .January sales will oulstrip in vohinn' any previous 

 period in Iho history of the trade. 



