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HARDWOOD RECORD 



five ply veneered panels. In some sections, notably in the East, this 

 rhange in consumptive demand has nearly killed the quarter-sawed 

 oak business. One large furniture manufacturer advises that he has 

 not used quartered oak lumber for the last two years, as he employs 

 veneered stock for all his panels, economizing by so doing, 

 and that he seriously contemplates making a substitute for plain- 

 sawed oak. From the fact that furniture men can get large pieces 

 of stock in better shape with an invariably fine figure and without 

 waste they are gradually drifting into veneered work in place of 

 solid wood. The same observation is true in the door making busi- 

 ness and in the panel work of interior finish in modern structures. 

 It is certain that the lumber manufacturer must needs reckon with 

 the veneer and panel man in the future of his trade. 



The Forthcoming Dimension Meeting. 



Apparently there has never been a prciposed meeting in the inter- 

 ests of any branch of the hardwood industry that attracted as much 

 attention as the forthcoming conference of the Hardwood Dimen- 

 sion Association and all others interested in the production of this 

 line of material, to be held at Cincinnati, Wednesday and Thursday, 

 Feb. 21 and 22. The sessions will be held in the club room of the 

 Grand Hotel and the first call to order %vill be at 10 a. m. Wednes- 

 day. It is desirable that everyone interested be prompt in attend- 

 ance. The work mapped out for performance at this meeting means 

 very substantial benefit to the hardwood dimension trade in all lines, 

 and it is hoped that every party in interest will not fail to be present 

 and participate in the deliberations. 



Alleged Lumber Trust. 



During the past two weeks a joint lonimittee of the legislative 

 bodies of the state of Mississippi has been holding sessions behind 

 closed doors, carrying on an investigation of the alleged lumber 

 trust of that state. Xo intimation has yet been given by the mem- 

 bers of the committee as to the character of the testimony given or 

 the nature of the proceedings, but it has leaked out that even the 

 investigators have discovered that they are attempting to investigate 

 something that is non-existent. An efi^ort has been made to demon- 

 strate that the various lumber associations constitute a trust, but 

 the attention of the committee has been called to the fact that there 

 are 960 saw and planing mills in Mississippi, of which 808 turn out 

 yellow pine and 152 confine themselves exclusively to the manufac- 

 ture of hardwoods. Of this number only thirty-seven have a member- 

 ship in the Southern Lumber Manufacturers' Association, and but 

 six are members of the Hardwood Manufacturers' Association of the 

 United States. As these two are the only lumber associations having 

 Mississippi members that even promulgate a price list, which lists 

 are not obligatory on the members, the ridiculousness of the investiga- 

 tion becomes apparent. It goes without saying that wlien the legis- 

 lature of Missi.ssippi gets through its "lumber trust" investigation 

 it will find that the prices asked and receivc-d for lumber in that state 

 depend entirely on the law of supply and demand and that they are in 

 no wise affected by trust or graft influences. 



To the Small Sawmill Nan and Others. 



A recent Iftti-r of a[i[)ri-ciati()ii fnnii :i .small sawmill man contains 

 many words of compliment for the Hardwood Eecokd, but depre- 

 cates the fact that the paper contains too little literature devoted 

 especially to the interests of this class of the publication 's clientage. 

 The editor is glad to receive communications like the one in question, 

 and would state that if the small hardwood mill man in question or 

 any of his fellows in the trade will suggest any topic pertaining to 

 his business he would like to have thoroughly elucidated, the requests 

 will be given attention and all the space necessary for a thorough 

 discussion of the problems coming before them in the regular conduct 

 of their business will be cheerfully given. 



In the interest of the above class of subscribers to the Hardwood 

 Record the editor has engaged the services of a competent authority 

 on every detail of lumber production through the medium of the 

 small sawmill, and these queries will be referred to this expert for a 

 comprehensive reply, which service will be rendered direct or through 

 the mail bag department of the Rkcord. 



In this connection the editor will be pleased to receive queries on 

 any and every detail of the hardwood trade or allied industries and 

 will promise to supply the best information on the various subjects 

 from reliable and authoritative sources. The editor wants every sub- 

 scriber to consider that he has a proprietary interest in this publi- 

 cation, and whenever he can be of service to him in his business he 

 wants to do so. These queries will be handled not from the basis of 

 what the editor of the Record presumes to know about the hardwood 

 lumber business, but will be covered by the best authorities on each 

 subject with whom he is in touch. 



The Hardwood Record wants to be useful to you, and it will be 

 your fault if you don't make it so. 



Lightness Combined with Strength. 



The wonderful success and ]iopularity of American farm imple- 

 ments abroad is attributable to the fact that manufacturers have 

 solved the problem of producing machinery which shall combine 

 minimum weight with maximum strength and durability. 



Several important factors have entered into the achievement of 

 this success. The great demand for farm implements in this 

 country has given makers of such tools a broad field for experi- 

 ment. They believe thoroughly in employing only the very best 

 material obtainable, and are not satisfied with so-called "substi- 

 tutes," but insist upon using only what experience has taught 

 them to be most satisfactory. Rare judgment is exercised in select- 

 ing wood which wears like iron from the great variety of hardwoods 

 available in America. Only the finest quality of steel enters into the 

 construction of the machinery. Manufacturers have learned the 

 application of scientific principles, which enable them to place 

 strength where it is most required, and not to burden the entire 

 implement with unnecessary weight and clumsy parts. 



The contrast between tools of American make and those produced 

 in other countries before the success of our machines forced foreign 

 manufacturers to adopt modern standards is indeed amazing. For 

 years popular prejudice favored strength as represented in weight, 

 thickness of parts and size. Today ' ' Yankee ingenuity ' ' has 

 turned the tide completel}', and foreign buyers freely admit that 

 machines made in this country are much easier to handle, more 

 durable, cheaper to ship, and can be run at higher speed, therefore 

 having increased capacity. 



Ever since American exporters began to place their goods upon 

 the markets of Europe, South Africa and Australia, the hue and 

 cry against their apparent flimsy construction has been raised by 

 obstinate believers in time-honored methods, no matter how crude 

 or unsatisfactory. The mower received but a cool reception abroad 

 when it was seen that its entire weight was little more than half 

 that of those then in use. Although the farmers saw its advan- 

 tages demonstrated, they were skeptical and slow about paying out 

 money for ' ' new-fangled ' ' apparatus. However, when it had been 

 proved that two horses could cover almost twice the ground with 

 it that they could with old-style machines, and with less effort, 

 they began gradually to take it up. In countries where draught 

 animals were scare, South Africa for instance, this point had 

 greatest weight in inducing its adoption. Once it was discovered, 

 after three or four years' hard usage, that the American mower 

 was more durable than any other, in addition to being a great 

 labor-saver, the demand for it increased to enormous proportions. 



With the success of the mowing machine, the reaper, thresher, 

 harrow, rake and plow took immediate strides forward in public 

 estimation. Although for a long time agents and dealers stood out 

 persistently in favor of home machines, the farmers, once won 

 over, would not be denied. 



Value of Association Work. 



The value of lundjcr association work li:is been so thoroughly dem- 

 onstrated during the past few years that the forthcoming mcctingB 

 of the veneer and panel nianufa<'turers, the dimension stock makers, 

 the wholesalers and the National Hardwood Lundu'r jVssociation 

 should all have a larger attendance than was ever Ijcforo known in 

 association history. 



