12 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



vcntion in this issue of the Hakbwood Kecokd. It was a most prac- 

 tical aud logical document from the lumbermen's standpoint on this 

 great an interesting subject and reflected much credit on its author. 



Following Mr. Craig's report was an address by Hon. Ciifford 

 Pinchot, chief of the Forest Service of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, that was remarkable in showing the wonderful change in front 

 that has boon made by the theoretical foresters of the United States. 



As Mr. Pinchot is practically the head of the forestry niovoment 

 in this country it can be assumed that he voices the opinion of the 

 greater number engaged in this work. Mr. Pinchot has come to tlie 

 opinion that tree planting and tree growth under present conditions 

 of legislation are not a profitable or safe venture for the individual. 

 But such work should be undertaken by the state or general govern- 

 ment. He believes that the work of the practical forester, and espe- 

 cially of the Forest Service, is to .i.ssist timber owners and lumber- 

 men in plans to conserve their forests, and to show them by the result 

 of practical experiments hoy to effect forest and sawmill economies. 

 He believes in the perpetuation of the forest by using less of it in 

 delivering the same quantities of manufactured lumber or minor 

 forest products. He believes that proper state and national legisla- 

 tion should be enacted so that denuded forest areas may be regrown 

 with valuable timber by means of the encouragement offered by nom- 

 inal taxation for a h)ng period of years, and by enactments insuring 

 protection from fire and other depredation. 



This is a great step forward in the forestry movement, and under 

 the intelligent and efficient management of ilr. Pinchot the work 

 of his department of the government is commanding the respect of 

 the entire lumber trade of the country, and very soon it will have the 

 cooperation of every intelligent man connected with tlic luiiibor in- 

 dustry. 



Are Hardwood Values too High? 



During periods of comintTcial piu.sperity all cuninioditius du uot 

 ^1^ar6 alike in price advancement. This fact is notably true concern- 

 ing lumber, and has been especialiy noticeable during the exception- 

 ally prosperous times of the la.st few years. In the matter of getting 

 a line on lumber values little that is corollary to other commodities 

 is seen. For years steel and iron in their various forms of pro- 

 duction have been standardized. This is likewise true of other im- 

 portant manufactured products. A base price being established, each 

 item of greater or less value in the scale is advanced or declined, 

 according to its relative value. Thus when a base price is determined 

 the value of all other items is equally well known. 



During the years since the lumber business has become a great com- 

 mercial pursuit substitutions of one wood for another for given pur- 

 poses has been constant. With diminishing supplies of white ])ine, 

 norway, spruce and hemlock became substitutes to a marked degree. 

 With the diminishing quantities of these latter named woods came 

 the introduction of the yellow pines, and latterly the conifers of the 

 Pacific coast have commenced to play an important part in the gen- 

 eral buihling consumption of the country. Ordinarily the chief argu- 

 ment and incentive for the substitution of one wood for another has 

 been the lesser price at which the new material was offered. The 

 same process of substitution has also gone forward in the hardwood 

 trade. Oak has been substituted to a marked degree by black and 

 white ash, chestnut and latterly by red gum. For the uses where 

 pojjlar or whitewood was formerly exclusively employed we now see 

 vast quantities of Cottonwood, basswood, red gum, tupelo and black 

 gum going into consumption. This is true to a more or less marked 

 degree of nearly or quite all of our hardwoods. 



With the changing conditions noted in uses and cons>inii)tive 

 demand tho trade has apparently entirely lost sight of a basic value 

 by means of which the worth of wooils could be accurately gauged, 

 and aa a result many lumber commodities in both soft and hard 

 woofLi have grown in price out of the relative proportion to which 

 their intrinsic merits entitle them. Singular as it may seem, the 

 paper-making trade hiis had a deal to do with the price of lumber. 

 For many years past in the New England country spruce "frames" 

 have been the standard material for house building. Pulp making 

 has become one of the important industries of the country, and the 

 base for the larger proportion of paper-producing material is the 



spruce forest. To-day it is a fight to a finish between the spruce 

 lumberman and the spruce pulp-maker as to who shall have the 

 remaining spruce forests of tho land. The paper-maker esteems 

 spruce as preeminently the best material for his purpose, and he 

 insists that satisfactory lumber for any purpose can be produced from 

 woods other than spruce. It therefore happens that the value that 

 the pulp-maker places upon spruce timber to-day fairly controls the 

 price of spruce lumber. The values probably are high, but to a great 

 extent they establish not only the price of spruce but of all other 

 common lumber going into general building construction in the East. 



In New York City the current price at which spruce dimension is 

 sold runs from $22.50 for 2x4 to $27 for 9, 3 and 12-inch sizes, 20 

 feet aud under in length, and upwards according to size and length. 

 At the same time the base price for hemlock dimension in that 

 market is $22. In New York the yard men pay $24 a thousand for 

 2x4-16 and $26..50 for 2x4-18 and 20 feet. The price on 1x12 mer- 

 chantable hemlock in that market is $26. 



According to the values of other standard comniodilios porli;ii)S 

 these prices are not too high, but one must bear in mind the rela- 

 tivity of values, and if these values are justified by conditions should 

 any fault be found with a price of from $50 to $52 a thousand for 

 inch plain-sawed first and second white oak? Taking the entire 

 range of hardwood values as compared with the prices of standard 

 building woods it will strike the unprejudiced that hardwood manu- 

 facturers have not achieved within twenty-five to forty percent of a 

 just value for their commodities. There is no one who will logically 

 analyze the subject of corresponding values who for a moment can 

 justly say that hardwood values are too high. 



In this brief article no reference has been made to relative stump- 

 age values, the much higher cost of manufacturing hardwoods, the 

 lesser percentages of good and merchantable lumber, or to any other 

 features that should, if anything, determine higher relative values 

 for hardwoods than for soft woods. From every viewpoint all 

 hardwood values are remarkably low as compared with those of the 

 building woods. 



Improved Conditions in the Dimension Business. 



Advici'S frdiii iimru than a score of h.-inhvood iliiiicnsiun niunufac- 

 turers throughout the country are substantially to the effect that 

 when they entered upon an analysis of methods of i)roduetion ajid 

 values of this material, at the instance of the editor of this publica- 

 tion, they had many misgivings as to the successful outconu- of an 

 attempt to standardize sizes and prices. Even in the fact of in- 

 vidious comments by many consumers of this class of stock, that the 

 prices promulgated were ridiculously high, they have succeeded in 

 maintaining a large volume of business than ever before at the full 

 list determined upon. 



Another feature of this movement which is more singular is the 

 fact that since this movement was inaugurated there apparently is 

 more inquiry and demand for hardwood dimension material than ever 

 before in tho history of tho trade. Heretofore mamifacturors of 

 various commodities who could have used dimension to advantage have 

 hesitated to place orders for it, since thoy feared that thoy could not 

 depend upon sources of supply where the price was made so low that 

 they knew producers could not execute their orders for any length 

 of time and be insured a permanent source of supply. Tlu're have 

 been received at the office of the Uakdwood Kkcoud during the jiast 

 two weeks more inquiries from prcuninont manuf.-icturcrs for the 

 names of makiu's of various classes of dimension material than in 

 any previous six months of its existence. These inquiries demonstrate 

 beyond peradventure that the furniture, wagon and other trades which 

 (tould emidoy larger quantities of dinu'nsion material are not only 

 willing but anxiiius to secure additional quantities at the prices estab- 

 lished by tho now dimension branch of the Hardwood Manufacturers' 

 Association. This acquiftscence in llie price schedule and manifest 

 interest in securing supi)lies angnis well fur the future cif the liard- 

 wood dimension bu.siriess. 



The Foreign Trade. 



For the flr.st time in many months are highly favorable conditions 

 reported on American woods in tiio foreign markets. This is espe- 

 cially true of the English trade, and nttenti<Mi is particularly called 

 to the report made by the KKCOiin's London enrrespoudent in the 

 miscellaneous news section nf this issue. 



