i8 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



November 25. 1916 



oak before the first dawn of written history in that island, as is 

 proved by the discovery of such boats buried deep under the mud in 

 the bottoms of rivers. 



The strongest nations and the most progressive people have been 

 identified with oak, either as trees or as timber for manufacturing. 

 The ancient people used it because of its hardness and strength. 

 The woodcarvers of the middle ages selected it for their master- 

 pieces, when they carved cathedral doors, altars, capitals, and even 

 the thrones on which their kings sat. The rise of the greatest mari- 

 time power was due to the employment of oak in battleships, where 

 "loomed the huge decks that Kaleigh trode, " which "swept the 

 seas for England." 



Through all the thousands of years during which oak had a place 

 among barbarous tribes and rising nations, no one discovered that 

 the wood had a grain. Its strength was known, its durability was 

 understood, but no one knew of its beauty, no one polished it to 

 bring the silver grain and artistic figure into prominence. That 

 remained for the moderns— the woodworkers of the present day. 



The cover picture which illustrates this issue of Hardwood 

 Eec6rd shows a quarter-sawed oak surface, highly polished. A sur- 

 face that has not been quartered can be .iust as highly polished, but 

 it is known as plain oak. Both are artistic, and each has its ad- 

 mirers. Fashion shows a tendency now and then to swing from 

 quartered to plain and from plain to quartered. Quartered oak 

 is not a peculiar figure, present in some trees and absent from 

 others, as birdseye maple is, but it is produced by sawing the 

 boards in a certain way to bring out the bright patches, known 

 as "medullarj- rays." The cover picture displays these bright 

 patches beautifully. The wood is white oak, and the leaf is red 

 oak. Thus the two great classes of oak are represented. The artis- 

 tic effect will appeal to those who have an eye for the aesthetic. 



The verse printed across the face of the picture is from the 

 writings of the greatest lover of forest and field among all the 

 ancients. He died 1936 years ago. He knew trees, leaves, flowers, 

 and shade, but he knew nothing about the beauty of wood; at least 

 his writings betray no such knowledge. Perhaps, it would be too 

 much to expect of Virgil that he should abandon the great outdoors 

 of vineyards, pastures, and forests, and descend to the prosy 

 drudgery of writing a treatise on woodworking and the physical 

 properties of wood. It is doubtful if Virgil ever saw a piece of 

 polished quartered oak, or if he did, it was accidental, for that 

 class of finish made no appeal to the Romans of his day. 



Two thousand years have brought no improvement in poetry, since 

 Virgil's time; but the improvement in woodworking has been won- 

 derful. In his day it was the living oak tree that held "the world 

 in awful sovereignty"; but now it is the wood of oak. It has com- 

 petitors but no superiors. It has friends by millions, but no enemies. 

 It has lost no strength, no durability, no dependability during the 

 thousands of years since it took its position as friend and companion 

 of the best portions of the human race; and in modern times it has 

 been given a still higher place in value and esteem because of the 

 beauty of its wood — ,a quality which the ancients knew nothing of. 



The Sap Walnut Problem 



A LARGE WALNUT MANUFACTURER recently made the 

 statement that with the present grades on walnut so out of 

 date that, in the face of decreasing objection to sap, they degrade 

 the uppers to a classification fifty per cent less in value, manu- 

 facturers are finding it more and more necessary to use their own 

 rules in selling. That is, they make their own specifications as 

 agreed upon between themselves and the buyers. 



It would be a shameful waste were the possibilities of sap 

 walnut ignored. This wood has all of the attributes of the black 

 so far as ordinary uses are concerned, and woodworkers are becom- 

 ing more generally expert in so handling it that there isn 't the 

 slightest differentiation between the sap and the black in the 

 finished article. Also, the manufacturers are doing their part in 

 the preparation of the sap for the finishers, and all together the 

 efforts of those directly interested in walnut have effected a dis- 

 tinct conservation of a tremendously valuable commodity. There 



is no reason why rules should not be made to conform to condi- 

 tions, for if they don't they will not be used anyway and they 

 might just as well keep step with actual practice as to trail the 

 requirements of the trade. 



Salesmanship — The Modern Term 



LUMBERMEN HAVE BEEN FRANKLY ADMITTING for 

 some years back that they were just beginning to realize 

 what merchandising meant. It had taken a little while to put these 

 admissions into concrete form and to crystallize them into definite 

 action looking toward the correction of this condition. Everywhere 

 today, though, there is the spirit of progress in merchandizing, the 

 desire to bring the manufacturing and selling departments closer 

 together and to bring the customer closer to them both. 



Manufacturers of other woods than hardwoods have probably led 

 the trade in this direction, but hardwoods since they started have 

 made great progress. Aside from the action typified in the modern 

 hardwood association for trade extension purposes, and which of 

 course does not illustrate the real possibilities of specific progress 

 toward better merchandizing, there have been few efforts until the 

 inauguration by the sales managers committee of the Northern 

 Hemlock and Hardwood Manufacturers' Association of a salesman- 

 ship conference. The program of this meeting, which will take 

 place early in December at Wisconsin mill points, offers many sub- 

 jects of absorbing interest and no one attending can go away 

 without absorbing and assimilating a great many ideas that will 

 mean more money for lumber and less selling cost. 



That there is a possibility for vast benefit in such gatherings, 

 the aim of which is to bring the manufacturing and sales depart- 

 ments in more harmonious accord, is not doubted for a moment. 

 The ice is now breaking for the continuance of such conferences in 

 the North, and the object lesson to be furnished at this meeting 

 should be taken to heart by those of the fraternity in the 

 southern field. 



Learning the Lesson 



EVIDENCE IS WIDESPREAD THAT PEOPLE ARE LEARN- 

 ING the lesson that forest fires can be and ought to be kept in 

 check. The campaign which has led to this change in attitude was 

 commenced by the United States Forest Service which undertook to 

 educate the public by means of posters and newspaper articles; but 

 the work was gradually taken up by state organizations and lumber 

 associations. Today the movement against forest fires covers nearly 

 all parts of the country where forests grow. Along most highways 

 which traverse wooded regions may be seen posters on trees, fences, 

 rocks, and walls, warning the people against contributing to the fire 

 peril. They are told of the danger of dropping burning matches, of 

 emptying tobacco from hot pipes, or casting aside cigarettes and 

 cigars before the fire on them has been extinguished. Campers are 

 cautioned to be careful with their fires, and farmers who clear land 

 are urged to exercise care when burning brush and trash. 



There are organizations in many — perhaps in most — forested regions 

 for fighting fires that get started; and before emergencies arise, plans 

 are laid to meet them. This movement is not confined to professional 

 foresters and active lumbermen, though it is led by them in most cases. 

 The citizens generally are interested and are in sympathy with the 

 work. The campaign for prevention and suppression of forest fires is 

 popular. The inhabitants understand that the matter concerns them 

 in a financial way; for it is easily understood that forest fires are 

 destructive. Formerly when there was little sale for timber, and even 

 less local use for it, the people of a region did not care how much of 

 it burned up; but timber sells now, and that has been a powerful 

 argument in convincing the citizens that fires should not be permitted 

 to burn through woodlands. 



The results are said to be generally satisfactory. Forest fires occa- 

 sionally break out and spread, but in most regions they are far less 

 destructive tlian formerly. This is particularly noticeable in parts of 

 the middle Appalachian hardwood region. Conditions are better than 

 they were some years ago. Fires do not usually spread far before 

 they are vigorously attacked by the citizenry. 



Results are apparent in many localities. Dense underbrush soon 



