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Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



December 25, 1916 



Veneers in South America 



The Product Is Little Known There. Chances for Business Are 

 Good. Few Good Veneer Woods Are in that Region 



HE OPPORTUNITIES to sell veneers and built-up 

 panels in South America were discussed in an 

 address by Roger E. Simmons at the annual 

 meeting of the National Veneer and Panel 

 Manufacturers' Association at the Auditorium hotel, Chi- 

 cago, December 12. Mr. Simmons recently spent a year 

 in the continent south of us, investigating the markets 

 there for American lumber and other forest products. 



His talk before the veneer association went some- 

 what fully into the status of lumber in those countries, 

 where hundreds of millions of feet from the United 

 States are sold yearly, or were sold before the European 

 war disjointed business between us and our southern 

 neighbors by sending ocean freights so high that lumber 

 could not be moved. There is no reason to fear that the 

 trade will not pick up speedily when the war comes to 

 an end ; and Mr. Simmons directed his talk chiefly to dis- 

 cussion of the chances open to veneer at that time. 



TTie broad statement was made that veneers and 

 panels built of veneers are practically unknown in 

 South America. The few exceptions are hardly worth 

 taking notice of in a serious way. Consequently, there 

 is no demand for veneers at this time in those countries. 

 Mr. Simmons carried with him samples of veneers, some 

 made up in panels, and they excited much interest in the 

 various cities on the eastern coast where he exhibited 

 them as he journeyed southward. Many dealers looked 

 upon the thin sheets of wood as curiosities, but they did 

 not dismiss them as curiosities, for they speedily saw 

 possibilities in the veneer business. Some dealers were 

 willing to buy the samples, provided they could secure 

 exclusive rights to deal in the commodity in certain ter- 

 ritory. 



At Buenos Aires, the largest city and most important 

 market in South America, the samples of veneer were 

 left with a large company that manifested special interest 

 in the prospects of veneer trade. There it is expected 

 that they will continue to do missionary work. 



FEW GOOD VENEER WOODS 

 South America has not the wide variety and great 

 abundance of veneer woods that is commonly supposed. 

 TTie tropical and sub-tropical forests contain vast num- 

 bers of trees, and some are of enormous size; but when 

 a practical veneer man undertakes to make a list of those 

 which hold promise of suitable material, it soon develops 

 that the really valuable woods for this industry are few 

 and in most places scarce. Most are hardwoods, of 

 exceeding hardness, like rosewood. TTiey are so heavy 

 that their transportation is expensive. They do not 

 usually grow in dense stands, but are so widely and 



thinly scattered aniong trees of worthless sorts, in jungles 

 where the ground is rough, that a logging operation is 

 very expensive. Some of the woods present a fine 

 appearance when properly finished, and for some pur- 

 poses they are excellent; but they are difficult to work, 

 warp badly, and it costs too much to convert them into 

 salable commodities. Though the mill work in convert- 

 ing such Vifood is costly, the largest item of cost is in the 

 logging operations, on account of the scattered stand of 

 timber and the rugged topography. 



The softv^oods are less promising from the veneer 

 standpoint. In the first place. South America has few 

 softwoods that are of much value, and most of ■what it 

 has is in remote regions to which access is costly or im- 

 possible. The best softwood in those countries has about 

 the same appearance, grain, and quality as our larch. 

 That indicates that it is not well suited for veneers. 



It is evident that if the people of South America ever 

 become extensive users of veneers or built-up panels they 

 must obtain the raw material away from home. 



THE WHITE ANT PROBLEM 



Mr. Simmons stated that it would be utterly useless to 

 try to build up a veneer business in certain parts of South 

 America, because white ants eat up every article of wood 

 that comes in their way. They devour wooden houses, 

 furniture, bridges, cross ties, cordwood, and even trunks 

 of trees in the forests. Costly pianos are quickly ruined; 

 fine doors are riddled, and there is no saving anything of 

 wood in districts where ants are worst. Most of these 

 infested regions lie in the central and northern part of 

 the continent; and until some method has been dis- 

 covered to combat the ravenous insects, Mr. Simmons 

 thought it useless for veneer men to push their business 

 in such districts. 



In certain regions, which coincide generally with the 

 ant-infested country, the climatic conditions are unfavor- 

 able to the use of veneer panels. Something in the air — 

 probably heat or moisture, or a combination of them — 

 causes veneer to come loose. American street cars with 

 their veneered ceilings, soon develop a ragged and tat- 

 tered appearance when taken to those zones. Imported 

 furniture suffers in the same way. Some of the con- 

 sulates, both American and European, in those districts, 

 have imported furniture of excellent class; yet it is not 

 unusual for the veneer to break away and hang in tatters. 

 REGIONS WITH PROMISE 



There is, however, a large territory in South America 

 where veneers will stand as well and last as long as in 

 the United States. That region comprises the southern 



