H. HintoD, traffic manager of the Tennes- 

 see Central I'ailroad, inviting the associa- 

 tion to become the guests of liis company, 

 at its convenience, to talse a trip about the 

 Belt Line and to visit Loeli A on the Cum- 

 berland river. It was the consensus of 

 opinion that the association would make it 

 convenient to accept the courtesy of Mr. 

 Hinton on Wednesday afternoon, and the 

 matter was referred to the committee on 

 arrangements. 



The committee to whom was referred the 

 report and recommendations contained in 

 the annual address of the president, of 

 which John B. Ransom was chairman, ad- 

 vised the appointment of sundi'v commit- 

 tees covering the several recommendations 

 made by the president, as well as a series 

 of committees to take up the several woods 

 manufactured by members of the associ- 

 ation. The report was adopted, and the 

 chairman announced that he would appoint 

 these committees at the afternoon session. 



A telegi-am was received from W. M. 

 Eitter from Columbus, Ohio, announcing 

 that his presence in New York was impera- 

 tive, and that it was a matter of sincere 

 regret that he could not be present; and 

 that his interest and fidelity to the associ- 

 ation was the same as in the past. 



Letters of regret were also read from 

 Litchfield Brothers of Boston, and from 

 Henry Miiley of Edinburg, Ind. A com- 

 munication was also read from William H. 

 White of Boyne City, Mich., congratulat- 

 ing the association on its splendid work 

 and his hearty sympathy with it. 



The secretary also read a letter from 

 George K. Smith, secretary of the National 

 Lumber Manufacturers' Association, asking 

 that a representative of his association 

 might be permitted to address the associ.n- 

 tion during one of its sessions. 



James H. Baird, chairman of the com- 

 mittee on entertainment, announced that a 

 banquet would be served to the visitors by 

 the Lumbermen's Club of Nashville, at the 

 Maxwell House, on Tuesday evening. 

 Afternoon Session. 



The president introduced Dr. H. Von 

 Schrenk of the Botanical Gardens, St. Louis, 

 who is associated with the Division of For- 

 estry. Dr. Von Schrenk delivered a very 

 able address, which was followed with the 

 closest attention by the delegates, on For- 

 cstrj' and Forest Products, which is herewitli 

 reproduced : 



Forestry and Forest Products. 



At the beginnings of this month, a representa- 

 tive gatherins: of lumbermen, lumber manufac- 

 turers, and lumber consumers, held a meeting 

 in the cit.v of Washington, for the purpose of 

 discussing some of the present phases of the 

 timber situation in this country. Never before 

 has such a large aggregation of men interested 

 in the development of the timber resources of 

 this country come together. It was a very 

 stril<ing testimonial of the interest which is 

 srradually growing more widespread in the prob- 

 lems of timber supply and timber utilization, the 

 problems which are specificail.v the sphere of 

 forestry in its widest sense. At this meeting 

 tliere were discussed questions pertaining to the 



THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



present and future supply of material, questions 

 pertaining to methods uf manufacture, utiliza- 

 tions, etc. — all of them of immediate and prac- 

 tical interest to the lumber operator. I have 

 been asked by your chairman to present to you 

 today some of these phases of the general for- 

 estry situation, as far as they appeal to the 

 manufacturer of hardwood lumber. Out of the 

 broad tield of forestry I liave chosen a small 

 chapter dealing more immediately with the 

 handling and values of the product in which 

 you are interested. I propose to dwell briefly 

 upon the kind of work in which we are engaged, 

 to determine the values of various kinds of tim- 

 ber. 



Before speaking ef the actual Investigations, I 

 wish to drew a distinct line between what I 

 would call actual values, as distinguished from 

 market values. By actual value I mean those 

 physical and chemical qualities of a wood, which 

 are evidenced by such factors as strength, last- 

 ing power, hardness, etc. While market values 

 are without doubt based upon the actual values, 

 they are nevertheless not always in harmony 

 therewith, because of trade, freight an* other 

 conditions, which it is not necessary to dwell 

 upon at this point. The time will probably come 

 when the market values will more and more 

 closely approximate actual values. It is of 

 actual values I propose to speak. It is rather 

 an astonishing fact that in spite of the long 

 period of time during which various forms of 

 hardwood have been used, that we are still 

 ignorant of the specific qualities of many of 

 these hardwoods to a woeful extent. This Is 

 well illustrated by the largely discussed rules 

 of grading. Lumber has been used according 

 to very uncertain ideas as to its adaptability for 

 certain purposes, and frequently with disregard 

 of the actual value of the timber for structural 

 purposes. There is practically no standard 

 which states what defects are allowable in tim- 

 ber to be used for purposes for which its quality 

 is best fitted. The specific and established stand- 

 ard of values has furthermore been derived from 

 the very choicest timber of any particular class. 

 There is probably no one who will doubt that 

 the quality of the present output is no longer 

 that of the first period of hardwood operations. 

 In view of this general realization, actual deter- 

 minations of the values of various kinds of 

 timber which take into account all of the possi- 

 ble factors, are very much needed at the present 

 date. The value of such definite study of the 

 various classes of wood appeals to the owner of 

 wood lands first of all because of the possibili- 

 ties of his realizing the maximum amount of 

 money for any particular 'timber which he may 

 have at hand, and secondly because the determi- 

 nation of these values and their acceptance by 

 the consumer will make possible a more rational 

 reforestration of his timber tracts. For a 

 long period of time, only the most valuable kinds 

 of wood have been cut. leaving the inferior 

 kinds on the ground. As a result of this the 

 future forest is composed largely of a poorer 

 class of trees. If most of this inferior growth 

 can be cut and a small percentage of the valu- 

 able species be left standing the chances are 

 much better that the new growth will contain 

 a larger percentage of the valuable woods. 



The manufacturer is interested in such de- 

 terminations, because he thereby becomes pos- 

 sessed of information as to how best to utilize 

 the various kinds of wood for manufacturing 

 purposes. In other words, how to get the high- 

 est value out of an.v particular product. The 

 consumer is interested because he is thereby put 

 in a position to rationally judge of what kinds 

 of wood are best adapted for his particular 

 purposes. 



About Inferior Woods. 



A word ought to be said as to the so-called 

 "inferior woods." The idea has somehow^ gained 

 ground in certain quarters that the recommen- 

 dations looking toward the use of so-called in- 

 fer'or woods were "as good as" the higher priced 

 timbers. It ought to be distinctly understood that 

 anv recommendations made looking toward the 

 utilization of Inferior woods should mean that 

 these inferior woods be used for the highest pur- 

 poses for which their particular qualities fit 

 them. Nothing should be more severely con- 

 demned than the over-rating of inferior woods, 

 tnit nothing will tend more toward preventing 

 such over-rating than the determination of the 

 actual qualities' and values of the various kinds 

 of inferior timber. I say this very emphatically 

 to an association of hardwood manufacturers, 

 because to the class of so-called Inferior wood, 

 there belong more hardwoods than soft woods. 

 It is well to consider a matter of this character 

 conservatively, btit such conservatism should bo 

 based upon actual knowledge, and this, I regret 

 to say. is not forthcomiuf as yet for many of 

 I he inferior hardwoods. It is the province of 

 the Bureau of Forestry to make these determi- 

 nations, and it is of the results of some of them 

 I will speak. 



J'he cliara<ner of the Investigations relates first 

 to determinations of strength and qualities for 

 manufacture of different kinds of wood. .Sec- 



ond, to determinations of the weights of 

 green and dry wood, and the processes for sea- 

 soning woods in the best possible manner. 

 Third, to determine methods for maintaining the 

 natural qualities of the various woods, by pre- 

 venting checking, warping, staining, etc. Fourth, 

 to determine methods by which the natural last- 

 ing powers of the woods may be increased, in 

 other words the chemical preservation of wood : 

 and fifth, to determine the best methods for the 

 utilization of by-products. 



In the course of a brief address of this char- 

 acter, it is Impossible for me to more than in- 

 dicate some of the actual work being done. 



Speaking of all of the determinations of 

 strength and qualities for manufacture, I may 

 say that the tests of the mechanical and physi- 

 cal properties, the determination of model for 

 design, to determine the value of woods now 

 considered inferior, to determine the liability to 

 knots and the reducing factors due to these, to 

 arrange a table of standard weights, and rules 

 of inspection and grading, and partly to com- 

 pare the properties of species from different re- 

 gions, will form leading lines of investigation. 

 Quoting from a recent circular by Dr. Hatt, "In 

 an Investigation of a wood like red gum, the 

 tests include not only building material, such 

 as floor .loists, but also an examination of the 

 merits of the wood in the form of small clear 

 stock, such as is used for carriage construction, 

 implements, etc. In the case of this timber, 

 tests have been made on specimens taken directly 

 from the forests." 



Preliminary results of tests on red gum have 

 recently been published In circular No. 32, by 

 Dr. W. K. Hatt. and I could perhaps do no 

 better than to briefly refer to some of the results 

 given in this publication, as being a sample of 

 the kind of work now being carried on by the 

 Bureau of Forestry. The results have shown 

 that young timber which is largely sapwood. is 

 stronger than the mature timber, to the extent 

 of about 35 per cent. The strength of the 

 wood is very uniform t)etween the stump and 

 the first limb. A joist of red gum will have 

 practically as much weight as will North Caro- 

 lina pine. Comparisons between gum and hickory 

 have been made by tests to ascertain their rela- 

 tive values for vehicle work. No trouble was 

 found in making satisfactory bent pieces for 

 buggy shafts and wagon ribs, and it is our 

 opinion that the red gum ma.v take the place of 

 cheaper kinds of birch, oak and ash, for these 

 purposes. The better grades of hickory de- 

 velop a long fiber, which brooms out after rup- 

 ture, the test piece submitting to a large degree 

 of twisting before rupture. Red gum on the 

 contrary, opens up longitudinally at a small 

 angle of twist, showing a crooked grain and 

 short fiber. The results of a careful examina- 

 tion of the mechanical properties of the red gum 

 indicate that it Is Inferior to the poorest grades 

 of hickory. 



Determinations such as those made for the 

 red gum are now In progress for hickory and 

 other hardwoods. It is only necessary to study 

 carefully the results of the Investigation on 

 the red gum in the circular referred to. to re- 

 alize the possibilities of the applications there 

 summarized. 



Seasoning of Hardwoods. 



Second, Seasoning. — One of the most impor- 

 tant problems In connection with the utilization 

 of hardwoods is the problem of seasoning these 

 woods, rapidly, and at the same time in such 

 a way that they will not lose In quality. In- 

 vestigations on seasoning Include determinations 

 of the weights of green timber, and the same 

 timber in various stages of drying. Determina- 

 tions of these weights have already been found 

 very valuable in regulating freight rates, and In 

 effecting a considerable saving in shipping costs, 

 'fhe processes of seasoning under Investigation, 

 include girdling, rafting, air seasoning, and kiln 

 drying. Large numbers of trees are being girdled 

 at various periods of the year, for the purpose 

 of making exact determinations of the weight 

 of lumber from trees girdled at various periods 

 and when compared with trees not girdled. It is 

 generally known that a girdled tree will dry 

 out faster than one not girdled but there are 

 many factors which render girdled trees more 

 susceptible to fungus and insect attacks, which 

 will require careful investigation. 



The extent to which water soaking or raft- 

 ing will hasten the seasoning process and at 

 the same time improve the quality of the lumber 

 is not generally realized. We found in the 

 course of experimenting with white cedar tele- 

 graph poles in North Carolina, conducted during 

 last year, that of a large number of trees which 

 were floated to Wilmington. N. C, the trees 

 which had been submerged lost approximately 

 .^0 per cent in weight after drying for several 

 weeks. Those which had formed the higher layer 

 of the raft, in other words those which had not 

 been submerged, lost only 12 per cent in the 

 same neriod of time. Extensive investigations In 

 n similar direction are In progress with various 

 kinds of hardwoods In the Mississippi Valley. 



