lO 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



make many of the varieties utterly indistinguisliable, even to the 

 expert. This different botany, combined with varying conditions of 

 latitude or altitude, of soil and rainfall, produces many qualities of 

 oak. These same facts are true of maple, of cypress, of walnut, of 

 birch, of poplar, and of many other woods. Therefore, no close 

 student of the physical characteristics of American hardwoods will 

 for a moment contend that an absolutely uniform inspection is a 

 practical proposition, or that uniform basic values are logical. The 

 "fas" (to use the new term for firsts and seconds) of Indiana white 

 oak, as compared with the "fas'' of white oak growing in certain 

 sections of the South, differ in value by anywhere fro7n $5 to 

 $10 a' thousand. No wood expert will deny this fact. Therefore, 

 ' a universal price list, covering the value of white oak growing 

 under different conditions, at points 500 to 1.000 miles apart, is 

 also chimerical. 



However, a base of judgment of what shall constitute the sev- 

 eral grades into which hardwood lumber shall be divided, which will 

 form a basis of universal inspection, is perfectly feasible and prac- 

 ticable. This code of rules, by means of which an inspector may 

 determine the grades into which to put hardwood lumber products, 

 is not a remarkably simple task, but still it is a result that can 

 and should be accomplished, and is one that should be agreed 

 upon by all parties at interest in the hardwood industry. This 

 system of universal inspection will never make the hard maple of 

 VViest Virginia and Tennessee worth as much money a thousand feet 

 as tlie hard maple of the northern portion of tiie lower peninsula 

 of Michigan, nor will it make the swamp growth of white oak of 

 some sections of the South worth as much as the white oak of 

 Ohio and Indiana, but it will form a base of judgment, by means 

 of which,' when the source of supply of wood is known, a just 

 relative value may be determined. 



Kcferring specifically to the matter of inspection, it would seem 

 no more than just that the consumer of hardwoods should have 

 considerable to say about this matter. He is the man who uses 

 the lumber and who pays the bills, and he is entitled to a just 

 recognition of the divisions into which the lumber shall be made to 

 best suit his uses. On the other hand, the manufacturer of the lum- 

 ber should have a great deal to do with the price to be deter- 

 mined at which these several grades shall be sold. The jobbing 

 element in this great trade is the happy intermediary between the 

 manufacturer and the consumer, to see that both got a fair deal; 

 and incidentally to see that he gets a just handling profit for the 

 money he advances to tlie manufacturer; for the cash he has in- 

 volved in his stocks, and for the labor and risk he assumes in 

 carrying on the merchandising of hardwoods. 



There is profit enough in this great hardwood industry for all 

 three elements of the trade, when eventually it will l>e carried on 

 with a universality of metliod of manufacture, of grading and of 

 sale. 



Plant Trees. 



Hoo-Hoo at last has an inspiration and an excuse for its being. 



At a recent concatenation held by Vicegerent Lewis Doster at 

 Dayton, O., a proposal was made to induce Hoo-Hoo to agree to 

 the renaissance of the original conception of Arbor Day and to 

 individually agree to plant a tree on every such holiday, which 

 was received with acclaim. 



It is most fitting that Hoo-Hoo should be the means whereby 

 trees may be planted and to thus assist in beautifying the streets 

 and parks in many cities and towns in our land. The plan car- 

 ried out to its full possibilities would mean an excuse for Hoo-Hoo 

 that it never before had. Hoo-Hoo is a pretty good thing, but 

 it doesn't amount to much. Its fun and social features are corking 

 hot stuff, but there it ends. Perhaps it has been fortunate in the 

 past that Hoo-Hoo has been only a joke but now it has taken on 

 the dignity of age and numbers, which should warrant it in doing 

 something and being somebody. 



Shade tree planting is a good thing. While of very little com- 

 mercial importance it is of vast altruistic value to the country at 

 large. Will Hoo-Hoo take up the good work and make Arbor Day 

 another Hoo-Hoo da}', that something logical and practical shall 



be done? Even practical results may be obtained to Hoo-Hoo from 

 just co-operation in tree-planting enterprises. 



Jonas Fisher of Williamsport, Pa., who ought to be a Hoo-Hoo 

 if he is not, has set an example which Hoo-Hoo might follow with 

 profit. He has planted 2,000 walnut treBS on a vacant lot of waste 

 land at Williamsport, and mayhap his great great grandchildren 

 will rise up and call him blessed for his enterprise and forethought. 



Consuming Prospects. 



Undeniably the lumber trade has Ijeen pretty dull for the past 

 three weeks, and hardwood lumber has suft'ered with the general 

 trade diminution, resultant from bad weather conditions. However, 

 the prospects for a remarkably large season's business are excel- 

 lent. The building permits issued in the large cities are a fair 

 gauge of what may be expected in lumber demand. In nearly all 

 the chief cities of the United States there has been an unusually 

 large number of building permits issued which contemplate new struc- 

 tures for 1905. In the several boroughs of New York this fact is 

 exceptionally true. In contradistinction to the building operations 

 of last year, which very largely comprised flat buildings in the 

 borough of Manhattan, the permits issued so far this year call for 

 a very larga number of individual houses in the outlying districts. 

 It would look as though the entire westerly end of Long Island, lying 

 between the borough of Brooklyn and Coney Island, would be well- 

 nigh built up with detached houses during the coming year. This 

 development for house buiWing means much to the hardwood and cy- 

 press industry, as nowadays in this section of the country it is 

 the exceptional house that is not floored and finished in hardwoods 

 of some sort. 



What is true of New York is also very much in evidence in nearly 

 all of the other large cities of the country. There seems to be a 

 decided change from the building of large flat and apartment houses 

 to smaller and more profitable investments in individual homes. 

 People seem to be tired of paying rent in flat buildings and are 

 making attempts to acquire homes of their own. This renaissance is 

 materially aided by reason of the circumstance that mortgage money, 

 notably in the east, is very much easier than in the past. Interest 

 rates have been reduced on this sort of collateral, and money for 

 the improvement of real estate can readily be obtained at 5 per cent. 

 Even in the western cities the rates of interest have materially de- 

 clined. 



Cypress. 



Cypress production in this country has attained an annual volume 

 of approximately 750,000,000 feet. This is about the output of 

 1904, and at this altitiule has probably reached its ultimate height 

 of production. In volume cypress ranks a little above poplar, but 

 from this time forward there will doubtless be a diminution in the 

 totals year by year, as to a very large extent all cypress timber 

 properties are in the hands of operators. 



A year ago at this time cypress values attained a comparatively 

 high range which slumped materially during the spring and sununer. 

 A gradual accretion of values obtained later in the year, and at 

 this time prices are back to just about the range of February, 1004. 

 Values are strengthening and will undoubtedly show a moderate in- 

 crease during the greater part of the year. A year ago there was 

 a good deal of stock in the hands of the producers, and for the 

 most part it was lumber ready for shipment, being fairly dry. 

 The condition today differs materially from a year ago, in that the 

 total stocks of cypress in first hands are considerably less than a 

 year ago, and a larger proportion of it is either green or not dry 

 enough for use until late iu the season. 



Many cypress producing secticms had no floating water last year. 

 Otherwise the cut would probably have been increased a hundred mil- 

 lion feet over what it was. During the winter there has been water 

 enough in the streams to float the accumulation of logs, and therefore, 

 notwithstanding the shutting down of quite « number of cypress 

 mills, owing to an exhaustion of timber supply, the product of 1905 

 will doubtless equal that of 1904. Again, two new large cypress 

 operations will probably tend to augment this supply fairly up to the 

 total of 1904. 



