HARDWOOD RECORD 



13 



plain and eurly woiil is one of the favorite 

 materials employed by the rotary veneer 

 cutters, and it is growing in popularity as 

 its merits and beauty are becoming known. 

 The northern flooring makers have also 

 taken on birch as a standard flooring ma- 

 terial. Its fine and compact grain and rich 

 color make it a very desirable material for 

 alternating with maple, in the making of 

 fancy floors. The demand today for se- 

 lected, strictly red birch flooring is in ex- 

 cess of the supply, and flooring made from 

 this material commands a higher price than 

 any other hardwood flooring made in the 

 northern factories. It is also frequently 

 employed as an alternate strip of wainscot- 

 ing or ceiling in the finishing of dining 

 rooms, dens and hallways of fine private 

 residences. The wood has alwaj'S been com- 

 paratively lew-priced, but its relative value 

 should have warranted a much higher price 

 than it ever has possessed. There is a cer- 

 tain sheen to birch that is possessed by few 

 other woods. Under a smooth and perfect 

 finish it has a sparkling luster, which is 

 due to the grain and to the shining linings 

 of the pores. Wliile the wood is very much 

 prized for cabinet making of all kinds, it 

 is not inclined to take nails readily with- 

 out splitting. It is an excellent material 

 for all kinds of turnery, as it works easily. 

 It is not a particularly durable wood when 

 exposed to the weather. 



A product of the bark of the black birch 

 is known as wintergreen oil, and occasional!}' 

 as black birch oil. The distillation of the 

 oil from the bark, limbs and leaves of the 

 tree produces an essential oil that is prac- 

 tically the same as that which is obtained 

 from the quiiint little plant known as win- 

 tergreen in the northern forests, and 

 "mountain tea" in the mountain districts 

 of the south. Birch oil in the aggregate is 

 quite an important article of commerce, and 

 is the staple flavoring of birch beer. 



Miss Lounsberry, in writing of black 



birch, says that when we go among the 

 trees and perhaps rest for a while under 

 the shade of the svk-eet birch, we might, if 

 niir ears were suiEciently quickened, hear 

 m:iny tales of country lore that are passing 

 through the swish cf its leaves. Tales are 

 astir about the evil spirits that seek it and 

 greedily devour its sweet bark. To their 

 hearts gratitude is unknown. The tree could 

 tell also of many that love the shimmer of 

 its leaves; that notice the golden pollen in 

 its beautiful spray of staminate blossoms 



1 l.OWEKIXG AND FRUITING BUA.NCIIES 

 AND LEAVES OF BLACK BIRGH. 



and partake o£ its shade as graciously as 

 though they were accepting a gift from a 

 friend. The subtle instinct of the urchin, 

 for surely he never learned from botany 

 how good to the taste were its twigs, leads 

 him to spend many an hour under its shade. 

 He chats to his companion about his strug- 

 gles with the trout or of the mischief the 

 squirrels have done to the leaf-buds, and 

 he prides himself upon locating a borer as 

 surely as he can scent the advance of spring. 



'Builders of Lumber History, 



NUKEBES VI. 



Earl Palmer. 



With this issue the Hardwood Record is 

 pleased to present a portrait supplement of 

 Earl Palmer of Paducah, Ky., president of 

 the National Hardwood Lumber Association, 

 to his many friends. 



Jlr. Palmer was born on a farm near Fort 

 Wayne, Ind., May 17, 1863. His father »nd 

 mother, although among the early settlers of 

 northern Indiana, were "York state folks." 

 The Xational Hardwood Lumber Association 

 ones its efiieient and enthusiastic president 

 to the little god of love, as after the sup- 

 plementary course in business college with 

 which ilr. Palmer rounded out his common- 

 school education, his predilection took him into 

 the railway service, which he entered as a tel- 

 egraph operator, attaining at the age of 

 twenty-three the position of assistant train 

 master on a division of the C, St. P., M. & 

 O. By. Cupid, however, had decided that Mr. 



Palmer should enter the ranks of the hard- 

 \vuod trade, and to that end his arrows were 

 discharged with such effect that in the same 

 Year he was united in marriage with the 

 ■ laughter of John Ferguson, a pioneer lum- 

 berman of northern Indiana, at Fort Wayne. 

 The next season Mr. Ferguson offered his 

 year old son-in-law a partnership in his busi- 

 ness, and in accepting it, Mr. Palmer re- 

 linquished his hope of becoming a railroad 

 magnate. 



At first Mr. Palmer took charge of the cler- 

 ical work pertaining to the business of the 

 firm, conducted under the name of Ferguson 

 & Palmer. Not being content with a super- 

 ficial knowledge of the business, he soon 

 went upon the road as buyer and inspector 

 aihl thereby gained a fairly good knowledge 

 c.i the actualities eouneeted with the trade. 

 Ill the spring of 1S94, Mr. Ferguson 's only 

 s. II. John K. Fertfii>on, entered the firm. 



the style of which was changed to Fergu- 

 son & Palmer Company. At that time the 

 scope of operations was widened to include 

 the state of Wisconsin as a source of sup- 

 ply. While operating mills of their own in 

 Indiana, the firm also purchased bulk stocks 

 of lumber and distributed them to their cus- 

 tomers. In this manner, Mr. Palmer came 

 in touch with all phases of the hardwood 

 trade. 



It was the belief of all the members of 

 the firm that the South afforded opportu- 

 nities in the hardwood lumber business that 

 were disappearing in the North with the 

 diminishing stumpage. It was decided in 

 1898 to remove the business from Fort 

 Wayne to Paducah, Ky., at which point a 

 double mill was erected, and where the firm 

 conducted a strictly manufacturing propo- 

 sition with success. On removal to Paducah, 

 E. S. Robertson, formerly with Hoffman 

 Brothers, of Fort Wayne, was added to the 

 firm. In 1902 Mr. Ferguson, Sr., disposed 

 of his interest in the business to the re- 

 maining partners, and in 1904 the partner- 

 ship was converted into a stock company, 

 the three partners holding all the stock, of 

 v.hich $200,000 was issued. The officers of 

 the corporation are Earl Palmer, president, 

 John A. Ferguson, secretary, and R. S. Rob- 

 ertson, treasurer. 



Mr. Palmer is remarkably sensitive of his 

 V. ell-earned reputation of absolute integrity 

 iif purpose, consequently he does not always 

 r.ceept criticism with the equanimity that 

 would a man of less enthusiasm and ag- 

 gressive belief in his own motives. He ia 

 wrapped up in the work of the National 

 Hardwood Lumber Association, of which he 

 was elected president at the Cincinnati meet- 

 ing last year. He has been inclined to think 

 that this association and this one onU', was 

 the Moses to lead the hardwood business out 

 of the wilderness of complication in which it 

 was lost, overlooking the fact that while the 

 iii;mbers of the association are of great num- 

 ber and importance in the trade, yet they 

 (•(institute comparatively a small proportion 

 I 1' the numerical or financial great hard- 

 V. (lod interests of the United States. 



However, Mr. Palmer recently has, by pub- 

 iii- utterance and over his signature, advo- 

 cated the wisdom of a plan looking to uni- 

 ted methods in the hardwood trade, which 

 will provide a universal base of hardwood 

 grading on a just and impartial system. 

 In a recent letter to the Hardwood Record, 

 he said : "I believe entirely in uniform in- 

 spection and the desirability and practica- 

 bility of such an inspection. Indeed, I con- 

 sider the problem of the attainment and ap- 

 plication of uniform inspection as already 

 beyond the academic stage and believe that 

 :ts practical solution is near at hand." 



With a man of the character and char- 

 acteristics of Earl Palmer as president and 

 dominant factor, much may be expected of 

 this association at its coming meeting at 

 Buffalo on May 18 and 19. 



Mr. Palmer is the father of five boys, of 



