"HARDWOOD RECORD 



15 



Hardwood Record JMail Bag. 



[In this department it is proposed to reply 

 to such inquiries as reach this office from the 

 Hardwood Recohd clientage as will be of enough 

 general interest to warrant publication. Every 

 patron of the paper is invited to use this de- 

 parttnent to the fullest extent, and an attempt 

 will be made to answer queries pertaining to all 

 matters of interest to the hardwood trade in 

 a succinct and iutelligent manner ] 



Eemission of Taxes on Growing Forests. 



Detroit, Mich., March 11.— Editor Haedwood 

 Ebcord : Does any state in the Union exempt 

 from taxation land planted to trees? — M. C. B. 

 So far as the editor knows there is but one 

 stare that attempts to stimulate forest plant- 

 ing by exempting the area from taxation for 

 a period of years. That state is Connecti- 

 cut. Austin F. Hawes, state forester of 

 Connecticut, writes as follows: 



New Haven, Conn., March 15. — Mr. Editor : 

 I have been very much surprised to find how few 

 farmers are aware of the inducement which this 

 state offers for forest planting by exemption 

 from taxes. The profit from forest planting is 

 so far in the future that few land owners have 

 practiced it to any extent. The legislators of 

 the state, very wisely recognizing the value of 

 forests to the state for a timber supply and 

 _ their well-known indirect influences, passed a 

 law some years ago whereby land planted to 

 chestnut, hickory, ash, white oak, sugar maple. 

 European larch, white pine, black walnut, tulip 

 or spruce, not less in number than twelve hun- 

 dred to the acre, should be exempt from taxation 

 for twenty years from the time the trees have 

 attained an average height of six feet. This 

 land must not be theretofore woodland, accord- 

 ing to the statute, nor exceed in value $25 an 

 acre. 



There are thousands of acres in Connecticut 

 on which the owners are paying taxes, but which 

 have not yielded any income for many years. 

 By planting such land to trees the owner would 

 not only save his taxes for a long period, but 

 the land would be steadily improving in value. 

 At the end of the twenty years the land would 

 unquestionably have a much higher sale value, 

 and if the owner holds the land until the crop 

 is mature he can be fairly sure of 6 per cent or 

 more on the money invested in planting. 



I am receiving a considerable numtex- of let- 

 ters as the spring advances in which the writers 

 ask for information regarding methnUs of plant- 

 ing, cost of seed and nursery stock, the kind 

 of trees most advisable, etc. Such iiiformation 

 can be had free upon application and all corre- 

 spondence will be promptly answered 10 facilitate 

 planting this spring. 



Austin F. Hawes, State I'orester. 

 The legislature of other states would be 

 wise to follow thf; example set by Connecti- 

 cut and contribute to the reforestration of 

 waste lands by exempting from taxation for 

 long periods land that owners had enter- 

 prise and patriotism enough to replant to 

 trees. The nucleus of a new and very valu- 

 able forest growth could easily be attained 

 if legislative bodies would assist private en- 

 terprise to this end. The essentials neces- 

 sary are exemption from taxation, and strin- 

 gent laws prohibiting fire-setting, grazing and 

 poaching on land devoted to tree-planting 



EDITOB. 



issue of Dec. 26. 1903. under the caption of 

 ■Uniform Standard of Hardwood Lumber" was 

 printed full text of the rules for the grading 

 and inspection of hardwoods, adopted by the 

 (yjmmittees of the National Hardwood Lumber 

 Association and Hardwood Manufacturers' As- 

 sociation of the United States, to continue as 

 the oflicial basis of hardwood inspection for 

 five years from June 1. 1904. We would like 

 to ask you if you can tell us if these rules are 

 used, and if so by whom and what the standing 

 of these rules are. 



Another question we wish to ask is in re- 

 gard to the inspection fit poplar. According 

 to the National rules we understand in the 

 grades of firsts and seconds there is no wide 

 lumber taken out, but includes all widths as 

 wide as the logs will make. Are we right 

 about this? According to some rules the^ width 

 in firsts and seconds only runs to seventeen 

 inches wide, all over seventeen inches being 

 taken out and put in a grade called "wide" 

 and sold at a higher price. According to the 

 National inspection we understand this is not 

 done, and that the firsts and seconds include 

 all the wide there is in the lumber. — J. E. 

 Patterson & Co. 



In response to the above inquiry about me 

 at one time proposed joint rules of inspection 

 on hardwoods. These rules were approved by 

 a joint conference committee of the Hard- 

 wood Manufacturers' Association of the 

 United States and of the National Hardwood 

 Lumber Association. They were approved by 

 the Hardwood Manuf.Tcturers' Association of 

 the United States at its .January meeting held 

 in Cincinnati in 1904, and were .nlso a -prove.il 

 by the Indiana Hardwood Association at 

 about this time. However, the rules failed 

 to receive the indorsement of the National 

 Hardwood Lumber Association at its Maj , 

 1904, meeting at Cincinnati, and therefore 

 they never came into use as joint universal 

 rules. 



While the text of the rules covering first 

 and second poplar of the National Hardwood 

 Lumber Association makes no provision for 

 the taking out of the wide, the general usage 

 is that the wide is taken out, and that the 

 prevailing' width on an order for firsts and 

 seconds is from seven to seventeen inhes, 

 and that the wide would run eighteen inches 

 and up. This method is in exact accordance 

 with the rules of the Hardwood Manufac- 

 turers ' Association of the United States. — 

 Editor. 



Uniform Standard of Hardwood Lumber. 



Pittston, Va., March 16. — Editor Hardwood 

 Record : We wish to ask you one or two ques- 

 tions and enclose self-addressed stamped en- 

 velope for reply. In the American Lumberman, 



A Commendation Worth WMle. 

 In the last issue of the Hardwood Eecobd 

 there appeared in this department a letter 

 from Herman Kunert of Boyne City, 

 Mich., discussing means of economical 

 sawing of hard maple and criticising pre- 

 vailing methods of inspecting this wood. 

 WhUe the editor of the Hakdwood Eecoed 

 was entirely unacquainted with the writer, he 

 recognized the fact that he could add no 

 comment to the communication that would 

 improve it or clarify its meaning in any way, 

 as he was fully aware that the letter came 

 from a man who thoroughly understood what 

 he was talking about. It is now with equal 

 pleasure that the editor is privileged to pub- 

 lish the subjoined letter from his employer, 

 ilr. White suggests that the editor write 



something about Herman Kunert. The ed- 

 itor would not presume to attempt to improve 

 on the character sketch of Mr. Kunert and 

 the encomiums bestowed upon him by Mr. 

 White. It is a pleasure indeed to print this 

 letter and to realize the splendid relations 

 that exist between employer and employe 

 when both do their duty by each other. — 

 Editor. 



BoTNE CitTj Mich., March 20. — Editor Hard- 

 wood Recoed : In your last issue you published 

 a letter written by Herman Kunert of this place. 

 I wish to give you a little history of this young 

 German. 



Herman Kunert and his brother came to this 

 country about nineteen years ago. They worked 

 for me in the first mill I had winters, as we 

 bad no work summers in those days. When 

 they started in it was quite difficult for them 

 because they had to learn the English lan- 

 guage. Herman Kunert started in to wort 

 at very low wages and took the lowest job 

 we had ; always was satisfied and never made 

 a complaint of any kind about time or alwut 

 the work being severe or about the wages he 

 got. He was always trying to do the very best 

 he could to make his work as satisfactory as 

 possible and I dont think after he got so 

 he understood. English that he ever stayed 

 at one job longer than two years. He always 

 worked up. He has worked for us on and 

 off during this whole time and today he is 

 foreman of one of our largest plants on the 

 day run, and we haven't a man that under- 

 stands cutting hardwood logs to better advan- 

 tage than he. His brother has worked up in 

 like manner and he is now band sawyer in 

 one of our mills, getting big pay. 



I write you this letter for this reason, that 

 if all labor would take hold and take the in- 

 terest in their employer's work that Herman 

 Kunert and his brother have taken, there would 

 be no need of labor unions. These boys have 

 worked on their individuality and made them- 

 selves so efficient to their employers that they 

 could not help but employ them. They have 

 never ben connected with any scheme or plot 

 against their employers nor against the em- 

 ployes. They have always stood as individuals 

 and stood for what was right and if all the 

 employes of this United States would pattern 

 after these two young men and work for the 

 interest of their employers, and strive to make 

 themselves more valuable each year through 

 their careful study and understanding of the 

 business to see where they can make them- 

 selves more useful and more profitable, it would 

 be a much greater benefit to the labor com- 

 munity than organized labor ever could be. 



Mr. Kunert is not only a good employe but he 

 is a man who stands for right, and understands 

 the manufacture of hardwood lumber thoroughly. 

 He has also been a member of the village coun- 

 cil here for several years and is considered 

 one of its strongest men. He will stand for 

 a point if he thinks it is right when all the 

 rest of the board opposes it. and makes friends 

 and gives himself strength in the eyes of the 

 rest by so doing. 



I wish you would write a little story about 

 this man "and his brother simply to show to 

 the labor community that it pays to do what 

 is ri-'ht to study the employer's interest : to 

 be upright, honest and to stand between right 

 and wrong ; and stand on their individuality and 

 be men. - 



I don't expect you to word this just as 1 

 have worded it but I want you to write an ar- 

 ticle that will be impressive, which I know you 

 are able to do, regarding those two young men. 

 Herman Kunert was not over sixteen years of 

 age when he came to this country and his 

 brother I think was twelve or fourteen. They 

 have been here about nineteen years. Herman 

 Kunert reads the Hardwood Record from be- 

 ginning to end every time he receives it, and 

 can tell me all the different items of news in 

 it when he has finished. He is a student and 

 a good citizen and neighbor. He owns quite a 

 nice home and is renting another house which 

 brings him in $15 to $18 each month ; all this 

 from the labor of his own hands, and his credit 

 is good today at banks for several hundred dol- 

 lars if he wants it. William H. White. 



