36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



ihe Weeks law in the protection of the forested ■naterslieds of navigable 

 streams. In addition to providing for the acquisition of lands, the Weelis 

 law cstahiished a fund of S200.000 to be used by the secretary of agri- 

 oultnre in assisting states to protect the forested watersheds of navigable 

 rivers from fire. The law prescribes certain conditions which must be met 

 by the state before this assistance can be rendered. The state must itself 

 have provided by law for a system of fire control. The amount of 

 federal money expended in the state in any one year must not exceed 

 the expenditure under state .nppropriation for the same purpose. In other 

 words, the state government niu.'it nialip a deflnitc start towards fire 

 control by creating an organization and by appropriating funds for its 

 activities. 



Before federal moneys are allotted to any state for this worlf, a sys- 

 tematic plan of fire protection must be prepared. It must show just 

 what and how effective measure for controlling forest fires throughout 

 the state are contemplated. It must show how the federal allotment will 

 be used to supplement the efforts of the state itself and of its private 

 timber owners. In every case our funds have been employed exclusively 

 for the maintenance of patrolmen in dangerous districts as the most 

 direct and eirectlve way of getting at the bottom of the problem. 



In my judgment, it is exceedingly unfortunate that the Forest Service 

 is debarred from extending this work into the distinctly hardwood states 

 of the Soiith because of the failure of these states to take the necessary 

 preliminary steps on their own account. I feel that in the preliminary 

 stages of fire protection in this region, the co-operation of the federal 

 government would be an extremely valuable aid. 



Whatever the federal government may be able to accomplish by these 

 various lines of effort, it is neither possible nor desirable tor it to solve 

 any Large part of the problem of forestry in the southern hardwoods. The 

 real burden is yours, and yours aloce. The effectiveness of the solution 

 of this general question of a waning hardwood supply will be measured 

 by the effectiveness with which the averaee private owner works the 

 problem out on his own property. We will advise where we can, co- 

 operate where we can. furnish specific examples of good, and possibly 

 bad. management where we can. but the real work is yours. 



In conclusion then, a word or two as to what in my judgment private 

 owners of liardwood timber should do now. may be in point. I believe 

 most emphatically that the first and by all odds the most important thing 

 is to meet aggressively the common danger of fire loss, on cutover and 

 second-growth lands as well as in virgin timber. 



Aside from action by the state governments, coats must be taken off 

 and good gray matter expended, in hard work on the protection of the 

 individual timbered property. In this work, the experience of some of 

 the northern and western timber owaiers as to the value of co-operation 

 should be of real value. One of the hardest problems confronted in pro- 

 tecting the Individual tract of timber is the excessive cost per acre when 

 this work is attempted on a small scale by each owner acting indepen- 

 dentl}-. 



.\s to the application of any one of th.? socalled forestr.v methods of 

 management to private lands which have been discussed and advocated 

 by the Forest Service, it is of course not possible to urge any one 

 specific measure for all eases, or indeed to assert that forestry -methods 

 of any character are applicable in all cases. I believe that improved 

 methods of forest management will pa.v now in many portions of the 

 southern hardwood belt. I know that they are necessarily a long way 

 off in other portions. I would not urge any operator to go beyond what 

 bis business sense and experience tell him is right, or what his financial 

 Interests clearly indicate to be safe and dependable, in changing his 

 methods of operation. 



What I do wl.sh to urge, however, and what I believe we all realize 

 as fundamentally true is that changes in this direction are bound to come 

 rapidly, and that the progressive operator should be ready to adopt them. 

 whichever is most practicable under his immediate conditions, just as 

 soon as their soundness as a feature of his business is evident. I believe 

 that the progressive operator will do more tlian that. He will see the 

 wisdom of these changes a little In advance of their actual arrival. 



Concretely my suggestion Is that ilie method of Improved forest man- 

 agement which appears best adapted to your operation be given a trial. 

 Try it out as you would try out a new type of logging luaclilnery. Satisfy 

 yourself as to Its soundness b.v the most direct and effective way. namely, 

 by experience. I wish partlcularl.v that the reservation of small, low 

 grade timber in operations where the immediate market does not clearly 

 Indicate the desirability of close cutting might be thoroughly tested, both 

 as to the Immedlatrr financial results of eliminating this material from 

 the cut and as to the gain or loss In taking It out in a later operation 

 when better size and grade are attained. As high grade lumber becomes 

 more rlinicult to secure and posslblj- more valuablr-. I look to see the 

 adoption of this method In many localities as one solution of the general 

 problem. In any event, little will be sacrificed In a thorough going test 

 of Its possibilities. 



We all need experience, and particularly experience outside of the lines 

 of our old methods and fixed Ideas. Accumulated experience Is, after all 

 else has been said, the factor which will ultimately determine the poSHi- 

 hllltles ln%'Ol»'ed in this great probli^m and which will guide progress In 

 the right direction. The Forest Service is seeking It in loramon with 

 .vourseives. We hope that the enlargement of our duties which will bring 

 us shoulder to shoulder with the hardwood operators in working out 

 the common problems, with somewhat the same point of view as their 



own. win enable us to do far more effective work in tiiuiing the right 

 answers to some of these questions than we have ever done before. We 

 desire most earnestly your cn-oi)eration in whatever we may attempt, 

 and we assure .vou of our co-operation in all ways in which we can 

 furnish it in working out these vital matters for the common good. 



Speech of F. L. Brown of Chicago 

 P. L. Brown of ('liii-aj:o. actini; iircsi.k'ut of the Sales Mana- 

 gers' Association, and president of tlie Chieago Lumbermen's As- 

 sociation, was then introduced and sjioke as follows: 



It may be said in some qu.trters truthfully that the association field 

 is very much overworked. By referring to the calendars in various 

 lumber journals from week to week we note many announcements of con- 

 ventions, local, state and national, reaching into every phase of the 

 lumber industry; and sometimes we wonder whether or not they are all 

 practical, whether they are all serving in their particular field in a 

 manner which will interest as well as profit all those engaged in lumber 

 Industries. 



There are associations begiiining from the stump represent I'd here today 

 in the manufacturers' side of the question, following out can-fully, and 

 ver.v profitably, the best iderts pertaining to the manufacture of lumber. 

 This is, of course, the real primary object for lumber associations to 

 have, well worked out. with definite ideas that are well understood. 



Following that we have associations for regulating the inspection of 

 lumber, which is a very, very large feature in our business. Then there 

 is also the association of wholesalers, and various organizations all per- 

 taining to the same one line of work. 



It occurs, however, lo many of those interested in the lumber Inisiness 

 that there must be a solid foundation for these organizations, a purpose 

 that is well carried out : that they must bo well planned in order to make 

 them profitable. .lust as soon as an agreement begins to show wear, just 

 as soon as it is threadbare, then it has served to some extent its mission, 

 and must either be laid aside or repaired. The object of any association 

 when it begins to wear out and becomes tiresome or threadbare, so to 

 speak, must either be thrown aside, or a new one taken up. 



Now along with the theories and ideas that are presented from time 

 to time before organizations of men whose time is valuable, it seems as 

 though the field relating to the sale of lumber has been quite largely 

 neglected. Coming as I do from the dealers' end of the business, I have 

 felt that this is a very prominent feature that should have. It seemed 

 to me, in some manner due consideration. 



Last year there were several representatives from the middle states 

 in Chicago, and an organization was formed called the Lumber Sales 

 Managers' Association. The field occupied by this association seems to 

 be unique in that it fills in a place not occupied in any sense of the 

 word b.y the other organizations that are now in existence. 



Let us see what some of the points are that have not received proper 

 attention. The merchandising of lumber necessaril.v requires somebody 

 who is posted on market conditions. We may say that we know pretty 

 well how it is and yet an intelligent exchange of ideas along points of 

 market conditions, statistics relative to the amounts of lumber that are 

 for sale, and credits — which in Itself Is a. very large subject — and we 

 might add to that tariff, and freight claims, are simply suggestive de- 

 partments that may be taken up in this manner under such association 

 work. 



The organization which started In a small way a year ago has been 

 working along until the demand seems to be increasing very rapidly for 

 giving it more attention. Occupying as It does a. field which really sizes 

 up the profits that we are to get from our sawmills, it seems as though 

 the attention necessarily given to it should not be one of niluor Im 

 portance. 



The sales managers are the salesmen of your products. They are the 

 men to whom you look for the outlet for all that you can do. You want 

 them to dispose of such product as your logs may make. In order that 

 this ma.v be done there is required Intelligent eousideratiou by men who 

 have studied the i)roposition and who have traveled more or less ex- 

 tensively. This is one of the greatest jioiuts that we can possibly give 

 consideration to. 



I believe that the necessity that Is back of an organizalion of this size 

 Is largely due to the demand which seems to be apparent from lumber 

 salesmen all over the country at this tltne; for Instance, the market con- 

 ditions of lumber as they come to us In one form or another are almost 

 entirely suggestive: they sometimes suggest truth, and sometimes sug- 

 gest error. On the whole the.v do not present a ver.v reliable guide to 

 follow at all times, and It seems as though the most definite aiul the 

 most reliable Idea of the real condition of the market can best be ob- 

 tained by salesmen or sales managers through such ati organization as 

 1 have been speaking of. While It Is young, yet the work which Is 

 before It Is developing In a most splendid fashion. 



I might lake this opportunity to announce, gentlemen, that the annual 

 'meeting of this Sales Matingers' Association will be held In Chicago on 

 February lo and 10. at which lime you are urged to either be present 

 personally or send your sahsuieu there and see If they do not find It 

 one of tbe most profitable adventures that they have cycr ma<le In asso- 

 ciation work for the prosecution of their sales. 



There comes to me this Idea of Iho old adage tlinft ''A'Ch^iln Is no 

 stronger than Its weakest link." as being most appllcable'to'VlsSoclaflons ; 



