HARDWOOD RECORD 



23 



Hardwood Rkcord is m believer in evoliit inn ; a believer in prog- 

 ress, and a believer in advancement, but it is yet to be proven that 

 the majority of substitutes that are being urged by dint of expert 

 salesmanship and glowing advertisements are what they pretend 

 to be. They are substitutes pure and simple — they are counter- 

 feits — and the specious claims by which they are foisted upon the 

 publie are gradually being exploded, and honest wood will ver\- 

 soon come back into its own. 



A State's Inexhaustible Hardwoods 



It is a matter of almost daily comment by hardwood manufac- 

 turers in the state of Indiana that never in years has there been 

 such a quantity of timber land and logs offered for sale as has 

 been during the last few months. Indiana is a state that con- 

 travenes all prox^hecies made by forest denundation sharps, as year 

 after year as statistics are gathered, it is found that the state can 

 be counted on for its three hundred million and better annual 

 hardwood outijut. The reason for the unusual quantity of logs and 

 timber offered for sale of late is unexplainable, but certain it is 

 that sawmill operators are having no difficulty in securing all the 

 logs they wish to contract for at prices that are satisfactory. In 

 some cases, manufacturers have been obliged to cease buying on 

 account of an inability to handle the quantity of logs offered or to 

 finance additional purchases. 



It now looks as though the 1912 cut of hardwood in Indiana 

 would be far in excess of the last two or three j'ears. It is thor- 

 oughly believable that while a 

 portion of the timber offered is 

 from previously uncut areas, 

 everyone has underestimated 

 the recuperative powers of tim- 

 ber growth in that section of 

 the Union. One manufacturer 

 alleges that he established a 

 mill more than twenty years ago 

 at a point in that state, and 

 expected to exhaust the entire 

 territory within five .years, and 

 today he owns more timber and 

 sees more timber in sight for his 

 sawmill than when he first com- 

 menced operations. 



To be sure there is a growing 

 decadence in the quality of In- 

 diana oak and other standard 

 varieties that grow in the state, 

 but still oak from this territory 



remains a favorite among many manufacturing institutions. Pop- 

 lar and sycamore are about the only standard woods that are well 

 nigh extinct, while the output of oak keeps up at an even pace, 

 and the state still develops a large quantity of ash, black walnut, 

 white walnut, basswood, maple and beech. Reforestry pursuits, 

 which are attracting no little attention in Indiana, are certainly 

 to be commended, because if nature does so much for the timber 

 growth of the state without aid, much more could be accomplished 

 by practicing scientific forestry. 



The Virility of Business 



The virility of American business is rcit;iiiily wonderful to con- 

 template. It is believed that in no other country, had business 

 been subjected to so many attacks from all directions, notably 

 political, as have commercial affairs in the United States during 

 the last four years, would conditions be in anywhere near as good 

 shape as exist here. General business, in spite of four years' in- 

 vestigation, tariff tinkering, questionable taxation, rotten politics, 

 bad labor legislation, etc., etc., is in such a condition that the 

 average business man is not only making "both ends meet" com- 

 mercially, but is making a little saving. This is just as true of 

 the lumber business as it is of other chief pursuits. Every busi- 



UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL 



m. €. «oob number Co. 



fll>.inutacturcr an^ BctIcv in 



Baltimore. IVId.. IVIar. 

 Gentlemen — We do considerable of our 

 through HARDWOOD RECORD people and have found 

 their work up-to-date, their articles well guarded and 

 pointed, and our lumber trade has flourished from this 

 kind of advertising. R. E. WOOD. 



ness man is geucr;ill\- hopeful, and believes that bi'tter things are 

 coming. 



The old presidential year bugbear, in spite of the tremendous 

 political mix-up of the present time, seems to have no particular 

 bearing on business. The average man isn't even discussing poli- 

 tics, and doesn 't seem to care how the politicians figure out the 

 game. He believes that politics have done their worst, and no 

 change can affect him with any more disaster than has encom- 

 passed affairs for the last few years. There are apparently few 

 strong partisans, either among Republicans or Democrats, for any 

 of those who have "shied their castors into the ring," seeking 

 the presidential nomination, and the business man doesn't seem 

 to care an iota whether the next president is Taft, Roosevelt, 

 l.al'ollette, "Wilson, Harmon, Clark, or some unknown dark horse. 



National Commercial Organization 



The president has signed a statement calling attention to the 

 value to American commerce that would result from the estab- 

 lishment of a representative national organization of commercial 

 associations of the entire country, and the secretary of Commerce 

 and Labor has issued a general invitation to commercial bodies 

 to join a conference to be held in Washington, April 22 (instead 

 of the earlier date previously announced), for the purpose of con- 

 sidering this question and outlining the principles by which such 

 an organization should be governed. A good many commercial 



associations, largely boards of 

 trade and chambers of commerce 

 of cities, have signified their in- 

 tention of having delegates pres- 

 ent. 



tiy many it is believed this 

 action is m important one look- 

 ing for the perfection of com- 

 merce in the United States, and 

 the Bureau of Manufactures feels 

 justified in aiding the establish- 

 ment of this organization in 

 every legitimate way. It is felt 

 that such a national organization 

 would at once afford a medium 

 for effective co-operation between 

 local bodies, and will give the 

 United States a system which 

 may be a vital factor in the de- 

 velopment of commerce and in- 

 dustry. 



This scheme follows the plan 

 generally in force in England and Germany, and it has been due to 

 the team work of such bodies in connection with governmental 

 agencies that the commerce and manufactures of those countries have 

 developed to the wonderful extent they have during the last decade. 

 Invitations to this conference have been issued to more than a 

 thousand organizations. Others not covered by the invitation are 

 also invited, and on application to the Bureau of Manufactures 

 will be included in the list of those receiving the call for the 

 meeting. 



Annual National Lumber Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation 



As ijreviously announced, the annual meeting of the National 

 Lumber Manufacturers' Association will be held at Cincinnati, 

 May 7-9, at the Sinton hotel. It is expected this meeting will 

 constitute one of the most important ever held by this association 

 of associations. Many of the organizations allied with it have 

 already appointed delegates. 



President Bigelow of the Michigan Hardwood Manufacturers' 

 Association, has appointed as delegates to the meeting from that 

 association, Bruce Odell, J. C. Ross, G. von Platen, F. L. Richard- 



16, 1911 

 advertising 



