^ ^i^ ro}aM«watm!roM6mi>im!!wa^^ 



BOT!g5tf;ta5o;gfgs»5MttKmtJWiwg«:i> ! " 



The Lumhermans Round Table 



KEEPING TAB ON PILES 



A southern hardwood operator, commenting on the necessity of 

 tagging piles, told of an improved method used by his concern in 

 that respect. Instead of simply tacking a tag on the end of a 

 board, where the rain could hit it and where it could easily be 

 torn off, lie has had metal rims or frames provided and attached 

 permanently to the foundations of the piles. The card showing the 

 age of the pile, the quantity of lumber in the stack and other details 

 is slipped into this frame, where it is given perfect protection, and 

 is never lost or torn off. When the pile is taken down and a new 

 lot of green lumber put up, the old card is slipped out and the 

 new in. 



"By having this information kept in a permanent, safe place," 

 said the sawmill man, "and by following it up with a monthly 

 inventory, we have constantly at hand a statement of the lumber 

 in the yard, with its age." 



MAKING THE STOCK LIST WORTH WHILE 



A hardwood man who believes in making it as easy for the 

 customer to buy as possible has been sending out stock lists recently 

 which indicate his ideas in this regard pretty plainly. 



Instead of having simply a list of the items which he has on 

 his yard — he operates a large sawmill — he first lists the stock 

 which is dry and ready to ship ; and under another heading shows the 

 green lumber, which will be ready for the user within sixty or 

 ninety days. He said that frequently a customer wants an item 

 which is green, and is glad to know that it can be delivered at a 

 given date. 



In addition to this, he quotes prices f.o.b. the mill on his stock, 

 and gives the rate from the mill to leading markets. Not content 

 with this, he shows the effect of the rate on the price of the lumber 

 by converting a fifteen-cgnt rate, for example, into doUars-per- 

 thousand on each wood, so that the buyer can easily refer to his 

 particular market and get the price on any item quoted. 



The result of this plan has been all that could be wished, and has 

 made the stock-list really wortli while as a silent salesman. 

 ABOUT CUTTING STAPLE THICKNESSES 



"The sawmill man who cuts more than staple dimensions," said 

 a successful operator in the hardwood field, "is, in my opinion, 

 showing a lack of judgment. Take plain oak, for instance. It is 

 my policy to cut nothing but inch, unless I have an order for some 

 other thickness. 



' ' You hear a good deal said about the fat prices often secured 

 by manufacturers who have thick stock to otfer. Well and good; 

 they have to be mighty big to pay the additional expense of handling 

 that stock. The sawmill which is cutting half a dozen different 

 thicknesses of the same wood never has a good-sized stock of any 

 one dimension; and it is further put to the trouble of waiting a 

 longer time for the thick stuff to dry before it is ready for the 

 market. Then comes a long wait, usually, before the buyer can be 

 found for the material ; and if he doesn 't pay a round price for his 

 material, the lumberman has simply lost money. 



"My plan is to cut staple dimensions that are readily salable. 

 Then I know that I will not have to tie up a lot of money in stock 

 that is either drying unusually slowly or can 't be sold within .1 

 reasonable time after it is put on sticks. ' ' 



HICKORY A DIMENSION PROPOSITION 



Hickory seems to be at least one wood which has been put on a 

 dimension basis almost altogether. This is indicated by the fact 

 that handlers of lumber have found the demand for hickory stock 

 to be unusually slow. Investigation has shown that a good many 

 of their former customers are now getting most ot their material 

 cut to size, so that they can use it with a minimum of waste. In 

 view of the fact that hickory is getting to be a scarce commodity — 

 in spite of the rather large piles which are stacked up on a good 

 many yards — this method of handling the material appears to be the 

 proper one. 



—28— 



Handle men buy their stock cut to size, and wagon manufacturers, 

 who are among the largest users of the material, are likewise getting 

 the dimension idea. After the hardwood men have held their thick 

 hickory on their yards for a few more years, and have thought the 

 matter over, the chances are that they will decide to market their 

 stock on a dimension basis. 



LOW PRICE SOMETIMES A PROTECTION 



One of the worst things that can happen to a wood, from the 

 standpoint of its continued use, is an occasional rise in price which 

 makes it too expensive for the consumer to handle. Poplar is a 

 good example of this, for it has been the victim of more general 

 substitution, perhaps, than any other wood. 



Ash is an illustration just at present of the way the thing works. 

 This wood has been in excellent demand throughout the year, and 

 prices have been consistently high. The strength of ash has been 

 better maintained, probably, than that of any other wood on the 

 liardwood list, and a good many manufacturers thought that they 

 were going to be able to "clean up" on the wood this year. 



During the past month or two, however, it seems that a reaction 

 of some sort has made its appearance. Those curious enough to 

 inquire as to the reason for this, learned that users of ash for coach 

 work and other purposes have been resorting to hard maple and some 

 other similar woods as a means of avoiding the necessity of paying 

 the high prices demanded by those having ash lumber to sell under 

 previous conditions. 



This may cause prices to decline suflSciently to make it to the 

 interest of consumers to return to ash. But that illustrates the 

 point that abnormally higli prices are in a way a menace to the 

 security of a given wood's position. 



BRINGING WALNUT BACK INTO FAVOR 



If walnut ever comes back into general use on this side of the 

 water as a cabinet wood, it will be because furniture manufacturers 

 and others use an entirely different method of finishing from that 

 which was employed when walnut was a popular material. 



This idea was made perfectly clear when the writer happened 

 to see an odd suit of walnut furniture, made up in a southern factory 

 to the order of the customer. It was finished as it used to be in the 

 "good old days," when a high polish and lots of varnish were used, 

 with a resultant appearance that was cheapening and altogether 

 undesirable. 



A lot of people who have unearthed old family furniture and 

 restored it to use have nuide their walnut pieces things of beauty 

 by having them scraped and the wood finished in its natural color, 

 and rubbed dull. Finished in this way, the quiet but nevertheless 

 effective beauty of the wood is apparent to everybody, and makes 

 the monstrosities formerly perpetuated in the finishing-rooms of the 

 furniture factories appear to be an entirely different proposition — - 

 as they really are. 



Perliaps the supply of walnut is not sufficient to permit a real 

 market for it to be created in the furniture trade; but if there is, 

 the popular faucy must be won by showing the wood as it really is, 

 instead of finishing it in a way that destroys all possible chance 

 for its natural lieauty to impress the observer. 



DID YOU EVER SEE PERSIMMON FURNITURE? 



A Louisville hardwood man has a table made of quartered persimmon 

 which is probably one of the handsomest pieces of woodwork to be 

 found anywhere. In figure the wood is simply astonishing, and has 

 Circassian walnut looking like a pale imitation. It has rich yellow 

 and black coloring, which, when properly matched up, as in this 

 case, gives the appearance of a tiger skin inlaid somehow into 

 the top. It is a pity that there is not enough persimmon available 

 to enable the veneer manufacturers of the country to market it 

 in sufficient volume to establish its position in the trade. If there 

 were enough of it, it would be easy to assure it unlimited popularity, 

 because with its bizarre and striking figure it would capture the 

 public by storm. 



