HARDWOOD RECORD 



34c 



managers. A mighty good plan and one that is used by a great 

 many concerns in other lines, is to have all the salesmen (or as many 

 as expense will permit) convene at the main office with both of 

 the managers. Put them all on an equal footing and exchange 

 sales ideas, criticize methods that are now in use, suggest newer 

 ideas, shorter cuts in the way of doing things, tell of experiences, 

 repeat what customers say about the goods and so on. Besides 

 bringing out new points, this sort o£ gathering increases the interest 

 of the salesmen in their concern for they see that they have something 

 to say and are not merely ' ' hirelings. ' ' You will get the best 

 there is in them and you will be surprised at the results at the sales 

 end. You know too, that the "boys" are out on the road and they 

 see and hear things that you, in the office, never would. They should 

 be alert for suggestions, criticisms, etc., as they are the ones that 

 have to sell the stock. What you in the office want to do is to help 

 them all vou can. 



Follow-up letters play their part in any campaign. They are just 

 as essential as the advertisement. In fact, in some lines of business 

 they play the most important part. In this case, the advertisement 

 is simply placed there in order to secure the prospective customer's 

 name and address and then the follow-up starts to get in its work. 

 This consists of carefully thought out letters, booklets, catalogs, 

 etc. In the case of lumber, sales letters, stock lists, printed descrip- 

 tions, etc., are absolutely necessary. They have to be thought out 

 as carefully as the advertisement; they must be sent in logical 

 order, and the arguments must be in logical order. 



After advertising brings j-ou the inquiries, it is then up to you 

 to give special attention to the proper handling of sales letters, 

 inquiries, salesmen and in fact, priming up your whole selling 

 organization. 



Advertising jdays the part outlined in the first article. It gives 

 you the start. It sets the pace. You must do the rest. 



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§ Production of Veneers in 1911 



Statistics of- the veneer industry in the United States for 1911 

 are given in a bulletin soon to be issued by the Bureau of the 

 census. The total quantity of wood used in the manufacture of 

 veneers in the United States in 1911 amounted to 444,886,000 feet, 

 log scale. This represents a decrease of 6.8 per cent from 1910, but 

 an increase of two per cent over 1909. The number of mills reporting 

 in 1911 was 18 per cent less than in 1909, but the average output 

 per factory in 1911 was greater than in any other year. 



Veneer is very thin lumber. The raw material is usually purchased 

 in logs of random lengths. Some are cut into flitches and in turn 

 sawed into thin sections called sawed veneer. In other cases the 

 logs, after being steamed, are shaved by sharp knives. This method 

 produces sliced veneer. !Xeither of these processes is as extensively 

 used as the third, the rotary cut, although for certain purposes they 

 are of importance. The structure of the wood, the size of the logs, 

 and the use for which the veneer is designed largely determine the 

 process employed. Where the product is for fine exterior finish and 

 has to be selected and matched according to the figure or grain, sawing 

 is the favorite method. Together these two processes were employed 

 to make approximately two-thirds of the white-oak product and about 

 one-half of that from mahogany and other foreign woods, but only 

 about one-eighth of the output from domestic woods. The remainder 

 was manufactured by the rotary cut process. This method is similar 

 in principle to the slicing process. The log after being steamed is 

 revolved against a fixed knife the length of the log, and wide sheets 

 are shaved ofi'. Though the domestic and cheap veneers are generally 

 made by this method, the fact must not be lost sight of that, except 

 in the ease of oak veneer, the rotary-cut process was used equally 

 with the other two methods for cutting ornamental veneer from both 

 foreign and domestic woods. 



Veneers are cut into a number of thicknesses. The domestic woods, 

 rotary cut, range from 5/16 to 1/.50 of an inch, and the imported 

 woods from 3/16 to 1/34. The 3/16 is the most popular size, followed 

 by 1/8, 1/4, 1/16, 5/16, and 1/20. In the sawed and sliced products 

 the thickest veneer is 5/16 and the thinnest usually 1/110 of an inch. 

 The thicknesses most used were 1/20, 1/16, 5/16, 1/4 and 1/30, in 

 the order named. AVith such a wide range of thicknesses it would be 

 impracticable to gather the figures in surface measure and undertake 

 to reduce them to board measure, while if production were shown 

 by superficial contents, as in commerce, the figures would not be 

 comparable with the reports on other forest products. 



The future promises an extensive growth of this industry. Sheets 

 of veneer and the gluepot are likely to play an even more considerable 

 part in forest utilization. Built-up lumber, consisting of several 

 layers of veneer glued together, is becoming a more important factor 

 each year in the manufacture of a number of staple commodities. 

 Furniture tops, panels, and backs; drawer fronts and bottoms; chairs, 

 including auditorium seats; trunks; store and office fixtures; packing 



boxes; vehicle bodies; finish of passenger cars, etc., are examples. 

 This product has the requisite strength, is lighter than lumber, is 

 less likely to warp or check, and probably is less expensive, inasmuch 

 as the cheaper woods are utilized for the larger portion of its 

 manufacture. Some of the favorite woods used are species that 

 have not proven as serviceable for lumber as for veneer. The growing 

 tendency to market commodities, including fruits and vegetables, in 

 light-weight packages, such as berry cups, fruit baskets, tills, and 

 veneer boxes and barrels, has opened a wide field for shaved lumber. 

 This use is now thoroughly established, and its rapid increase seem a 

 certainty. 



Eed gum was the principal veneer wood cut and it constitutes more 

 than 30 per cent of the total of the domestic woods. In 1910 it' 

 reached its highest mark, a little over 34 per cent, which was more 

 than the combined amounts of any other four woods reported. The 

 use of this wood probably has been the prime factor in bringing the 

 veneer industry to the degree of importance it has attained. The 

 largest increase in quantity used of any wood in 1911 was shown by 

 white oak, which for the first time exceeded the consumption of yellow 

 pine, Cottonwood and maple. 



Ten of the woods used for veneer showed an increase and only nine 

 a decrease, notwithstanding the fact that the total was less than 

 the year before. The largest reductions were for yellow pine and 

 maple, amounting to over one-half of the total decrease. Of all woods, 

 Cottonwood, ranging from 30,000,000 to 34,000,000 feet during the 

 five years, has remained most constant. 



The greatest percentage 6f increase in use was shown for two 

 kinds of veneer wood but little used prior to 1911, namely, hemlock 

 and Douglas fir. With the exception of Spanish cedar, which is 

 employed principally for cigar boxes, the foreign woods are mostly 

 used for the best grade of cabinet work, and bring high prices. 



Relatively considered, the foreign species showed a much greater 

 falling off from the preceding year than did the domestic woods. The 

 decline of the former amounted to nearly 30 per cent, as against a 

 little over 6 per cent in the case of the latter. The decrease in the 

 quantity of mahogany was over 45 per cent — the largest reduction 

 shown by any of the veneer woods. All of the foreign woods generally 

 fell off in slight amounts, excepting Circassian walnut, which showed 

 a marked increase. 



The veneer industry is fairly widely distributed, being reported 

 from thirty-three states. The greatest production is in the central 

 hardwood region. In the order of their importance, the seven 

 principal veneer- producing states are Arkansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, 

 Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, and Missouri. Each of these states 

 reported over 2.5,000,000 feet, and each of the first three reported 

 more than 30,000,000 feet. The greatest losses occurred among the 

 southern states — Alabama. 43 per cent; Florida, 20 per cent; and 

 Texas, 46.7 per cent — while the largest gains occurred in Mississippi, 



