HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 



The committee referred to lias just issued a communication to the 

 members of the association calling particular attention to the form 

 approved and urging that in all their transactions the membership co- 

 operate with each other in insisting that the terms of sale are as much 

 a part of the contract as is the price at which the lumber is sold. 

 Terms of sale were never intended as a mere matter of business red 

 tape. They were designed originally to serve a specific purpose, that 

 purpose being to inform the purchaser under just what conditions he 

 bought the stock purchased, or more specifically, they were cited as 

 the conditions under which any contract for purchase was let. For this 

 reason they were certainly to be considered as terms of the contract. 

 Therefore it is inconceivable that the purchaser of any commodity 

 has any more right to lengthen the time in violation of the terms than 

 the seller has to raise the price after it has once been fixed by contract. 



It is as simple as the most fundamental problem in arithmetic that 

 ignoring time of settlement in terms of sale has the effect of lowering 

 the selling price, and there is no conceivable reason why the purchaser 

 of any commodity would be allowed to continually lower the price of 

 the goods he purchases in good faith any more than the seller has 

 an equal right to raise the price on a rising market. 



It is unquestionably true that by working together in a business- 

 like manner the lumber trade can impress upon. the buying trade the 

 justice of these contentions, and that with the uniform adoption and 

 adherence to the terms of sale suggested, a much more satisfactory 

 condition will be brought about throughout the trade than now exists. 



Baltimore Exports Foreign Barometer 



APECUIAR SITUATION is shown in the figures compiled cover- 

 ing exports of logs and manufactured lumber from the port of 

 Baltimore to European ports and points in the United Kingdom. The 

 report covers the first six months of 1913, and with very few excep- 

 tions, up to the first of June, the entire list for every month showed an 

 increase of decided proportion. 



Figures for June, however, developed a different condition of trade 

 for that month, and in themselves would indicate that the export busi- 

 ness was even then beginning to show a slump. However, it is never 

 safe to count too strongly on the significance of such figures, as in the 

 export trade a fat month will very often be followed by an extremely 

 lean month, and vice versa, so that figures from month to month gen- 

 erally do not develop the importance that they apparently should. 



However, the indications at present for Baltimore export trade are 

 that a very unsatisfactory condition in the foreign market is being 

 reflected in the export trade. The high prices during the winter 

 months had an astonishing eii'ect upon the volume of export shipments, 

 as, with the vast profits to be derived, everybody having lumber suit- 

 able for foreign trade naturally wanted to get his share of them. 

 This has unquestionably led to shipments in excess of the probable 

 market with the result that in the course of a few months after 

 the beginning of the year some little accumulation of stocks was 

 felt abroad. 



This condition might not have manifested itself had it not been 

 for the fact that for several months Europe has been very much stirred 

 up because of the difficulties in the Balkan states, both during the 

 Turkish war and in the hostilities following the settlement of that 

 conflict. It may be and may not be true that the Balkan situation 

 was the primary factor in affecting the present unsettled and unsatis- 

 factory state of the condition of trade throughout the larger European 

 countries. It probably is not, but nevertheless this condition exists 

 and the evidences indicate that the export business during the next 

 few months will not be satisfactory. 



It is difficult even for those directly connected with foreign trade 

 conditions and daUy in touch with foreign markets to forecast the 

 probable trend of trade conditions during the next four or five months. 

 However, it is safe to assume that developments in this country regard- 

 ing the purchase of wood supplies will be analogous to those of 

 England and the European countries on the Continent. The fact that 

 June figures showed a falling off from June, 1912, and from May, 

 1913, while apparently disconcerting in themselves, should not be 

 looked upon as absolute proof that a big slump is imminent. The 

 various peculiar factors are unquestionably making themselves felt. 



and it is probable that with the settlement of the Balkan difficulties 

 a much more favorable condition will appear in European circles 

 and this condition will be reflected in the export markets of this 

 country. 



Is Hemlock Disappearing? 



THE STATEMENT has recently been made by a manufacturer 

 of hemlock and hardwoods in the North, a man who is well 

 qualified by ability and opportunity to accurately and closely 

 analyze conditions in the northern woods, that the days of hem- 

 lock are numbered. According to the statement of this man, 

 which is corroborated by statements of many other large manu- 

 facturers in the same section of the country, there has been for 

 several years a marked decrease in the cut of live, hardy hem- 

 lock timber and the total cut for the past few years has been 

 maintained only by utilizing closely the dead, down and mature 

 stock which would otherwise have been an utter loss. It is 

 further predicted by this same man that the next five years will 

 see hemlock production reduced to a point where it will not com- 

 mand as serious consideration as a factor in northern production 

 as it does today. In fact, one of the biggest Michigan hemlock pro- 

 ducers states that next year his hemlock cut will be thirty-three and 

 a third per cent less than it is this year. 



The reason for this remarkable change is the fact that hem- 

 lock in the woods is extremely susceptible to outside influences. 

 It has been noted time and time again that the least suggestion 

 of a forest fire around the roots and trunk of hemlock timber 

 will surely result in its death in the course of a year or two. 

 Furthermore, the mere fact of cutting away hardwood timber 

 around it and disturbing its natural environment seems to have 

 an immediate effect upon it. Nor can hemlock timber stand up 

 as steadily against wind-storms as do many of the other northern 

 species. 



This statement, which is surely correct as applied to Michigan 

 and presumably is partly correct as applied to Wisconsin, makes 

 it apparent that northern manufacturers cutting any amount of 

 hemlock stumpage should use every effort to utilize as speedily as 

 possible such hemlock timber as is becoming mature or as is 

 felled by wind-storms or deadened by forest fires or other causes. 

 To leave it in the woods for any length of time invites destruc- 

 tion by decay and infection of insects while to utilize it soon 

 after death insures the production of just as good quality of 

 stock as will be produced from the finest young trees in existence. 

 The suggestion of the man referred to brings a new thought to 

 mind and one which probably has not occurred to very many of 

 the large owners of stumpage in the states where hemlock is 

 found in such abundance. 



Association Value Proven 



IT IS A PRETTY WELL RECOGNIZED FACT that i;i no part 

 of the country is there a closer harmony among lumber manu- 

 facturers than exists among the members of the two northern 

 hardwood associations, namely, the Northern Hemlock and Hard- 

 wood Manufacturers' Association of Wisconsin and upper Michi- 

 gan and the Michigan Hardwood Manufactureis' Association. 

 This close working together is seen in a groat many ways. It is 

 noted in the freedom with which the members discuss conditions, 

 sales, prices and credits in their meetings; it is seen in the cordial 

 way in which they greet each other when getting together; it is 

 seen in the very effective work being done by both these associa- 

 tions for the benefit of their members. The proof, however, 

 does not come so much from mere observation of the members 

 themselves as individuals, but rather is shown in the results of 

 this working together, one of the most striking of which is the 

 present condition of stocks and prices among northern manufac- 

 turers who are members of either of the associations referred to. 

 These conditions are told in detail in other parts of Haedwood 

 Recoed of this issue but they surely prove to the country that 

 northern hardwood manufacturers are in much better shape than 



