HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 



exhibit as the one now shown in t'anaila and that they will not 

 allow our Canadian neighbors to surpass it in completeness and 

 noveltv. 



An Indication of Progress 



IX SPITK '^F THP: lililEXSITY of the lumber industry, luudier- 

 men as a class have never been accused of being the most modern 

 I lass of business men in their general methods of business adminis- 

 tration. In fact, on the other hand, they have been accused of 

 \arious policies not strictly in conformity with the most modern 

 ideas of thf business world. It has been constantly suggesteil that 

 lumbermen do not work in harmony with each other, are to a great 

 extent jealous of the succerses of one another, and for that reason 

 their plans of operation and administration are not at all in ac- 

 cordance with the methods which should be used to produce the 

 very highest return out of the necessary investment. Therefore 

 it is interesting to note the efforts on the part of southern jjinc 

 manufacturers to guard against the expense of accumulation of 

 liigh-)jriced lumber and the consequent loss from such accumulation, 

 by shutting down for one day in the week. 



It is reported that this policy is now being pursued by a large 

 number of pine mills in the South and if it is conscientiously fol- 

 lowed it will without question redound to the benefit not only of 

 the pine trade but of the lumber business as a whole. Pine is more 

 or less a barometer of lumber trade conditions throughout the 

 country, and, in its fluctuations, pretty closely marks the range of 

 the markets in the various other woods. Therefore this effort cer- 

 tainly should eifect in the near future a highly satisfactory influ- 

 ence on the state of trade in such other woods as Pacific coast 

 products, hardwoods, northern pine and hemlock and various ether 

 woods, either competitors or non-comjietitors of yellow pine. 



Discovered, — World's Largest Forest, — 

 400 Acres 



Ax AKTICLE ajipeaiing in one of the last issues of a prominent 

 metropolitan newspaper points out what, to the lumberman, 

 will appear to be a startling state of affairs regarding timber con- 

 ditions. Lumbermen are well aware of the hue and cry that 

 has gone up throughout the country during late years regarding 

 the supposed imminent shortage in the supply of virgin timber, 

 ]iarticularly hardwood. The most conservative of the agitators 

 along these lines have placed the limit of the present stand at 

 some twenty years, while others a little more liberal in their 

 estimates have guessed at twenty-five and thirty years as the 

 jirobable life of the now available supply of hardwood stumpage. 



Sawmill owners operating in hardwoods will be startled, not to 

 say alarmed or even panic-stricken, at the knowledge that the 

 largest tract of virgin forest now in existence covers an area ot 

 400 acres in the vicinity of Danville, 111.; at least this is the 

 report of the newspaper in question. One of the Sunday editions 

 of this paper contains an illustrated, page story regarding this 

 tract, and seems to consider the fact that there are 400 acres of 

 hardwood stumpage now standing untouche<l by the axe or saw 

 as truly wonderful. 



Seriously speaking, however, this offers a very striking example 

 of the absolute ignorance of the conditions of which they write, 

 )irevalent among newspaper men or magazine contributors in their 

 attempts to exploit in print questions pertaining to the woods and 

 the lumber business in general. It is a deplorable fact, but one 

 which is nevertheless true, that this ignorance exists ^regarding 

 the second largest industry in the country-. 



Incidentally, the stand in question is rather interesting from an 

 historical standpoint inasmuch as it was granted in 1837 by Pres- 

 ident Van Buren to the family which now holds it. It has come 

 down through the years to the present owner, who absolutely 

 refuses to part with it to lumbermen on any consideration. It 

 really is a mighty good stand as far as it goes, containing most 

 excellent walnut and white oak, but as far as the scare-head title 

 is concerned, which reads: "The World's Biggest Forest; 400 

 Acres Near Danville, 111., ' " the ridiculousness of it is so appalling as 



to be beyon.l comprehension on the part of anyone even remotely 

 conversant with forest conditions throughout this country, which 

 is so famous for its prolific supply of hardwood, ]iine and other 

 noted timber. 



This surely offers another and a striking juoof that the estab- 

 lishment of the Forest Products Exposition is a wise move. The 

 public is surely in need of authoritative information when it is 

 |iossihle for -^uch asinine statements as the above to get into print. 



Another Phase of Substitution 



Till-: H'ilBER TRADK !uis been hearing a great deal during the 

 last three years regarding the possible ill efl:'ects which will 

 result to the lumber business from the establishment of the so- 

 called wood substitutes in many lines. It has been pretty con- 

 clusively proven and evidently is at last fully realized by the 

 lumbermen that the manufacturers and advocates of various arti- 

 cles for many purposes aiming to take the place of wood have 

 gained a strong foothold. With this realization on the part of the 

 lumbermen are bound to come proper means for combatting the 

 advances of the substitute materials. First among the important; 

 implements of warfare against the substitute is the Forest Prod- 

 ucts Exposition which at last has reached a definite basis. There 

 are many other schemes, some in operation, some pending, and 

 some merely proposed; but it is safe to say that in the end lum- 

 liennen will have organized themselves in such a way as to suc- 

 cessfully condiat the encroachment of many substitutes which, 

 while claiming to be superior and less expensive than wood, are 

 not at all adapted to the purposes for which they are proposed. 



However, there is another phase of modern business which i)re- 

 sents itself particularly to the lumber trade in connection with 

 the adoption of modern ideas and methods of manufacture and 

 merchandising products of the forest. Specifically, this develop- 

 ]nent is the growing tendency on the part of consumers of various 

 kinds of lumber to substitute one species for another when it 

 becomes apparent that to continue using one particular kind of 

 wood would mean a greater cost than would be necessary in using 

 some other kind just as w?ll adapted and which can be had at a 

 considerably less expenditure. The constant readjustment of the 

 relative position of the various wood species in their relation *to 

 one another is by some taken to indicate a more or less chaotic 

 condition existing among the buyers of forest products. Those of 

 this opinion argue that the very fact that the consumers are con- 

 • tinually switching from one wood to another indicates that they 

 have no idea of the relative value and adaptability of the different 

 woods offered; but it is probably a fact that just the opposite is 

 the case. 



The average lumberman wliu has followed the trend of events 

 needs but call to mind the rapid development in thi! use of such 

 woods as gum, hemlock, cottonwood, birch, etc., and the cor- 

 responding decrease in the use of certain other species, and to 

 review the orders he has received from various consuming con- 

 cerns from year to .year to know that this condition is not only 

 a tact but will be more and more apparent as the years go by and 

 as the available supply of certain woods is decreased with a cor- 

 responding price increase and the availability of other species 

 is discovered. 



What, then, is the logical deduction.' It is merely this — that in 

 order to keep abreast of changing conditions every lumberman, 

 no matter in what class of wood he operates, whether he handles 

 northern hardwoods or southern hardwoods exclusively, is con- 

 fronted with the absolute necessity for acquiring as broad and 

 accurate a knowledge of the various species which are now 

 competitors of the woods he handles as is possible. Not only this, 

 but if he wants to be strictly pirogressive, he should study every 

 reliable source of information, not merely with the idea of getting 

 facts regarding the already established woods, but of endeavoring 

 to discover new possibilities for utilizing other woods which do 

 not now enjoy so wide usage. It was not so many years ago that 

 gum was practically a despised product of the southern forests. 

 Today it is one of the strongest of our .\meriean hardwoods. 



