18 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



April 2-1, 1922 



forest ynerally excels the farm crop in convorting; cheap lands into 

 valuable per acre properties, paying taxes and paying a modest 

 nature-made interest rate with far greater regularity, besides pro- 

 ducing materials which support manufacture and transportation 

 fully equal in value to the value of the crop itself." 



While urging this action, by co-operation of the States with the 

 Federal Government the League further went on record as oppos- 

 ing the school of thought which would place the responsibility and 

 the exjiense of reforestation upon lumber manufacturers and other 

 owners of timber. The league did this by adopting a resolution 

 which confirmed the resolutions on the national forestry policv 

 adopted by the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association at its 

 annual meeting in Chicago on April 4 and .5. These resolutions said: 



Recognizing the public's respon.sibility for the formulation and con- 

 duct of a sound and adequate program of forest conservation and 

 replacement, the lumber industry desires again to pledge the aid of its 

 facilities to the end that our forest policj- may be sound and prac- 

 tical, and suited to the nation's need. 



No policy regarding our national resources is sound or can be per- 

 manently effective which is not consistent with the sound economic 

 principles which have stood the test of the experience of men and 

 nations. Reliance by the public upon effort to compel by law the prac- 

 tice of forestry by individuals irrespective of its profitableness or 

 prospect of profit is unwise because it can not be effective. Trees 

 can not be legislated into the ground, nor can laws change men's minds 

 as to what is profitable and what is not. 



Knduring and reassuring accomplishment in systematic replacement 

 of needed forests will come only when the public which is the bene- 

 ficiary, in its own interest, in its own behalf and at its own expense 

 shall itself have assumed this responsibility. 



The members of the resolutions committee are as follows; W. G. 

 Hollis of Minneapolis, Miun., chairman pro teni.; A. J. Smith of 

 Decitur, Ind.; J. H. Himniclberger of ("ape Girardeau, Mo,; E. E. 

 Parsonage of Molinc, 111.: Dr. L. H. Panimcl of Ames, Town; Prof. 



F. Both of Ann Arbor, Mich,, and Edmund Secrest of Wooster, Ohio. 



The eight states having membership in the League were repre- 

 sented by men or women selected by the governors of the several 

 states. The eight states represented are as follows: Ohio, Indiana, 

 Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota. 



Gov. .r. A. 0, Preus of Minnesota attended the meeting person- 

 ally to represent his state, and took an active and leading part in 

 the discussions of forestry conditions in the various states. 



Among the distinguished forestry authorities present was Prof. 

 .1. W. Tourney, dean of Yale Forest School, who declared that the 

 correct use of the land is the greatest problem confronting the 

 American jieople. It is the greatest basic resource from which 

 comes food, clothing and shelter. A land policy must be adopted 

 that will insure for all future time an adequate supply of the 

 materials that grow from the soil, and the supply of wood can not 

 be assured until the annual growth is equal to the annual consump- 

 tion. In reply to a question he said that there is in the United 

 States enough nonagricultural land to supply the country's wood 

 needs forever, if it is put to the growing of wood at once. In his 

 opinion the adv;incc in the price of forest ])roducts will be propor- 

 tionately greater in coming years than will the advance in agricul- 

 tural ]}riiducts. As a consequence, the time will eome when lands 

 now used for agriculture can be more profitably put to growing 

 trees. Prof. Tourney said that state forests should lie linked up 

 with the ]iarks, and they should become the playgrounds of the 

 people. 



The meeting was presided over by W. L. Hall of Chicago, former 

 assistant United States Forester, who acted as chairman in place 

 of John V. Norero.ss, chairman of the Public Affairs Committee of 

 the Union League Club, who sponsored the meeting. 



If statistics recently gathered by Hardwood Rkcokh from twenty- 

 one rejiresentative hardwood manufacturers scattered throughout the 

 Mississippi delta region are a fair criterion, only some 3?) per cent 

 of the mills were cutting and virt\ially no logging was going on in 

 this region around April 1. Of the twenty-one mills reporting, nine- 

 teen had not logged from 10 days to a year; one had not logged for 

 ■A year or more because of general conditions, and another had done 

 no logging since the fall of 1!>'J1. but this because of the practice of 

 banking enough logs at the mill in the fall to make a winter's run. 

 Of these mills tliat were not logging, iive reported that they probably 

 would not resume their logg-ing operations for sixty days; four for 

 thirty days; two for ninety days, one for ten days, one for 120 days 

 and the remainder for indefinite periods. 



In a majority of the cases logging operations had been stopped be- 

 cau.se of wet woods, and the stopping: of the mills had followed for 

 a similar reason. 



These njills were asked what penentage of log inimf to normal they 

 had got out of the woods the jjast winter, and only one had got out 

 as high as SO per cent. Five replied that they had logged 50 per cent; 

 one, ?» jier cent; one, 70 per cent; one, 60 per cent; one, 40 per cent; 

 one, 311 per cent; one, 25 per cent, two, no per cent and others in- 

 definite amounts, but all subnormal. The majority of these reported 

 that they had been able to get their logs in to the mill and saw them 

 up, but one inill said that it had 2,000,000 feet of logs in the woods 

 going to waste and anotlier had 1,000,000 in the woods in an inacces- 

 sible ])Osition. 



Of the mills that reported down one had not cut for 180 days; one 

 for :'.00 days; two, 30 days; one, 60; one, 7; one, 21; one, 15; one, 10. 

 All of these reported that they would not resume ojierations for 10 

 to ()0 days. 



In rejily to the question, "Wh:it is your total stock, .'ill grades, as 



iiimparerl to normal?'' five mills replied 100 jier cent; three, 50 per 

 cent; three, 60 per cent; three, 75 per cent; two, 70 per cent; one, 

 SO ]ier ccid ; one, 40 per crnt, and one, :\'> per cent. 

 Overstocked on Lower Grades 



The ni'.Nt rpiestion asked was, ' ' How is this proportioned as he- 

 twcen tlic upper and lower grades?" Nearly all reported a larger 

 [iroportioii of lower grades. One mill had over 100 per cent more 

 lower gr;idcs than upper; two, 90 per cent more; one, 80 per cent; 

 luie, 60 jier cent. One mill, however, had 60 per cent more upper 

 gr.'ides th:in lower; one 50 per cent more FAS than lower; one, an 

 ecpial amount of upper and lower grades. Others merely reported a 

 great deal more lower than upper grade stock. 



"How is your quantity of upper grades compared to the normal 

 amount of upper grades on hand?" brought these answers: four, 100 

 Jier cent; one, 200 per cent; two, 75 per cent; one, 50 per cent; three, 

 25 per cent; one, 10 per cent, and others indefinite, but sub-normal 

 amounts. 



Following this was the question, "How docs your quantity of lower 

 grades compare to the normal amount of lower grades on hand?" 

 Two mills replied that they had on hand 200 per cent more lower 

 grades than usual; two mills had 150 per cent more; one, 125 per cent 

 more; six, over 100 per cent more; one, 75 per cent more, and one, 40 

 per cent more. One mill stated that while it had on hand a normal 

 supply of upper grades, it has "given away" its lower grade stock 

 and had none on hand. 



Kequested to tell, "What tendency do you experience in the matter 

 of inquiries and sales?" a majority of the mills answering this ques- 

 tion reported conditions unsatisfactory. Some mills reported that both 

 inquiries and orders were few, while others tliat had been receiving 

 a good many inquiries stated that few of these resulted in orders. 

 Several mills reported business as "spotted." Four mills, however. 



