24 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



district and in the lower Appalachians to form a nucleus of the 

 eastern forest reservations which were provided for by the bill 

 that passed the last Congress. Under the provisions of this bill 

 two million dollars will be available annually for a period of five 

 years to take over cut-over lands that can be purchased at a 

 reasonable price for the establishment of these parks. 



The entire details are not yet worked out, but it is anticipated 

 that a large quantity of depredated or semi-depredated land can 

 be secured at a price of from two to three dollars an acre, which 

 will form a nucleus for these reserves. After securing these prop- 

 erties the first work of the Forest Service will be to co-operate 

 with the several states in which the lands lie to prevent forest 

 fires. It would seem logical that present owners of these lands 

 should be willing to turn them over to the government at a very 

 moderate price, even if only for the sake of preventing forest 

 fires. The government's plan would protect not only the prop- 

 erty purchased by it, but also the surrounding timber areas owned 

 by individuals. The government is willing to purchase these 

 properties at a reasonable sum 

 and permit the original owner 

 to take off the saw timber dur- 

 ing a period of years, under 

 certain restrictions of removal. 

 Of course, one of the main 

 objects in establishing these re- 

 serves is to protect the sources 

 of the principal streams which 

 flow into the lower Atlantic and 

 the Gulf of Mexico. It has 

 been well demonstrated that 

 floods in rivers can be materi- 

 ally lessened by holding back 

 the flow in wooded and humus 

 covered areas. 



Again, it is figured that the 

 investment will be a profitable 

 one for the public at large if 

 these properties can be protect- 

 ed from ever recurring fires by 

 the establishment and protection 

 of a new timber growth. 



Individual owners have prac- 

 tically given up hope of attain- 

 ing practical results in refor- 

 estry by their own efilorts, as 

 fire and taxation make such in- 

 vestments very unprofitable. It 

 is to be hoped that the timber 

 owners in both the White Moun- 

 tains and the lower Appalachi- 

 ans will fully co-operate with 



the government and assist in establishing these forest reserves, 

 which in no wise would militate against current or prospective 

 lumber operations or the lumber business as a whole. 



THE ARGUMENT 



Somebody said, "This world is wrong; 

 There's no excuse for smile or song. 

 The blossoms on the bush or tree 

 Are all as false as false can be. 

 Since, like some unsubstantial friend, 

 Each brings his kindness to an end, 

 And scenes, however bright and gay, 

 'Neath chilling drifts must sleep some day." 



And some one cried, "This world's all right. 

 The snows will vanish in a night ; 

 The clouds that hang across the blue 

 Are bound to melt — they always do. 

 And blossoms, though they will not stay, 

 Return to cheer us on the way, 

 Old friends, whom time can ne'er remove, 

 Whose love with absence doth improve." 



— Washington Star. 



Efficiency in the Lumber Business 



An esteemed correspondent comments on lumber affairs and 

 lumber newspapers by suggesting that the lumber newspaper has 

 one of the greatest chances on earth to educate its clients to 

 improve methods looking towards added efficiency and consequent 

 economies in the production and handling of lumber. He avers 

 that a newspaper is simply a system whereby an editor may 

 become an educator and multiply himself. He says that nearly 

 every hardwood manufacturer carries on some detail of his busi- 

 ness in a most admirable way, which, if exploited to the trade 

 at largo would enable others to improve their systems in one or 

 more particulars. 



The average manufacturer is too busy to pay much attention to 

 what his neighbor is doing. He rarely visits his neighbors and 

 remarkably few manufacturers ever make inspection tours 



through other plants throughout the country to discover what new 

 wrinkle or improvement prevails at these operations. The corre- 

 spondent believes that if a careful analysis of the operations of 

 successful plants wore made, it would reduce to a remarkable 

 extent the manifest failures which constantly occur among lumber 

 operating concerns. 



He alleges that there is a kind of combined ignorance loose 

 among hardwood manufacturers that impairs efficiency to an 

 astounding extent. He cites the deduction of commercial agencies 

 that ninety-five percent of all business ventures eventually fail. 

 Efficiency as applied to the lumber business may be figured out 

 as the handling of a multitude of details in the best possible way. 

 Lumber manufacturing constitutes an infinity of operations from 

 the stump to the market, and while probably every manufacturer 

 handles some of these details in an adm.irablc way, he is weak on 

 many others. 



The correspondent quoted above kindly sends the Record a 

 series of suggestions involving weak spots in lumber production 



and handling which he encoun- 

 tered in a number of trips, 

 made for the purpose of pur- 

 chasing lumber. The sugges- 

 tions he makes are recited be- 

 low: 



"I find that in the average 

 plant manufacturing switch ties, 

 all lengths are delivered from 

 the mill and dumped on to the 

 loading dock together. When 

 the loading is undertaken the 

 labor cost is expensive in sort- 

 ing out these lengths to fill the 

 bills. The most approved meth- 

 od of handling switch ties is to 

 sort them into groups of lengths 

 and then they can easily be 

 placed aboard a flat car with- 

 out any extra handling. The best 

 grouping is to sort the 10' and 

 shorter lengths into one pile; 

 the 10'6 to 12' into another; the 

 12'6 to 14' in a third pile, and 

 the 14'6 to 16'6 in a fourth pile. 

 It surely is very simple to ar- 

 range a transfer track from the 

 mill to a loading dock which 

 would be convenient to the 

 track and accommodate these 

 various lengths. It usually re- 



quires but a small expense to 



arrange the dock and track in 

 this way and it saves a considerable cost in rehandling. 



"I find that many hardwood manufacturers are still piling lum- 

 ber in 12' or wider piles. I have made a careful analysis of 

 weights on one-inch oak piled in twelve-foot piles and in six-foot 

 piles. I find that 4/4 oak piled in twelve-foot piles weighed in 

 120 days 4,240 pounds, and the same stock piled in six-foot piles 

 weighed 4,020 pounds in 120 days. Therefore it is demonstrated 

 that the saving in freight alone fully compensates for the piling 

 in narrow piles. 



"I find there is a good deal of damage from season checking on 

 3" and 4" and over heavy hardwood stock. These thicknesses 

 come from the sawmill slowly, and much damage is done by leaving 

 the piles uncovered in process of accumulating. It does not cost 

 much to keep freshly piled lumber constantly covered, and espe- 

 cially in hot weather. Stickers should be sized and the ends of 

 the planks should be kept absolutely even to avoid warping and 

 checking in the hangover. It costs but a trifle to take piling 

 boards off the pile and put on a course or two and re-cover the pile. 

 "Considerable damage is also done to lumber by insecure pile 



