HARDWOOD RECORD 



27 



Cypress Manufacturers in SemuAnnual Convention 



The Southern Cypress Manufacturers' 

 Association convened at the call of Presi- 

 dent Frederick Wilbert in the Grunewald 

 Hotel, New Orleans, La., on Wednesday morn- 

 ing, November 10. The roll call showed an 

 attemlanee from twenty-two milLs. 



Following the report of Treasurer E. 

 Swartz, showing receipts of $20,974.01 and 

 expenditures of .$li0,464..54, George W. Dodge 

 of the Finance Committee made a brief 

 oral report. In the absence of a writ- 

 ten report of the Railroad Committee, Sec- 

 retary Watson read the Louisiana Railroad 

 Commission announcement of the meeting 

 of that body on November 23 to formulate 

 uniform mileage rates on lumber in Louis- 

 iana. 



John A. Bruce of the committee on 

 grades had no formal report, but said that 

 the number of re-inspected cars had in- 

 creased during the last six months. He 

 further stated that the majority of the 

 complaints were on grades, with some on 

 thickness and others on condition. The 

 committee made no recommendation, but 

 brought up the question of the size of 

 picket heads, on which no action was 

 taken. 



Following this came the report of Chair- 

 man Watson of the Committee on Terms of 

 Sale, who read a letter from the Baker- 

 Wakefield Cypress Company, suggesting 

 that the mill be compelled to pay for in- 

 spections necessitated by shortages and the 

 report of the Committee on Market Con- 

 ditions, in which it was pointed out that 

 stocks were rather long and prices a little 

 below the desired plane. 



H. B. Hewes, chairman of the Committee 

 on the Utility of Cut-Over Swamp Lands, 

 then submitted the following report: 



report of Committee on the Utilization of 

 Cut-Over Cypress Swamp Lauds 



It will be roniemiiered that some time over 

 two years ago your committee solicited and ob- 

 tained the assistance of tlie United States For- 

 est Service in its researches into the growtli ot 

 cypress with a vVw of ascertaining whether or 

 not it was pracllinl to practice forestry in this 

 wood, and the conclusion rcnihed at that time 

 was that cypress was of too slow a growth. 

 under the pr.'sent method of taxation, to war- 

 rant till' practice <tf frircstry and that a second 

 cut of timber conid not be obtained within 

 thirty or forty years, as is possible in pine or 

 other faster growing woods. 



There was evidence to show, however, that 

 when the large timber was cut away from the 

 smaller trees, the latter then grew much faster, 

 but how much faster could not be definitely 

 determined, and, with a view of getting this 

 Information, several trees on logged-over lands 

 were measured and marked on November 20, 

 190S. and again miasured just a few days ago, 

 and now. after a lapse of two years, wc find ; 



One tree twenty-seven inches In diameter has 

 increased one .ind one-third inches. 



One tree twenty-five inches in diameter has 

 increased one inch. 



One tree twenty-seven inches in diameter has 

 increased one and one-tenth inches. 



This shows an annual average Increase in 

 diameter of a little over one-half Inch, which Is 

 more rapid growth than we had anticipated. 



These trees were all In one locality and had 

 everything In (heir favor for rapid development, 

 and whether this same ratio could be maintained 

 over a series of years throughout our swamps 

 we arc not In a position to say ; If It can, then 

 it is possible to prai.'tice forestry in cyijress, 

 provided a different method of taxation is 

 adopted by the several states in which It grows, 

 so as to exempt cut-over lands, devoted to for- 

 estry, from taxation absolutely, and tax the tim- 

 ber itself at the time it is cut. 



This method of taxation has already received 

 considerable attention at the hands of both the 

 Louisiana Conservation Commission and the Na- 

 tional Conservation Congress, which has done 

 to much to mold public opinion to the necessity 

 of conserving our natural resotirces, and the 

 time may come when such laws will be enacted 

 by our timbered states, but It must come 

 (luickly if it is to be of any practical use ; for 

 under the present method of taxation all timber, 

 down to the smallest trees, is being rapidly con- 

 sumed. 



Whether the laws of our state will ever permit 

 us to practice forestry in cypress enough is of 

 less importance to members of the Southern 

 Cypress Manufacturers' Association than it is 

 to our neighbors who are manufacturing pine, 

 as we have two strings to our bow, and if we 

 cannot continue as lumbermen, we can at least 

 devc!lop into farmers, as our cut-over swamp 

 lands, composed of rich alhivial soil, are in 

 most instances subject to reclamation, and when 

 drained and cleared will be very valuable for 

 agricultural purposes. 



If there is any one thing attracting the at- 

 tention of the investor today, more than any 

 other in the state of Louisiana, it Is the recla- 

 mation of sw'amp and marsh lands. 



Our people generally are just now beginning 

 to realize the value of these lands for agricul- 

 tural purposes, and their superiority, when 

 dr;iinc<l and cleared, over the arid irrigated lands 

 of the West, and it requires no prophet to fore- 

 tell that it is only a matter of a short time 

 until their superiority will be generally recog- 

 nized and thousands of immigrants will be flock- 

 ing to this section of the states to settle these 

 lands while they can yet be purchased at much 

 less than their intrinsic value. 



The price of farm lands in the middle and 

 western states is based upon the annual aver- 

 age net revenues they will produce, which is the 

 reason that many today are selling for ,$200 to 

 .?2.">0 per acre, and tliere is no rc^ason why the 

 same method of valuation should not obtain in 

 Louisiana, and it will as soon as this country 

 Is discovered and the farmer realizes the won- 

 dcrftd possibilities that exist here in his line. 



Members of this association own over 2,000,000 

 acres of swamp lands which are being depleted 

 of their timber at an exceedingly rapid rate, 

 nearly all of which is subject to reclamation, 

 and we urge upon the Individual owners of these 

 lauds to give them the attention they deserve 

 with a view of ultimately converting them Into 

 tarming lands, the like of which in fertility this 

 country has never seen. 



II. n. Hewes, Chairman. 



The afternoon session was opened by .1. 

 A, Bruce of the Committee on Grades, who 

 recommended the adoption of the rule of 

 the Hardwood Manufacturers' Association 

 of the United States relative to line boards, 

 w^hich reads as follows: "In line boards 

 pieces 14 feet and longer shall be given 

 advantage in grade. 12 feet and shorter 

 reduced in grade." The measure was 



adopted, as was H, B. Hewes' motion that 

 :"-4 tank shop select and first and sec:ond 

 clear lumber be shipped rough and thick 

 enough to dress two sides to 1% and 6-4 to 

 dress under the same conditions to 1%. 



The regular business before the meeting 

 terminated in a communication from a 

 contractor read by the secretary, in which 

 he emphasizes the fact that he could not 

 stand the price of $65 for common cypress 

 lumber, and furthermore that upon investi- 

 gation the price obtained by manufacturers 

 on the same lumber delivered in the same 

 city, No. 1 common cypress was for the 

 verj 'vst sale $24..50, The communication 

 caui considerable discussion but no of- 

 ficial action was taken. Adjournment fol- 

 lowed. 



The attendants were: 



H. L. Baker, Baker-WakeQeld Cypress Com- 

 pany, I'laltenville, La. 



a". L. Burnett, Baldwin Lumber Company, Bald- 

 win, La. 



John Irvine, Bayou Sara Lumber Company, 

 Bavou Sara, La. 



Gus Drews, Brownell-Drews Lumber Company. 

 Morgan City, La. „ 



E. G. Swartz, Burton-Swartz Cypress Company, 

 Burton. La. „ „ 



E. G. Westmorland, Chalmettc Cypress Com- 

 pany, Arabl. I.,a, 



l': M. Jlorley, Morley Cypress Company, Mor- 



'^job'n Deblieux, Levert Lumber & Shingle Com- 

 pany, Plaquemino, La. 



George Sundferry, Napoleon Cypress Company, 

 Napoleonville, La, 



n. M. Gotten, Gotten Brothers Cypress Com- 

 pany, Morgan City, La. „ ' , .. 



.lohn Dibert. Lutcher & Moore Cypress Lumber 

 Company, Lutcher, La. 



L. W. Gilbert. Dibert, Stark & Brown Cypress 

 Company, Donner. La. 



W. H. Martz. Good Land Cypress Company. 

 Chacahoula. La. 



George W. Dallas, Iberia Cypress Company, 

 New Iberia, La. - c, , , 



II. B. Hewes. .leanerette Lumber & Shingle 

 Company. Jeanerette, La, 



G. C. Stebblns, Lyon Cypress Company, Gary- 

 ville, La. „ „ 



George W. Dodge, Napoleon Cypress Company, 

 Napoleonville, La. 



,Iohn W. Opdenweyer, Opdenneyer-Flscher 

 Cypress Company, Sorrento, La, 



L. H. Price, Uamos Cypress Company. Ramos. 



J. .\. I'eteruian. Kyle Lumber Company, Frank- 

 \V. rr. Gibbons. .Menefee Cypress Company, Ber- 



.Tohn' A. Bruce. Owl Bayou Cypress Company, 

 Strader, La. „ 



A. T. Gerrans. St. Louis Cypress Company. 

 Iloiima. La. > c , , 



A. C. .lohns, Whitecastle Lumber & Shingle 

 Companv. Whitecastle, La. 



Frederic Wilbert. A. Wilberfs Sons Lumber & 

 Shingle Companv, I»lat|uemlne. La. 



F. B. Williams. F. B. Williams Cypress Com- 

 iianv. Patterson, La. ^, , 



Leonard Bronson, general manager National 

 Lumber .Manufacturers' Association, Chicago. 



(;eoige K. Smith, secretary Yellow Pine Manu- 

 facturers Association. St. Louis. 



Lewis Doster, secretary Hardwood Manufac- 

 turers' Association of the United States, Clncln- 



Frank F. Fish, secretary National Harilwood 

 Lumber .\ssociatlon. Chicago. 



II. M. Thompson, conservator of forests for 

 southern Nigeria, states that In wide observa- 

 tions he has noticed that mahogany trees grow 

 three or four rings each year, corresponding, ap- 

 parently, to the four seasons. Both forest trees 

 and those grown In botanical gardens, he says, 

 show this same phenomenon. On the site of the 

 town ot Ijaye. destroyed about sixty years ago, 

 has grown op a forest of mahogany trees, many 

 of which have trunks exceeding ten feet In • 

 girth. 



