HARDWOOD RECORD 



tlie prevention of fires in public forests and some of the states have 

 enacted legislation to this end. Many lumber manufacturers have 

 resisted the proposal on tlie part of sundry legislative bodies to 

 make laws providing for the burning of slashings, figuring that the 

 cost of l>iling and burning the tops, brush, debris, etc., left on the 

 ground after logging would be so excessive as to constitute a loss on 

 the lumber operation. However, this sentiment is checked in some 

 quarters, as is evidenced by one Minnesota operator. He states: 



"I bought quite a large tract of this timber and found that the 

 cost of burning the brush after all was not so ver.y high, and from 

 my experience and what information I have been able to gather I 

 believe that the burning of the brush is a very good thing. Any 

 one who is familiar with forests can readily realize that an old 

 slashing, sometimes very thick on the ground, close to a good piece 

 of timber, is bound to kill a lot of timber adjoining it if it evei;. 

 catches fire, and it furnishes material to start a large and damaging 

 fire which would not otherwise 

 occur. Personally, I am very much 

 in favor of burning all the brush 

 and debris which is left after log- 

 ging, as the benefit derived much 

 more than compensates for the 

 cost of the work." 



Beyond question, eventually, 

 stumpage owners will generally 

 concede the value of the burning 

 of their slashings for tlie purpose 

 of protecting their otlicr timber 

 properties. While the immediate 

 profit in lumber operation would 

 be materially reduced if slashings 

 were burned, the material added 

 profit from new growth and a 

 diminution of fire hazard in the 

 remaining forest would surely be 

 profitable. 



The Presidents Message 



Tlie President's message to 

 Congress this week is a very plain 

 and substantial business docu- 

 ment, and generally speaking, it 

 meets the approval of the best 

 business clement. ' 



In the matter of conservation 

 It asks for authority to appeal 

 to courts from- decisions of the 

 secretary of interior in land cases. 



It asks the authorization of 

 executive reservation of more 

 forest land in Oregon, Washing- 

 ton, Idaho, Montana, Colorado 

 and Wyoming. It asks for author 

 ity to lease coal deposits of the 

 government, and also of phos- 

 phate, oil and gas lands, under 

 regulations safeguarding the in- 

 terests of the people. It asks fur authority to lease waterpower sites 

 by the federal government. 



The President seeks the creation of a commission for Uie govern- 

 ment of Alaska; for a bureau for the control of national parks, and 

 jusks for enlarged appmiiriations to prevent forest fires, for reforesta- 

 tion purposes, and an appropriation to pay hospital expenses for those 

 injured in recent forest fires. 



INSPECTION LOGIC 



Undeniably this country is at the beginning of 

 a period of commercial prosperity, and it is emi- 

 nently desirable at this time that the hardwood 

 lumber business shall be so standardized and 

 equipped that it can be conducted along lines of 

 profitable and satisfactory dealing, and be made 

 as free as possible from friction and misunder- 

 standing. 



It is believed that the details of specific rules 

 covering the inspection and measurement of 

 hardwood lumber are of minor importance, if 

 these rules reasonably accommodate themselves 

 to the present lumber output of hardwood logs, 

 and the grades reasonably fulfill the requirements 

 of the eventual uses to which hardwood lumber 

 is placed. 



It is further believed that a multiplicity of sys- 

 tems of grading is inimical to the welfare of all 

 divisions of the hardwood industry, and that one 

 universal and union system of inspection would 

 contribute to the best interests of all concerned. 



Is this good lumber logic? If not, why not? 

 If it is, why is not the desideratum consummated? 



"The Propensity to Steal" 



deferring to the editniiiil nn.liT the aliove hc;idiiig printed on 

 November 10, the KKfcmi) is in receipt of the following communi- 

 cation : 



"We have heard iind reail a great deal of recent vears relative 



to the mixed grade problem, and there lias been comment, criticism, 

 and many remedies suggested for the ill; but I do not believe the 

 proper theory has been advanced to abolish the evil. 



"Some time ago wo read the papers written by our esteemed presi- 

 dent of the Manufacturers' Association, wherein he lays great blame 

 at the door of the jobber who robs unmercifully the innocent pur- 

 chaser. However we will uot take too rigid exceptions to this state- 

 ment, tor, when the jobber buys a carload of Xo. 1 common and 

 includes therein 20 per cent of No. 2 common with instructions 'to 

 mix thoroughly through the car,' his idea is to deceive his customer 

 in a great many instances. 



"If the millennium were at hand, or if we were all supernatural 

 beings, and men lived and died by the old, time worn, rusty Golden 

 Rule, we would have no mixed grade problem to discuss; but as we 

 are nothing more than human, and at that living in the 20th century, 

 where keen comprlitinn makes it necessary for all of us to fight for 



existence, we must deal with this 

 through more direct methods. 



' ' In the first place, who is 

 directly responsible for ninety 

 per cent of the grade mixing? 

 Let me answer, that it is the 

 consumer. 



"My observation and experi- 

 ence has extended over almost 

 every field in the lumber indus- 

 try, but I found that my educa- 

 tion was in infantile proportions 

 when I packed my grip and 

 started on the road as a lumber 

 salesman. Those of you who 

 have contributed to the columns 

 of the Eecord on this subject, 

 advancing theories and drawing 

 conclusions from an office chair, 

 get out on the road, and I be- 

 lieve you will find that my 

 theory is not very -crong. An 

 occasional trip into your territory 

 to visit your old customers, those 

 to whom you can go with an 

 'Hello, there, old boy; how are 

 you ? ' will not suffice. You 

 must take a territory week after 

 week, month after month; see 

 every one in the towns you visit ; 

 study their requirements, before 

 you can appreciate fully the 

 condition. 



"I believe that ninety per cent 

 .pf the lumbermen want to be 

 lionest and ship honest grades, 

 and would do it if they could. 

 But let me illustrate one of the 

 many encounters in my road ex- 

 [lerience: 



"1 enter the office of a con- 

 sumer and I am unacquainted with 

 his n'(|uirciiiciits. The buyer is congenial, however, and invites 

 me to a seat, and in conversation with him I learn that he uses 

 quite a (juantity of Xo. 1 common plain oak. I cautiously bring 

 him to a point where I deem it advisable to begin business, and 1 

 mention a good stock we have of this particular grade, its dryness, 

 manufacture, lengths, widths, texture, color, and dwell on a few 

 of the more essential points, all of which appeal to him; in fact, he is 

 so interested he interrupts and asks my price, and I reply that it is 

 $33 per thousand, delivered, we will say, in Grand Eapids. 



"He scoffs at my price and all my choicest arguments on grade 

 manufacture; (luality will not interest him in the least. He tells 

 me, also shows me (for I am from across the border), that he is 

 buying No. ] common at $27, delivered. He is correct in so far 



