HARDWOOD RECORD 



43 



Clear cutting alone, of matured timber is in 

 vogue (with the exception of thinnings) ; the 

 cleared areas are afforested immediately at an 

 expense varying between eight and ten dollars 

 to the acre. All the logs, and all of the pulp- 

 wood cut by the foresters on behalf of the 

 owner are sold by auction. This section of 

 Saxony has developed most wonderfully in the 

 last twenty years, and the development has 

 meant, naturall.v. the establishment of a large 

 number of industries, some of them detrimental 

 to the woods — not by exhausting the timber, 

 but by killing the trees with the toxic gases 

 emitted from their smoke stacks. The influence 

 of these gases (notably of sulphuric acid) on 

 certain parts of the state forest was shown 

 strikingly. Xo remedies are yet known by which 

 this damage might be restricted. The owners 

 of the forest abandon the raising of sensitive 

 species, producing in lieu of them the less sen- 

 sitive kinds. 



Naturally we were much interested in German 

 methods of logging. Quite frequently the trees 

 are taken out with the roots, and what we call 

 a stump in America is added to the butt end of 

 the log. the roots at the butt of the stump 

 being severed from the tree when the latter is 

 pulled down. The logging sleds, which were 

 being used at the time of our visit — there be- 

 ing about fifteen inches of snow in the woods — 

 are of a rather rude design. Their capacit.v, 

 however. Is extreme, the average load being 

 .I.OOO feet, board measure, to the sled. Need- 

 less to say that we visited the sawmills (gang- 

 saws) and the pulp mills in this district. Re- 

 turning to Darmstadt towards the middle of 

 the month of December, we also inspected a saw- 

 mill at Darmstadt, a steam mill in which there 

 are found gang saws and horizontal straight 

 saws, the latter being used for the heavier and 

 more valuable logs. The mill owner is, inci- 

 dentally, a milling contractor, preparing in the 

 mill, ready for nailing, the entire structure of 

 lumber required by the builder for a given 

 hotise. Herbert L. Sullivan, 



Class President, B. F. S. 



Asuncion to Buenos Aires is .$.S.40 to $3.82 per 

 ton, American money. Quebracho logs are 

 quoted in Hamburg at 5;22..50 per 1,000 kilos 

 (2.204.6 pounds), cash, and $23 on time pay- 

 ment ; extract of quebracho, $7.40 per 100 

 kilos, cash, and $8.30 on time. 



Quebracho Timber in Paraguay 

 Americans have made inquiry as to que- 

 bracho resources supplementary to the articles 

 which have appeared at various times in Con- 

 sular and Trade Reports. The price of que- 

 .bracho lands in Paraguay is from $G,000 to 

 $7,000 Argentine gold ($1 of which equals 

 $0,965 American) per square league (4,633.123 

 acres). Nearly all the capital invested in Para- 

 guay quebracho lands is Argentine. As the 

 trees are dispersed in other timber, it is con- 

 sidered necessary to acquire tracts of DO to 

 160 square leagues, and even much greater in 

 extent, in order to obtain a fair average to the 

 league. It is necessary before purchasing to 

 have the land thoroughly examined by an expert, 

 to determine whether it is really quebracho 

 land. River frontage is necessary on account 

 of the great difficulty of transporting the logs. 

 Because of the large area of land in proportion 

 to the amount of quebracho timber, capitalists 

 interested in this industry, as a rule, com- 

 bine the cattle business with it. 



Paraguayans do not at present take to the 

 quebracho industry, unfortunate experiences hav- 

 ing been somewhat common in connection with 

 it. The probable reason is lack of sufficient local 

 capital to embark on a large scale and so mini- 

 mize the element of uncertainty. No one here 

 seems to be able to give any kind of a basis 

 for valuation of quebracho lands. The average 

 number of trees per league is a matter of mere 

 venture. The limit of production from large 

 areas does not seem to have been found. The 

 returns from an investment are probably a mat- 

 ter of handling .the labor. 



Practically no quebracho timber or extract is 

 sold in Paraguay, but is shipped to Buenos 

 Aires, where it is consumed or trans-shipped 

 to Europe. The freight rate on timber from 



John S. Hurd Opens New Chicago Office 



John S. Hurd's many friends in the trade will 

 be pleased to learn of his having taken up a 

 new abode at 851 JIarquettc building, Cliicago. 

 The first of last June Mr. Hurd started in 

 the wholesale business for himself, with offices 

 on South Water street, in tnis city. He has 

 .iust taken up his new quarters in the Marquette 

 building, and is now equipped with all the neces- 

 sities for taking care of a large trade. His 

 personality and always pleasant disposition, to- 

 gether with his known ability and willingness 

 to produce the goods, have made for him a host 

 of friends among both the mill and the con- 

 suming trade. 



>Ir. Hurd is a practical lumberman. His 

 knowledge of the lumber game is founded upon 

 an experience running back through all the 

 essential steps, down to the humble position of 



JOHN S. lUKIi, CHICAGO. 



tally boy. in which capacity he started in the 

 employ of Nicola Brothers of Pittsburg in 1900. 

 At that time this firm was handling large quan- 

 tities of Cottonwood through Cincinnati, where 

 Mr. Hurd received his first experience in the 

 inspection of Cottonwood and in which he has 

 become a specialist. From his position with 

 Nicola Brothers, Mr. Hurd went with O. P. 

 Hurd, Jr., & Co., Cairo, 111., which firm is 

 headed by an older brother, and was then 

 located at Cincinnati. He remained with them 

 , for eight years, working in the capacity of 

 bookkeeper, inspector at the Cairo yards, and 

 then as traveling salesman. 



Mr. Hurd states that during the last two 

 years he was with O. P. Hurd, Jr.. & Co., he 

 sold yellow pine for several of the large southern 

 manufacturers, to prepare himself for which he 

 made a trip through the yellow pine districts, 

 acquiring an intimate acquaintance with grading 

 and stocks of the different mills. Since that 

 time it has been his policy to take a trip among 

 his southern mill connections at least once a 

 year, to keep in touch with what they are 

 doing. It is Mr. Hurd's belief that he has as 

 many friends among the mill trade as among 

 the buyers. 



It is Mr. Hurd's intention to specialize In 

 plain and quartered red and white oak, gum, Cot- 



tonwood, cypress and yellow pine. He has mill 

 connections of unexcelled character for all of 

 these lines. His cottonwood comes from a 

 large band mill in Arkansas, specializing in 

 equalized stock • cut from virgin timber of the 

 yellow variety. Its output is 00,000 feet a 

 day. He also handles the stock of a Missis- 

 sippi band mill, specializing in quartered white 

 oak and an Arkansas mill which cuts equalized 

 gum as a specialty. This is largely sap, most 

 of the red being exported. He depends tor his 

 cypress on large mills in Mississippi, from which 

 state also he gets some of his stock of yellow 

 pine. One mill in that state makes a specialty 

 of long-leaf timbers, which are handled by Mr. 

 Hurd. Other connections in Arkansas and Louis- 

 iana specialize in short-leaf finish and shed 

 stock. 



Scarcity of Willow 

 Judging from the demand and prices offered, 

 there would appear to be a dearth of "maiden" 

 or unpollarded willow, suitable for the making 

 of cricket bats. This is hardly to be wondered 

 at, for very few willow trees have been 

 planted, and of these the majority are practi- 

 cally unsuitable for the manufacture of the best 

 class of cricket bats. The only willow worthy 

 of culture for the making of cricket bats of the 

 most approved description is what is known as 

 the white willow (Salix alba), and one or two 

 well-marked varieties of the same. The trees 

 also, it should be remembered, must on ho 

 account be pollarded at any stage of their 

 growth, that is, tbey should not be cut over 

 or their heads removed, as is frequently the case 

 in willow culture, probably owing to the whole 

 members of the family bearing pruning with 

 impunity. When it is considered that the willow, 

 every species, is about the readiest cultivated 

 tree that is grown in this country, and that 

 it will succeed best in damp ground, where other 

 species would in all probability die out, the 

 reasons why it has not received more attention 

 will be difficult to explain, especially when the 

 high price of the limber, when suitable for bat- 

 making, is taken into account. Not long ago, 

 for ten trees growing within a few miles of 

 London, $500 was offered and refused, and at 

 some sales of mixed timber the best class of 

 willow changed hands at about $2.50 per cubic 

 foot. But even if the middle price of from 

 $1.25 to $1.80 per foot is taken, the induce- 

 ments to plant the white willow for purely com- 

 mercial purposes will be obvious. — Timber News. 



Cross-Lining Arrangement on Log Band 

 Saw Machines 



A writer in the British Timber Trades Journal 

 says : "I notice nearly all the American manu- 

 facturers fit their log band sawing machines with 

 a cross-lining arrangement for directing the path 

 of the saw on the wheels, whilst in England it is 

 usually conspicuous by its absence. Is it neces- 

 sary or otherwise? I should be glad of your 

 opinion — or that of any maker or any of your 

 practical readers — on this point." 



It the saw blade is correctly tensioned, and 

 the teeth are of the right shape for the wood 

 and properly sharpened and set, cross-lining 

 should not he necessary. We understand, how- 

 ever, American manufacturers recommend its 

 use, particularly when the saw is getting dull, 

 as they say by giving the blade a little more lead 

 forward more cutting is done. 



One writer on this sub.iect says : "Should you 

 attempt to track the saw by tilting the top wheel 

 alone, you will throw it out of line with the bot- 

 tom wheel, and as the whole strain is on the front 

 edge of the wheel, it must cause a side pull, 

 springing the rim of the wheel out of line 

 with its own shaft, so that at every revolution 

 the rim travels at one angle and the shaft at 

 another, A saw that is running on wheels In 

 this position can never got a firm seat on the 

 rim, as there Is a peculiar cross-grinding mo- 

 tion between the saw and the rim of the wheel 



