16 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Apill 2."i, 11121 



.•111(1 sciiiic the :Hl(i|iti(ii\ iif :i iiiiiforni code of sales for liard- 

 wood lunilicr. Tlic ciide (■iii:ui.-ites fnini tlie Sales Code Committee 

 of til.' I.uMdicnneii 's Cliil> of Mompliis, :ind, iis noted in the last 

 issue, the text of the code was foinuilated and eomjjleted iu March, 

 l>iit as a courtesy 1o the National Hardwood LuinUer Association, 

 it was not released until the early part of this month. 



'I'lii- |(ro[]osals contained in the present draft of the Code are the 

 result of conscientious study by its promulgators to perfect an instru- 

 ment that mi«ht eliminate a large measure of the present lack of 

 unifoiniity iu liardwood sales ethics and terms. It i.s not claimed for 

 it tliat it is perfect, nor does IlAunwoiin Kkcoiu) feel itself in position 

 at the present time to unqualifiedly urge its adcjpticm. 'I'lie fact, 

 though, that tlie Code -was formulateil. and tli;it the l.uirdiernn'U 's 

 Club of Mi'mphis is spending a great di'.-il of tiiue and money in de 

 served jmblicity for it, constitutes a thoroughly satisfactory reason 

 why eviTy man interested in h.-udwoo.ls should give the Code as 

 issui'd. veiy careful consideration. 



The editors of U.miDWOOD Kki oito have been iireseiit on two or 

 three occasions of laic, where, at local meetings of hardwood nn-n, 

 the proposal to endorse or rejict the Code came u|). In each case, it 

 developed that but few nieniliers present ;it these respective meetings 

 had taken the time to lead t]\v co)iy of the )iroposed Code which was 

 mailed by the Mein)jhis Club to all members of the National Hard 

 wood l.nndier Association. Obx ionsly, as the proposal will come 

 onto the lloor of the annual convention of the latter organization in 

 June, every hardwood nmn should, in the interest of his own business. 



take sufticient time to carefully study the judvisious itained in 



the suggested domunent. 



Standardized h.-inhvood iusiiection has become a reality, and its 

 benefits to the iiidnstry are manliest. St.'iudardization sales terms are 

 thi' twin to standanlized grading rules. The millennium in the iu- 

 d\i.strv is a li>ng way olT. hut it is cudy by thus aihaniing sfrp by ste[i 

 that it can be e\i'n .-ipproarhed. LumlMTUii'ii in gi-ne/al .-olniii their 

 weakiH'SS in etlicient uieirlKindisiug, b\it show by their ccuistaut 

 striving for bett. lunMit that they recogni/.e that necessity. A uniform 

 sales code has been persistently sought for many years. Never be- 

 fore, tinmgh. has any movement looking to this end gained so much 

 monn'ntum iu its insipieney. Admittedly, the principal of standard- 

 ization is correct. Apparently (and logically, considering the cliar- 

 .acter of nu'U interested in it) the main provisions of the Code are 

 .such as to ])rove fair to all factors involved in the marketing of harfl 

 wood lumber. If there are inconsistencies, or errors, or provisions 

 which might prove a hardship, those points must l)e brought to 

 light through individual analysis of the jilans outlined. Only through 

 such means may intelligent action be taken when the program is 

 otliciallv on the boards. 



Standardization of Dimension 



IN ANOTHEK I'AKT OF TiilS IS.SCE li.vKHwoi.]. Ki-aonii has 

 the pleasure of publishing the first of three p;ipi-rs on the 

 problems involved in tlie standardization of dimension stock, 

 written by W. A. Babbitt, chairman of the committee of standard- 

 ization of the Association of "Wood Using Industries. 



In a statement directing the .attention of H.\niiW(i(iii Ki-;i oRD 

 to his discussion of the dimension standardization problem Mr. 

 Babbitt exjilains that "the main jjurjiose of the series is to 

 acquaint lumbermen and wood fabricators with the fundamental 

 jiroblems involved in the standardization program." After ex- 

 jiressing the hope that they will result in ''instructive and con- 

 structive exchange of criticisms and suggestions," he announces 

 that the "further purpose of these papers is to restrain lumbermen 

 from rushing into production of quantities of dimension stock 

 before their mills are properly equipped for this kind of produc- 

 tion, and before the necessary standards are established, without 

 which it is a practical certainty that their attempts to manufac- 

 ture and market dimension stock will be no more satisfactory 

 I han ill times past.' ' 



.Mr. iiabbitt 's committee is afraid that the jiresent stagnation 

 ill demand for the common grades of hardwood lumber may lead 

 some lumber manufacturers to saw their accumulated stock into 

 dimension with the hope of marketing the dimension where they 

 could not market the lumber. But he warns that this would be 

 a grave and sorely disappointing error, and tells the editors of 

 the trade press that he depends upon them to caution the lumber- 

 men against it. "We must depend upon you," the committee 

 says, "to warn lumbermen that the market for any and all kinds 

 of dimension stock is just as flat as the market for merchantable 

 liiiiiber. Prominent lumbermen have intimated to the writer that 

 they were ready to cut such lumber into dimension. This would 

 be .1 big mistake. So far as I can judge, the requirements for 

 dimension are so small at this time as to offer no relief to lumber- 

 men who are compelled to find a market, in spite of unfavorable 

 conditions. ' ' 



The committee realizes that the task it has undertaken is a 

 colossal one and that they must jiroceed to work it out with care 

 and caution, avoiding all temptation to haste. Thus the committee 

 is anxious that .the lumber industry make no abortive incursions 

 into the dimension field, which would certainly result in disap- 

 pointment and create prejudices which would seriously augment 

 the labors of the committee. So many things are involved in this 

 dimension problem that can only be solved by goodwill and 

 co-operation that Mr. Babbitt and his associates want to risk no 

 opportunity to preserve these two requisites from attenuation. 



The ojieiiing article of this series reveals careful preparation 

 and if it is a fair sample of the two that will follow, it is safe to 

 predict that when publication of the three has been completed 

 there will exist in the ranks of the producers of lumber and the 

 fabricators of wood much more sympathy with and uuderstanding 

 of the dimension stock problem than is present now. 



Table of Contents 



REVIEW AND OUTLOOK: 



General Market Conditions ...,.: lS-16 



Standardization of Dimension 16 



Sales Code a Step Ahead Ifi 



SPECIAL ARTICLES: 



Standardization of Dimension 17-18 



Correcting Misleading Price Estimates 18-20 



Milling-in-Transit Battle Won 20 



The Tropical Timber Business 22 



Belts and Transmission Kinks 38 & 52 



Million Dollar Publicity Drive Begins 44 & 48 



POWER LOGGING AND LUMBER HANDLING: 



Danger of Overloading 32 



NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL CAPITAL: 



Miscellaneous 21 



CLUBS AND ASSOCIATIONS: 



Miscellaneous 30-34 & 55-57 



Plywood Makers Show Progress 35-36 & 42 



HARDWOOD NEWS S8-S2 



HARDWOOD MARKET 62-66 



CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS 69-70-71 



HARDWOODS FOR SALE 71-72 & 74 



ADVERTISERS' DIRECTORY 67 



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Fntcred aa second-class matter May 26. 1902. at the postofRce at Chicago. 



