18 



HARDWOOD RECORU 



July 10, 19m 



and tiilile legs to size. It would also pay him to buy eoiniiKiii sizes 

 of dresser or desk drawer fronts. He can be shown that it will save 

 him money to buy these dimensions, rather than buy 1st and 2uds 

 plank. 



Few fabricators of w'ood stock, using 1st and 2nds Oak jilank, 

 today will believe the statement that from the green plank or 

 shipping dry i)laiik piled in their yard up to the time this lumber 

 is fabricated into furniture, wagons or any other commodity, the 

 loss will average 40 i)er cent. This figure is based upon the use of 

 extremely small dimension sizes. You can easily figure what the 

 comparative loss is on No. 1 ami No. 2 Common Oak. This figure 

 will not seem extravagant to any hardwood mill man who knows 

 what his fall-down amounts to when it comes to shipping a car of 

 1st and 2nds Oak, and who has stood by the piles while the inspectors 

 were loading the car and noted the percentage of pieces that had to 

 be put back into No. 1 Common. 



Another illustration. I received a letter just a few days ago 

 coming from a prominent hardwood lumberman who stated: 



"Regarding your inquiry in connection with order No. 2026 for 

 chair stock, we consider this a very fine order. This came out of 

 No. 2 and 3 stock thrown out of a shipment of No. 1 Common. You 

 will note the sizes are 1x21/4 — 16" and 1x3 and wider — 16%" long. 

 This enabled us to cut out the defect and brought us something 

 like $55 per thousand feet here, whereas, we have a world of No. 3 

 stock that we have been offering at $10 per thousand with no bid- 

 ders. The actual expense and our overheads, ripping up and loading 

 this stock, would be something around $15 per thousand." 



1 have with me copies of orders for twenty carloads of small 

 dimension stock taken by one mill in the months of January, Feb- 

 ruary and March, which indicate a practical illustration of the 

 working out, in a profitable way, of by-product and low grade hard- 

 wood into dimension stock: 



2 cars — 2 x2 x24" Clear Oak Squares. 

 6 cars li/4xli/4x20" Hickory Squares. 



3 cars — 2 x2 xl9" and 20" Clear Gum Squares, $55 per M'. 

 1 car — Square Spoke Billets, Clear Oak. 



1 car— Ii4x4%x8', 9' and 10' Car Oak. 



1 car — l%xl%x36" Clear Oak Squares, $75 per M'. 



1 car— lyoxSVixS' 8" Bottom Cleats (Elm, Oak, Ash or Hickory). 



1 car — 2 x2 xl9" Clear Oak S<|uares. 



1 car — lfijxli/ix34%" Clear Hickory Mower Pitmaus, $115 per M'. 



1 car — l%xl%x24" and up Hickory Spoke Billets, none shorter 

 than 24". 



1 car — 1 x2i4xl4" Oak Seat Bails, rough sawed. 

 *1 car — IVi," sq. x 6V1>" long, 1%" sq. x OM;" long, ly/' sq. x 

 6Va" long. Hickory Tool Handles, $100 per M'. 



Standardization 



In this connection will sa}' that the Association of Wood Using 

 Industries, com])rising some twenty-five different associations, is 

 attempting to standardize the dimension requirements in individual 

 industries coming to common sizes and multiples thereof. This 

 effort slidulil have the hearty support of your association. 



A logical standardization of sizes used in any particular industry 

 will enable the mill man to cut not only to secure the maximum 

 footage out of every log, but he will be able to saw dimension stock 

 from low grade lumber, slabs, etc., not on special order, but with 

 tlie knowledge that the sizes piled in the yard would be just as sala- 

 ble as 4/4 or 8/4 Oak Plank. 



After several conferences with the United States Forestry De- 

 partment and officials of the Forest Products Laboratory at Madi- 

 son, Wis., Colonel Greeley has consented and Mr. Winslow, the di- 

 rector at Madison, has instituted a new department named "The 

 Dimension Stock Bureau." They will proceed to organize as funds 

 are available a corps of men to be trained as experts in the sawing 

 and use of dimension stock, aiding simultaneously in the education 

 of both the saw mill and the wood using industry. 



I bespeak for this movement your liearty support and co-operation. 



* NOTE — Cut 7" net length, I'/ixlVi will not do — must be square I14, 

 1% and IVi". 



You will notice I only price four of the items, in order to give 

 you an idea of the f. 0. b. mill price. 



Taxes Interest Michigan Operators 



Owners of timber lands in Michigan are watching with greatest 

 interest the attitude of the legislature toward the recommendations 

 of the state tax commission with reference to taxation of timber 

 lands. As a result of the present ad valorem system of taxation 

 the white pine lands have been turned into barens and nobody 

 but the state is interested in reforesting them. No private indi- 

 vidual will undertake the long term investment with the constantly 

 increasing tax. The result is that as soon as the timber has been 

 cut off the owner has allowed the land to revert to the state for 

 taxes. 



Now. the same thing is threatening the hardw-ood lands. That 

 now being about the most important lumbering operation there ^s 

 left in Michigan, the wood is being cut off rapidly and the land 

 tlien abandoned. There is this exception, however, in favor of the 

 while that of the pine lands is nothing but light sand. But the 

 same principle applies and the owner of the hardwood land is not 

 interested in growing a second crop of trees. He may be able to 

 hardwood lands. The soil of the hardwood lands, is usually good, 

 dispose of his land for farm purposes, but his interest is to dis- 

 pose of it the quickest way. 



For a long time the state has been totally blind to the evils 

 brought about by the ad valorem system of taxation upon timber 

 lands. Now, however, the state tax commission has awakened to 

 this evil and is proposing some sort of remedial legislation for the 

 owner of timber lands and particularly for the man who owns land 

 upon which he has growing timber not yet mature. Whether the 

 proposed remedial legislation will be held satisfactory to the tim- 



ber land owner is the next question, but here it is as set forth by 

 the state tax commission: 



Determine separately bare land value and merchantable timber value ; 

 such bare land value to be the same as the assessed value of wild, unim- 

 proveil. bare laud ot similar quality in the same locality ; mature timber 

 value to be the stumpage value of merchantable forest products upon the 

 land ; immature fore^ growth not to be considered In determining either 

 land value or mature' timber value. 



An annual tax at a fixed rate upon the land value thus determined. 



An annual tax at a fixed rate upon the timber value thus determined. 



A percentage tax upon yield payable whenever any portion of the timber 

 crop is harvested. 



Land value is not to be changed except after regular intervals and then 

 only for the purpose of harmonizing such land value with the assessed 

 value ot bare lands in the same locality. Timber value not to be increased 

 at any time, but to be decreased whenever any yield tax is paid, such 

 decrease to be the same as the stumpage valuation at the time of harvest- 

 ing of the products paying a yield tax. 



In favor of the percentage yield tax the state tax commission 

 presents the follow-ing argument in brief: 



A percentsgc yield tax would avoid overtaxation and would be funda- 

 mentally just, Inasmuch as it would tax the entire income yielded by 

 both laud and liuiber, whether received annually or at regular intervals 

 or iu a lump sum after a period ot years. 



A percentage yield tax would enable the owner of forest property to 

 meet the taxation burden from the income ot the property itself. All 

 taxation should be paid upon income and in no other way than by a yield 

 tax can this bo <lone when the property taxed is a growing forest. 



A percentage yield tax wotild be simple and easy to administer. There 

 would be no problems of future expectancy to be worked out, no figuring 

 of interest on annual taxes deferred, no spe<ulation as to future price 

 (Contitiuoi on page 20) 



