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Copyright, The Haedwood Company, 1918 



Publiihed in the Interest of the American Hardwood Forests, the Products thereof, and Logging, Saw 

 Mill and Woodworking Machinery, on the lOth and 25th of each Month, by 



THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



Edgar H. Defebaugh, President 

 Edwin W. Meeker, Managing Editor 

 Hu Maxwell, Technical Editor 



Seventh Floor Ellsworth Building 



537 So. Dearborn Street, CHICAGO 



Telephones: Harrison 8086-8087-8088 



Vol. XLVI. 



CHICAGO, JANUARY 10, 1919 



No. 6 



Review and Outlook 



General Market Conditions 



THE HAEDWOOD TRADE IS (iOIXC INTO THE NEW YEAR 

 with growing confidence, as it becomes clearer with each pass- 

 ing week that optimism is justified. Each order placed for hard- 

 wood products adds its mite to tlie accumulating proof of the 

 wisdom of looking forward to good demand. There has been noth- 

 ing in the past week or two which has caused any radical change 

 in the situation except that there is increasing confidence and it 

 is that factor which will count more in the coming months than 

 anvthing else. 



Fundamentally, and so far as busiuess and industry at large are 

 concerned, the outlook has every influence supporting it. The 

 national viewpoint has come to take in the world at large and the 

 prospects for world-wide commerce. This holds from the small 

 business man up through the ranks of business and into the offices 

 of men in charge of national affairs. With the whole business and 

 administrative vision focused on the question of trade expansion, 

 the results must come in satisfactory proportions and quick time. 



It has been said by a ranking economist that the entire outcome 

 of the period of readjustment will be dependent both as to the 

 duration of tliat period and as to the satisfactory condition of the 

 world when the period is completed, upon the ability of the nations 

 to get in touch with buyers and their needs. Inasmuch as the 

 world is pretty thoroughly organized to this end, and as much real 

 progi'ess has been made in this country in the same direction, it is 

 safe to assume that the prospects for an early and complete meet- 

 ing of buyer and seller are good. 



It is also interesting to know that leading proguosticators ex- 

 pect that building materials of all kinds will be in that group 

 which will be most apt to hold the present markets. This view 

 not only conforms to the history of those years immediately fol- 

 lowing the Civil War, but seems to be indicated by developments 

 that have transpired so far since the end of the great war. It is 

 becoming more evident each month that no prophecy as to prices 

 can comprehend the movements of all commodities. Some groups 

 are reversely aifected by influences which tend toward the move- 

 ment in one direction for other groups. Thus it is not wise to 

 follow the trend of prices on any leading material nor to consider 

 that any one commodity is safe as a barometer for all other com- 

 modities. So in considering lumber tendencies the actual facts 

 regarding supply and demand of lumber are the things to bear in 

 mind rather than merely those other conditions possibly that cer- 

 tain wise men seem to think are absolute criterions for everything. 

 If one will remember the situation surrounding stocks, which re- 



main distinctly strong so far as any OVM' production or accumula- 

 tion goes, and will remember that the market is pretty well cleaned 

 up on almost everything, and that there is very little chance of the 

 producers catching up with the supply during the coming winter, 

 there will be very little in the way of price-cutting and the buyers 

 will come to a realization that in fairness to themselves they 

 should not count on a waiting game necessarily insuring them 

 lictter prices. 



Problem of the Scrap Pile 



THE SCRAP PILE furnishes one of the problems of the wood- 

 working factory. Most manufacturers have made and are 

 making honest efforts to prevent waste about their premises. Short 

 boards and narrow strips that are useless fof regular operations 

 are used for other things where it can be done, or they are sold 

 to others, if any buyer can be found. 



It is often difficult to use scrap lumber or sell it, although advice 

 to that effect is plentiful. It is much easier to preach than to 

 practice. Some people suppose that because a manufactured article 

 is small, like a shoe peg, toothpick, or clothespin, it can be prof- 

 itably made from scraps and small pieces. It seems to be assumed 

 that such scraps can be shoveled into a machine, and finished prod- 

 ucts will come out, and therefore woodworking factories ought to 

 use their scraps, or ought to sell them to somebody who will use 

 them. 



It is a nice theory, but it falls down in practice. Most machines, 

 which are made for working wood, are not designed to handle 

 scraps, but full-sized lumber or logs. Such machines cannot do 

 anything with odd, small sizes. Consequently, when a factory has 

 scraps and small pieces on hand, they cannot be handled through 

 the regular machines. The owner of the factory is opposed to 

 throwing away stuif of that kind, but he can do nothing with it 

 on his regular machines, and the quantity is too small to pay for 

 installing new machines. It is cheaper to burn the scraps or throw 

 them away. A large number of woodworking factories have the 

 same experience exactly. In the absence of any buyer offering 

 to purchase the odds and ends, nothing remains but to consign 

 them to the waste heap or the furnace. 



No one should imagine that the matter has not been properly 

 and seriously considered by a great many factory owners. Not a 

 wagonload is thrown away that can be profitably used. A spirit 

 of wastefulness and carelessness does not prevail as a general 

 thing; but circumstances must be recognized as they are. 



Some years ago the United States Forest Service undertook, in 



