i6 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



of the box to be maUo. On the otlier liuiul, the average rate from 

 the Chicago territory to the coast on panels is $i;.GO per hundred 

 pounds. It is easily seen from this tact that it would be absolutely 

 impossible to cover even the cost of transportation in the sale, let 

 alone the increased cost of gum over the western woods used for 

 packing box construction. At $1.25 a hundred for veneer shipments 

 for the same distance, the prospect of developing a trade in this line 

 for packing-case construction is still absolutely nil, and even where 

 thin stock classed as lumber, including 1/15 m<'h and up in thickness, 

 shipped at lumber rate of seventy-five cents, there is still no chance 

 of making a business proposition out of it. 



As stated, the physical qualities of gum are very well adapted for 

 the purpose mentioned, and were the manufacturer in question seek- 

 ing a high-class finish in furniture wood he could surely find no better 

 domestic species than the lumber and veneers manufactured from a 

 red gum tree. However, geographic circumstances absolutely pro- 

 hibit the use of low-grade stuft' in the way he sugge.'its. 



Where Authority Conflicts 



IT is probably a necessity to have two governing bodies with 

 jurisdiction over freight rate matters in interstate and intra- 

 state business. States' rights seemingly demand that the gov- 

 erning of railroad rates within the border of any state shall bo 

 incumbent upon some authority within each state. 



On the other hand, it is manifestly necessary to maintain a 

 separate organization for the regulation of rates governing ship- 

 ments on interstate commerce. Nevertheless there are numerous 

 occasions on which a gross injustice is the result of such conflict 

 of authority. One of the most flagrant of these would seem to 

 be the readjustment of freight rates in Michigan based on the 

 Interstate Commerce Commission "s decision regarding the pro- 

 posed general horizontal advance of five per cent in the central 

 classification territory on the one hand, and on a recent order of 

 the State Railroad Commission of Michigan on the other hand 

 to the effect that a readjustment of Michigan rates is necessary. 



It is contended by Michigan shippers that even though the 

 railroads of Michigan declare that no injustice will be done, 

 and that no action will be taken until a decision has been made 

 on the general advance by the Interstate Commerce Commission, a 

 gross injustice will be worked upon them which injustice would 

 hit lumber shippers particularly strongly. 



The basis of their contention is that the re-classification of 

 rates in Michigan would mean the abolishment of commodity rates 

 and the establishment throughout of class rates, which in itself 

 will effect a decided increase in the present rates of lumber, it 

 being placed in the sixth class. They contend that even after 

 this readjustment has taken place if the Interstate Commerce Com- 

 mission allows a horizontal advance of five per cent on general 

 rates, advantage will be taken of such a decision by the Michi- 

 gan roads to still further increase rates throughout the new 

 tariffs, which will effect a total increase in Michigan rates rang- 

 ing from five to thirty-three and one-third per cent as against 

 a straight advance on general rates of but five per cent. The 

 inequality of such an arrangement, and the injustice that it 

 would surely result in are easily discernible. 



It is not possible to foretell accurately what the ultimate out- 

 come will be, but Michigan lumbermen at least are making 

 active arrangements to secure an equal basis for shipments in 

 competition with shipping points in adjoining states. It can read- 

 ily be understood that if the entire matter of freight rates both 

 interstate and intrastate were in the hands of some central body, 

 such conditions would not even threaten. 



Iowa's Example 



THE FOREST "jf^ASTE PROBLEM has so nearly solved itself in 

 Iowa, according to a recent report prepared by the Forest 

 Service, that it is no longer a difficult problem there. Iowa is not 

 and never, was a heavily forested region with large logging opera- 

 tions, and to that extent it differs from many other states; but it 



has dealt with the question of saving waste and has shown that it is 

 not dilTicult to ilo, provided the economic conditions are favorable. 



It has been found by experience that it is more profitable to ship 

 logs from Minnesota to Iowa and manufacture the lumber at the 

 I)oint of destination than to saw the logs in the forest and ship 

 the lumber only. The shipping of the logs in this ease is by water, 

 wlilch method is much cheaper than by rail. The market is in Iowa. 

 When the logs have floated down stream to the end of their water 

 journey they need travel no further to reach market. They are 

 tliere reduced to lumber, and it finds a sale near at hand. The 

 nuirket takes everything that comes. The lumber, lath, shingles, and 

 .squared timbers are wanted. The scraps are sold for fuel, and the 

 sawdust is bought by ice houses or for stable bedding. The utiliza- 

 tion is complete, and not a particle has to be given away, but every- 

 thiug turns some profit into the lumberman's pocket. 



If the logs had been reduced to lumber in the Minnesota forests, 

 nothing could have been sold without shipping. The lumber and one 

 or two by-products might have paid the freight and returned a 

 profit; but all else w-ould have been worthless and it would have 

 been left at the mill. 



Xo particularly new solution has been worked out in Iowa. The 

 same thing has happened elsewhere. It will work wherever conditions 

 are right. Examples of success are always valuable, however, because 

 they are so much more easily understood than mere theory. If an 

 owner of timber can figure out a way to ship his logs to a market 

 that will take the lumber and all the by-products at a profit, he will 

 be inclined to do it, in preference to sawing lumber at a place 

 where the lumber only is salable. 



The Making of a New Wood 



ANEW WOOD has a hard time establishing its right to recognition. 

 It takes a long time to get a hearing. The chances are against 

 the new comer in the circle of accepted woods, and a long period of 

 waiting and neglect usually precedes final recognition and acceptance. 

 "Be not the first by whom the new is tried" appears to be the fashion 

 among the users of forest products now as it was among the users of 

 words in Alexander Pope 'a time. 



No matter how excellent a new wood is, it is looked at askance 

 when it first appears as a candidate for favor. Everybody waits for 

 someone else to try it and demonstrate its good properties. That 

 process is usually slow and long-drawn out. If the candidate for favor 

 happens to be a foreign wood, it must wait still lorger. The pros- 

 pective user considers several points before he will consent to give 

 the new material a trial. He wants to know, first of all, if the supply 

 is adequate, and if he can depend on securing what le needs, in case 

 he finds it suitable. If not assured on that point, he is not likely to 

 prosecute the inquiry further. If the supply is found satisfactory, 

 the price is investigated, and if that is all right, the prospective market 

 is looked into. It aU takes time and results in ycar.3 of uncertainty 

 and delay. 



A number of the well-known woods of the United St.Ues have had to 

 pass through such periods of trial, apprenticeship, and neglect. For a 

 long time they received no more recognition than if they had been 

 foreign, perhaps not as much. Blackwillow is an instance. No one 

 claims for it a higher place than among the minor species, but until 

 recently it did not have even that much recognition but was classed 

 among weed trees. It has come up out of that plae<» of low esteem 

 and now has more markets than it can fill. It is excellent box material, 

 good for wagon beds, and highly satisfactory as cores or backing for 

 veneers. The willow grows in scattered situations, or in dense small 

 stands, but never in extensive forests. It is most abundant in the 

 lower Mississippi valley, but trees in good situations attain respectable 

 sizes in many parts of the United States. The growth is rapid, and 

 acre for acre it will probably produce as many cubic feet of wood per 

 year, as any other species in this country. 



The willow is cited simply as an example of a neglected wood which 

 finally made its way to the front. A number of others could be 

 named, but it would be a repetition, for the process of securing 

 recognition is the same with all — ^long delay, discouraging neglect, 

 with ultimate success if success is deserved. 



