i8 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



A " liiyman forester," such as the committee recommended in its 

 rojiort, would have known ash from basswood. He might not be thor- 

 oughly grounded in such technical books as "Schlich's Manual," but 

 he would make good at a sawmill. He would recognize the commer- 

 cial timbers ; could tell good from bad ; could cut logs without unnec- 

 essary waste, build roads, throw rough bridges across streams, haul 

 and skid the logs, saw the lumber, stack it intelligently, would know 

 when it w-as dry enough to ship, and would have some ideas on the 

 subject of markets. In addition to this, he would be able to plan fire 

 protection, and could fight fire, and look out for a future stand of 

 trees, as far as his circumstances might allow. 



These accomplishments may be acquired partly in schools, partly in 

 practice. The man so trained is not a substitute for the professional 

 forester, but an assistant. The complaint appears to be that the 

 forestry schools :ire turning out too many bosses and not enough 

 workers. 



The South 



APliOMlNENT SOUTllliKNEU now rosidiug at Memphis, who 

 has made a distinct and enviable place for himself in the business 

 and political world by sheer perseverance and force of character, 

 states that the number of real, live, native-bo^n southern hustlers is 

 co.mparatively small. This statement coming from a true-born son 

 of the South is especially convincing and merely backs up the opinion 

 of most northerners getting closely in touch with general conditions 

 in the southern states. 



It can be safely said that the development of the South has come 

 through the shrewdness, business ability and hustle of northern busi- 

 ness pioneers wiio have had the courage to undertake the opening up 

 of the tremendous resources of that section of the United States. 

 One sees constantly the steadily increasing influence which the North 

 is having on the southern development, and even a casual study of 

 the personnel of the business element in the southern states shows 

 that beyond doubt the statement referred to is correct. 



The same man made the statement that the South will never really 

 begin to develop until such time as it awakens to a realization of the 

 possibilities of manufacturing its own raw material. Some time ago 

 Hardwood Kkcord pointed out that it seemed a foolish policy to pay 

 high freight cost on veneer logs, veneer and'imported furniture woods 

 from southern points to northern furniture manufacturing sections. 

 and then to pay a further heavy charge for hauling the finished 

 product back to southern markets. This condition is true not only 

 of lumber, veneer and other products of the forest, but it is true 

 in many of the other lines wherein raw materials are derived from 

 the southern field, shipped to the North for refining or manufacturing 

 into the ultimate product, and then reshipped to the southern mar- 

 kets in the final form. 



The tremendous development that would unquestionably result 

 immediately upon the application of a new system in the southern 

 states is beyond estimate. The establishment of one furniture 

 factory, for instance, in a southern city would mean the employment 

 of a large number of operatives, who would not only maintain them- 

 selves but their families in the community wherein they were em- 

 ployed. If this idea were carried out as far as feasible in this 

 particular line, the number of new homes which would be built and 

 furnished in the South would offer a tremendous field for the sale 

 of various products going into homemaking and maintenance. This 

 result would be multiplied hundreds of times over by the establish- 

 ment of similar remanufacturing establishments using the various 

 other natural resources found in that part of the country. 



The ultimate result would not only be a great economic strength- 

 ening of the southern states, but would mean an equalization of the 

 burden of maintaining mankind throughout the country. Instead of 

 the impractical ' ' back to the farm ' ' cry, which is constantly being 

 forced into the ears of the city workingman, who would in ninety- 

 nine cases out of a hundred make absolute failures as farmers, 

 the cry might w-ell be "go to the South where you can continue in 

 your present line of eflort, probably under much more favorable 

 conditions than now surround you ' ' 



Whatever may have been responsible for the astounding develop- 

 ment in the South, it is to be hoped that the element making for 



that development will persevere until it has secured a still further 

 develojiiiK'nt that will embrace the conditions suggested. 



An Excellent Selection 



T^IIE ELECTION OE JOHN M. PRITCIIAKD of Memphis, Tenu., 

 •*• to the secretaryship of the newly organized Gum Lumber Manu- 

 facturers' Association, speaks well for tlie wisdom of the members of 

 the board of directors and officers of that organization. Mr. Pritchard 

 comes into his new duties well equipped in everj' way to carry them 

 through to a successful conclusion. 



It cannot be denied that the most important feature of an organi- 

 zation of this character is that it secure the services of a secretary who 

 is thoroughly competent to not only carry on the routine work, which 

 is really the small part of the association's efforts, but to so exploit 

 the purposes and ideas of the organization that the entire trade will 

 come to realize that it cannot afford to withhold membership. 



Then, too, there are other very important matters which will come 

 under Mr. Pritchard 's direct supervision, such as the preparation of 

 the exhibit for the Forest Products Exposition, which exhibit will 

 offer gum manufactui'ers the very opportunity they have been looking 

 for, and also the matter of successfully broadening tlie general mar- 

 ket for gum along other lines as previously outlined. 



The Gum Lumber Manufacturers' Association is starting under 

 auspicious conditions, and now that it has secured the services of one 

 so well equipped to successfully handle the office of secretary, it is 

 entirely within bounds to predict that within the near future this 

 will become recognized as one of the most important and efficient 

 organizations in the country. 



It is interesting to note also that at the recent meeting of the board 

 of directors, a definite policy was adopted putting the association on 

 record as being entirely neutral regarding its relations with other 

 lumber organizations. 



Some Valuable Suggestions 



THE PAPER READ by Henrik C'ronstrom of Kaukas Fabrik, Fin- 

 land, before the members of the National Veneer & Panel Manu- 

 facturers' Association, which met at the Auditorium hotel, Chicago, 

 on December 9, contained some mighty valuable suggestions that could 

 very well be given due consideration by American veneer and panel 

 manufacturers. 



Mr. Cronstrom's paper described the veneer industry as it is carried 

 on in Russia, where it has attained large proportions. His outline of 

 the processes in vogue in that country indicates that their methods 

 are 'entirely different in a great many cases from the methods em- 

 ployed by American manufacturers. It must be confessed that Mr. 

 Cronstrom's close comparison of the results obtained by the two 

 methods would not in all cases indicate that American methods are 

 the best, although it is probably a fact that they are best adapted to 

 American conditions. However, his paper was full of suggestions 

 covering different phases of the process of veneer manufacture. 



Of particular interest is Mr. Cronstrom 's detailed description of 

 the process of steaming logs under pressure, and the most excellent 

 results that are gotten thereby. This suggestion is entirely worthy 

 of the fullest consideration on the part of American manufacturers, 

 and, inasmuch as it has been conclusively proven that the very highest 

 type of results can be gotten through the steaming of lumber under 

 pressure after sawing, it is reasonable to suppose that equally satis- 

 factory results will be secured by the employment of Mr. Cronstrom's 

 suggestions. 



This paper was but one of the many which were invaluable to mem- 

 bers of the veneer and panel association. The close attention that 

 was given to all the papers read and the excellent attendance that 

 was maintained throughout the business sessions, would indicate that 

 the results of this last meeting will prove to be greater than the- 

 results of almost any previous meeting of this organization. It is 

 yearly proving of more and more value to its members, and there is 

 no reason why it should not eventually expand to embrace the entire 

 veneer and panel industry, so that uniformity of all methods of 

 manufacture, merchandizing, accountings, etc., will be accomplished, 

 with the resultant benefit to the entire veneer and panel industry. 



