16 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



is allied with the R. K. Wood Lumber Company of Baltimore, lid. 



The laurel occupies its usual place as the fringe along the brawl- 

 in" brook, where it is an ornament and a nuisance at the same 

 time. It is ornamental in the highest degree during the few 

 days when it is in full bloom, and in a less degree the rest of 

 the year. It becomes a disagreeable encumbrance for persons who 

 attempt to follow the banks of the brooks where it grows. The 

 tangled masses are well-nigh impenetrable until the axmcn and 

 path-makers have gone ahead. The experienced woodsman who 

 is under the necessity of following a stream like that in the pic- 

 ture, prefers the boulders and the water to the pathless banks 

 covered with tangled rhododendron. It is easier to wade the 

 water of the brook than crawl over or under the laurel on the 

 banks. Such boulders are usually covered with green algae, as 

 slippery as grease, and the man who follows the brook 's bed must 

 be quick and careful if he does not get enough dippings at the 

 base of boulders to make him a "hardshell Baptist" before the 

 close of the day. 



Those who posses creative fancy can exercise it on this exquisite 

 picture. They can people the woods back from the rivulet, if 

 they like; or they can busy their imaginations with the two woods- 

 men who have, apparently, flung themselves on the bank to rest 

 after a long wade in the water or a wearisome scramble through 

 the laurel on the margin. One of them probably thinks he sees 

 an easier way and is pointing in the direction; but the disconsolate 

 attitude of the other indicates that he has his doubts. Or, if 

 some other interpretation seems more reasonable, explain the 

 situation in some other way. The forest scenes among the south- 

 ern mountains are so rich in suggestions that the man has a poor 

 imagination who can not evolve an interpretation to suit what- 

 ever mood he happens to be in. 



An Evolution in Logging 



THERE IS MORE TO BE SEEN in the active interest which is 

 being manifested in the improvement and establishment of uni- 

 formity in logging operations in different parts of the country than 

 the mere desire on the part of logging superintendents to make 

 better records for themselves. Of course, that desire is the main 

 inspiration of this getting together, but if the ideas as suggested 

 are carried out and the proposed saving effected the cause of con- 

 servation will unquestionably be advanced materially. 



It may be a broad step from the housing of lumber jacks or the 

 more satisfactorily filling their inner cavities with substantial food 

 on the one hand to the big question of conservation on the other; 

 but nevertheless the close consideration of the various factors which 

 enter into the modern logging operation for the purpose of reducing 

 the general cost of getting logs to the mills will mean saving so 

 much to the operator, and hence enabling him to work up his poor 

 timber more closely than he could if he were paying more for this 

 work. The effort is unquestionably justified from the mere point 

 of view of economy, but it is doubly justified when the consideration 

 is borne in mind. That the agitation is not merely transitory is 

 certainly evidenced by the manner in which the various conventions 

 during the last few months have taken hold of the subject. The 

 manufacturers ' association meeting at Memphis a couple of weeks 

 ago definitely endorsed the idea, while the Northern Hemlock and 

 Hardwood Manufacturers' Association, through its logging commit- 

 tee, has worked out a very valuable formula which will unques- 

 tionably do a great deal toward unifying methods and cutting log- 

 ging costs. The frequent gatherings of logging superintendents 

 will go a long way toward working this proposition out to a satis- 

 factory basis and it is sincerely to be hoped that due progress will 

 be made. 



Famous Forest School Closes 



THE BILTMOEE FOREST SCHOOL has closed its doors for- 

 ever. At any rate, that seems at present to be the situation. 

 Dr. C. A. Schenck, the founder and head of the school, announced 

 from Darmstadt, Germany, under date of January 1, 1914, that 

 he will not continue the school, nor return to America, except oc- 



casionally as a visitor. The announcement was accompanied by 

 his reasons for the step he has taken. His chief reason is that 

 the school has not lately been a financial success. The number 

 of students has been too small to pay the expenses of the school. 

 The latest enrollment was only twenty, while there is no profit in 

 an enrollment of less than forty. 



Dr. Schenck 's conclusion may be accepted on tliat point, but 

 many will not agree with him in his second reason for the dis- 

 couragement which he feels. He expresses disappointment with 

 the success which his graduates have achieved. He either ex- 

 pected too much, or he has not kept track of those who have gone 

 into the business world from his school. They have won their 

 way in competition with forestry students from eighty-three other 

 schools of this country, and they fill places in many lines of work, 

 and do it with credit and honor. 



Dr. Schenck, for his own encouragement, should recall Plato 's 

 decision when he was tempted to quit his school. He had only 

 one pupil, and after looking along the empty benches — out of doors 

 in the rain — he said: "As long as I have one pupil, I will go on." 

 That lone pupil was Aristotle. Dr. Schenck may not have turned 

 out any Aristotles from his school, but he may be sure that w-hat 

 he has done has been worth his effort, though his highest am- 

 bition may not have been realized. 



He opened at Biltmore, N. C, the first forest school in the 

 United States. He worked along lines different from other forest 

 schools. Most of his work was done in the woods, in logging 

 camps, and at sawmills. He aimed at the practical rather than 

 the theoretical, or in his own words, he was not "preaching con- 

 servation, second growth, and theory." His ambition, quoting his 

 words, was to have a "training school for the sons of every lum- 

 berman and every timber owner in the country. It was to be; 

 it has not been." 



During recent j'ears he has spent part of his time with his 

 students in the German forests, where European methods were 

 studied, and part of the time in the woods of North Carolina, 

 Michigan, and Oregon, where up-to-date lumbering practices were 

 studied. The large amount of traveling made the school neces- 

 sarily rather expensive for the students; but it was worth all it 

 cost. 



The probability is that the Biltmore school will not be taken 

 up by any one else. It will occupy its place in the history of 

 forestry in this country. It was a pioneer and blazed the trails. 

 The presence of eighty-three other schools in the United States, 

 in which more or less forestry is taught, is proof that the days 

 of pioneering are past. 



Spurious Mahogany 



r^ ENUINE MAHOGANY is probably the most useful of all cabinet 

 ^~^ woods. It is famous for its perfect seasoning, for the precise 

 manner in which it stands after being placed in a finished piece of 

 cabinet work, its gorgeous polish and the tone imparted to it with 

 age. The supply is abundant and the price reasonable. 



The extensive use of this most popular wood causes as a natural 

 result the importation of other woods that do not possess the qualities 

 of the true mahogany but which the importer hopes will by reason 

 of somewhat similar appearance sell as a substitute for mahogany at 

 a lower price. The entire trade suffers from this and it militates 

 against genuine mahogany as the buyer of goods manufactured from 

 such substitutes is usually under the impression that he is buying 

 the genuine species and is eventually dissatisfied with the substitute, 

 mahogany itself bearing the brunt of this criticism rather than this 

 method of doing business, which is the real cause. 



The importers of foreign woods and the good cabinet-makers of 

 the country know that the best grades of mahogany, particularly for 

 use by manufacturers of furniture, are derived from timber growing 

 on the mainland from the province of Tabasco, Mexico, British Hon- 

 duras, Nicaragua and Guatemala. There is also some fine mahogany 

 found on the west coast of Africa, but of the "fifty-seven varieties" 

 shipped from there as mahogany only two or three are genuine. At 

 the present time considerable so-called Philippine mahogany is being 



