22 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Due apiini'L'ntly to a mistaken Idea ou the purt of some of the memuers 

 as to tlio ehnraeter of the dlseusslons held at the raeetinss of yard 

 foremen and graders on January 5-10, some of them did not participate. 

 However, practically all who attended the meetings I'.ave expressed them- 

 selves us being much benellted by the results, and In favor of future con- 

 ferences of this character. A brief report of the proceedings of the 

 Green Bay mcetlns bas lieen sent to our members. The discussions at 

 the other four meeting.-* were along the same lines, with, of course, varia- 

 tions due to the local conditions and attendance. In this connection, it is 

 a pleasure to report that the association inspectors have been constantly 

 on duty throughout the .vear, and that they have faithfully and honestly 

 tried to serve thy best interests of cur members. 



rollowln« inslruitlons received at the .luly meeting, we purchased 200 

 copies of the new hardwood rules, effective September 1, 1913 — practically 

 all of which have been distributed among the membership. Another au- 

 thorization for the same purpose Is now in order. We had printed last 

 spring 3,000 copies of the revised hemlock rules, which are also prac- 

 tically exhausted, and another edition should be ordered. We get very 

 frequent calls for the hemlock rules from many points of the country. 



Our supply of both eastern and westein freight rate books will not last 

 much longer. In fact, the western books would have gone some time ago 

 bad we not refused to sell copies to any but members of the association. 

 New editions of both books will be necessary as soon as pending questions 

 of freight rate adjustments are settled. The association will come out a 

 tew dollars ahead of the game in the publication of these books. 



The weekly association Circular has not once missed going into the 

 Friday mail at Waiisau since it first appeared in November, 1910. Once 

 in a while it is pretty hard scratching to get material for an issue, but 

 the Circular is published on the theory that its greatest value lies in the 

 fact that it can be expected at the same time every week, and that the 

 Information that it contains — even though scant — is strictly up to date. 

 Even members who complain that the information given is incomplete. 

 and not wholly reliable, arc as quick to read the Circular as are those who 

 faithfully report their sales. To the firms who can always be relied upon 

 to send In reports, the secretary owes a deep debt of gratitude, and he 

 asks that the other firms who often receive benefits without conferring 

 them, will kindly undertake to help out a little more hereafter. 



The report of the advertising committee — to come later — will give some 

 idea of our accomplishment.^ in this line of association activity. Could 

 every member read the weekly stream of correspondence and inquiries on 

 this subject, any doubts that he may have as to the effectivenes of asso- 

 ciated advertising of our products would be quickly removed. The foun- 

 dations laid during the past sixteen months are ample for increased pub- 

 licity in directions where we are sure of getting returns. 



The Michigan association and our own will cooperate in a bungalow to 

 be erected at the Forest Products Exposition in New York and Chicago. 

 Our joint appropriation for this purpose is sufficient to pay only for floor 

 space and the assembling of the building. All the material that goes 

 into it must be secured through donations of interested manufacturers who 

 will receive proper credit for their contributions. Further consideration 

 of this subject should be had today. Moreover, it would appear advisable 

 to hold the spring meeting of the association at Chicago on April 30, 

 so that all the members can that evening attend the formal opening 

 of the Forest Products Exposition in the Coliseum. The exposition will 

 surprise even the best informed lumberman with its demonstration of the 

 extent of our forest resources and the multiplicity of the uses of wood. 



The northern lumberman had a prosperous year in 1913 — remarkably 

 so in contrast with his brother manufacturers of the South and West. 

 Going over the year's activities, we are justified in the conclusion that 

 there was a normal consumption of lumber in the country as a whole, 

 and that we have no right to expect a greater average yearly consumption 

 at any time in the future. Except in New York City, building operations 

 in 1913 were less than two per cent below 1912, and larger than for 

 any previous year. Crop returns in the Lake States were remarkably good, 

 and failures in Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska were not nearly so disas- 

 trous as reported. In the same region, the outlook for a 1914 wheat 

 crop is much above the average. The farmers of the United States 

 received a larger cash return tor their products in 1913 than ever before, 

 and are in a generally prosperous condition. A group of leading farm 

 papers claim that 75,000 automobiles are owned by their subscribers. 

 A recent canvass by a leading contracting and building paper indicates 

 a very decided increase in building operations in 1914 over 1913, and this 

 is shared in by every section of the United States. 



The tide in general business conditions turned with the signing of the 

 currency bill just before Christmas, and each week since has shown greater 

 confidence and improvement, until orders for steel now exceed shipments. 

 Money is plentiful and easy, and stocks and bonds are selling more readily 

 for investment purposes than for many months past. The president's 

 statement that — "The war between government and business is over" — _ 

 gives liope that the many yet unsolved problems of finance and industry 

 will be worked out in a spirit of friendly adjustment that will contrast 

 most happily with some previous attempts at political solutions of 

 economic puzzles. 



The lumber industry is bound to benefit from this wide-spread improve- 

 ment and better feeling, although regional overproduction and the competi- 

 tion of other materials may have a retarding influence. In our own 

 territory, we know that stocks are still below normal — that before April, 



dry lumber will be as scarce as the masticating apparatus of the pro- 

 verbial hen, that no matter how favorable logging conditions may be from 

 now until the break-up, the input will be less than was planned for 

 last fall, and that the time has gone by when there will be an overproduc- 

 tion of northern lumber under anything like normal conditions. This 

 means that the manufacturers of hemlock and hardwoods have every 

 reason to face the new year with confidence and that they should be 

 too busy to listen to knocker.^. 



W. C. Landon moved the appointment of a committee on recom- 

 mendations to whom these reports were to be submitted, W. C. 

 Landon, C. A. Goodman and Murdock MacLeod were appointed to- 

 this committee. 



The advertising committee then submitted the following report, 

 which showed a very fjr.-itifying comlition of progress in the work 

 of tliat coinmittoo: 



Eeport of Advertising Committee 

 On April 1, this year, we will have co'mpleted eighteen months of our 

 association advertising. The results of this campaign have been In excesa 

 of the hopes of the committee and we have tried to be very conservative. 

 To date we have gotten approximately 2,550 direct replies to our birch 

 advertisements and about 1,150 direct replies on hemlock. These have 

 beea received in every case solely from the ads in the trade journals and 

 farm papers. In addition to this, we have distributed 4,000 copies of the 

 Book of Plans for Country Buildings through members of our association 

 and retail dealers, and have also sent several hundred birch books andi 

 sets of birch panels direct to leading architects who have been reached 

 through personal correspondence. 



We have now on hand requests from over 900 contractors, builders andr 

 carpenters for birch panels and at present our supply is exhausted. How- 

 ever, a new supply has been provided for by some of our members and; 

 stain manufacturers, which will be ready for distribution in about aixother 

 month. 



Our supply of Book of Plans for Country Buildings has been exhausted 

 and we will have unfilled requests for about 300 copies. 



Another way we devised for a cheap hemlock book was through the 

 "Jim" book recently issued, 13,500 copies of which have been taken by 

 thirty members of the association for their own distribution, and 7,000- 

 additional copies will be placed direct. 



We regularly notify the secretaries of the various retail lumber dealers' 

 associations when we have inquiries from customers in their territory, and 

 they in turn advise the local retail dealers and we have direct informa- 

 tion that a great many of the retailers are pleased with this particular 

 part of our work. 



Our twelve-page birch story published in December was the largest 

 advertisement for a building material ever run in a trade journal and the 

 replies have been much greater than anticipated, which makes this ad 

 the cheapest one we have had in proportion to the number of answers 

 received. We will have 10,000 reprints of the ad on good paper, without 

 the name of the magazine appearing, which will make us an extremely 

 cheap and effective new birch book for distribution at the Forest Products 

 Exposition and general use throughout 1914. 



This committee has gone over a vast amount of the correspondence and 

 inquiries received, and in a great many cases we have evidence of use of 

 birch as the direct result of our advertising. 



We have a letter from the manager of the largest sash and door manu- 

 facturers in the world, stating that in his opinion our campaign has in- 

 creased the value of birch several dollars per thousand feet and, while 

 large advertisers of birch themselves, they consider the association cat* 

 educate the general public to the merits of birclt much more effectively 

 than can the individual advertiser who wishes to sell only his own product. 

 Up to the present time there has been appropriated approximately 

 $8,600 for our use. Our expenditures have been kept well within that 

 figure and, with the possible exception of our being unable to supply the- 

 300 hemlock books needed before April 1, we will show no deficit. 



Your committee is thoroughly convinced that the association can make 

 no better investment than to continue to advertise our products along the 

 lines already mapped out and to broaden the campaign to include certain 

 of the better classes of consumers. The experience we have gained proves 

 to us, at least, that our return from well-placed advertising is directly 

 proportional to the effort expended, and we ask that the appropriation for 

 the next twelve months be not less than $8,000, which will be approxi- 

 mately one cent per thousand on our 1914 sales. This is very much less 

 than is being spent by the advertisers of other woods, but we feel that it 

 will be enough to enable us to economically continue tht? good work now 

 under way. 



Secretary Kellogg said, in speaking of the Forest Products Ex- 

 position, that the association has joined with the Michigan Hard- 

 wood Manufacturers' Association in shaping up the joint exhibit,, 

 which will be in the form of a bungalow made from woods growing 

 in the Lake states. The woods represented will be hemlock, birch, 

 maple for interior work, framing, etc. Mr. Kellogg said work is 

 progressing in a satisfactory manner, but that it appeared to be- 



