16 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



and, as usual in such eases, Germany wiis cited as an example vvortliy 

 of imitation. There iiinet3'-five per cent of the tree is utilized. The 

 stumps are grubbed out, the twigs tied in bundles, and all go to mar- 

 ket. The citation is instructive, but the American lumberman cannot 

 sell stumps ami twigs at a profit, consequently he will not save them. 



The suggestion is offered that sawdust be made into briquettes to 

 be sold as fuel, or that the dust be manufactured into gunpowder. 

 They may do that in Germany, but there is no profit in it in this 

 country; therefore, the lumbernuin will not do it here. 



It is suggested further that small pieces of waste be made into 

 dowels. A single state last year converted 800,000 feet of good lum- 

 ber into those small pins. The obstacle in the way of converting 

 odds and ends into dowels is the cost. The machines which make these 

 articles cannot profitably handle miscellaneous sizes and shapes of 

 rough material. To do so would increase the cost of dowels above 

 their selling price, and of course no manufacturer w-ould long con- 

 tinue to make them under that arrangement. 



The proposal to save waste by converting scraps of wood into 

 shuttles, spools, and bobbins overlooks the fact that comparatively 

 few woods are suitable for these articles. Persinimon and dogwood 

 are about the only shuttle materials in America, and not one mill 

 in fifty ever has a pound of either wood in its yard. Spools are as 

 exacting, the small ones being almost wholly of paper birch, and 

 the spool machines will not profitably handle waste, even of this 

 wood. The fact is, the spool factory, which presumably uses as 

 closely as possible, has more waste than a sawmill of the same size. 

 If it cannot work up its own scraps, it is not probable that it would 

 make a success of utilizing another 's scrap pile. 



Figures of questionable accuracy could be quoted from the same 

 bulletin on the increasing cost of lumber. "Lumber has increased in 

 price thirty per cent every decade for the last fifty years" is the 

 statement. Unfortunately, there are no authentic and commonly ac- 

 cepted figures showing the average value of lumber fifty years ago 

 in this country; but the Bureau of the Census gives the average mill 

 yard value in 1911 as $15.05. Figuring that a thirty per cent increase 

 has been added five times to produce that, it is found that the average 

 mUI yard value in 1861 was only $3.92 per thousand feet. It is 

 doubtful if lumber ever had a value so low as that anywhere in the 

 United States; consequently the thirty per cent increase every ten 

 years must be too much. 



All efforts to prevent waste should be encouraged, but the funda- 

 mental fact must be recognized that no man will trouble himself 

 with preventing waste, unless he can make something by doing it. 

 The theorist may point out how to save material, but the practical 

 man devises ways to save money. As soon as the lumberman or 

 mUlman can profitably dispose of by-products he wQl make them, and 

 not before. When population becomes as dense and wood as scarce 

 in this country as they now are in Germany and other countries of 

 western Europe, utilization will be as close here as there; but it is 

 useless to ignore economic conditions. Americans are as well posted 

 as their relatives are on the other side of the sea. Give them a mar- 

 ket for products and they will supply the markets. In the lumber 

 business in the United States, the real missionary work lies in the 

 direction of increasing the markets rather than increasing the 

 production. 



Vcilue of Personal Connections 



SALESMANSHIP may be on a more scientific basis than it used to 

 be, and the methods used may be labeled and card-indexed 

 and defined to an extent that was not dreamed of a few years 

 ago; but in spite of this apparent opening of all the sources of 

 information on the subject, it yet remains true that the per- 

 sonality of the salesman is one of the greatest possible factors 

 in getting business. A salesman with an unprepossessing appear- 

 ance is a rara avis, because of the universal knowledge that sel lin g 

 requires men who are of good appearance and address. The usual 

 description of a good salesman includes the statement that he is 

 "a good mixer," which is merely another way of saying that he 

 understands people and knows how to make them like him; and 

 when this is the case, the strength of the connections between 

 him and his customers is such that it takes pretty sharp com- 

 petition to cut them. 



A lumber salesman recently entertained a big consumer who- 

 stopped off in the former's home town to spend a Sunday with 

 him. Business was not mentioned, and it was strictly a social 

 meeting. When a salesman can make friends of his customers and 

 his prospective customers, he has built a foundation which can. 

 hardly be undermined. So in stressing all the various qualities 

 that go to make a good man on the road, don't forget that 

 likability, the knowledge of how to approach and win the confi- 

 dence of others, is, after all, the big asset. 



Canada, Beware! 



Ai'l'AKKXTLY SATIUFIKI) 'I'HAT IT IS USELESS to buck. 

 till- must unfavorable report issued by the Forest Service on 

 the glowing claims made of eucalyptus as a cureall for all the ills 

 of the lumber business, those promoters behind the development of 

 commercial eucalyptus plantations have started a campaign by secur- 

 ing in a prominent Canadian daily sufficient space to arouse curiosity 

 as to what eucalyptus is. In criticizing this feeler, as it might be 

 called, it is needless to analyze it further than to say that it defeats 

 its own purpose by suggesting the growing of eucalyptus in a country 

 which is most apparently not adapted to its best development. The 

 article is couched in very patriotic terms intended to appeal to the 

 patriotism of the Canadian who is interested in the best develop- 

 ment of the natural resources of the Dominion. It suggests that the 

 planting of eucalyptus would be feasible in the western Canadian 

 provinces. 



It is a generally known and accepted fact that those species of 

 eucalyptus which are hardy enough to withstand irregularities of 

 climate and any frost whatever are the species which do not count 

 for very much as far as rate of growth and quality of wood are 

 concerned. Those species which are peculiarly favored in these par- 

 ticulars demand an excellent soil and a very favorable climatic en- 

 vironment. Therefore on the face of it this appeal to the Canadian 

 is based on false premises in that in order to grow the wood at all 

 in Canada the worthless species would be used and hence the planta- 

 tions would be a failure. The promoting companies might succeed, 

 of course, in gathering up a considerable quantity of capital because 

 of the success of other species in California climates; but the in- 

 vestor would stand to lose anything he put into such an investment. 



Canadian investors can very well look very carefully into the 

 actual facts pertaining to the industry and its so-called commercial 

 development in the United States before seriously considering the 

 suggestions set forth in the article entitled "Timber Farming and 

 the Eucalvptus Trade. ' ' 



Cultivating the Consumers 



IN A LARGE CITY of the Middle West, where hardwood interests- 

 are large, and where consuming interests are also considerable, 

 it is a matter of common knowledge that the factory people buy a 

 large part, if not most of their lumber, from outside. In other 

 words, while the local yards are in a position to supply the wants 

 of the industries in their ovra community, a large part of their 

 business, which should logically be taken care of at home, goes 

 to dealers in other communities. 



The members of the lumber business in that market have an 

 association which meets monthly for the discussion of matters of 

 interest. At a recent gathering it was suggested that a special 

 meeting be held at which the heads and lumber buyers of the 

 consuming factories be invited as the guests of the lumbermen. 

 It was felt that a frank discussion of conditions, on both sides 

 of the fence, would result in the development of a better feeling 

 and a more thorough understanding, and that much business which 

 had gone outside might be retained. 



It was finally decided, however, not to extend the invitation, 

 many of the members of the lumber organization appearing to 

 feel that the consumer should not be taken into the confidence of 

 the lumbermen. It was feared that the buyer of lumber might 

 possibly learn something to his advantage, or rather, something 

 to the disadvantage of the seller. 



Is it possible that any considerable portion of the lumber trade- 

 is getting its business under conditions which do not admit of 

 meeting consumers on a fair and square basis? 



