16 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



trade to find out exactly just what the situation is and what the pros- 

 pects are for the immediate future. 



As stated before, responsible producers have refused orders for 

 large lots for future shipments, and this feeling out is probably to 

 determine whether these refusals will continue. It, however, is a good 

 indication and unquestionably predicts that buyers realize the neces- 

 sity of stocking up in the near future. If this were not so, they cer- 

 tainly would not take the trouble to even feel out the market. 



An illustration of the present trend of buying is seen in the case 

 of a large veneer concern which maintains a constant stock, adequate 

 to meet all orders for immediate shipment that might come in. It is 

 not the usual policy as prevails in the veneer business, and this con- 

 corn has made a specialty of orders of this kind. It keeps an enor- 

 mous stock of veneers in its warehouses, and states that while the 

 veneer business in general has not been in any too good condition 

 for some little time, its business has been maintained on a better 

 level during the easing up of the general veneer situation of late 

 than it has ever attained before, which of course, is conclusive proof 

 that the majority of the orders for veneer stock have been for imme- 

 diate shipment and of a moderate size. 



Generally speaking, continued optimism reigns in all lines, and 

 there is certainly every indication that the return of spring weather, 

 accompanied by the opening up of building and other operations, will 

 see the situation shaping up into a much more favorable condition. 



The Cover Picture 



APBEAK OF THE FOREST forms the central figure of the 

 cover picture which illustrates this issue of Hardwood Record. 

 Two venerable trees, a sycamore and a red oak stand side by 

 side, and one of the oak's large limbs is firmly grafted into the 

 body of the sycamore. The limb which joins the two trees has 

 sent out no branches, but apparently it is wholly oak, and re- 

 ceives no sap from the sycamore. The photograph was recently 

 made on Lick Creek, Madison County, Indiana, by Huron H. 

 Smith, of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. 



The two trees are vigorous and seem good for a century more, 

 at least, if left to the course of nature. It may be observed that 

 the two trees lean away from each other. That is not due to an 

 accident, but illustrates a law of vegetable growth, that plants 

 will incline toward the light. The shade of each tree repelled the 

 other. It is a force which has been acting since the trees were 

 seedlings, as is evidenced by the regular angle which measures 

 their separation. Had they grown in a forest so dense that there 

 was no more light on one side than on the other, the chances are 

 that they would have grown side by side, with no tendency to 

 lean away from each other. 



The process by which the oak limb became grafted into the 

 sycamore's trunk is a matter for speculation. It is doubtful if it 

 is a true graft, with an exchange of sap between the two trees; 

 but probably resulted in another way. Perhaps the oak limb, 

 when both trees were small, lay across the sycamore's trunk and 

 the wood gradually grew over it and cut off the circulation of 

 sap beyond, causing death to that portion. 



The remarkable thing is that the -stub of the oak limb should 

 remain alive so long after wholly deprived of its leaves. Usually, 

 if a limb is cut off some distance from the trunk, and no sprouts 

 come out, the stub will die. That is because no sap can circulate 

 through it. Leaves stimulate, if they do not wholly cause, the 

 movement of sap. Deprive a tree of its leaves, as when cater- 

 pillars defoliate it, and it will surely die, if the defoliation is re- 

 peated a few times. 



The stub of the limb connecting the tw-o trees in the picture 

 has had no leaves for many years, yet it is alive and apparently 

 it has grovm about the same as other portions of the tree which 

 have retained their leaves. The tree food (sap sent down from 

 the leaves) which has caused the stub's growth, evidently has 

 made its way into the stub from the trunk of the oak. It has gone 

 upward from the trunk into the stub, which is contrary to the 

 usual movement which is from the leaves downward through the 

 twigs and along the limbs to the trunk. 



Be that as it may, the living limb connecting the two trees of 

 different species, is something more than a curiosity. It involves, 

 if it does not controvert, some of the commonly-accepted prin- 

 ciples of plant growtli. 



Outlook for Veneers 



INQUIRIES sent out the first of the year by Hardwood Record 

 have brought replies from hundreds of prominent users of 

 veneers in this country, as to how their demands for stock this 

 year will compare with last. The replies have been tabulated 

 and analyzed. Taken as a whole their tone is decidedly one of 

 encouragement. Most of the manufacturers expect to use more 

 veneer stock the coming year than in the year recently closed. 

 The indicated increase is not large in every instance, but the 

 tendency is upward and there is general hopefulness. The woods- 

 which show the largest increase in requirements are oak, ma- 

 hogany, basswood, red gum, Circassion walnut, birch, and chest- 

 nut. Increase in a smaller degree is indicated for yellow poplar, 

 black walnut, ash, and maple. 



It is the tendency rather than the actual increase that is the 

 chief encouraging feature. "Faith without works is dead" holds 

 as true in the veneer business as anywhere else. The users not 

 only have faith that business will be better, but they convert their 

 faith into the works by preparing to do more business. A mere 

 desire for better things will not necessarily amount to anything, 

 since the desire is ever present; but expectation is a positive 

 force in causing things to happen, and the users of veneers un- 

 questionably have the requisite expectation at this time. 



Example of Overproduction 



THE ANNOUNCEMLENT IS MADE that the lumber cut in 

 Washington and Oregon in 1913 aggregated 7,760,000,000 feet 

 board measure. This is an estimate based on statistics of the 

 logs cut last year in those states, returns for which have been 

 compiled. The statistics were collected bj- the state foresters of 

 Washington and Oregon, cooperating with H. B. Oakleaf of the 

 United States Forest Service. It is not apparent that the gov- 

 ernment has authorized any report concerning the lumoer cut in 

 those states in 1913; but the above figures have been published 

 by the West Coast Lumberman, at Seattle, and it is assumed that 

 they are approximately correct. 



The cut of lumber in the two states in 1912 was 6,016,000,000. 

 The 1913 cut is twenty-eight per cent larger. This does not look 

 much like curtailment of output, about which there has been so 

 much talk. It does not resemble a halt in production until the 

 markets can work off accumulated supplies, thereby permitting 

 prices to recover. It is well known that there are sawmills enough 

 in the country, and timber enough, to increase the lumber cut 

 to proportions larger than any past year has shown, not excepting 

 the banner year of 1907; but the business judgment of lumbermen 

 generally has been that it would simply demoralize the market 

 to overload it, and that loss and hard times would follow. 



The Pacific coast lumbermen do not seem to fear overproduction, 

 if their sentiments may be deduced from their actions. They do 

 not expect to use any great quantity of their lumber at home, 

 but count on selling it east of the Rocky Mountains and in for- 

 eign countries. It doubtless suits them very well when eastern 

 mills hold down production; for it affords a chance to run western 

 lumber in. There are some people, however, who may question the 

 correctness of the ethics of the western lumbermen who increase 

 their cut while the millmen in the East and South act on the 

 theory that the good of all will be conserved by holding down the 

 output until business conditions improve. 



It looks as if the eastern and southern lumbermen have been 

 left "holding the sack" for the western "snipe-hunters." 



Apparently an Opportunity 



THE GENERAL M.\NAGER of a big southern corporation which 

 turns out a great deal of gum recently made the observation 

 that, in his opinion, it would pay gum manufacturers to organize 



