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HARDWOOD RECORD 



July 25, 1917 



much. It met one irresistible enemy that overwhelmed it in Europe. 

 That was the ice sheet which pushed down from the Arctic regions 

 during the Glacial age, and buried the land beneath hundreds or 

 thousands of feet of ice. It was a mighty cataclysm from which the 

 walnut never recovered in that region. Possibly a few Circassian 

 walnut groves were spared in sheltered valleys of the Alps, and also 

 in Greece where, according to the testimony of Theophrastus, some 

 still survived as late as 2,200 years ago. 



In America the ice sheets did not push far enough southward to 

 crowd the forest off the continent, and when the ice withdrew toward 

 the north, the forests, including the walnuts, spread northward 

 again. A few of the more hardy tree species, like willow, birch, 

 spruce, and aspen, returned nearly or quite to the arctic circle after 

 the Glacial age had wholly passed; but the walnuts never recovered 

 all of their lost ground in America. They were able to advance 

 only slightly above the present Canadian boundary line. They never 

 returned to Greenland and Alaska, their former outposts; and, ex- 

 cepting one struggling species, our Pacific '^oast region has been 

 wholly lost to the walnut family. That lone species is keeping up its 

 long fight for life in California ; but it has so nearly lost out that 

 few persons except systematic botanists know of its existence there. 



Enemies Ukwittingly Give Help 



The heavy-nutted trees are not wholly bereft of assistance in their 

 planting operations. They do not exactly ' ' forage off their enemies, ' ' 

 but they do tlie next thing to it — profit by the work of their enemies. 

 Eodents, and to some extent birds also, unintentionally plant the 



nuts after carrying them away from the parent trees. The squirrel 

 buries them for future use. Though the little animal has an excel- 

 lent memory and is nearly always able to spot the cache where the 

 treasure lies, yet he sometimes misses a nut, or forgets the place, 

 or a hawk strikes him, with the result that the overlooked nut 

 becomes a seedling and ultimately a tree. 



This is a common occurrence now and there is evidence that it has 

 been going on during some hundreds of thousands of years. Hickory 

 nuts, gnawed by rodents, have been found in deposits of the Pleisto- 

 cene period of geology. 



Birds are less common nut carriers than rodents, and when they 

 do carry them it is doubtful if they ever purposely bury them. If 

 they can eat the nut, they generally do so on the spot; but there 

 are exceptions. If woodpeckers carry the nuts and drive them like 

 plugs in previously prepared holes in dead trees or fence posts, the 

 game is to wait until the hoard is infested with larvae, and then pick 

 out the grubs. Nuts so placed will never grow, no matter whether 

 forgotten or not. But the bluejay has no intention of following the 

 woodpecker's example in providing a grub hatchery, yet he carries 

 nuts also, particularly chestnuts. He usually picks off the hull and 

 eats the kernel then and there ; but he is a spasmodic bird, and is 

 sometimes seized with an impulse to carry a nut away, and he starts 

 on the wing for a distant hill or tree. But, like some other bipeds, 

 the bluejay is unfortunate in not knowing when to keep his mouth 

 ahut; and no sooner is he well on the way with the nut in his bill 

 than he thoughtlessly fetches a yell of exultation and the nut fall* 

 to the groifnd, possibly to germinate and become a tree. 



^ TO;{>a6TOroa6M^>M^m;itii>i^ywira^^ 



Queries On questions arising on anji points inrolving the law as it is applied to lumhering and allied industries loill t>e given proper expert 

 attention through this dcpartmcni if submitted to IIaudwood Uecuhd. There trill be no charge Jor such service, but IIardwoud Record 

 reserves the right to publish questions and answers tcithout designating names or location oj inquiries unless specifically requested not to do so. 



Garnishment of Insurance Proceeds 



The Louisiana statute which prescribes a penalty against insurance 

 companies for improper refusal to pay fire losses on demand does 

 not apply to a case where a creditor of insured has filed garnishment 

 proceedings against insurance proceeds before insured made demand 

 upon the insurance company for payment. (Louisiana supreme court, 

 Frank I. Abbott Lumber Co. vs. Home Insurance Co., 72 Southern 

 Reporter, 841.) 



Legality of Freight Rates 



A shipper is not entitled to the benellt of an Interstate freight rate 

 lower 'than the carrying railway company's rate published under the 

 Interstate Commerce act, although the lower rate was in force at the 

 time the contract was entered into. Hence, a planing mill company 

 which located its plant on defendant railway line, under an agreement 

 that shipping facilities would be furnished at a certain interstate 

 rate, is bound to pay an increase in the rate as now established. 

 (Mississippi supreme court, W. M. Carter Planing MiU Company vs. 

 New Orleans, Mobile & Chicago Railroad Company, 72 Southern 

 Reporter, 884.) 



Broker's Right to Commission 



Under employment of a broker to locate timberlands and to ne- 

 gotiate purchases for the employer, the broker was entitled to a com- 

 mission for reporting where timber could be bought, on the employer 

 purchasing it. The contract of employment was not too indefinite to 

 be enforceable merely because it did not place any limit on the quan- 

 tity of timber to be bought nor on the price to be paid. (Springfield, 

 Mo., court of appeals, Sisk vs. DiUman Egg Case Company, 190 South- 

 western Reporter, 389.) 



Recession of Sales Contracts 



If a contract for a sale of lumber contains a provision that ship- 

 ments shall "begin ten days after receipt of order, and be com- 

 pleted in sixty days," and that payment shall be made in cash 

 "after car arrives and is checked up," unreasonable failure on the 

 part of the seller to deliver gives the buyer good cause for rescind- 



ing the contract. On the other hand, if the buyer unreasonably 

 refuses to pay for deliveries after a reasonable time for inspecting 

 and checking them, the seller may rescind as to further deliveries. 

 Where the parties to a contract have expressed it in writing, if there 

 be silence as to a certain feature covered by a well established cus- 

 tom of trade, that custom may be read into the contract. But where 

 the agreement is complete and unambiguous on its face, its plain 

 language will not be controlled by any custom. (Goodman vs. 

 Whiting Lumber Company, 62 Pennsylvania superior court reports, 

 230.) 



Corporation's Ratification of Acts 



A corporation, like a natural person, may ratify any contract 

 made, or act done in its behalf by another, although not originally 

 authorized, if within the scope of the corporation's powers to have 

 so authorized the contract or act. Formal action of the board of 

 directors ratifying a transaction is necessary only when such action 

 would have been necessary to have authorized it in the first instance. 

 (Palmer vs. General Flooring & Manufacturing Company, 62 Penn- 

 sylvania superior court reports, 598.) 



Loss of Title to Shipment 



Where timber products are shipped to a buyer under his agree- 

 ment to honor draft for one-half the price on receipt of bill of lading 

 and to pay the balance on inspection of the shipment, the buyer 

 may transfer good title to a third persou who innocently relies upon 

 the buyer's unqualified right to sell, although the buyer may have 

 failed to pay the draft. (Georgia court of appeals, E. G. Willing- 

 ham's Sons vs. McGuffin, 90 Southeastern Reporter, R'>G.) 



The consumer of oak lumber who has a satisfactory source of 

 supply should investigate carefully before making a change when 

 some one else comes along and offers bargains because there is 

 much difference in the character and texture of oak, and often 

 what looks like a bargain may prove to be a disappointment. 



