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HARDWOOD RECORD 



September 10, 191T 



It goes on to tell then how the paper box has nobly and opportunely 

 come to the rescue of a nation in dire want of shipping containers, and 

 withall pays a very handsome though insidious and unwelcome com- 

 pliment to the lumber trade, i. e., that the lumbermen are so patriotic 

 that they are willing to surrender legitimate markets and sacrifice 

 all their own interests to the war needs. 



Of course anyone familiar with lumber conditions will know that 

 the situation in the wooden box business has never been so strong as 

 it is now. Never before have the low grades been so completely sold 

 up, and it would be next to impossible to make money from the manu- 

 facture of veneer cores into crating lumber on specially installed 

 sawmUls were the demand for this material not excessive. The point 

 is that while the. true situation is recognized by those familiar with 

 conditions, the public at large is being mislead by such plausible items 

 as this, which, while they appear to throw bouquets, really contain 

 poisoned arrows. 



The Philosophy of Sampson Flats 



A WAG INTENDING TO BE FACETIOUS once remarked of the 

 stockmen of a certain district in California that ' ' the people of 

 Sampson Flats try to get rich by stealing hogs from one another. ' ' 

 It is apparent that such a policy might temporarily advance the 

 interests of the most energetic individuals, but the prosperity of a 

 community as a whole would not advance so long as there were only a 

 fixed number of hogs to be in possession first of one and then of 

 another. A better policy woidd have been to increase the numl)er of 

 hogs or their value. 



The possibility of such a homely illustration fitting lumber mer- 

 chandising (excepting of course the matter of dishonest practices), 

 has been suggested on various occasions. There is a certain aggregate 

 amount of lumber to be sold and the sponsors of each wood are trying 

 to sell as much of their particular kind of lumber as possible. Well- 

 balanced association advertising in the interest of this or that wood 

 has long since gotten beyond the speculative experimental stage. The 

 possibility of concrete results in the interest of the wood being adver- 

 tised is a matter now of definite certainty, but were it not for one 

 result which in no case has been contemplated by the originators of 

 the association advertising idea, the simUitnde between these efforts 

 and the efforts of the Sampson Flats stockmen to increase their bank 

 accounts (again leaving out the dishonest practices) would be rather 

 startling. 



That result has a bearing on what should be tlie ultimate goal of 

 all lumber advertising — the actual expansion of the marketing possi- 

 bilities so that an increase in the sales of one wood does not neces- 

 sarily mean a decrease in the sales of another. Only when that accom- 

 plishment is fully realized will the advertising of lumber have reached 

 the plane of modern merchandising. 



No one can criticise the desire of manufacturers of respective 

 woods to increase the sales of their individual products, and no one 

 would be correct in saying that the advertising of the respective woods 

 is not justified. However, the different groups should not lose sight, 

 in formulating their plans in behalf of the species which they produce, 

 of the primary necessity, the one thing which must be accomplished 

 if all of this individual work will not in the eml have proven futUe. 



It is stated that there is one result not contemplated tl)at has come 

 from this advertising of individual species. The specific character of 

 the copy and the definite educational work carried on in bclialf of 

 each of the woods so advertised has of necessity resulted in the layman 

 acquiring a certain definite knowledge which he undoubtedly could 

 not acquire from a general campaign in the interest of wood as a whole 

 and not mentioning any wood in particular. In other words, the 

 prospective home-builder, even though he may have been fully edu- 

 cated as to the relative merits of wood and competitive materials, and 

 have decided upon wood, still remains somewhat in the dark as to a 

 specific kind of wood that he should use. Therefore the individual 

 advertising, handling as it docs the merits of the commodity in each 

 case, gives to the prospective user data and knowledge so that he may 

 make his own comparison and draw his own conclusions. So these 

 individual campaigns have done a great deal from a general educa- 



tional standpoint and have undoubtedly assisted greatly in promulgat- 

 ing wood propaganda and familiarizing the populace with wood and its 

 uses and merits. 



But in spite of all that has been done, published reports of lumber 

 production, which in the main can be taken as indicative of consump- 

 tion, do not show a gain in the total according to latest figures. There- 

 fore the conclusion is that the same conditions which defeated the 

 purposes of the Sampson Flats stockmen may ultimately overcome the 

 good efforts of the individual.advertising of groups of American lum- 

 ber manufacturers. So to the end that their own individual work may 

 be given the broadest possible development, that the resistance to wood 

 propaganda, the spreading of which makes more fertile the field for 

 the planting of knowledge of specific woods, may be overcome, the 

 respective associations must remember that in accord with their own 

 efforts and in conjunction with their own campaign, the broader work 

 designed to benefit the whole industry, not any one part of it, must 

 be carried along. 



The Problem of Cut-over Land 



WITHIN THE PAST QUARTER OF A CENTURY the problem, 

 of cut-over land has claimed attention in all timbered regions of 

 the United States. Before that time it was not much of a problem and' 

 was allowed to solve itself or remain unsolved. When the lumberman 

 had stripped the land, he was done. He moved on to new tracts of 

 timber and left the denuded areas to be impoverished by fire and 

 wasted by erosion ; but if it was salable for farming purposes, it waa 

 disposed of to those who wanted it. It generally happened that tracts 

 with excellent soil and in thickly populated regions were converted 

 into farms, while those of only moderate fertility or somewhat remote 

 were abanooned to their fate. 



The best farms in the Eastern States generally occupy ground 

 where hardwoods once grew. That is because hardwoous held the 

 choice soils and the softwoods took what was left. That rule was not 

 so general in the South and on the Pacific Coast, because on account 

 of climatic conditions softwoods there occupy many fertile tracts. 



The policy of abandoning cut-over land is no longer popular. The- 

 land itself is a greater asset than it once was. If the prospect is 

 good that a new stand of timber will grow, after the old has been 

 removed, it may be good business to protect the land against fire and' 

 wait for the trees to increase in value; but if that prospect is remote, 

 it is more profitable to clear the land for farms or sell it to those who- 

 will clear it, provided the soil is fertile and the land tillable. 



As a result of this change in policy, loggedoff land is rapidly 

 dianging into farms in all timbered regions of the country, not only 

 where liardwoods ]>revail, but likewise in some of the .softwooel areas in 

 ■ the South and in the Northwest. Organizations and associations make 

 the clearing and disposal of cut-over land their special business. The 

 cost of clearing is often high, and the individual whose capital is 

 small might not feel able to undertake it, but is \vil!ing to p;iy for it 

 in yearly installments if he can buy it ready for the plow. He caa 

 make tlie land pay for itself if he can buy it ready for crops. 



The movement to turn forest land into farms as speedily as possible,. 

 after the salable timber has been removed, is in the right direction. 

 There is no profit in burnt and washed land, but there is profit in- 

 fruit, hay, corn, cotton, wheat, and truck g;irdcns. 



Whether a particular piece of land wOl jiay better if left to grow 

 up again in woods, or cleared and converted into farms, is a question 

 which should be answered on the merits of each individual case; but 

 if the soil is good there can be no mistake if the land is quickly con- 

 verted into farms after the timber has been taken off; but if the 

 soil is poor or the ground very rough, it probably would pay better 

 if returncii agnin to forest, and protected from fire and other enemies.. 



While all this talk is going on about reti'il lumber advertising 

 it is up to the hardwood fraternity to see that some mention of 

 hardwood is made in connection with it, because the really desir- 

 able home is that which has a fair quantity of hardwood used orb 

 the interior. 



