flaMwoMRocoM 



Copyright, Thb Habdwood Company, 1917 



Published in the Interest of the American Hardwood Forests, the Products thereof, and Logging. Saw 

 Mill and Woodworking Machinery, on the lOlh and 25th of each Month, by 



THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



Edgar H. Defebaugh, President 

 Edwin W. Meeker, Managing Editor 

 Hu Maxwell, Technical Editor' 



Seventh Floor Ellsworth Building 



537 So. Dearborn Street, CHICAGO 



Telephones: Harrison 8086-8087-8088 



Vol. XLIII. 



CHICAGO, OCTOBER 10, 1917 



No. 12 



^i &ia!iM!i>tTO;iit!!)tW 'W!iitiiiWiWt^^^ 



Review and Outlook 



General Market Conditions 



SINCE THE LAST ISSUE OF HARDWOOD BECOED ample 

 proof of the market prospect as giveu in that issue has been 

 forthcoming. More tangible summaries from Washington as to 

 the extent and variety of government needs for lumber show that 

 the influence of government war work upon supply can hardly 

 be over-estimated. It is becoming more and more apparent that 

 the immediate prospect for lumbering points to war work as the 

 primary market of the first consideration. In fact, it is already 

 reported that in spite of all efforts to provide for a smooth move- 

 ment of supply to meet the government needs, there is already de- 

 veloping more or less competition in different government depart- 

 ments for their lumber. In short, the big task will be to provide 

 enough to take care of all the demands from Washington. 



Meetings in lumber producing sections have shown ever increas- 

 ing apprehension over labor supply, and it is now practically 

 certain that the hardwood production of the country at large can 

 give but incidental consideration to the supplying of normal 

 demands in the face of a genuine difficulty in putting out enough 

 for the call incident to the prosecution- of the war. 



As far as the use of lumber in ordinary channels is concerned, 

 the slackness in orders still continues. It is pretty certain that 

 the trade as a whole recognizes the entire probability of continu- 

 ing quietness and to the man who needs lumber in his everyday 

 work, the fact that prices are remaining exceedingly firm — in fact 

 are continuing to advance in some directions — should have espe- 

 cial significance. Never before have lumbermen appreciated the 

 definite and actual value of the product they are manufacturing 

 as represented by the cost of producing it. The rapid and radical 

 changes in cost of production have been such as to focus attention 

 more sharply upon this feature of operation than ever before, and 

 the result is a more general understanding of just what it costs to 

 turn out the goods. 



The lumber trade can be depended upon to insist upon an ade- 

 quate return for its product or to decline to market it. Statistics 

 reveal ample surplus during the past year of shipments over pro- 

 duction, and as has been previously emphasized, the difficulty of 

 meeting accentuated and unusual demand on top of the normal call 

 will be greater from month to month. The most conservative and 

 at the same time the most noteworthy opinions are unanimous in 

 their optimism. Of course such a tremendous transition as the 

 lumber trade is now undergoing could not take place without some 

 isolated lines suffering. It is quite likely that in the gathering up 

 of loose ends and the realignment of production and marketing, 

 sacrifices will be made in some stocks, but the conviction is daily 



becoming more strongly grounded that in the future months hard- 

 wood merchandising will see greater rather than decreasing 

 strength, the only necessity devolving upon the hardwood man 

 being sufiicient courage to sit tight with his stocks and keep a 

 sharp watch on what is developing in new markets. A full realiza- 

 tion of what will be needed and is needed every day is sufficient 

 justification in itself for any reasonable amount of optimism. 



The Meaning of the Sales Conference 



THE COMIXG CONFERENCE of uothern salesmen and sales 

 managers as announced elsewhere in this issue is given edi- 

 torial mention because the fostering of up-to-dateness, of aggres- 

 siveness in developing markets, co-operation against the common 

 enemy substitution, and modernizing the manufacturing end ac- 

 cording to standards set by new fields and conditions of consump- 

 tion, must be accomplished by the progressive sales organizations 

 or it %vill remain undone. Of necessity the sales department senses 

 changing conditions in markets more readily and can analyze causes 

 more intelligently than can the operating department. Being con- 

 stantly in touch vrith the outside and with the avenues of lumber 

 consumption, salesmen and sales managers knoWj what is transpiring 

 and why. 



The one organization which has maile more progress than any 

 other of a similar kind includes in its membership practically all 

 of the leading salesmen and sales managers working for northern 

 operators. At the first meeting held at Merrill, Wis., last year, 

 the potential influence for the advancement of the industry wielded 

 by this association was recognized. Its possibility and accomplish- 

 ment at this, the second meeting, should be even clearer. Northern 

 salesmen and sales managers have in their keeping the marketing 

 and, in fact, the very future existence of the institutions they repre- 

 sent. The outcome of this meeting should be not only an even 

 broader spirit of working together between the sales managers 

 and the operators, but every man eligible for participation in the 

 conference should consider this as a very important part of his 

 regular work. Employers of salesmen and sales managers should 

 consider attendance upon this meeting as educational and insist 

 upon the trip to Bay City as a part of the regular routes of their 

 traveling representatives. They should so consider this conference 

 because at the first annual meeting last year the sales representa- 

 tives clearly demonstrated that they can show the operators many 

 things which the operators would never discover without the vigi- 

 lance and assistance of the sales departments. 



The sales managers' conference has shown what it is capable of 

 and what its future influence will be. It is justly entitled to noth- 



