July 10, lltl.'i. 



Climate Influences WooiTs Quality 



Region luul cliiiiatc Imvc mueh to do with tlio qualities of wooJ. 

 It is well known tlint soil lius much inlluoiioc upon the character ot 

 the wooil, anil that the better the soil, the better is the wood if other 

 thiu(;8 are equal; but the climatic or regional intUiencc is indejiendent 

 of character of soil. 



In northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas an exceptionally high 

 grade shortleaf pine is found, and in advertising it, the region where 

 it grows is always mentioned. Yet, this is exactly the same pine 

 botouically that grows from Delaware to Texas and Oklahoma. It 

 is found in exiery southern state and overlaps a little on some of the 

 bordering nortliern states. For some reason, which seems to be due 

 to region or climate, a .specially fine grade of this pine grows in a dis- 

 trict embraced in northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas. 



Douglas fir is another illustration of climatic or regional infiuence 

 upon the texture of wood. That which grows in the northern Pacific 

 coast districts is far sujierior to the Rocky Mountain growth, but 

 in their botanical characters the trees are the same. In this instance 

 the superior wood is the product of a moist climate, the poor grows 

 where rainfall is lighter. That does not hold, however, with the 

 shortleaf pine described above; so rainfall alone docs not account for 

 differences in character of wood. 



Qualities of white pine go by regions, but differences are not so 

 clearly drawn as with some other woods. The range of while pine 

 extends eighteen hundred miles east and west across southern Canada 

 and the northern states; yet only in limited areas here and there 

 has the superior kind known as cork or pumpkin pine been produced. 

 If soil and rainfall were the determining factors in the production 

 of cork pine, that grade ought to have been found in many other 

 places. 



Red spruce supplies anotlier illustration. This tree is found all 

 over Xew England, and in New York, I'enn.sylvania, and among the 

 mountains southward to Tennessee; yet the peculiar qualities of that 

 occurring on certain mountain ranges near the interlocking sources 

 of the Potomac and Ohio rivers are so superior that lumber from that 

 region is widely advertised as West Virginia spruce. 



The lead pencil maker sends to Tennessee for his red cedar, yet 

 precisely the same species grows upon half the area of the United 

 States, but most of the wood lacks some of the desirable qualities 

 found in the product of the Tennessee region. 



Michigan rock elm is widely advertised as the best to h". had, and 

 it has enjoyed that reputation for fifty years. English shipbuilders 

 were sending to Michigan for rock elm before that state became 

 important as a source of other kinds of lumber. But the rock elm of 

 Michigan is exactly the same tree from the botanist's standpoint as 

 the rock elm of New England, New York. Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois, 

 and Nebraska. It appears from popular opinion that the Michigan 

 product possesses desirable properties not found in rock elm in other 

 parts of its extensive range. 



The best judge of a wood's qualities is the man who uses it. The 

 scientist with the microscope, microtome, and chemical bottles reaches 

 a number of valuable conclusions along certain lines; but it has 

 remained for the users of woods to determine the region where the 

 best qualities for practical purposes may be found. 



The Trade Value of Your Signature 



It is quite the usual thing to figure that the comparative value of 

 a man 's signature depends upon what it may be worth when affixed to 

 a bank check. The personal signature, however, is of recognized 

 value in correspondence and especially in the work of selling by 

 maU. 



We have not perhaps appreciated this value as we should in the 

 domestic trade, but it is an item that is being driven home to us 

 in the export trade. One of our consuls writing from China, for 

 example, says that when a trade letter with no written signature is 

 received in China it is not given any attention because the people 



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there figure that if a man is not i)orsonally interested enough to 

 sign his letters, his letters do not call for any attention. 



Really this sentiment prevails in our own domestic trade to an extent 

 that many do not realize or else they wouM quit the habit of having 

 just the firm name signeil with a typewriter, or a stamp signaturo 

 ajiplieil to letters. A circular or form letter with a pei'sonal signaturo 

 often carries more weight anil more of the personal element than a 

 dictated letter signed with the typewriter or with the rubber stamp. 



Business correspondence should always be acblressed to the firm 

 instead of indinduals though it may be marked for the attention of 

 certain individuals. When letters are written and sent out, how- 

 ever, they should have individual signatures to give them personality. 

 Those who have not been getting tlie results they should out of a busi- 

 ness correspondence may well give heed to this idea and try the experi- 

 ment of seeing that all letters are personally signed, l)ccause the sig- 

 nature has a trade value of some importance. 



For Salesmen to Consider 



The furniture maniifactunr and the luiiiliiriiian were lunching 

 together and had been wrangling over the question of lumber grades 

 and specifications, but by and by the furniture man switched the 

 subject with this question : why it is that sometimes we find a salesman 

 on the road who is really bigger and more important in trade getting 

 than the house he represents, while on the other hand with some con- 

 cerns tlie house is the whole thing and it is immaterial who does the 

 selling so that it is some one with intelligence enough to present 

 their offerings. 



The lumberman pondered the matter for a while and then sai<l that 

 ho really didn't know it was that way. He knew of course, that 

 certain mills and certain concerns establish a reputation for furnish- 

 ing just what they agree to furnish when they agree to furnish it and 

 that they get the preference over some others ; also, that there are some 

 salesmen who are more enterprising and more likable and have the 

 knack of booking more business than others but he had always as- 

 sumed that the house of the firm is invariably bigger or more import- 

 ant than the salesman. 



The furniture manufacturer replied that the assumption applied 

 in the majority of cases, but there are exceptions. There are sales- 

 men who call upon buyers with lumber to offer and the buyer depends 

 more on them than the house they represent. In other words there are 

 men who arc personally known to be so dependable that in placing 

 orders with them the buyer never gives a thought as to where and how 

 they get their lumber, what mill it comes from or anything of the kind. 

 He e-xplains his needs to them and they have so thoroughly demon- 

 strated their understanding and their ability to supply the needs that 

 he gives these men the preference in orders regardless of what milt 

 or what concern they might be representing. 



That kind of a salesman is not merely a salesman, he's a business 

 man. Some of them are in other lines of business and some in the 

 lumber business. After all, whether it be saleman or the house that 

 becomes prominent it is purely a matter of establishing a reputation 

 through giving satisfactory service and it is presumed if the sales- 

 man does this persistently he will make a reputation for himself just 

 the same as the mill makes a reputation by persistent adherence 

 to grades and earnest effort to satisfy customers. It is purely a 

 matter of reputation building and the salesman has as good a chance 

 to build a reputation as the firm itself, and if ho gives enough atten- 

 tion to it, he may build one that is bigger and better than that of 

 some firms. 



There are some good mechanics and some good foremen who have 

 never read a trade paper, or studied their work from a scientific 

 standpoint, but who is there who does not believe he might have been 

 better if he had done these things? 



