IO 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



The history of timber values is that they have gradually increased 

 year by year, a lowed a declining trend of lumber 



values. When lumber goes off iu price, timber properties are held 

 by investors out of the market, and they are not sold to actual 

 operators until there is a renaissance of higher lumber prices. Thus 

 the non-stuinpage owner and the jobber of lumber are surely get- 

 ting wedged in between the nether stones of the mill, and their 

 opportunities for a speculative profit in lumber are gradually grow- 

 ing lest is the years go i>y. 



How American Hardwood Grading Is Regarded Abroad. 



The Timber Trades Journal of London, commenting on Ami 

 hardwood grading, and especially on the symbols adopted by the 

 Hardwood Manufacturers' Association of the United States, has 

 this to say: 



In our last issue we gave the symbols adopted bj the Hard- 

 wood Manufacturers' Association or the United States. It 



this associatl lontrolled the entire trade some good might 



possibly arise from the method proposed, but we renture to 

 think that the question is as Involved as thai of credit, 

 and that it would he useless to hope that the trade either in 



America or mi tliis -^ i » I . - will accept It as a solutl f the 



difficulty of buying American lumber win ersonally 



Inspecting it 



It is nothing sle.it oi a scandal the way In which lumber 

 Is graded and shipped to this country. Ii is said that tim- 

 ber cannot be adulterated, but there is unfortunately an 

 adulterine method ol silting grades, and It is grossly unfair 

 that the holders of strictly graded lid have pitted 



against them some stocks shipped as prime. 



We could name certain marks which are consistently a 

 profit tower in quality than those of shippers who live up to 

 their reputation, and we cannot sec why the latter should 

 sink their Individuality behind an association mark. 



In classifying lumber there Is something more than the 

 question as to the amount "i entage of wane and 



the number "f kn.iis allowed in an individual board; whilst 

 one may pass an odd liner here and there, It becomes a very 

 different matter when the parcel consists largely of liners, 

 and it is here where association inspection will fall to fulfill 

 i he expei tations of its authors. 



We can also with advantage mention other factors which 

 count in determining the classification and the value of 

 lumber such as color, and the unit color In qu 



tered white oak, and thi percentage of sap — factors which a 

 cut-and-dried association Inspection either ignores or is not 

 cognizani 



In poplar or, as we term It, canary wood, the value Is on 

 the condition in which we recel ■ It. It we buy wide panel 

 stock »'■ have a right to receive and expect lumber that will 

 make the sizes for which II It' it has shaken 



ends it is worth ii" more, possibly not as much as the or- 

 dlnarj eight Inch and wider. The value is Dot us it comes 

 from the saw. but as it is received, and then loubt 



but that a lot Is put down to carriers and transit which 



lebited either to gr I or i" the carelessness of 



Inspei 



w i further iliink ths on inspection does not 



sufficient cognizance of Irregular manufacl il her as to 



parallel widths, even sawing, and proper butting. In poplar 



ii due floes altogether He in the fact "i a board 



being clean, but whether it is of a mild or a hard blrchy 

 texture, here again issoclation Inspection will tail to meet 

 th< market ; and so we might enlarge. 



While some of the strictures offered by the Timber Trades 

 Journal may be just, thai publication's statements are at vari- 

 ance with the facts when it alleges that it is the design i 

 Hardw I Manufacturers' Association that individual producers 

 of lumber should sink their individuality behind the association 

 board marks. It was one of the paramount recommendations of 

 Presid mi of this association, which was adopted at the 



last aunual meeting, that every producer should brand hi3 lumber 

 with his individual trade mark, and supplement this branding 

 with that of the grade mark. There pre many arguments in favor 

 of this system of trade marking and branding grades of lumber, 

 and the most important is thai every inspector, before he stamps 

 a grade mark on a trade-marked plank, is going to bi positive 

 that his judgment is and thus avoid being hauled over 



' some future time for making an incorrect inspi 



If this practice comes into universal use, it will eliminate for- 

 ever the salting of grades which is so common by unscrupulous 

 dealers. The carrying out of the system generally, throughout 

 the home and foreign trade, would insure to every consumer of 

 lumber that he was receiving the grade that he bought. The obser- 

 vation that the Timber Trades Journal makes on the subject of 

 what it calls ''birchy texture" is without moment. The rules on 

 poplar grading authorized by every association in this country 

 call for yellow poplar. "Hickory" poplar or swamp-growth 

 poplar has no license to be inspected under this poplar classifica-i 

 tion, save in width, length, thickness and method of manufacture. 

 All poplar rules in use for domestic or foreign trade specify 

 definitely on the subject of parallel widths, even sawing and 

 proper trimming. 



Advantages of Community of Interest. 



In the miscellaneous news of this issue of thj Hardwood Eecord 

 v ill be found a brief account of the annual meeting of the Vehicle 



\V Mock Company. The history of this concern is well worthy the 



i ntiou of other produc rs oi minor woodwork in this country, 

 whose output individually may not be large, but which in the ag- 

 gregate reaches an immense sum. The value of the total production 

 of bent oak ami hickory rims and hounds iu the United States is 

 approximal ly £2,1 '00,000.00 annually, and of this output the Vehicle 



v\ Istock Company represents a large majority. 



\\ hen this company was organized the rim and hound business 



in a very unsatisfactory condition from a commercial staml- 



point. There was no uniformity of manufacture, no uniformity of 



de, nn standard sizes and no uniform list. All these features of 



business have been readjusted on high class commercial lines. 



goods are being produced at a lower cost; they are being pro- 



i.it ormly; they are uniformly graded; and the relative value 



if each grade has been satisfactorily price listed. The members of 



the eompany are now making money where previous to its inception 



losses were the rule, and this in the face of the fact that prices 



have mil been materially advanced. The buying trade is in entire 



harmony with the organization, as it is now assured of high-class 



production, uniform grades ami steady prices. 



The lesson taught by the history of the Vehicle Y7 Istork Com- 

 pany is well worthy the attention of producers of hardwood cut-up 

 stock, which enters so largely into the furniture, chair ami kindred 

 trades "I the country. The time is ripe for a dimension Btock 

 association, which shall establish uniform methods, uniform sizes, 

 uniform grades, ami a standard of relative value for th- st ■ nk 

 ced. 



Collapse of the Teamsters' Strike. 



At last tin- teamsters' war thai lias prevailed in Chicago since 

 April is at an end. Drivers apparently have surrendered uncon- 

 ditionally, and it is to be hoped that the lesson taught these union 

 men, who figure, 1 that might was right and who overestimated 

 ii'ii "might," will be salutary, and that Chicago has seen the end 

 of its iniquitous strike troubli - Cor all time. 



Forestry Department University of Michigan. 



The forestry department of the University of .Michigan has 

 ndertaken the issuing of a bulletin covering the lumber supply ana 



general c Litions which surround the lumber industry. To 



preserve the forests ami prepare the way tor restoration of timber 

 lands is tin- end toward which this department of the university is 

 laboring. 



Vermont Still on the Nap. 



The population of Vermont has shown an increase of only 29,521 

 m fifty years, yet the number of wage earners employed in manu- 

 facturing establishments has increased during that time from 8,4-15 

 to 29,455. The production of lumber is still the leading industry 

 of the si.itc. ami the increase iu the number of wage earners is 

 largely attributable to this calling and to the establishment of 

 many allied industries producing planing mill products, dimension 

 Btock and small finished wood articles. In this production the state 

 b is shown an increase of ls.1 percent in the last ten years. 



