14 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



November 10, lOt.l. 



Many novelties ore made of bir> i 'li a» vigitiu); rardn, invi- 



tatiouii, piu tray.H, berry biirkptH, niid wlinliiot!'. Tlio picbalil iipponr- 

 uocc of tbc trunkii in the picture inJicHteti that they have been Nkinned 

 by some souvenir hunter, and the nickly look of the brnnrhes bcspeiik 

 appronchini; decline and death. The outer bnrk of the paper birch 

 may be removed witliuut killing; the tree Imt if the trunk i» peeled 

 down to the wood, death follows in a year or two. Msuiy fine paper 

 birches in the vicinity of cnnips and townn are fnlnlly llayed by Hum- 

 mer visitors and other thought lei^s persons who are not iui|)re88ed by 

 the fact that a tree rinpiires many years to attain moderate size, 

 but n vandal can kill it in ten minutes of thoughtlessness. 



The commercial value of paper birch is due to it.t suitableness for 

 spools. These are made in, New Kngland by millions, but the industry 

 is yet small in the Lake States in spite of the fact that ]>a|ier birch 

 is abundant there. Doubtless the spool makers will draw upon that 

 source of supply in the future. It is the Ix'st spool wood obtainable, 

 because of its white color, the ease with which it may be cut with lino 

 tools, and its ability to hold its shape after it leaves the lathe. 



The twin trees stand on the upturned root of a white pine whose 

 trunk was bucked for sawlops forty years ago when lumbering was 

 at its height in that part of Michigan. Although the trees occupy the 

 top of the log, their roots |iass down its side and penetrate the 

 ground. The seeds of paper birch are equi[)pcd with wings which 

 carry them long distances through the air, and if they fall on suit- 

 able ground tliey grow. The seeds which produced the twins evidently 

 found soil on the top of the pine log and germinated there. That habit 

 of beginning life on top of a log or some other object is not 

 prominent with paper birch, but is strongly characteristic of yellow 

 birch, the seedlings of which prefer the top of a rotten stump, log, or 

 moss-covered boulder, and the roots make a quick journey downward 

 until they strike soil. 



The surrival of the pine root during forty years speaks well of its 

 powers of resisting decay. If the testimony were not explicit that it 

 is white pine, it might be suspected of being Norway pine which lasts 

 much longer in exposed situations than white pine, due to the greater 

 quantity of resin in it. In old cuttings the white pine stumps are 

 often nearly gone, while those of Norway pine are still sound. Prob- 

 ably one pine in four, averaged for the whole original Michigan piner- 

 ies was Norway pine. The tree form of the latter is quite different 

 from that of the white pine, and so far as trees are shown in the 

 picture, no Norway pine seems to be among them. All trees visible 

 in the picture are likely second growth. 



A Standard Price List 



IT IS OFTEN EA!?1KK TO !?KE WUAT IS NEEDED than to 

 .' point out a way to attain it. An example of that is seen in a 

 recent report upon American opportunities to sell lumber in China 

 and other parts of the Orient, by I^anklin H. Smith, who went there 

 as a government agent to investigate that matter. Among other needs 

 pointed out, mention is made of the help that would come from a 

 standard price list of lumber. Chinese and other people of the eastern 

 countries are constituted somewhat like other human beings, and 

 when they begin to plan the purchase of lumber in America to be 

 shipped across the Pacific, they would like to have some way of 

 figuring cost before the trade is finally consummated. That is 

 natural. 



If they were buying steel, cement, cotton, or wheat they could con- 

 sult market quotations and determine about what the proposed pur- 

 chase would cost; but they cannot often do that with lumber. 



The paternal and benign supervision over lumbermen which certain 

 departments of the government have seen fit to take unto themselves 

 has stood in the way of a free discussion of lumber prices by the 

 men who produce and handle lumber. Such discussion has been con- 

 strued as "in restraint of trade," and lumbermen who talk prices 

 have been threatened with fine and imprisonment. Consequently, 

 there is no such thing as a standard price of lumber, so far as 

 announcement by any sort of authority is concerned. 



When an intelligent government agent got among prospective 

 buyers in a foreign country it did not take him long to see that the 

 absence of such standard prices was hindering trade, nnd he so 



reported, and the government gave his re|K>rt to trade papers for 

 publication. 



What is going to bo done about it? The need hiiH been pointed 

 out by n government agent who was sent all the way to China to 

 leuru what couM have U-en learned a great deal nearer home; but 

 the |)oint now is, will the government still stand in the way and pre- 

 vent liimberini'ii from doing the very thing which its agent has 

 ileclared «(iuld greatly help trade t Or, if the men who make and 

 sell the luiiilM'r are not to be permitted to fix a t-landard price for its 

 sale, will the government, by means of it« departments, bureaus, and 

 branches, do anything in that direction t If not, tlio agitation of the 

 <|uestion will go round a circle and end where it began. 



When the Kcderal Trade Commission was created and sent forth, 

 some people ho|ied that it possessed the power and had the purpose 

 to handle propositions exactly like that called up by Mr. Smith's 

 reference to the dcf-irabilily of a standard price list for lumber; 

 but a good many months have gone by ami some hundreds of speeches 

 have been made between the Pacific coast and the Atlantic shore, 

 and everything is still dark and doubtful concerning what the com- 

 mission's scope of activities shall be along that line. Nobody appears 

 to know, and nolxidy seems to be able to find out. Tliis substan- 

 tiates the statwnent vyilh which this article opens, that "it is often 

 easier to see what is nbeded than to point out a way to attain it." 



Home and Foreign Markets 



T3TAL EXI'OHTS OF LU.MUEH for August last, which figures 

 are the latest to be had, were valued at six million dollars in 

 round numbers. The annual output of lumber in the United States is 

 worth about .$600,000,000 at the mill. That is the showing for 1912 

 which is the latest year for which values are given in tho government 

 reports. Value as well as output vary from year to year, but the sum 

 quoted may be taken as an average. Exports of lumber vary also, 

 but if the shipment abroad for last August is an average, it becomes 

 interesting as a basis for comparing the homo and foreign markets for 

 lumber. The August exports were probably less on account of the war 

 than they would have been had peace prevailed ; yet by taking tho fig- 

 ures as they stand, it appears that about one-eighth of the lumber is 

 exported. 



This statement is based on value, not feet. Since tho better grades 

 only are exported, and that product is more valuable, foot for foot, 

 than that consumed at home, it follows that somewhat less than ono- 

 eighth of the total feet of lumber is exported. The ratio is slightly 

 modified also by the fact that some of the exports are further manu- 

 factured, as in the case of furniture and shocks; but there are not 

 enough of these to change the total greatly. 



The home nmrket is still worth a great deal more than the foreign- 

 in the lumber trade. In that respect it is quite different from the 

 cotton business. There the growers depend on tlic foreign market 

 for their returns. If for any reason they cannot cxfiort cotton, they 

 quickly find themselves in a bad situation. The lumberman suffers 

 also if the foreign trade is interrupted, but he still has seven-eighths 

 of the market open, with a chance of improving it by a campaign 

 for trade extension at home. 



That campaign is now being vigorously carried on in our midst. 

 The department of the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association 

 recently organized for that purpose, and under the immediate manage- 

 ment of E. A. Sterling, is working in the home field with the particu- 

 lar purpose in view of finding more ways in which lumber can be sold 

 in the United States. At the same time, the government, at its own 

 expense, has sent agents abroad to find chances for extending the sales 

 of American lumber in foreign countries. R. E. Simmons has been 

 at work in South America and Franklin H. Smith in eastern Asia and 

 Oceania. The government's original plan was to send an agent to 

 Europe also, but the war began about that time and no agent was 

 assigned to the European field. 



The work being done at home and abroad to increase the demand 

 for forest products should bear fruit soon. This work is being done at 

 an opportune time. The war has broken up former trade arrange- 

 ments and a general realinement is coming. Some of the former 

 business rivals of American lumbermen in foreign countries have too 



