14 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



April 10, lum 



■ K...... Ujo cbannel of Uic «tr<>am b so rough thnt lof^ rnniiot pBiw 



U>roui;h; and for that reaaoD tiipv are divortol UiruuKli tlio rlmto. 

 Til.' ml the water rii»lu-H ilowii tlu» nqiiolin'l tit lil)>li 



■p« ■ nlnnt;. T>ii' rlinl" is wiilo oiioii|;li tii jHTiiiit 



flvo or SIX lufjit to I (Irptii of water in main 



tained to proront 'i Kut on tlie oiitor xiilfii of 



eurvm, where the ehute IhmuIs, the ncrniuni; of the Io|>n nf;ainiit tlio 

 chute wall ia severe. Tho picture shows the offoct of this xcrapiuK. 

 The chute has no water in it and tho rhafoil lo|^ are cxpoaod to view. 

 Water is let into tho chute from tho river tlirounh a sluice gnto. When 

 the gate is dosed the chute drains dry in ii few minutes. 



Tho chute for trnnsportin); either logs or lumber is in much use in 

 various parts of Uic country, l«nt naturally is nu)st in ovidonce in 

 mountainous regions wlicro Uie topography is rough. If the chuto is 

 long it is ordinarily called a tliunc. In th" western mountains lundior 

 flumes thirty, forty, and even sixty miles in length have been built nml 

 successfully operated. The most diflicult problem in operating a long 

 flume is to maintain in it a sufficient depth of water to float the lumber. 

 There is constant leakage, and frequent supplies of water nuist be 

 provided. 



Flumes of considerable length are built of sawed lumber, because 

 logs cannot be fitted closely enough together to retain a flow of water 

 a great distance; besides, the i-onstruction of a flume of logs is 

 expensive. Flumes for carrying lumber are generally V-shaped. Such 

 are cheaper to make, easier to maintain, and less water is required. 

 There is practically no limit to the quantity of lumber that a well- 

 planned flume will carry. Jamming is the ]>rincipal peril. An obstruc- 

 tion at some steep incline or sharp curve may throw many thousand 

 feet of lumber out of the flume before tlie jam can be broken or the 

 rush of lumber stopped. 



A Scrap of Paper 



THE V.VLUE OF A SCRAP OF PAPER depends upon where it is, 

 what it stands for, and what use is made of it. Some months ago 

 diplomats of worldwide reputation discussed the question whether a 

 ' ' scrap of paper ' ' was worth quarreling over. At the present time 

 the controversy has broadened, and business men, rather than diplo- 

 mats, are discussing the value of paper scraps in tho form of waste 

 paper. 



Three departments of the government have lately published notices 

 to the jiublic. calling attention to the country's shortage of paper 

 and urging i>eople to collect waste paper and sell it. The price of 

 such has gone up from 200 to 300 per cent, ba.sed on prices of a year 

 ago. The paper mills can use the waste pajier to advantage in manu- 

 facturing cheap stock and cardboard. Waste now sells for nearly as 

 much as white news was bought for a year or so ago. The waste paper 

 output, to be collected from ash cans and wa-stc baskets, amounts to 

 more than a million tons a year in the Vnited States. A campaign 

 is now on for utilizing this great supply. It can bo sorted and 

 employed for various jiurposes. In some instances the dyes and 

 chemicals in colored papers are worth extracting. Wrapping papers 

 and cheap cardboard can be made of others. One of the largest 

 demands for such waste comes from manufacturers of fiber and 

 pulpboard boxes. 



The cause of the paper shortage in this country is said to be the 

 embargoes on pulp shipments from Norway and Sweden and on rags 

 from England. The higher grades of paper in this country seem to be 

 hardest hit. On some of these the prices have gone up 100 per cent 

 since the war began, and cheaper grades Lave been aflfected also. 



It is believed that the makers of fiber boxes will feel the effect of 

 increased prices of waste sooner than regidar paper makers, because 

 these boxes are made largely of such material. It is not improbable 

 that the increase in cost of waste will force up the prices of fiber board 

 boxes and shipping containers until they cannot compete with wooden 

 boxes in price. If that should come to pass if will be found that the 

 waste paper supply will have a direct influence on the lumber business. 

 If shippers who have been using fiber containers cannot buy them 

 more cheaply than wood, they will use the wooden box, because it is 

 better in so many ways than the fiber container. 



A shortage of printing and wrapping papers cannot become very 



acute in tliis country, for there is too much raw material of which to 

 nuike them. The forests contain nImoHt unlimiU-d Hupplies of pulp- 

 wood, anil the straw flelils and flax patches furnish a wealth of 

 material for various grades of |iu|K<r. Sonio time will bo required to 

 ndjuHt Ihi- pajH-r busineits to changed conditions, but there is no danger 

 of H neriouK anil permanent nhortAgo in pai>cr8 neccsKary to carry on 

 thu country's business. Meanwhile, it will help Uio situation if over; 

 scrap of pnpcr in naved. 



To Conserve Valuable Timber 



NOTIIl.Nti IS MoHK KIl'l'K ll.T tlian to arrn- i.t a satisfactory 

 idea of tlie amount of walnut timber in tho United Statos and 

 tho probable duration of tlio supply. It is entirely safe, however, 

 to state that tlicre will bo enough timber to take care of all require- 

 meiit.s for a great many years to come. Tlic active revival of interest 

 ill this beautiful American wood has resulted in a good many efforts 

 to determine how long tho supply would last, but for many reasons 

 this has been impossible. Aside from the widely scattered rango of 

 Ameriraii walnut, the difliculty of ascertaining the possibilities from 

 cut-over timber is jirobnbly tho greatest reason why it has not been 

 jiossiblc to form accurate conclusions. i 



A ]iroinineut walnut manufacturer, in commenting on tlio walnut 

 stumjjage situation a short time ago, stated that it is surprising to 

 note the amount of stuff that can be taken out of a territory sup- 

 posedly cut over. This manufacturer operated in a certain central 

 location a number of years ago and left because it apiiearcd that 

 the available trees had been pretty well worked up and the remainder 

 did not appear to be worth making further effort. Sinco establish- 

 ing himself permanently in another location ho has on two or three 

 occasions gone back to the very country where he originally operated, 

 and from which he thought ho had taken out all of tho walnut, and 

 gotten substantial quantities in e.ich case. 



It is apjiarent that with the good growth of the timber it would 

 be a very simple matter to apply an intelligent, ea.sy working plan of 

 cutting that would absolutely insure a permanent supply of black 

 walnut logs. The principal enemy to such a project is the agricul- 

 turist who cuts over his woodlot to put it into farm. Thus by clean- 

 cutting the entire tract ho eliminates the possibility of further mer- 

 chantable stock where tlie larger logs have been culled. In view of 

 the undoubted permaneme of the walnut market, and in view of the 

 peculiarities in the range and growing habits of the timber, it would 

 appear to be a very sensible thing for everybody owning walnut 

 trees to consider the likelihood of maintaining a steady income by 

 treating the trees according to the most simple formulae of forestry, 

 thus jiroviding new cuts every six or eight years after the mer- 

 chantable trees have been culled out and the younger ones given an 

 opportunity of further development. 



Farm Forestry Problems 



IF SOME ONE SHOULD A.SK TUE CJLE.ST1U.\ how many fence 

 posts are used every year by farmers in the United States, no 

 man could give a correct answer. Nobody knows. The number is 

 enormous. The estimate has been made that twenty-five posts are 

 required to fence one acre, as the average farm is laid off in fields 

 and lots, and that the average life of a fence post does not exceed 

 ten years. These estimates may be too small, or too large; but it 

 is not necessary to be exact, because the fact is not disputed that 

 great numbers of posts are needed every year by farmers; probably 

 no fewer than 2.1,000,000 annually by a state like Indiana, and 

 there are forty-eight states. 



The farmer is busy with his own work and he may feel that a 

 consideration of forestry is none of his business, but belongs to 

 the lumberman or the professional forester and has to do with 

 large areas only in the country's timbered regions. That is a 

 mistaken view. The fence post problem is the farmer's own prob- 

 lem. He can either solve it himself or he can pay someone hand- 

 somely to solve it for him. 



Nearly every farmer can grow his own fence posts, if he will, 

 and to that extent he may become a practical forester. Trees will 



