April l"i. mi'i 



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The Lumhermans Round Table '^^ 



The Necessity of Adaptation 



Abilitr to lulapt one's soli" to coinlitiuiis is iibsolnti'ly iiocessiiry to 

 succoss in livinj; ns well n« in busini'iiK. Tho rontrollln); fnctom of 

 business nri> coiistantJy clinngini;. I'lul iioboily rnn lio foiitiiniotisly 

 gui-cessful without stiulyin^r tlieiii niul <'liiiii)'iiiK with tlioiii. 



A vctoniii Now KiiKliiiidor was rocfntly rccalliiij; the rmlii'iil fliiiiij{t'9 

 wtiioli liavo oonie ovor the biutinesoi in tlint ilistrict tlurinn tlic |ia»t 

 ..■noration. Tlio i-liaractcr of tho trailo is ontircly ilifTcrcnt from what 

 A was formorly, anil the result is that instead of selliiij; principally 

 hardwoods to consuniint; factories, most of the luMiln'mien are now 

 selling soft woo<ls for buildinf; j>ur|)Oses. The factories moved away 

 -and the lumbermen had to adapt themselves to the kind of business 

 that remaimHl or get ofT the map themselves. The suc('essf\il ones 

 liave made the change. 



The luml>erman is peculiarly situated in that change is going on in 

 -o many different directions at once. The character and location of 

 the supply is changing; methods used in nuinufaituring and selling 

 arc different from what they used to be; the requirements of cus- 

 tomers differ from those formerly in effect. It takes a big man to 

 ivateh all of thefe, to keep a firm grip on the situation, and to point 

 liis own business in the direction which is indicated by the new 

 factors constantly being introduced. 



Gasoline from Sawdust 



Undoubtedly tho chemical manufacturing situation which prevails 

 in tho United States at present, alid which has caused ]iraetically all 

 classes of products in this general category to advance enormously in 

 price, will have an effect in enabling processes for the recovery of 

 valuable by-products from mill waste to be jmt on a conuuercial basis. 

 Up to this time the incentive to carry on expensive experiments for 

 the purpose of working out practical ideas has not been sufficient to 

 ■warrant the effort being made; but at present there is a fortune 

 awaiting the man who can devise a cheaper method of making almost 

 any kind of chemical product. 



Then there is the gasoline situation, which is of greatest popular 

 interest, because of the large number of people affected by the present 

 high prices. The experiments of the Forest Products Laboratory, at 

 Madison, Wis., are said to have demonstrated that grain alcohol may 

 l)e produced from mill waste, the waste iM-ing chopped up and treated 

 with sulphuric aciil anil live steam. The jirocess is not luilike that 

 nsed in preparing wood pulp for the manufacture of paper, though 

 in the latter case the idea is to separate the fibers, whereas in the 

 former it is to extract the sugars and convert them by chemical 

 means into alcohol. 



Grain alcohol is an acceptable substitute for gasoline, and with the 

 development of motors especially constructed to make use of this 

 fuel, there will be a big market for the product. Certainly it opens 

 up a tremendous field for the development of the by-product end of 

 the sawmill business, which, as H.\rdwood Recokd has pointed out 

 frequentl.v, must be developed if the manufacture of lumber is to 

 remain profitable. 



The Wholesale Yard Comes Back 

 A big hardwood manufacturer recently commented on the fact that 

 hand-made furniture seems to be coming into its own again, referring 

 to the number of shops on Fifth avenue in New York established for 

 the purpose of making furniture to order. AVhen peo])le have money, 

 as they have in the United States today, they want something dis- 

 tinctively individual, and this is giving an opportunity to the artisan 

 who is also an artist to get business. Likewise it means that his 

 consumption is too small to justify anything but wagondoad pur- 

 chases, which is another way of saying that the local wholesaler will 

 have to take care of his requirements. 



' ' The wholesale yard is coming strong, in my opinion, ' ' said this 

 manufacturer, referring especially to conditions in the East. "There 

 are so many small buyers that the local yard carrying the stock is an 

 absolute necessity. Every big building has its own carpenter shop 

 nowadays, and needs a few hundred feet of lumber once in a while. 



The store fixture coiu-erns arc often big enough t" be carload buyers, 

 luid then again they are so siiuill that they prefer to depend on some 

 local source of supply. AltogetJier, I l(eliovc Uiat the hardwood manu- 

 facturers will do well to pay attention to the yards in the Kast, 

 becnuHt' they are representing the purchases of hundredii of suuiU 

 imlividual I'onsumers whose business innnot lie secure^l otherwise." 



Walnut and Dimension Stock 



Attention has been attracted recently to the amount of walnut 

 which is being cut up into dimension stock. Buyers are rapidly being 

 educated to the desirability of purchasing their material in this 

 form, and the number of big walnut concerns which are able to take 

 care of the business is increasing. 



As a matter of fact, there is no wood which seems better adapted 

 to dimension work than walnut, for the reason that intrinsically tho 

 lower grades are worth a lot more than their market price indicates, 

 comparing them with the good. That is to say that if they can bo 

 sold in tho form of dimension lumber, without reference to grade, 

 they can be made to bring a price much closer to their intrinsic 

 value. 



From the Iniyer's standpoint, it is hard to get used to the low-grade 

 product after buying nothing but firsts and seconds, thcuigh the wal- 

 nut men have been hammering for some time on the iirojiositiou that 

 No. 1 common walnut is a good buy, and th.at considering its cutting 

 value it represents a more attractive purcliase than firsts ami seconds. 

 In going into the use of dimension stock, which does not involve the 

 idea of grade, the consumer is permitting himself to bo shown the 

 advantages of cutting up lumber worse than firsts and seconds, and is 

 having a visible and convincing demonstration of the fact that it pays 

 to cut his clear material out of the lower grades. 



In short, there is almost an unique opportunit.v for dimension 

 stock in tho walnut field, because of the fact that prices are so far out 

 of line when the lumber is sold on grade. The reason is simjdy one 

 of supply and demand. The demand for the firsts and secon<ls has 

 been greater than tho supply, and the demand for the lower grades 

 less than the lumber available. This has forced up the prices of firsts 

 and seconds, and held down those on the other grades. The inter- 

 l)osition of dimension manufacturing not only helps the status of the 

 latter, but it serves a big economic purpose in furnishing an outlet 

 for the whole product of the walnut log, and in providing a solution 

 for the eternal question, "What is to become of low-grade walnut?" 



The Value of Brands 

 Although most manufacturers who brand their lumber do so in 

 order to familiarize consumers with their identifying marks, there is 

 another practical advantage in using a brand which is not confined to 

 the jiroduier. A hardwood .jobber who recently decideil to use a 

 brand explained that the unscrupulous buyer has the shipper at a 

 decided disadvantage, and when it comes to a case of going over the 

 lumber laid out of a given shipment, it is not possible to prevent the 

 substitution of other stock, ])rovide<l the buyer desires to resort to 

 this kind of deception. He mentioned one or two cases where he was 

 convinced that a trick of this kind had been played, yet it was impos- 

 sible to prove that the lumber had not come out of the car loaded by 

 the shipper. 



The Value of Supervision 



The concern which is using a low grade of labor, such as is ordi- 

 narily employed around a sawmill or lumber-yard, has one big prob- 

 lem: supervision. Under conditions of this kind the results will 

 depend almost entirely on what kind of men are bossing the job. 

 A good yard-foreman will keep the crews hustling, and a poor one will 

 let things lag. It pays to hire the best possible man for this job. 



Paying piece-work doesn't solve the problem entirely, because the 

 laggard not only reduces his own earnings, but tics up equipment and 

 holds back others who are working with him. Besides, in getting out 

 a rush order, it is a case of time and not expense. Good supervision 

 furnishes the prod to the lazy worker, and helps to keep everybody- 

 going at top speed. 



