14 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



the eondition of the market, but in general have seemingly been 

 of a more genuine character. The evident desire on the part of 

 consuming parties to either contract ahead for the entire year's 

 requirements or to order for long-time shipments continues to be 

 received without enthusiasm by the lumbermen. In fact, there are 

 few institutions which have actually consummated such deals, which 

 is to the everlasting credit of the lumbermen themselves. 



It has been frankly admitted by the most pronounced optimists 

 that no marked change will be felt until 1915 is fairly well under 

 way. The fact that a new figure has been placed at the end of the 

 date line without an accompanying radical increase in business should 

 not be taken as a discouraging indication. On the other hand, the 

 fact that 1915 is opening with an undeniable strengthening of con- 

 fidence all over the country should mean a lot. Evidently we are 

 facing the new year with the determination that everyone will do his 

 part to exert that moral influence which alone is necessary to put the 

 country back on its feet in a business way. 



The Cover Picture 



THE PORT OBFOED CEDAE is peculiar in a number of ways; 

 but in no way is it more peculiar than in its habit of growth. 

 It occupies a small tract on the Pacific coast, at Coos Bay, Oregon, 

 and there it has held its ground since time immemorial, apparently 

 unable to gain another acre. That is remarkable, because it is a tree 

 of extreme vigor within the circumscribed area where it is found. 

 It holds that ground so firmly that only fire and the lumberman's 

 axe can make any impression upon its dense stands. So closely 

 together do the trees stand that on a tract of approximately four 

 hundred square miles, 4,000,000,000 feet of timber are growing. 

 That is nearly twice as much as the estimated stand of white and 

 Norway pine in the whole state of Michigan at present; and that 

 vast quantity is crowded upon an area equivalent to a tract only 

 twenty miles square. 



The tree's ability to grow in dense stands is only one of its 

 peculiarities. Still more remarkable is its inability to spread into 

 new territory. It bears an abundance of seeds which are equipped 

 for flight. They make good journeys before the wind; but when 

 they fall outside of the boundaries of the cedar's well-established 

 range, they have little power to maintain themselves. Consequently, 

 the Port Orford cedar has never been able to spread far, except as 

 solitary specimens. A few such have reached the northern slopes 

 of Mount Shasta, a considerable distance inland, and high above 

 sea level. 



The cover picture illustrating this issue of Hakdwood Eecord 

 shows a pair of open-gi-own cedars of this species. They escaped 

 when the great fire of 1854 destroyed practically aU the timber on a 

 large area, and have not grown much taller since that time, but have 

 increased in diameter. They have not the form of the forest grown 

 Port Orford cedar which is very tall, with long, smooth trunk. Such 

 trees stand close together where they have not been molested. In- 

 stances are on record where from a single acre one hundred thousand 

 feet of logs have been cut. The largest trees are six or seven feet 

 in diameter and from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet 

 high. 



The wood is very durable and has been one of the best ship 

 timbers on the Pacific coast. Vessels built chiefly of it have given 

 forty years of service on the high seas. Sir Thomas Lipton built 

 some of his racing yachts of this cedar. 



Few forest trees under cultivation have run to varieties more than 

 Port Orford cedar. Sixty-eight varieties are listed by nurserymen. 

 Freshly cut wood emits a dangerous odor, and some men cannot 

 handle the lumber or work in the mill that cuts it for a period 

 longer than three or four days at a time. 



The Building Situation 



T^HE SIGNS OF THE TIMES .are closely scanned for indications 

 ■*■ that the building business is reviving. Hope of such a revival 

 in the near future may help, but it is not sufiicient to accomplish the 

 end desired. There must be a tangible basis for the hope before it 

 will be accepted as proof of the coming of a better era in business. 



Experienced men who have been looking carefuUy over the field 

 believe there is sufficient ground for predicting an improvement in 

 the building business early in the present year. Some of these 

 reasons have been set forth in published interviews and may be 

 summarized as follows : 



Architects have means of seeing an approach of activity in building 

 before the ordinary observer can discover it; and the belief is 

 general among architects that a revival of building operations is at 

 hand. These gentlemen are called upon, in their professional capac- 

 ity, to draw preliminary plans and make estimates before knowledge 

 of the proposed operations comes to the general public. In other 

 words, they are in a position to catch sight of the first straws which 

 teU the change in the direction of the business wind. It is declared 

 that the current has now changed toward greater building activity. 

 This is one of the grounds on which the hope of improvement is 

 based. 



Building has been slow or at a standstill for some time. That is 

 an abnormal situation. The natural course is for some building to 

 be in progress all the time. If, from any cause, it slacks up tem- 

 porarily, it must move with greater speed, after it again gets under 

 way, in order to make up lost time. For some months the building 

 activities have been slack. There has been little lessening in the 

 need for new buildings; but there has been a postponing until a 

 more favorable time. The accumulated demand must be met, and 

 when the resumption of work once finds itself under way it will 

 quickly gain momentum and will maintain it until the demand has 

 been satisfied. 



There is declared to be a disposition on the part of municipalities, 

 corporations, companies, and individuals to set the wheels in motion 

 as soon as possible in order to employ labor, provide markets for 

 building material, put money in circulation, as well as to secure the 

 needed buildings. Few people are showing a disposition to hold 

 back and wait for a more convenient season. The psychological 

 situation is right, and this will count much in bringing about the 

 results desired. 



Much is being said on the money situation. No one denies that 

 there is plenty of money in the country ; for it has not gone else- 

 where; but its appearance in active business depends on confidence. 

 Too much emphasis cannot be laid on confidence. Without it the 

 new banking laws, the rate increase to the railroads, and all other 

 financial measures combined, will not suffice to revive the building 

 operations of the country. The people with money must not be 

 afraid to invest it ; corporations and individuals in positions to extend 

 credit, must be wholly willing to do so. It is said that these condi- 

 tions are about to be realized ; and in that prospective fact, many 

 observers base their belief that a marked improvement in building 

 will soon come. 



Financiers watch the results of bond elections throughout the 

 country, and in these results they can feel the business pulse and 

 detect signs of improvement. The claim is made that recent elec- 

 tions of that kind have been favorable, and this has increased the 

 confidence of those who are looking into the future for signs of 

 coming prosperity. 



Little Hardwood Being Sold on Contract 



FOR THE PAST WEEK Hardwood Record has liceu gathering 

 information from woodworking institutions all over the country as 

 to what they are likely to use in 1915. This work is a regular 

 annual feature of the service of consumers' requirements issued in 

 connection with the advertising service of Hardvfood Eecord, and it 

 offers an opportunity for observing the trend of requirements and for 

 presaging in a surprisingly accurate manner probabilities for the use 

 of certain woods for 1915. 



The corrected information as secured from concerns already listed 

 in this service has not come in as yet in sufficiently large volume to 

 warrant an attempted analysis of probable changes for the coming 

 year. However, there is one very significant point which has already 

 been developed which indicates that in spite of the fact that many 

 hardwood consuming institutions are endeavoring to place contracts 

 for 1915 requirements the lumbermen as a whole are setting forth a 



