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HARDWOOD RECORD 



This work Is being done largely by local residents, who have bought the 

 stnmpage and are converting it Into lumber. The construction of roads 

 and trails is making more and more timber accessible to lumber operators, 

 but the principle use of these improvements at present is for local com- 

 mnnlcation, fire protection,, and to open up the wild land for recreation 

 use. A secondary influence of the improvements is to increase the value 

 of the land and to make the timber on it more accessible and valuable 

 to operators. 



A great deal of the forest land within the purchase areas was cut over 

 or culled before the government acquired it. Nearly all of this class 

 of land, however, is covered now with young growth and even the aban- 

 doned farm acreage, which forms about two per cent of the whole. Is 

 slowly reverting to forest. 



Of mature timber which could be placed on the market at once, the 

 eastern national forests contain a total of about 1,100,000,000 board 

 feet, which includes all the common eastern hardwoods, together with 

 much spruce, a good deal of hemlock, and some pine. The land, includ- 

 ing the timber, has been bought at an average price of a little more 

 than $5 an acre. More than 5,000,000 acres of this land will eventually 

 be acquired for national forests in the East, if the recommendation made 

 by the National Forest Reservation Commission in its last annual report 

 is carried out. 



Cut and Sales for Februciry 



R. S. Kellogg, secretary of the National Lumber Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation, has compiled the following summary of cut and sales of lumber 

 in February: Cut February, 1914, 530,800,000 feet; cut February, 1915, 

 446,800,000 feet; decrease 84,000,000 feet, or 15.8 per cent. Shipments 

 February, 1914, 514,000,000 feet; shipments February, 1915, 439,600,000 

 feet ; decrease 74,400,000 feet, or 14.5 per cent Cut February, 1914, 

 530,800,000 feet; shipments February, 1914, 514,000,000 feet; cut more 

 than shipped 16,800,000 feet or 3.3 per cent. Cut February. 1915, 446,- 

 800,000 feet; shipments February, 1915, 439,600,000 feet; cut more than 

 shipped 7,200,000 feet or 16.4 per cent 



West Coast Lumber Mills 



Under date of March 22, 1915, the West Coast JIanufacturers' Association 

 reported the status of ISS mills, with a ten-hour capacity of 20,286,000 feet. 

 The operating mills numbered 112, and their ten-hour capacity was 13,757,- 

 000 feet Seventj-sii mills were idle, and their capacity was 6,529,000 feet. 

 The operating mills were running at ninety per cent of their capacity. It 

 thus appears that fifty-four per cent of the total capacity is being operated. 



Pennsylvania's Desolation 

 An Illustrated pamphlet by J. T. Eothrock deals with the desolation of 

 those parts of Pennsylvania which have been stripped of forest by lumber- 

 men and fire and are now lapsing into deserts which threaten to become as 

 sterile as those of China's mountains where the trees have been removed and 

 the land left bare. Mr. Bothrock, who was formerly commissioner of 

 forestry in Pennsylvania, makes a strong plea for reforesting the bare moufir 

 tains, and to repopulate them partly by establishing factories there to use 

 the water power now going to waste. About one-seventh of the state Is in 

 need of restoration. The pamphlet was printed by Herbert Welsh, 695 

 Drexel building, Philadelphia. 



Valuable Oregon Maple 

 A survey of Olympia National Forest in the state of Washington has dis- 

 closed the existence of unexpected quantities of the broad-leaf maple. 

 Little cutting has ever been done in the area. The wood is of excellent 

 quality, and there are many boards which may be reduced to fine fig- 

 ured veneers. The scarcity of good hardwoods on the Pacific coast adds 

 importance to this discovery. 



A Sawmill on Wheels 

 A manufacturer of automobiles recently gave an exhibition In New 

 Orleans of the versatility of his machine by using it as motor power 

 to operate a small portable sawmill. The auto hauled the mill about the 

 streets, stopping occasionally, propping one wheel off the ground, put- 

 ting a belt on it and using it to drive the saw while doing light work. 



Cigar Box Wood Shortage 



The first pinch in shortage of wood In Germany on account of the 

 blockade is said to be in cigar box lumber. Heretofore the dgar boxes 

 In that country were made of Spanish cedar from the West Indies. 

 Mexico and Central America, and a species of very light mahogany called 

 okume from the west coast of Africa. The manufacturers of cigar boxes 

 In Germany are substituting beech and other German woods for cigar 

 boxes. 



Lumber Rates Suspended 



Advances in the rates on lumber and other forest products In carloads 

 from points in Michigan to various points in Ohio and Indiana, and 

 from certain points In Wisconsin to points in Michigan and other states, 

 proposed by the Ann Arbor and other railroads, have been suspended 

 by the Interstate Commerce Commission from March 28 until July 27. 

 The present rate from Marinette, Wis., to Toledo, O., Is 10 »^ cents per 

 100 pounds; the proposed rate is 13 cents per 100 pounds. The present 

 rate to Dnrand, Mich., Is lOH cents, and the proposed rate Is 11 cents. 



Timber-Preserving Plant Wanted 



A trading company in India has Informed an American consular officer 

 that it desires to be placed in touch with American firm specializing In 



the manufacture and installation of plants for the treatment of timber 

 such as railway ties. The company states that it is considering estab- 

 lishing a plant for the treatment of not less than 100,000 broad-gauge 

 ties per annum. No particular process of treatment has yet been decided 

 upon, and the company wishes to receive suggestions from .-Vmerican firms 

 manufacturing plants for preserving timber. Correspondence may be in 

 English. Persons who desire to obtain the address of the company 

 should write to the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Wash- 

 ington, D. C, quoting the index number 16,280. 



Wants to Stay by Wood 



A retail lumber dealer in Iowa writes to R. S. Kellogg, secretary of the 

 National Lumber Manufacturers' Association, as follows : 



I am having quite a little call recently for corrugated galvanized roofing. 

 We have never handled it and I do not want to handle it. I want to stay 

 by the wood if I possibly can. There are several farmers planning on 

 building barns, and on using the sheet iron for siding instead of stock 

 boards. I have had no experience with the iron at all, and know of no 

 argument that I could use in discouraging its use. I thought that possibly 

 you could help me out a little as to how to talk a fellow out of the corru- 

 gated iron notion. 1 would like to have a good reasonable proposition to 

 put up to show that wood is better than iron. Any help that you can give 

 me will be appreciated. 



This is only one of the many subjects upon which the lumber manu- 

 facturers should be prepared to furnish information to their customers. 

 Who will supply it? 



Famous Jones Letter 



R. H. Jones of the G. W. Jones Lumber Company, Appleton, Wis., has 

 gotten out some mighty clever letters in the last few months, tending to 

 increase the general Interest of the hardwood purchasing trade In stocks 

 offered by that concern. One which has just recently come in is of a particu- 

 larly clever character and Hardwood Record takes pleasure in printing it in 

 full. It shows what can be done in a llttle-out-of-the-ordinary-way to work 

 up interest in one's products. 



AppLBiON, Wis., March 25, 1915. 

 Hardwood Record, Chicago, 111. 



Gentlemen : Have you ever been In Prairie du Chlen, Wis. ? When I 

 used to buy lumber on the road, I'd stop there occasionally to spend a 

 Sunday with old Charley Hoffschmidt, proprietor of the Depot hotel, the 

 most unique and philosophical old German it's been my pleasure to know. 



He sure was some character — Old Charley was — whose second greatest 

 weakness was cards. "Schmeer" was the game, — you know, just like 

 "Seven Up," High, Low, Jack and the Game, only you bid on your hand. 

 Well, one night about fifteen years ago, when he was deep in this cut-throat 

 game and almost In sight of the money, Emil, the combination clerk, bar- 

 tender, porter and barn-boy, rushed in with — "Charley! Charley! The 

 barn's on fire !" Charley, who was dealing, never stopped, never looked up. 

 "Veil, — iss der horses oudt?" "YES!" — "Huh! — Veil, — iss der bus oudt?" 

 "YES ! Charley, YES !" The old man picked up his cards, and after look- 

 ing 'em over carefull.v, — "Huh ! — Veil, I — guess — 1 bid three times !" 



Today almost one-half of the world is on fire, but WE are OUT ! Not 

 only are we out, but we're In mighty good shape, too. Steel mills putting 

 on more men every day ; railroads placing big orders ; building permits 

 going up in jumps ; banks have plenty of money : less men out of employ- 

 ment than anv time for the last six months : and best of all. A HUNDRED 

 MILLION PEOPLE WITH CONFIDENCE IN THEMSELVES AND IN 

 THEIR COUNTRY ! 



Yes, sir! The horses are out and the bus Is out! Now it's up to us to 

 SIT TIGHT, BID OUR HAND, and PLAY THE GAME. As the Old Cat- 

 tleman used to say, "Life ain't In holdin' a good band, but in playin' a pore 

 hand well !'' 



Now here's a stock sheet I've made out, with a list of as fine a bunch of 

 northern and southern hardwoods as ever felt a saw. Look it over, then 

 let me know what items vou can use. 



Let me help you to KEEP THE GAME GOING ! 

 Tours sincerely, 



G. W. JONES LUMBER COMPANY, 



R. H. Jones. 



Our Chicago man, Ruth, has his office at 327 Railway Exchange BIdg., 

 why don't you call him up — Harrison 2902? 



The Land of Beech Trees 

 The present war has brought into notice the Austrian province Bukowlna. 

 The Austrian defenders and Russian Invaders have pushed each other 

 back and forth across It many times in the past half year. The name 

 means "land of beech trees." The word "buk," with Its other forms "boc," 

 "buck," "beech," "book," and many other variations in spelling and pro- 

 nouncing. Is one of the most remarkable known. It Is said to be the oldest 

 existing word in the world. It has been traced to northern India where 

 the people speaking the Sanskrit language used It for "beech," and "book." 

 It Is supposed they cut letters on beech bark, hence they used the same 

 word for the tree and the writing on Its bark. The word is still in use 

 in various forms In all northern Europe. Even In far away Iceland "bok" 

 means beech. The Russians change it a little and call it "buk." The 

 name of the country, Bukowlna, conforms to the Russian spelling. The 

 English, Germans, Austrians, and Russians all agree on that one word 

 for beech, and It Is probably the only word on which all of them agree. 

 The word buckwheat comes from the same source, because the grain of 

 buckwheat is triangular like the nut of the beech. The Greeks and Latins 

 refused to adopt the word : but the Latins translated It, by using the word 

 "Uber" (bark) for "hook." The Greeks, however, were not willing to 

 adopt or even translate the foreign word, so they called the beech tree 

 "eat," because the nuts were edible. The word used by them was "phegos," 

 which, in its latinized form, "tagus," has come down to us, and botanists 

 use It as the generic name for beech — Fagut atropunicea being the botan- 

 ical name for the common American beech. It has been said that It is 

 easier to conquer nations than to change their language, and the case 



