HARDWOOD RECORD 



21 



its aims and purposes in the least, but on the 

 contrary would advance the influence a hundred- 

 fold. The model man of any community, no 

 matter what business he be engaged in, is the 

 individual who keeps alive to the civic advance- 

 ment of the day, and whose hand and voice 

 are uplifted in their behalf. The rightful im- 

 provement of the forestry institution should be 

 carried forward until such attractions are added 

 as will, with the forestry work being done, at- 

 tract both esthetically and intellectually. It 

 must also be borne in mind that it is not an 

 eighty-acre farm so sought to be improved and 

 conducted, but twenty-five such tracts and con- 

 sequently proportionate appropriations must be 

 mad''. 



An interesting paper on inspection rules 

 was read by J. M. Pritchard: 



Mr. Pritchard 's Paper. 



Eight years ago ihe Indiana Hardwood Lum- 

 bermen's Association was organized and the 

 main object of that organization was to exert 

 an influence for a set of national inspection 

 rules for the measurement and grading of hard- 

 wood lumber, to conform to "custom.*' 



The perfectly natural law of supply and de- 

 mand is the author of "custom" and from the 

 beginning has established a basis for arriving at 

 values between buyer and seller of hardwood 

 lumber. We do not believe there was ever a set 

 of rules written for grading hardwood lumber 

 that was not a direct effort to define the grades 

 already established by custom. In other words, 

 inspection rules have been written after lie 

 grade or grades have already been established. 

 Black walnut furnishes a good illustration of how 

 rules follow custom. Until the advent of In- 

 diana quartered white oak, about twenty-five 

 years ago, black walnut was king. It was very 

 difficult to supply the demand for this beautiful 

 native hardwood -and the price of firsts and sec- 

 onds went to about $95 a thousand feet, from 

 which point it did not vary greatly. But as 

 time went on the grades were lowered, not by 

 national associations making rules, but by the 

 law of supply and demand, until in 1002 at St. 

 Louis the National Hardwood Lumber Associa- 

 tion adopted rules for grading walnut lumber, 

 admitting boards into firsts and seconds, which 

 old-time walnut men say would scarcely have 

 been accepted in the grade of culls thirty or 

 forty years ago. As any given hardwood grows 

 scarcer, it is evident that a lower class of tim- 

 ber will be manufactured to meet the demand, 

 and grades must lower correspondingly. 



At St. Louis in 1902 the National Hardwood 

 Lumber Association practically accepted the ver- 

 sion of "custom" as recommended by our asso- 

 ciation and we felt at that time that our work 

 along this line was completed. But conditions 

 have changed. I'nprecedented prosperity has 

 prevailed since that time, which has brought 

 out the fact very clearly and forcibly that our 

 valuable hardwoods are becoming very scarce, 

 and that it is a problem to supply the demand. 

 The advent of veneers down to 1-20 of an inch 

 in thickness has not been entirely sufficient to 

 meet the situation. Everyone recognizes now 

 thai in former years there has been a criminal 

 waste of our valuable hardwood timber. Econo- 

 mies are noticed now that would not have been 

 thought of even eight years ago. Timber that 

 was considered valueless eight years ago is now 

 in sir. tug demand. Rules, although made to con- 

 form to custom as nearly as possible, without 

 having any precedent to guide their written 

 construction, now need some revision to meet 

 the necessities of these new and changed condi- 

 tions. Inspection rules, in the main, only define 

 the lowest line boards admitted in any given 

 grade, and it must be borne in mind that prob- 

 ably 90 per cent of the lumber in any given 

 grade is better than the boards defined. 



Now as to theory of inspecting lumber, 

 whether from the best side, the poor side or 



from consideration of both sides of the board. 

 There is good argument given in favor of either 

 of the first two theories named. We all know, 

 however, that it is a fact that inspectors arrive 

 at the grade and value of a board from consid- 

 eration of both sides. It seems that this is only 

 natural and fair, inasmuch as Hi.' inspection of 



B 



K. SWAIN, SHELBYVILLE. 



lumber is largely a matter of judgment. A 

 [udge will nol decide a ease brought ' before his 

 court after hearing only on.- side presented. 

 We believe that the lumbermen among them 

 selves can settle this Question, for it does not 

 seem to matter so much which theory may be 

 used, provided Hie rules are otherwise made 

 lo define the grades lo conform to present ne- 

 cessities. 



There is much discussion now. among lum- 

 bermen, as to who should be Hie author of in- 



s| lion rules, and many views have been given 



through the trade journals. 



There are those who say that the manufac- 

 turer of lumber should dictate the rules; others 

 claim that the wholesaler or dealer should be 



JAMES BUCKLE'S . BROOKVIL) I 



consulted. Still others maintain that the con 

 sinner should make the rules, and there are 

 advocates thai the consumer and manufacturer 

 of lumber should jointly construct the rules. 

 It is clearly observed that the wishes and needs 

 of the consumer of lumber have been carefully 



considered and taken into account by inspection 

 rules committees. For illustration, a wagon 

 maker requires a certain kind of lumber, the 

 lumbermen supply this material in accordance 

 with the requisition of the wagon maker, and 

 when the lumber rules are written, we find a 

 grade called "box boards." The consumer was 

 not present when the rules were adopted, but 

 nevertheless his influence was great, for the 

 rules committee has not attempted to put into 

 the grade of box boards a class of material not 

 suitable for this purpose. And the same thing 

 is true of other classifications. The consumer 

 must and will be considered in order that a 

 ready market for all classes and grades of hard- 

 wood lumber may be had. As to the other 

 propositions, I will say that, if uniform in- 

 spection is to be realized, all interests in the 

 trade must get together. One branch of the 

 trade can only force its mandates for a time. 

 The manufacturer of lumber is often Ihe whole- 

 saler. The wholesaler is often the manufacturer; 

 and when we analyze the situation carefully, we 

 find that their Interests are identical and that 

 I heir views are not so very fart apart. One 

 thing noticed in all this discussion is the unani- 

 mous opinion in favor of a uniform set of in- 

 spection rules. This is recognized as the great 

 need of the trade today, and we believe that all 

 lumbermen should work honestly and earnestly 

 to attain that end. 



The "juggler" of grades receives considerable 

 attention and it is desired that rules be made 

 which will make this practice impossible. We are 

 up against it here sure. The "juggler" does not 

 care what the standard is, and the more stand- 

 ards, the better for him. But the buyer and not 

 the lumbermen are to blame for this practice, 

 and so long as we have buyers who insist upon 

 placing their order at less than the genuine mar- 

 kel price, some fellow will be found who will 

 accept the business and juggle the grades enough 

 lo make up the difference. The lumberman does 

 not want to do this and would not if he were 

 not forced. Other methods than legislation on 

 inspection rules will have to be adopted before 

 this evil is stopped, and in working for uniform 

 inspection we can just as well eliminate the 

 "juggler" from the discussion. 



The Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen's Associa- 

 tion claims to be and is, so far as we know, on 

 perfectly friendly terms with all lumber organ- 

 izations, and recognizes the good that these 

 various associations have done and are doing 

 for the benefit of the lumber business. We have 

 ever si I ready to join hands with any or- 

 ganization in an effort lo better conditions. We 

 recognize the great work done by the National 

 Hardwood Lumber Association toward the goal 

 of uniform inspect ion, as resolutions adopted at 

 our various annual meetings will testify. We 

 want uniform inspection and that the rules be 

 made according to custom, and to meet the 

 present necessities. We, therefore, recommend 

 that this association appoint a committee, whose 

 .Inly it shall be to work for uniform inspec- 

 tion. 



.Mr. Burkholder — Mr. President, my friend 

 Bennett has been decrying I lie talk about pros- 

 perity and the lumbermen getting rich, on ac- 

 count of (he high price of lumber, and I just 

 uanl to say that I never yet have beard any- 

 one say anything about the high price of tim- 

 ber, 1 line been in the business for thirty 

 years and I haven'1 got rich at it. 1 find to- 

 day that we at.' paying 300 per cent higher 

 juices for timber, and we are gelling about 200 

 i" i ''in higher prices for Lumber, than we did 

 fifteen or twenty years ago. If prosperity is 



reigning, il is an g the tanners. If there is 



any trust al all, il is among Ihe farmers. The 



I: er says be don't have to sell it, and the 



lumberman has lo have il, and the price of 

 timber has gone fat beyond the price of lumber. 



As to this matter of inspection, why not bring 

 that before congress and have government In- 

 spection of lumber? I would call my friend 



