HARDWOOD RECORD 



53 



ili.M.-f -i\ liiiu's as much lumber per capita as Germany, the 



1 ' - iieing as follows : 



" ' > 1 I'^T capita Country 



''•'[■ II United States 



' "I'l' I -t England 



. .rii^iiiiiptiiin of wood per capita falls to that of Germany we 

 ]i»\< .1 |in|iulation oV about 500 million, or almost six limes 

 is ;it |ii.s>iit, in onlcr to consume our present annual output. 

 i-.s.Mil rati' III inriias.' in population this would take about two 

 I'riiiii till- li;ist> .n,;ihsis. 1 lielitve you will agree with me in 

 s luiliki'ly our natural irii-roaso in population will entirely offset 

 ::-i' in our per capita consumption of wood, and, consequently, 

 Stic demand for lumber is bound to decrease. In this connection 

 til keep clearly In mind that as our country becomes more dense- 

 itiil the tendeuoy to build more substantial structures becomes 



•111. I. Ill «.■ have to face I prefer to put in this form: "How can 



• thr luiiilirr liusiiicss profltahlc withniit riiaterially increasing 



I ficl that Ihe key to the situaliiin lies in lietti-r hh'IukIs of mauufacur- 

 iii^' and selling lumber. Let me quote from the testimony of Captain 

 White given in Washington last February. Captain White said: "Mill 

 men have made their money by increase in the value of stumpage : they 

 bought for 1(1 per thousand or less and now they have to pay $5 per 

 thousand. ... or what they bought for $10 per acre is now worth 

 $50 per ai re, and this is where some large buyers and manufacturers have 

 n);<<]' tlnir II. . iij.l nut in 111.' siiiijil.- pni.'.ss iii' manufacturing." 



wt.i' '.-- II. I, . :i ni.Ml.. 1.. i...ii,r Mi. iii.i n ui'acture and sale of 



111 " . ■'. ' '(././. v'lDii IX ih'it I II 1,1 h: I nn II fhniilil make a jnr more 



<;,niiii /„./. ..' /;,. ,11, ,1s „t III,,, ,„,-,.,«>. ,„si„m,r« and then manu- 

 Jartiii-f //111, ;i;o,/h./.v to bcKt .luit tlicnc cu-ttomcrs. Let us illustrate this 

 with a few examples : 



Lumber is now being manufactured by some 48,000 odd sawmills in this 

 country and almost invariably is being shipped into oui- consuming mar- 

 kets simply as "lumber," where it is mixed without any adequate method 

 of iiUntilii atlon. In this regard It occupies the unique but rather un- 

 cnviaMi- pnsltion of being one of our great structural materials sold with- 

 out a l.iaiiil. Vim arc lamlliar, I think, wilh th. riiii,i-in- i. v i. ,1 by 

 Mr. Il.ixi.. ...iiiTjiiiii^ the difficulty of seciini.L -,,n i,.i..i> .ii.i.iural 



materials for mill i mist nirtiiin. Under our pr. > ,i i h hl i m . i,^in..rr 



or architi-it may siiriily a certain brand of lumi.. i i.iii li. h.i- i..., little 

 assurance that he will get that brand or variety of himhi-r. .Mr. North 

 of the Yellow Pine Manufacturers' Association has shown .vou the tend- 

 ency of various cities to decrease the allowable fibre stresses of building 

 timbers. Do you fully realize what this means to your business? In 

 our own i-Njierience at the laboratory we have frequently called on the 

 open market for a certain kind of lumber and secured a number of other 

 kinds wlii.Vi we had to reject. The point I wish to make is that the eon- 

 sum, r i- ]iiii t(. t.i.. iiuiih trouble in determinim; wh.ii h. is ii'tting 

 wlii'ii li. -...- I.. I. in liiiiiiii-r. When we are siili.iiin^ i.ii.in..- \m vii.mld 



not |.l; 1,1. .. Hi 111., way of what the imi-r. «,m.i-, I v.-ry 



stri.m;l\ :li:ii h i.ii II iiiiiiittee on structur;il tin r ..i ili.' Aiii..rii.an 



s^^iiii.n '..1 l.-niiu \I;.i.iials redrafts its speciflcationK for structural 

 timi.- I. ..- til. \ |il;iii ti. ilii. all lumbermen who wish to manufacture 

 suili |.i...|ii. I- -111. 111. I i..riiiiilate a workable plan whereby they will properly 

 luaud their tiiuliirs .is roiilorming to the grades laid down by the society. 

 I tirmly believe that such action would be of great assistance to all lumber- 

 men manufacturing structural timbers and to all engineers and architects 

 who would specify them. 



.Viii.tli.r |.iri>. of manufacture wlnli 1 i ;- worthy of critical 



ONaiiiin:iti..n i- tli.. present practice ..1 in ihiiulj many forms of lum- 

 ber int.. .\.ii I. ii..;tl)s and widths, 'lii. .:. is of hardwood lum- 

 ber esp.iiiilly >liiiiild make strenuous ;iii.iii|ii- i.. ascertain the exact 

 needs of their trade and then produce as nuicli of their rough dimension 

 stock at the sawmill as possible. In this w'ay much valuable material 

 which is too short, or which is of too low grade to make even-length 

 hoards of a certain size, could be saved. For example, if the consumer 

 can use sticks two feet long, then sticks w'hich are two* feet long should 

 be made at the mill from material which will not cut longer sticks. 

 Some mills are doing this and it is certainlj- gratifying to see the way 

 they are eliminating waste at a profit and to the satisfaction of their 

 customers. One company whose close operations I witnessed is now em- 

 ploying nearly three times as many men as it did five years ago and is 

 cutting only one-half as much of its timber area each year, while securing 

 over twice as much marketable material from it. 



A third example I wish to consider under this general heading of better 

 manufacture to suit the consumer's wants is the question of grading. 

 Too many of our grading rules now in existence are unnecessarily com- 

 plicated and often throw out much valuable material, thus causing waste 

 aud financial loss. Grading rules should be made as simple as possible 

 and should be based on the purpose for which the timber is to be used. 

 To illustrate, in discussing this matter with a large vehicle manufacturer 

 he showed me stocks of hoards which he had to cull because they were 



not satisfactory for vehicle stock: the grain was twisted. These boards, 

 however, would be entirely .satisfactory, in fact, above the average, for 

 the manufacture of furniture. Again, the exact needs of the customers 

 should be considered by the lumber manufacturers. Greater attention 

 to this would aid considerably in placing the lumber business in a 

 healthier condition. 



The second suggestion I have to make in regard to improving the pres- 

 ent condition has to do with the selling of the output. I believe that 

 the day of manufacturing lumber, hauling it to market, and then prac- 

 tically letting it sell itself is rapidly passing. Lumbermen must build 

 up a far bigger corps of sales agents who are thoroughly trained in the 

 needs of their customers and who properly can call their products to the 

 attention of the customers. These must be trained men who can get 

 out and hustle for business. This statement particularly applies to all 

 kinds and classes nf lumlier which enter into direct competition with other 

 mai.ri.il 1.. 1 li- III. ,11.11. .Ill .ii;;i;estion with a few examples: Very 

 'itii -■■■■'■ I 1 I h. il by displa.ving photographs of eol- 



li-'i I I I ...In cars. Just now, public opinion 



is '1. I I ' i-iiii I iiii II . .1 \-..iid in passenger coach construction. 

 We .Viiieriiaiis are very iiriiue to swing from one end of the pendulum 

 to the other before we arrive at a proper balance. Right now we are 

 at the all-steel passenger car end of the swing. What aie the lumbermen 

 doing to locate a balance? I believe you could well afford to employ 

 trained engineers to tackle this problem from an engineering standpoint 

 and work on it in cooperation with railroad engineers, then follow with 

 enlightened salesmanship. ..Vuother illustration is the use of ensilage. 

 According to the Orange .luild Fain, i il i u iimut 130,000 silos in 



use in the middle western stm. -, « i ri . ...n.. about 31,000 were 



constructed. In other words, th .| n . i ii increasing at a rapid 



rate. If we assume that eacli sil.. ...n .m,.- i :;.iioo feet of lumber 



and that 30,000 wooden silos were liiiilt lust year, this one type of con- 

 struction would give a demand for lumber of ninety million feet board 

 measure. There is every indication, based on the opinion of our leading 

 agriculturists, that the use of silos on the farm is but in its infancy. 

 Lumbermen should study this problem thoroughly ; you should learn all 

 about silo construction ; .vou should cooperate with various agricultural 

 schools in making a very careful examination into merits of woods for the 

 con-tni. ti.ri .f 11.. : iin.l if wood has real merit for this purpose you 

 sliiii' I III. I. iire salesmen who can properly assist you. 



Ail 11 I I II I tin. use of wood for paving blocks. In 1907 



aiipi.. Ill .1. I' . i;..ii ...iiTil feel of lumber were used for this pur- 

 pose. Ill llirj the dcmaml hi. I ii -n i.. ..ver eighty-four million feet. 

 The closest cooperation shnnll i :- n the lumbermen who produce 



paving block material and \. n n i- In studying the quality of 



wood needed for p.iving hi... k- iii. ^nnnw kinds that might be used, 

 the proper size of blocks, proper methods of treatment, etc. These prob- 

 lems should not be left entirely with the wood-preserving engineer to 



The last iliu -i i :i n..ii 1 ..vMi i.. .it. ui..!. i ..m ii.i ^„-'^. slion of need 



for salesui.in- , i' n ,.. rience at the 



laboratory. \n . .i ii.. ■.' . n m.. i,..;. v. ui. , ..n, ni floor, and. 



although w.. . ..?..] I'll- ,1111: ill ii.iiiii. I .In-i . ..niiniially settled 



upon our machines and aflVeted their bearings. Complaint was also 

 levied by our machinist tliat whenever a tool or instrument accidentally 

 dropped aud hit the cement floor its edge was either seriously dulled or 

 the tool liroken. Complaints in regard to personal comfort were also 

 made. We covered the concrete floor with a wooden floor and overcame 

 all these objections. The above Illustrations are but a few of a number 

 which could be given showing the opportunity for a more extensive and 

 enlightened salesmanship on the part of lumbermen. 



My third suggestion, which, like the first, is a manufacturing proposi- 

 tion, but which is nevertheless of such great importance tliat it is classed 

 separatel.v, has to do with the utilization of waste. Lumbermen should 

 consider themselves more as stumpage men than lumbermen. I'ou should 

 consider yourselves the possessors of a great natural resource capable of 

 manufacture into a variety of salable products. I have attempted to 

 show why it is unlikely structural lumber can advance materially in 

 price under present conditions. In present lumber operations, lumber, 

 which represents, in general, less than 40 per cent of the total volume 

 of the forest, must hear the entire expense of maintaining these operations. 

 Is it fair to expect lumber to do this? Suppose the same principle held 

 sway in the packing industr.v. Only those of us who are ultra-rich could 

 afford to eat beefsteak. I wrote to the chief chemist of Armour & Co. 

 a few days ago and asked him to what extent the utilization of by- 

 products in the packing industry was a myth or a reality. This is the 

 reply he gave me : 



I may say that you are quite correct In your assumption that the various 

 parts of tlie animal's carcass aside from the meat and hide are utilized 



blood albumen for tinishing leather and printing cotton goods, etc. 



Please note the variety of industries that are securing materials from 

 the packing industry. Wood is just as promising a raw material as 

 beef. Lumbermen should make a far more determined effort to appreciate 

 this. Waste should be converted into marketable products aud compelled 



