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p Prohlem of theWholesaleYard 



The rt'haudlor uf hardwoods liasn 't the easiest line of work in the 

 world, from the standpoint of making money, which is the stand- 

 point from which it is proper to judge a business. It is well 

 enough to say that the wholesaler is economically necessary, that 

 he supplies a service to the consumer and the small manufacturer by 

 taking the product of the latter and assorting it so as to give the 

 factory man what he wants; but unless the rehandler makes some- 

 thing on the operation, all the economic justification in the world 

 is not going to make him feel much better. 



The growth of big mill operations in the hardwood business, and 

 the increased business done direct by the manufacturers are having 

 their eflfect on the yard man. They are necessarily limiting the 

 scope of his operations. The fact that many concerns which both 

 make and buy hardwood lumber have established yards at points 

 favorable to the consuming trade also gives them an advantage 

 over the concern operating but a single yard. 



The wholesaler who handles the output of the small country mills 

 is up against it in a good many other wayg. In the first place, he 

 is practically the banker of the millman, advancing money on lum- 

 ber as soon as it is put in the pile, and thus making his investment in 

 the stock months before he can realize on it by making a shipment to 

 his customers. The theory of jobbing lumber includes losing no time 

 or money through having to dry lumber, but in practice the whole- 

 saler handles so much green stock that the cost of drying, both in 

 time and otherwise, is considerable. 



Bight along this Uue is appoint which has not been given much 

 attention heretofore. That is the discount which should be made 

 when lumber is bought green. Figuring the added freight which must 

 be paid on green stock, and the interest on the money tied up while the 

 lumber is drying, it is obvious that there is a considerable 

 •difference in value. Just how much, depends on the age and thick- 

 ness of the lumber, but it goes without saying that the rehandler 

 ought to observe a differential, and not pay so much for green lum- 

 ber as for dry, which can be reshipped without rehandling, if desir- 

 able, and need not be left on sticks for a period after being brought 

 ■into the yard of the wholesaler. 



The basis of the wholesaler's advantage is supposed to be the 

 fact that he takes the entire output of the small mill, and thus can 

 get a lower price than if the millman had a carload of each thickness 

 •and grade to ship. This is, of course, wliere the service of the yard 

 comes in. Such a condition makes the rehandler a necessary part 

 of the business. It is not all a onesided affair, however, and it is 

 not entirely an advajitage to the rehandler to take all of the lumber 

 a country mill may turn out. 



For instance, think of the mess of stock which comes into a yard 

 having this arrangement. Not only oak, chestnut, ash, poplar and 

 other staples, but basswood, buckeye and the other hardwoods which 

 ■are not in general demand. This lumber may be taken on an equit- 

 able basis as to price, but it puts it up to the dealer to find a market 

 for a good many kinds of wood which he would not put in stock of 

 his own volition. Some of this lumber is similar in qualities, texture 

 and other factors to staple stock, and can be substituted for it occa- 

 sionally; but as a general rule it must be worked off by itself. 



Even in connection with stock which is staple, the amounts received 

 from any one manufacturer are so small that it takes a long whUe to 

 ■accumulate a carload, even though the wholesaler may be buying from 

 a large number of mills. The millman in the country cuts up his 

 stock without much regard to market conditions, and produces about 

 as many different thicknesses as are suggested by the condition of the 

 logs. That means that the wholesaler who is receiving the stock 

 •usually has a lot of odds and ends of lumber, which he must carry 

 ■until he can get enough to make up a carload. 



That this is the case even in the big yard is generally admitted. In 

 the smaller yards, with limited buying power, the condition is still 

 more in evidence, and the stock-sheets of such concerns show dozens 

 •of items which are held in less than carload lots, and which conse- 

 iquently are hard to move. By the time the cost of carrying this 



stock on the yard is figured, the possible profits of the lumljerman have 

 dwindled considerably, even though he took the stock from the coun- 

 try manufacturer on a price basis which appeared to be satisfactory. 



There is, of course, one alternative to holding the stock waiting for 

 a carload, and that is to go after orders for mixed cars. Considering 

 the opportunities in this direction, it is strange that it is not made 

 more of by the rehandlers of hardwoods. There are many planing 

 mills, furniture factories and other woodworking plants which use a 

 wide variety of stock. They do not care to buy a carload of one 

 particular item, and it is an advantage to them to be able to get in 

 a single shipment a few thousand feet of several kinds and thicknesses 

 and grades, which will enable them to carry on their operations with 

 a smaller investment in stock and with the same advantage as though 

 a carload of each had been purchased. 



If the manufacturer can crowd the relatively small rehandler out 

 of the market when it comes to soliciting the trade of the important 

 factory operator, there is no reason why the jobber should not turn 

 the tables in the case of the smaU consumer, by showing him the 

 advantage of buying in mixed cars from a concern which specializes 

 in that kind of business. Careful study of the necessities of consum- 

 ers of this kind, and real effort to take cave of them, would soon give 

 the jobber a strong hold on the business, and would show the buyer 

 the advantage of being able to get just as much or as little of any 

 one or a number of items from the rehandler. 



Such business might be scorned by the manufacturer who has a 

 tremendous stock, from which he can fill carload orders without dif- 

 ficulty; but it would be welcomed by the rehandler, who would find in 

 this business the complement of his own. 



It seems as if some of the members of ihe wholesale trade overlook 

 the disadvantage of carrying rag-tag and bobtail stocks, judging 

 from the conditions in which their yards are usually found. They 

 have dozens of items of the kind suggested, ranging in quantity from 

 a few hundred to a few thousand feet. If these concerns received an 

 inquiry for lumber, and had to rely on their broken stocks to takb 

 care of the business, they would be unable to quote. Consequently 

 it is obviously up to them to go after the smaller trade, which in the 

 aggregate is just as important and just as desirable as that of the 



There is another advantage in dealing with the factories whose 

 consumption is small, and consists of a large number of different 

 items but not much of any one, and that is that the competition 

 for its trade is not so keen. The big factory which announces that 

 it is in the market for 100,000 feet of No. 1 common plain white oak 

 has no difliculty getting plenty of quotations, and it is fair to assume 

 that the buyer gets about as low a price as the market affords, and 

 that the seller doesn 't make too much profit on the business. 



But the consumer who timidly sends out a letter of inquiry asking 

 if there is a hardwood man who will be good enough to consider 

 loading a car containing 2,000 feet of 5-4 quartered white oak, 2,500 

 feet of 5-4 plain white oak, 500 feet of quartered white oak strips, 

 2%" to 514" wide; a little dab of poplar, a jag of chestnut, and so 

 forth, really wants the lumber and is willing to pay a good price for 

 it. His inquiry isn't answered by a lot of houses which figure that 

 there isn 't enough in it to justify fooling with such unimportant busi- 

 ness; but the jobber whose yard contains a lot of odds and ends of 

 that kind ought to make a big play to this consumer and go after 

 his business strong enough to insure getting all of it he possibly can. 



The jobber who doesn't realize that it is a distinct disadvantage 

 to have small lots of a great many items is the exception; but the 

 man who takes pains to work out a selling system which considers this 

 condition and undertakes to remedy it by going after the trade of the 

 consumer whose needs are adapted to that kind of stock, is likewise 

 an exception. It is time the rehandler got busy on the problem of 

 moving this lumber, getting a proper turnover on his capital and 

 increasing his sales to a considerable degree without having to 

 increase the investment in the business. All of this will result from 

 proper attention to the plans mentioned. G. D. C, Jr. 



