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Th^ Lumbermen s Round Table 



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ARE BLANKET CONTRACTS GOOD? 



A well kuowii himljermaii, who has haiiUleil a good deal of busi- 

 iii'^s on a contract basis, has made some interesting discoveries as a 

 n-iult of the quiet market which has been in evidence during the past 

 irw months. He observed recently that blanket contracts, without 

 ^lii|iping dates specified, are of little real value. 



"When you get an order like that," he said, "it merely amounts 

 to giving the buyer an option on the lumber at the price named. It 

 has comparatively little binding force. The consumer may take the 

 material, and he may not; and in any event you are not in a position 

 to force matters." 



In practically no case will a lumberman insist, however, on his 

 customer taking in stock that he is not in a position to use. As long 

 as he is not buying lumber elsewhere merely to take advantage of a 

 lower price which has become effective since he made his contract, 

 the average liardwood man will not kick. Consequently, even if a 

 contract with shipping dates specified were made, it is doubtful if 

 the lumberman would attempt to enforce the letter of the agreement, 

 but would give the customer a chance to work up material before 

 shipping him more. 



Undoubtedly, however, the moral effect of a contract with exact 

 shipping dates specified is made much greater, and there is less likeli- 

 hood of the buyer attemptinff to avoid caTying out his agreement 

 in t')e nay mentioned. 



GET IN TOUCH WITH THE BUYER 



The plan announced by the Nashville Lumbermen 's Club, of visit- 

 ing a number of leading consuming markets prior to the Buffalo 

 convention of' the National Hardwood Lumber Association, sound like 

 one of the best stunts which has been put on in a long while. It also 

 sliows which way the trade wind is blowing, indicating tliat lumber 

 manufacturers, as well as wholesalers, are learning that it is a good 

 plan to get as close to the factory man as possible, and to find out 

 what happens to the stock after it is unloaded at the consignee's siding. 



"Things have certainly changed during the past five years," saiii 

 a veteran lumberman of the old schcool recently. " It 's getting 

 harder and harder to make a living in this business. ' ' 



What the lumberman really meant was that the tendency is develop- 

 ing to play an open-and-shut game, to lay all the cards on the table, 

 and to sell lumber on its merits. Some concerns may not be able 

 to profit under these conditions; but those which deserve to stay 

 on earth will be found doing business at the old stand right along. 

 Service and fair treatment are the big factors which hold business 

 nowadays, and merchandising sleight of hand is no longer in fashion. 

 THE MOVIES AND VENEERS 



At first glance there does not seem to be much connection between 

 the moving picture theaters and the veneer business; but there is. 

 This fact appears from a consideration of the big business which has 

 come to the seating manufacturers as the result of the erection of 

 thousands on thousands of showhouses devoted exclusively to the 

 [ihoto drama; and as a large part of aU the seats made for use in 

 public buildings of all kinds, and especially theaters, are made of 

 thin stock, the importance of the development of the industry can 

 hardly be over-estimated. 



This development, by the way, emphasizes another fact that the 

 lumber trade as a whole seems to have been slow to appreciate; 

 namely, that trade conditions are constantly changing, and that the 

 successful man must constantly be on the lookout for shifts of this 

 kind. He must note where consumption is falling off, and where new 

 markets are developing. By adapting his business to changes in 

 the trade, he can continue to grow, while others, who have stayed 

 with a dying proposition, ultimately dry up and blow away. 

 RIVER NAVIGATION HELPS 

 Hardwood men in the South appear to regard the recent attempt of 

 the H. H. Hitt Lumber Company of Decatur, Ala., to meet the 

 situation caused by the advance in railroad rates from that point to 

 the Ohio river by means of a water transportation system, as of gen- 



eral significance and importance. The refusal of the lumber manu- 

 facturer to assume a burden which he regarded as excessive and 

 onerous and to yield to the railroads without a struggle is of itself 

 encouraging, and suggests that the railway principle of charging all 

 the traffic will bear can be met in an effective manner. 



The railroads have always recognized the possibility of river com- 

 petition in fixing rates, and have built up their schedules with ref- 

 erence to this proposition. If, instead of having merely potential 

 competition, the railroads find that the waterways are actually 

 handling a part of the traffic which they might have moved if a rea- 

 sonable charge had been made, the effect should certainly be what 

 the lawyers are accustomed to term salutary. It will show that the 

 traffic can bear only a certain amount; and that when that point is 

 reached, the movement is almost certain to be diverted. 



A single cargo of the Hitt company deprived the Louisville & 

 Nashville of nearly $4,000 of revenue, not to mention the loss of 

 tonnage on the return trip ; and such a hack at the earning capacity of 

 the line is likely to make the traffic moguls think twice before hoist- 

 ing rates in the face of threatened competition from the waterways. 

 WALNUT VENEERS IN DEMAND 



The rejuvenation of bl.-ick walnut seems to offer concerns in that 

 field who have veneers to offer an exceptionally good opportunity. 

 Walnut, in keeping with its quality, is an expensive wood, and while 

 it has been shown that the supply is ample to meet the demands of 

 the domestic trade, a very great expansion in the consumption, here 

 and abroad as well, might strain the supply, unless the use of thin 

 stock spread the available material over a larger surface. This will 

 almost surely be the ease. In fact, one of the leading furniture 

 houses, which apparently read the handwriting on the wall correctly, 

 and got a season 's start on its competitors by making up $350,000 

 worth of walnut furniture last year, used veneers, and was not only 

 able to get out a quality piece of goods, but to hold the price down 

 within reason. Solid walnut is likely to be a great favorite with 

 factory men and the public, as suggesting the generation when walnut 

 was in its first glory ; but the use of veneers may be relied upon to 

 extend the market as it could not perhaps be extended otherwise. 

 WHEN TO QUIT SOLICITING 



When business is bad, the accepted system is to redouble one 's 

 efforts, and play the game just a little harder than before. This is 

 probably the right plan; certainly American business men are not 

 often content to sit down and twiddle their thumbs when the demand 

 falls off a little. However, there are two sides to this, and the other 

 side was pointed out by a hardwood man who said: 



' ' Personally, I don 't find that it is a profitable proposition to make 

 a hard drive for business when conditions are unfavorable. Doing 

 so means heavy traveling expenses for your salesmen; it means taking 

 orders at prices which carry a small margin of profit; it means ac- 

 cepting siiecifications which are almost sure to result in kicks and 

 dissatisfaction on both sides. Those with a very large overhead, 

 who feel that they have to keep busy and keep lumber moving even 

 if it is not profitable, may find it desirable to go after trade at all 

 times; but our plan is to peg along quietly in dull times, take business 

 that we know is worth handling, and let the rest go. W'e don 't make 

 much money ; but we don 't lose any, either. ' ' 



April Cut and Shipments of Lumber 



The National Lumber Manufacturers ' Association has published the 

 summary of reports by its members of the April cut and shipments 

 of lumber. The cut of hardwoods was 80,300,000 feet, shipments 

 '42,200,000. Soft woods were cut to the amount of 839,700,000 feet, 

 and shipments for the same month totaled 852,800,000. Compared 

 with April of 1913 it is found that the cut this year was 27,600,000 

 below that of last, and increase in shipments was 4,000,000 feet. 

 The excess of cut over shipments during April, 1913, was 56,600,000 

 feet, while the excess of cut over shipments in 1914 was 25,000,000. 

 The April figures are based on the reports of 516 mills. 



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