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The '^Coming'"' of Tupelo Gum 







A manufacturer convinced against his will is of the same 

 opinion still. 



Prejudice is the hardest thing in the world to overcome. The 

 greatest obstacle to the use of any new method, device or material 

 is that the deep-rooted opinions which have grown up about a 

 confirmed practice resist destruction so persistently that the man 

 who has the job of extirpating them usually realizes that he has 

 lost some cuticle before he gets through. 



This is true in the industries concerned with the use of woods 

 as much as in any other. Manufacturers of wood products usu- 

 ally become attached to a particular material, and when, because 

 of the lessening of the supply, accompanied by an increase in 

 price which is almost prohibitive of use, some other material is 

 offered to take its place, those who have been accustomed to the 

 former wood find it a matter of moral impossibility to welcome 

 the new offering. They may accept it and use it, but their minds 

 refuse to give it place. 



An exception to this general rule, which is interesting because 

 it is exceptional, is the rapid progress which has been made in the 

 substitution of tupelo, or bay poplar, in the cigar-box industry. 

 This material has made its way so generally that it is perhaps 

 safe to say that ninety per cent of the veneered box material con- 

 sumed by the trade at present consists of bay poplar. The period 

 within which the change has taken place has been unusually short, 

 yet, with an occasional exception, the cigar-box men say that they 

 are pleased with the wood, and that it is doing the work as well 

 as they could have expected. 



The man who was familiar with the trade five years ago would 

 have been justified in stating that it would be impossible to put 

 poplar out of business as the principal material for box purposes. 

 He would have asserted, with the qualities of that wood in mind, 

 and those of the available substitutes under consideration, that 

 the cigar-box men would never discontinue using poplar, even 

 though the price rose to $30 a thousand or more. Poplar advanced 

 in price and became less plentiful; the manufacturers of cigar-box 

 material studied bay poplar and found it suitable, and the trade 

 put it into use and general acceptance within the short space 

 of little more than a year. 



The tupelo movement is simply the result of the operation of 

 the law of supply and demand. Poplar went sky-hooting with 

 the development of the automobile trade, and this gave the first 

 impetus in the direction of securing a substitute. Although poplar 

 is not at the crest of the wave which made it the feature of the 

 lumber market during the automobile boom, it is still sufficiently 

 high-priced to make it worth while to produce a cheaper wood, pro- 

 vided it can be furnished at a price low enough to make the 

 change worth while. 



Several woods were considered before bay poplar was finally 

 resorted to. The requirements are that it be reasonably soft, 

 absolutely odorless, and that it take cedar veneering well. All of 

 these qualifications, as indicated, were filled by poplar more 

 exactly than any other wood, but tupelo was found to be a good 

 second best. This is proved by the fact that of the large number 

 of cigar-box lumber manufacturers in the .country only one is 

 turning out old-fashioned poplar material as the bulk of his 

 production. 



It is hardly likely that the demand could be supplied at present 

 prices if poplar were specified, as there does not appear to be 

 enough of the material to go around. The increasing use of pop- 

 lar in the furniture trade, where it has won a place for cross- 

 banding in built-up work, and the increasing consumption in the 

 same direction by piano manufacturers, has practically put it out 

 of the market as a box material. 



On the other hand, the demand for tupelo box lumber has been 

 so great, since it was made the staple, that the price has gone 

 up, too. The price of this material at present is reported to be 

 what poplar was before the big increase in its valuation was devel- 



oped. Present quotations on poplar material, f. o. b. the mill, are 

 about $21.50 per thousand, while the manufacturers of tupelo 

 cigar-box lumber are asking from $16.50 to $19 on the same basis. 

 It is, therefore, evident that after all there is not such a large 

 difference in price between the two. If the trade were to make an 

 attempt to revert to the general use of poplar, the chances are 

 that quotations on that material would undoubtedly advance 

 sharply. The price quoted may be taken, therefore, as represent- 

 ing its value under present conditions, with tupelo the principal 

 material used. 



The average manufacturer of cigar-boxes accepted the change 

 as one that had to come, and made the best of the situation. Before 

 long he had reached a point where he was thoroughly accustomed 

 to Ijay poplar, and while not entirely reconciled to the loss of the 

 easily worked poplar material, he was content to go ahead with 

 the new offering and accept it as the best that could be secured 

 under the conditions. It was this willingness to give a good substi- 

 tute a fair test and to accept it if it did the work required of it, 

 that is worthy of comment. 



Most manufacturers of cigar packages assert that the new 

 material is all that could be desired, eliminating poplar, and that 

 they have had no trouble making the change. It is somewhat 

 harder, as a rule, than poplar, and this makes it a little more diffi- 

 cult to work; but those who have become accustomed to this 

 assert that the difference is not sufficient to be really noticeable. 

 They do not believe that any other substitute could be found which 

 would do the work and would be available at anything like the 

 price which is being paid for tupelo veneered with cedar. 



On the other hand, a box man is occasionally found who still 

 uses poplar whenever he can get it, and who insists that tupelo 

 is greatly inferior to it. A vigorous opinion on the subject was 

 recently expressed by a western manufacturer, who said: 



"If poplar were no more than two dollars higher than tupelo 

 material, I should buy it and consider myself getting the better of 

 the bargain, for it certainly costs that much more to work the 

 substitute. It's harder on the saws, it takes more time, thereby 

 increasing the labor expense, and the work is not as good. As 

 an example of this, I should say that the number of drive-outs, 

 or cases where the nails fail to hold and show on the surface of 

 the box, has increased several hundred per cent since we began 

 using tupelo. We have had to change the gauge of our nails, 

 which has resulted in clogging up our nailing machines. Alto- 

 gether, we have not found it satisfactory. 



"The worst feature is the lack of uniformity about the material. 

 Some of it is comparatively soft, other pieces are moderately so, 

 and others are extremely hard. This makes it difficult to set a 

 standard by which to judge the work which is being done. One 

 of the best qualities of poplar is that it is always uniform. You 

 can usually count on getting the same soft, smooth-grained wood 

 every time, with no variations. That helps the manufacturer a 

 lot, and it is a big handicap not to know what you have to work 

 when you open a shipment of material." 



Generally speaking, however, bay poplar seems to be giving 

 satisfaction, and while there are a few weak spots, as suggested, 

 it is making good to a greater extent than anyone familiar with 

 the exact suitability of poplar and the obvious objections to 

 nearlv any other wood would have thought possible. 



G. D. C, Jr. 



Annual Southern Cypress Manufacturers' Meeting 



The annual meeting of the Southern Cypress Manufacturers' 

 Association will be held at the Grunewald hotel. New Orleans, 

 commencing at 10:30 a. m., on Wednesday, May 15. Secretary 

 George E. Watson states business of great importance will come 

 before this meeting, and it is earnestly requested that all mem- 

 bers plan their engagements so as to be present. 



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