14 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Lest it be assumed that the rapid depletion of forest resources is 

 siif5ScieTitly accounted for by the increase in population, it should 

 be, noted that statistics show the increase in population since 1880 

 to be half the increase in lumber cut during the same period. At 

 present but one-fifth the total forest area of the United States is 

 embraced in National Bcserves, the rest remaining in private hands. 

 The average age of trees felled for lumber this season is not less 

 than one hundred and fifty years, so that it is obvious the stumpage 

 owner must wait at least a hundred years for his land to produce 

 another such crop, but Americans are too strongly addicted to the 

 get-rich-quick habit to have patience with such investments, so that 

 the nation and the states individually must look toward the pro- 

 tection of coming generations and future industries. 



Railroads and the Freight Problem. 



One of the most pleasing signs of the times is the fact that the 

 leaders in thought and management of railroad affairs are at last 

 falling into line, and now seem to be willing to cooperate with the 

 public in correcting transportation abuses. 



A notable exhibition of this spirit was manifested by Melville E. 

 Ingalls, chairman of the Big Four System 's board of directors, in 

 a speech made before the Pittsburg Traffic Club, in which he de- 

 clared that President Roosevelt is about the only and probably the 

 best friend the railroads have. He emphasized the fact that they 

 might as well quit fighting and submit to regulation, and said, ' ' Any 

 man who is not prepared to manage his railroad as a public institu- 

 tion in accordance with the law should resign and seek some other 

 business." More than three hundred prominent railroad men and 

 a large gathering of manufacturers and shippers listened to Mr. 

 Ingall's speech. This sort of spirit on the part of even a few as 

 prominent in railroad affairs as is Mr. Ingalls will very soon bring 

 about more satisfactory and certainly much more amicable relations 

 between the railroads and the shipping public. 



Another striking evidence of this spirit of conciliation, and one 

 that promises to be a foremost movement in the history of trans- 

 portation, is the recent organization by Secretary W. G. Hollis of 

 a car service department for the Northwestern Lumliermen 's Associa- 

 tion. At a conference between members of this organization and the 

 railroads the former agreed to submit to the association all its 

 claims and complaints against the roads, which the new department 

 will investigate, passing over to the railroads at interest only such 

 claims as it deems worthy. The railroads on their part agree that 

 such cases, with attached evidence, shall be accepted in good faith 

 as the basis of adjudication. This agreement has been entered into 

 by all the roads centering at Minneapolis and St. Paul. 



The Hardwood Buying Situation. 



The struggle between jobbers and manutacturers nt hardwood 

 lumber goes on. The jobbers are making strenuous attempts to 

 buy round lots of desirable stock at a price that will leave them a 

 margin of profit, but manufacturers, even down to the owner of the 

 small ground mill, are very independent. 



A feature of lumber trading that is jiarticularly in evidence at 

 this time is the unwillingness of manufacturers in the South and 

 Southwest to sell lumber on the basis of the rules of the National 

 Hardwood Lumber Association. Prominent St. Louis hardwood men 

 state to the Eecokd that the best grades of half-dry and green stock 

 they can secure today from manufacturers are fully 10 per cent 

 below National standards and that when the depreciation of re- 

 handling and seasoning is taken into account the grades stand fully 

 '20 per cent lower. 



As a matter of fact, in the purchase of round lots and mill stocks 

 it has come about that trades are consummated on the basis of a 

 mutual agreement on joint inspection. If the buyer's inspector can 

 ' ' keep house ' ' with the seller 's inspector, the shipments are made. 

 On the contrary, if there is a disagreement between them the trade 

 is off. After making one of these trades a buyer is entirely at sea 

 as to whether he will get the stock or not. This same condition 

 concerning the jiurchase of southern and southwestern stocks is 



reported by jobbers at Chicago, Memphis and Cincinnati, and 

 doubtless prevails to a considerable extent over the entire south 

 country. 



In Michigan and Wisconsin these conditions obtain to a very lim- 

 ited extent, as the greater portion of lumber sold in those sections is 

 shipped strictly on National As.sociation grades, or their exact equiv- 

 alent — those of the Wisconsin Hardwood Lumbermen 's Association. 

 This divergence in conditions in the North and South is perhaps ex- 

 plainable from the fact that the grading rules of the Hardwood Man- 

 ufacturers ' Association are a good deal in evidence in the latter sec- 

 tion, and manufacturers have learned that these grades are satis- 

 factory to a considerable portion of the consuming trade. There 

 never has been any quantity of northern lumber sold under the rules 

 of the Manufacturers' Association. These varying conditions are 

 a further argument for the unification of all hardwood inspection 

 rules, so that they may be made universal throughout the country. 



The Time for Cutting Hickory. 



As is known to the trade at large, hickory stumpage, throughout 

 its entire range of growth in the United States, is becoming ex- 

 tremely scarce. Hickory is a wood tor which thus far there has 

 not been found a satisfactory substitute. Its rapid diminution is 

 an absolute menace to the very important industry of vehicle pro- 

 duction, and the situation is looked upon with concern by everyone 

 interested in this great branch of American commerce. 



The Hardwood Eecoed is in receipt of a communication from a 

 prominent wheel manufacturing concern of central Ohio, which sug- 

 gests that it would be a good idea to ask all manufacturers of hard- 

 wood lumber to make it a rule to saw hickory only betweeii Sep- 

 tember 1 and January 15. This is the best and only logical time 

 for the felling and sawing of this valuable timber. The writer 

 contends that well toward twenty per cent of the hickory now pro- 

 duced in the country is going to waste on account of its being sawed 

 too late in the spring, when the atmosphere causes checking and dis- 

 coloration of the wood. 



The above is certainly a pertinent piece of advice, for too great 

 care cannot be taken in order to make the modicum of hickory 

 stumpage remaining last as long as possible. 



States' Increasing Interest in Forestry. 



It is encouraging to see that legislators of several states are wak- 

 ing up to the woeful forest conditions prevailing within their 

 boundaries, and are passing laws that will contribute materially to 

 the advancement of the interests of forestry. At least nine states 

 are now endeavoring to make the most of their timber resources and 

 are availing themselves of the information furnished by the Forest 

 Service, which has been gained by the national government through 

 years of experiment and investigation. 



These states are New York, New Hampshire, Maryland, Wisconsin, 

 Missouri, California, Kentucky, Ehode Island, Delaware and to a 

 ccmsiderable extent Pennsylvania, Indiana and Michigan. Maine has 

 discovered that its chief forestry problem is the protection of cut- 

 over lands from fire, and a law has been enacted with the result that 

 the fire damage in 1906 was only about $21,000, which is less than 

 one-third of what it has been in former years. This state is under- 

 taking the utilization of the national Forest Service plans. The 

 states of Delaware, Kentucky and Rhode Island are of late interest- 

 ing themselves in forestry, and the Kentucky legislature has recently 

 provided for a forestry commissioner and made a small appropria- 

 tion for the study of the work. 



Outside of its timber reserves the government can accomplish little 

 for individual states in forestry work save giving them the benefit 

 of its exhaustive experiments covering the protection of existing 

 forests and the regrowing of abandoned lands and depleted forest 

 areas to timber. The individual states must do other work very 

 largely for themselves, but such legislation can be passed as will make 

 it possible and even profitable for both states and individuals to 

 engage in forestry pursuits on varying scales. 



