HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 



UNLOADING NuKWAY TIMUiatS. VAKD.S EDWARD IllNliS LCMLUJU 

 COMl'ANV, CHICAGO. 



^KUiWAY OF .NORWAY LOi.;S, EDWAIiD III.XES LU.MCER COMPANY, 

 NORTHERN WISCONSIN. 



J^ational Hickory Consumers' Association Organized. 



Delegates leiii-eseiitiug the largest holders 

 of hickory timber as well as the largest con- 

 sumers thereof met on Wednesday, August 

 1^9, at 10:00 a. m. in the Auditorium Annex, 

 Chicago, and effected an organization to be 

 known as the !\ational Hickory Consumers' 

 Association. This meeting was the out- 

 growth of that held at Niagara Falls, N. Y., 

 July 13, when initiatory steps were taken 

 toward the organization of the hickory in- 

 terests, for the purpose of conserving the 

 present supply of hickory stumpage, to pro- 

 mote the future growth of the wood and to 

 determine the most economical methods of 

 manufacture. The new association will work 

 in harmony with the Forest Service in its 

 efforts to provide a future supply of 

 liickorj-. 



The first session of the meeting was 

 called to order at 10:00 a. m. in the Green 

 Eoom of the hotel by John W. Herron, Jr., 

 of the Royer Wheel Company, Cincinnati, 

 president, pro tern. O. B. Bannister of the 

 Muncie Wheel Company, Muncie, Ind., acted 

 in the capacity of secretary. 



After the minutes of the Niagara 

 Falls meeting had been read and ap- 

 proved. Chairman Herron explained the 

 objects of the organization for the benefit 

 of those who were not present at that time. 

 He then called upon the attendance for an 

 expression of their opinions individually re- 

 garding the helpfulness which would be 

 received by those who participated in tlie 

 work of the proposed association. This dis- 

 cussion brought out some interesting in- 

 formation on the prevailing condition of 

 the hickory industrj'. 



H. C. Staver of the Stavcr Carriage Com- 

 pany of Chicago made some interesting re- 

 marks concerning hickory growth, which 

 were occasioned by the statement often 

 heard, although not based on reliable statis- 

 tical data, that the present stand of hickory 

 timber will be exhausted in twenty years 

 at the present rate of consumption, anci that 

 to reproduce the stanci would require thirt\' 

 years, thus leaving ten years interim. Mr. 



Staver said that he had practically lived 

 in the woods since boyhood and that from 

 observation he knows that it takes hickory 

 saplings as long to reach a diameter of 

 three inches as it docs for them to grow 

 from three to ten inches in diameter. For 

 this reason the hoop pole industry is one 

 of the chief factors in the destruction of 

 merchantable hickory. He gave it as his 

 opinion that hoop pole manufacturers should 



STRAW AND CONE NORWAY PINE. 



be induced to substitute other wood for 

 hickory, thereb.y effecting a great saving. 

 J. S. Dort of the Imperial Wheel Company 

 of Flint, Mich., in a short but valuable talk, 

 agreed with Mr. Staver in this view, as did 

 also several others. 



H. B. Holroyd of the Forest Service who 

 is conducting a series of experiments in 

 testing timbers, at Lafayette, Ind., was 

 called upon to give an outline of the work 

 which might be accomplished by the govern- 

 ment with the assistance of the , hickory 

 interests in promoting the growth, preserva- 

 tion and economical use of hickory. 



Mr. Ilolroyd said that the Forest Service 

 had as vet secured but little data relating 



liarticularly to hickory growth, but he 

 thought that a great deal could be done by 

 the government along this line, and that in 

 the work the manufacturers and consumers 

 of hickory could materially assist if they 

 were so inclined, especially through such 

 an organization as was now about to be per- 

 fected. He hinted at some tests which had 

 been and were about to be made by the 

 service which would give the exact break- 

 ing strength and resiliency of hickory and 

 other woods, such as oak and long-leaf pine, 

 with a view to their possible substitution 

 for hickory. 



The work before the association was dis- 

 cussed by F. A. Curtis of the Vehicle Wood- 

 stock Company of Chicago. He urged that 

 the preliminaries of organization be dis- 

 posed of as quickly as possible so that the 

 real work might be undertaken. One of 

 the first things to be accomplished, he be- 

 lieved, is the collection of statistics on the 

 amount of hickory timber now standing, 

 as it is impossible to tell at present whether 

 the supply will last ten years or forty. He 

 stated that he considered that it would be 

 foolish to do anything toward providing for 

 future supplies before it was known, at least 

 approximately, how long the present stand 

 will last. 



C. S. Hartnell of Hartwell Bros., Chicago 

 Heights, 111., said that in his opinion the 

 deadening of hickory, as practiced in the 

 southern states, was a matter which the as- 

 sociation might with profit take up with the 

 government. He said that in the southern 

 country thousands of acres of good timber 

 was treated in this manner, the ground 

 thereafter being rented for $5 or $6 an acre. 



The planting of trees was discussed at 

 length, Mr. Holroyd suggesting that the 

 Forest Service in cooperation with the mem- 

 bers of the new association should select 

 species of fast gi-owing, good quality timber 

 best adapted to the sections to be forested. 



Upon motion of Mr. Curtis, amended by 

 Mr. Witmer, a commit tec of three was then 

 appointed liy the chair to act with the 



