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H A RD WOOD R E^G O R D ' 



.. ..Z^^Gru(ttni''^nd Buying "^bf Hardwood Lumber 



Tfie ""foilowin^ is an excerpt' of the impor- 

 tant features of an address delivered by Lewis 

 Doster,,^ secretary of the Hardwood Manufac- 

 turers' Association of the United States at 

 the banquet of the Chicago !Furniture Manu- 

 facturers' Association, held -at the ChiCa'go 

 Athletic CUibj , oi; , .Tuesday/ evening, ,^;0- 

 vember' 2. -■ :■■ • 



Mr. Chaiitfian' ana-'- Gentlemen : I am very 

 proud to be InVJted'to att-eiia--this meeting'ot 

 yours here in <!:(^icfl'gQ;\\vliicl^ we as harawb'od 

 manufacturers I'egard.'ias tl*e ia,rgest consumwg 

 hardwood market in the world.' The Hai'dwoaa- 

 Mahutacturets' 'jjkjsfjplation.o^'t^e United 'Stk.tes. 

 whose secretao" I am,, tafeas . much pleasure ip/ 

 interesting itself in sucWlan'-ilntiortant allied ^in-' 

 terest of the hardwood 'ffaSe's^ your assqciatidn!} 

 represents. I believe it will -benefit you to iearii ; 

 about our system Of handling lumber from the' 

 stump to the. wholesale eousumer. 



The various branches of the lumber trade each 

 year are being brought closer and closer to- 

 gether, chiefly through the American idea of 

 association work. The Hardwood Manufacturers' 

 Association Is intensely interested in the whole- 

 sale consumer of hardwoods and it takes every 

 opportunity to study the actual requirements of 

 lumber buyers, and is alwa.vs willing to adapt 

 itself to any new condition that makes- for the 

 betterment of the industry. 



At the various meetings of manufacturers of 

 furniture and allied lines,, which I have had the 

 pleasure of attending, I have presented the lum- 

 ber manufacturers' view of hardwood manufac- 

 turing and inspection matters, and as, much in- 

 terest has been shown . by your association on 



these questions, I will take pleasure in reyiewlijg'^ 

 the. policy and methods of the Hardwood Maniiv 

 facturers' Association, and- shall be glad to reply 

 to questions on the .^libjget' 'that may" 'be of 

 interest to you. 



The life of the hardwood timber supply of the 

 couptry is conjectural. In various publications 

 youTread about the waning of hardwood forests, 

 the drain upon them, the period necessary for 

 the regrowth of trees, ^ etc., but no accurate sta- 

 tisfles- ha!'*'e''e!Ver*T3«fi;'^ compiled shewing the- 

 exact situation, ■ffe'siiiiply 'know that there is 

 a considerable stand of maple, birch, 'beech; black 

 ash, gray elm, ba'sswooil and some rock elm In 

 the states of 'Michigan and 'Wisconsin, and a 

 sthall'' growth sUll remaining in northeastern 

 New Ttttrkino'itherh; Vermont and northern New 

 H^mpahil-e. ' WS know that-Ohio, Itfdiana and 

 southern lUinrtis sliU produce -a cbnlslderabl*' 

 quantity of oak 'and -some of the inlnor hard- 

 woods, and that the qnaBMt'y 'or olitput in these 

 sliafes is decreasing yeal' by" 'year. We know 

 thei-e is an extended area of tht^ Allegheny moun- 

 tains and Ihb lower 'Alipalachians. running 

 through" sou1ilib'rn'"l>ennsylvattih and continuing' 

 through' '•Mafylana." the "Virginias, Kentucky, Tfen-' 

 n|^Ssee',''?<oreui'ana' South Carolina and nbrthern' 

 Georgia and •Aliibain'a thetfejs 'still a hea-^y staHd 

 of "dali, hMtijry, Chestnut and s6me considerable 

 qtiahtify Of poplar'.' We knoV that in the lower 

 JSi^siSsip'jjI vallcj- district 'extending throtlgh 

 'Westt'rh'Te'nrii^sSdeiHsouthe'dtetefn' Missouri, Arlt'atf- 

 sas, Mississippi, Louisiaila fliid Texas, therfe 'Is 

 aii'b'ther la'rge Uili'dwood' Bfeld which is fdst being' 

 devfeloijed' and 'frhich 'cofatalns a"source of siippl.i' 

 foi''qVff(e a Cumber of 'yeitrs of oak, ksh, feiim And 

 hl'ckorj' an'd'in mintjr '(Jfiatttitles severail other 

 vaflbties'cif tl'mher. Ho'U'^ver, ^tiiflstt'cs' Showing 

 tlicf true condttHoh' and the"fiiture'tee 'df AaWii' 

 can hardwood forests have never yet been''8b^' 

 t^iiddj'' biit ir'5i'"h'op^'d^ that' th^ "#'o¥k being 

 ulfderti/ken hy tfie"gove'rnmeht' In its' forthcom-- 

 Ing 'cdns'us wlWglve fhe hardwiod niahufacturlfig 

 a'naremanufactUrrn.g industry 'fedme deflttife teg'' 

 uWs' that will cohstitutd 'a' bi^ls for' at'liast ^' 

 r&sonable.esttiiirfte."''''"'' ' ' '' ' "■■ ' 

 ^''livoHi't'idii in h'AfdWbbd cbff^^tiriftjtion Is Sd'^re'v-' 

 alent that a record of past lumTi'^f'^oh'Suflijitlon 



would be of little value to make figures on for 

 future, consumption. , American remanutacturers 

 of hardwood lumber are resourceful. They In- 

 dulge not only^ In substitutes constantly, using 

 a chdaper and less esteemed kind of lumber for 

 others- they have- used in the past, but they are 

 employing to a greater and greater extent, year 

 by year, veneered, panels and thin lumber. A 

 piece of furniture that used to require fifty feet 

 of lumber Is now often made with one-half that 

 quantity of solM wood and the remainder is 

 made up of veneered stock.' In building, con- 

 struction. Iron, , steel . and concrete In, ijQ^ny 

 cases is taking the place ' of wood. Notwith- 

 standing these substitutes ,^nd - economies, the 

 actual use of lumber" per capita 'In this country 

 Is increasing year by year. • , ' 



The sawmill man is also attempting to prac- 

 tice methods of econom.v and conservation. For- 

 merly the lumberman did nothing but cut down 

 his high class merchantable trees, and let the 

 remainder of his forest go to fire and decay. 

 Nowadays, with the higher prices of stumpage, 

 he is usually cutting his forests comparatively 

 clean, felling every tree that will pay for its 

 cost of manufacturing Into lumber. Each year 

 he is using thinner band saw blades, and less 

 lumber is being produced with circular saws 

 than ever before In the history of the trade. 

 Today the manufacturer is closely studying the 

 hardwood consuming situation and is trying to 

 provide for the exact requirements of the reman- 

 ufactnrer. He Is trying to adapt his production 

 to the wants of his customers. He tries to pro- 

 duce and maintain a well balanced stock of 

 lumber with a minimum of waste. He attempts 

 to so conserve his output that he shall not over- 

 stock the market either in quantity or In a 

 particular kind, thickness or grade of lumber, 

 This Is a lesson learned during the last panic, 

 for when the demand fell off millions of feet of 

 lumber was in the hands at the mills which in 

 many cases became stick-rotten and worm-eaten 

 before it could be moved. This entailed an 

 immense loss to lumber manufacturers. 



Hence, If the present stand of hardwood tim- 

 ber In this country can be accurately determined, 

 p.nd if the actual consumption of the past can 

 be accurately estimated, it would give "but a 

 very indifferent basis on which to determine the 

 future life of the forests. Evolution in produc- 

 tion and consumption I? so pregnant that at best 

 It '*ould be but guess work. Constantl.v increas- 

 ing stunlpage values and decreasing lumljer val- 

 ues will all , tend , tqward conservative and eco- 

 npmicaj methods on the part of lumber manu- 

 facturers, and while in the past much less than 

 one-half of " the forest growth has been reduced 

 lo a merchantable lumber product, undeniably 

 the future will' show that a.mueh , .sreater per- 

 centage is made into some form of lumber or 

 dimension material that will possess a value for 

 rcmanufacturing purposes;' It is therefore safe 

 to say- that there, are a. good many -years of sup- 

 ply ahead, of the. furniture and kindred , tra,d?s 

 (mploying hardwopd lumber. ' ^ 



It would seetii that a" logfcal ''in'bv6in«nt"¥6r' 

 ai* 'associatioili'lilie yours hnd-'othei'-reifiahtofae-' 

 tjirers of hardwood lumber would be to work" 

 closely with the. .hardwood maimfactoi'cr and 

 assist him In the attempt to perpetuate the for- 

 ests of the country to 'the greatest extent possi- 

 ble. If suhisfltntes can IJe used by you either in 

 kinds of lumber -or :in grades, it certainly, Is to 

 yxi^K intejres): .t^o .dp,, all you can to tjtis. end. that 

 yoii may secure your lumber supplies at the low- 

 est !6gicaiprrce" and at' the saihe time pei-pefn- 

 ate net only your indusitty Ijut that of the lum; 

 her- n^anufacturer. It-woyld b.e wise for vou to 

 keep liimber manufacturers advised on your 

 specific #eqtilr&tilt''tits ' and ti?n tliem" what yon 

 could use in gradesior In lesser sizes. thiekDesses 

 and widths than ypu do today. If, it. i^ logical 

 for you to use dimension stock cut to standard 



sizes it very likely will prove a matter of econ- 

 omy to you, because it means a saving of an 

 immense sum in freight alone. When dimension 

 sizes can be uniforrnly classified as to relative 

 proportions of use. It undeniably will be a very 

 important step toward forest economies' and In 

 assisting; in. .keeping the value of your material 

 down to the lowest possible figure^ , 



I find tliat a good many lumber buyers do not 

 make a careful enough analysis of grade and' 

 prices in their purchases."' I 'have found remanu- 

 tacturers of. liardwppd lumber who employed 

 firsts and seconds wlien they could have used 

 No. 1 common with economy, t^elr waste being 

 taken into consideration. 1 have found No. 1 

 common used where No. 2. common could have 

 been employed at a saving.. Grading systems 

 outline the percentage of clear lumber and the 

 lowest range of quality that each grade shall 

 contain, and the price is supposed to be regu-1 

 lated by; this percentage of usable material. For" 

 example : When you purchase firsts and seconds 

 at $50 a thousand and It shows a waste of 20 

 per cent, against a lower grade at $32 to $35 

 a thousand, which shows a 30 per cent waste, 

 it does not take much figuring to demonstrate 

 that the lower priced lumber is the better pur- 

 chase. '■ ■ '■ v . ■-:'..."< -.. '.:..' 



This grading matter Is a broad question owing 

 to the variety of uses and consequent "varying" 

 sizes of material employed In the numerous lines 

 of rcmanufacturing, but it is worth discussing 

 and analyzing and it is worthy the consideration 

 of botli remanutacturers and manufacturers of 

 hardwoods, for through a thorough understand-' 

 ing and cooperation they both can be benefited. 

 The manufacturer can learn to be more econom- 

 ical in his methods of production and the reman- 

 ufacturer can learn economy In his consumption; 



Right now a thorough canvass of the quantity ' 

 of stock of hardwood lumber on hand in manu- 

 facturers' hands shows that conditions are not in. 

 a very satisfactory shape from the producers'' 

 viewpoint. There is a -tremendous shortage of' 

 high grade hardwoods, and the dry-kilning of 

 green lumber is being: resorted to by a great 

 many manufacturers In order to take care of 

 the insistent demiind for seasoned high grade 

 stock. Lower grades that for two years past 

 have moved- slowly ace now being purchased- 

 with avidity. 



The cessation of manufacture on the part of 

 many producers during the last' financial depres- 

 sion-caused numei'oua small institutions to' go' 

 out of business,, -and: caused many of the largef' 

 ones to shut. down. for some time, as they found 

 they could not ,ma)ie any profit under existing 

 condltioni!. The present shortage is Inducing the 

 reopening of quite a number of mills that have 

 been closed down for more- than a year, but prob- 

 :ibiy never, again in the history of the hardwood 

 industry will there be any such number of 

 small sawmill plants as has been In the "past. 

 The fact is that all the most desirable timber 

 tii-ea remaining in the -comitTj; Is in the hands of 

 th&,lai;ge producers, .who, havfiipaid such-^.high 

 price for this stiimpage that it must needs be 

 handled out with a great deal of economy In 

 oi-der to show th'em'Si "profit: It is "andeniable 

 that we have passeiTiithei zenith of hardwood 

 lu'oductioji and from this time forward thei;e, 

 will b.e a gradual diminution in the total annual 

 yield. It is "doubtful if ever again in the history 

 of hardwood lumber production a m&tdrfal'ovftl^- 

 stock will exist. '■ l\vi■„.^-'^r• /!^;.";ii!ij'- '.;-: 



ifanufacturers, thereffite, s}i<mld ke^p -in .close, 

 touch with the wholesale consumer of. hard.woo^^,- 

 iu order to be able to best satisfy your wants 

 in both quSiStlry'of lumber and qiiality of grade's' 

 that will answer your purposes.-- ' "i •' ' _ 

 - Referring speciflcally ta.t^e Hapdwopd Manu- 

 facturers' Association pf thq Unitefl . Stjit,^s, it 1;^ 

 made up of about three .hundred and fifty lead- 

 ing hardwood producefs' • of tlfe " "Hnitea' StafesT 



