32 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



demand of the box and crate makers can no longer be depended 

 upon. A cursory examination of nearly any box is prima facie evi- 

 dence that the lumber originally sold for box making contains a 

 large proportion of merchantable material. Even if the quantity 

 ■which is suitable to be worked into furniture, flooring, or a variety 

 of other uses, is not more than forty per cent it would seem logical 

 that it should be kiln-dried and cut into usable lengths at points of 

 production, and the net product shipped to remanufacturers. 



The average sawmill man fights shy of dimension manufacture and 

 has not made a success of the business. He insists that he has tried 

 it. He says the buyer will not pay a just price for it. These very 

 sawmill men. it is true, h.ave made tentative efforts to produce dimen- 

 sion stock from mill refuse, slabs, and stick-rotted lumber, but very 

 few of them have ever energetically engaged in solving the dimension 

 problem. 



It is tru? that the dimension business is a separate and distinct 

 line of trade, but there Is no reason why large plants should not be 

 located where coarse lumber can be conveniently and economically 

 grouped, the stock kiln-dried and a trade established for a variety 

 of dimension sizes which would make the enterprises extremely 

 profitable. The Record insists 

 that the cutting of dimension 

 stock is a good business if log- 

 ically carried out. 



"The Hub of the Hard- 

 wood World" 



With this issue of the H.iRD- 

 wooD Record is combined a spe- 

 cial exploitation of Memphis and 

 the region of which it is the 

 commercial center. The story, 

 while far from complete, gives 

 considerable detail of the com- 

 mercial advantages of this great 

 and rapidly growing metropolis 

 of Tennessee, tells of its impor- 

 tant timber and agricultural re- 

 sources, its favorable and cheap 

 shipping facilities, of its splen- 

 did business buildings, of its 

 model sawmills and various other 

 manufacturing industries. 



An attempt is being made to 

 place this issue in the hands of 

 every wholesale buyer of hard- 

 woods in the United States, that all may know of the surpassing 

 advantages of Memphis as the chief hardwood producing market of 

 the country, "the hub of the hardwood world." 



Involved in this story are many pictures of men anj institutions 

 that have made and are making Memphis and its surrounding terri- 

 tory commercially and economically great. The article is worthy the 

 perusal of every man interested in the distribution and consumption 

 of hardwood lumber. 



ESSE QUAM VIDERI 



The Money Market 



The Chicago Tribune, an authority on financial affairs, says that 

 ease in bank sentiments continues to develop, and now there is a 

 general belief in New York as well as in the West, that the coming 

 autumn wUl not witness any special money stringency. Since the 

 western bankers themselves set forth their position and asserted their 

 ability to handle in the usual way the autumn requirements, the rest 

 of the country has come to believe that the western bankers were the 

 best judges of the situation in their several communities. 



Following this has come an early movement in wheat, which, with 

 the grain bills presented at Chicago banks, has increased the balances 

 of western institutions. Xext it appears that not only is there a 

 free movement of wheat, but, according to the packing interests, there 

 is now an early run of cattle and sheep from western ranges. Range 

 cattle and sheep wlaieh ordinarily come to the market about August 

 25 began to reach the Omaha yards as early as August 5, nearly 

 three weeks earlier than usual. This movement has helped the position 

 of the banks in the reserve centers.. There is a material demonstra- 

 tion of the fact that money is moving freely and its position is 

 working easier. New York banking sentiment has improved to the 



extent that much more cheerful- 

 ness obtains in the securities mar- 

 ket. With this turn for the bet- 

 ter there may be expected to fol- 

 low some improvement in busi- 

 ness with a re-sult of at least a 

 temporary expansion. 



TO BE RATHER THAN TO 

 SEEM, TO RING TRUE AT 

 ALL TIMES, TO BE TAKEN 

 AT MY FACE VALUE WHAT- 

 EVER THAT MAY BE, TO DE- 

 CEIVE NO ONE LEAST OF ALL 

 MYSELF, THIS IS THE KIND OF 

 HONESTY THAT IS INDEED, 

 THE BEST POLICY. 



— Edtvin D. Crcoer. 



Situation in Wisconsin Hardwoods 



Reports from .«ixty-four members of the Northern Hemlock and 

 Hardwood Manufacturers' Association, according to a circular from 

 Secretary Kellogg, show that 15,.571,000 feet of hardwoods were manu- 

 factured during the month of July, and that the shipments amounted 

 to 14,198,000 feet. The hardwood cut for the first seven months in 

 the year aggregated 125,610,000 feet, while the shipments were 71,- 

 560,000 feet. The hardwood cut during July was only about two- 

 thirds of the June cut. The hardwood shipments in July were prac- 

 tically the same as the cut and one-fifth greater than in June. This 

 showing indicates a paucity of all varieties of hardwoods in first 

 hands in the Wisconsin district. 



Common Sense 

 in Lumber Seasoning 



The article in the last issue 

 of Hardwood Record entitled 

 ' ' Common Sense as Applied to 

 the Seasoning of Lumber ' ' has 

 attracted more attention among 

 lumber manufacturers than any 

 recent article which has appeared 

 in this publication. 



In this issue is printed a num- 

 ber of letters from leading 

 manufacturers of dry-kilns, 

 which should prove very inter- 

 esting in enabling those contem- 

 plating improvements- in their 

 drying process to carefully study 

 and analyze the advantages that 

 may be obtained by preparing lumber for prompt and logical drying. 

 From a long study of the air and kiln drying of lumber, and 

 experiments covering more than a dozen years, the editor of the 

 Record is a thorough believer in the value of treating lumber with 

 steam under small pressure for a limited time as a preliminary process 

 to drying. 



The Record contends that both experiments and practical demon- 

 stration have given evidence beyond peradventure that wood thus 

 treated dries more quickly and in a more satisfactory way either in 

 the air or in the dry-kiln, and that an economy of time of 50 per cent 

 or more is effected ; 



That the process eliminates all future staining and the work of 

 borers; 



That the color of the wood is uniformly distributed and rendered 

 approximately alike ; 



That warping, twisting and buckling are practically eliminated; 

 That splitting and checking are minimized; 



That the cost of the treatment is infinitesimal as compared with its 

 value as an aid to lumber seasoning processes. 



In this connection it is well to state that there is no doubt of an 

 essential value in superficial steaming of lumber without pressure, as 

 practiced in the process of several of the dry-kiln manufacturers, and 



