Possibilities for Closer Utilization hy 
species of wood and the grades best suited for the purpose are 
matters which, if poorly decided, may make all the difference 
between success and failure. As depletion of the forests 
advances, changes in specifications must be made to conform 
with market conditions and still retain needful qualities in the 
lumber. With poor handling and piling much injury or 
deterioration may take place. 
The purchases should be of thickness which best suit the 
process, or permit resawing the exact sizes, perhaps without 
veplaning. better sawing, better planing, the restriction of 
planing and turning operations to the minimum, the use of 
built-up stock, all offer avenues for saving which in large estab- 
lishments may amount to many thousands of dollars a year. 
Finally comes careful discrimination as to the most advan- 
tageous and useful disposal of the waste itself. These highly 
technical matters warrant the enlistment of the best grade of 
technical overhead. Other things being equal, the margins of 
profit to be made through improved utilization will in years 
to come be a deciding factor in the success or failure of many 
shops. Following the peak in 1920 the price of lumber has 
already fallen to a reassuring extent, but the logic of past 
events indicates that never again will the old low levels be 
known in America. In other words, the time has come when 
the practice of scientific economy is not only possible but is an 
essential to continued business prosperity. Better utilization 
has become necessary not only in the shops but throughout the 
range of industries which use wood in any form. 
In the building trade, in 1919, where poor supervision 
existed, conscienceless carpenters were known purposely to 
cut boards and dimension stuff to create shorts, which they were 
allowed to take home for fuel. Such practices and the atti- 
tude toward the job which they engender are sufficient to 
account for a high percentage of waste. 
The Assistant Director of the Forest Products Laboratory 
recently asserted that it would be possible to save ten billion 
feet of timber annually, if the American people would put in 
general practice what is already known relative to the closer 
