SELLING LUMBER 117 



cards are issued to the graders of each class of stock at each mill, 

 based upon the monthly report of the Association inspector. The 

 instructor of grades follows the work of the mill route inspectors 

 and confers with mill graders regarding their understanding and 

 interpretation of the Association rules. For this purpose local con- 

 ferences are held, attended by all of the graders of a certain mill 

 town or district. Conferences of the head graders of mills and 

 the Association inspectors are held by the chief inspector at least 

 every six months in different sections, in order that the most abso- 

 lute uniformity possible in the interpretation of the Association 

 specifications may be arrived at among all of the mills whose 

 grades are under the supervision of the Association. In order to 

 still further arrive at this result, the Association inspectors are trans- 

 ferred from one mill route to another about every six months, 

 which enables them to compare the grades as made in one district 

 with those of another. 



The Association receives an average of five claims per day, 

 making necessary the employment of from eight to ten claim in- 

 spectors for the inspection of stock rejected by purchasers. These 

 men, all of whom are transferred from mill route work and fre- 

 quently rotated with the mill route inspectors, cover practically the 

 entire country, an effort being made to handle all claims within 

 two weeks after the receipt of the papers. Up to the present time 

 inspections have been made upon Association grades, upon the re- 

 quests of any manufacturers or wholesalers, upon the payment of 

 $10 per day for the services of the inspector and his expenses. In- 

 spections for subscribers are made for the actual expense only. Be- 

 ginning July 1 the Association will make inspections upon stock 

 manufactured by subscriber mills only. Inspections will be made 

 upon the order of subscribers upon stock purchased by them from 

 other mills and sold upon Association grades. 



Nearly one hundred retail lumber dealers, representing the re- 

 tail trade of the United States, as guests of the Southern Pine Asso- 

 ciation, recently visited mills of subscribers and inspected the sys- 

 tem by which we seek to establish the greatest uniformity possible Retailers Urge 

 in the grading of Southern Yellow Pine. As a result, they em- 

 phatically urge all manufacturers of Southern Yellow Pine to sup- 

 port the Southern Pine Association and participate in its inspec- 

 tion service. The co-operation of the dealers has been requested 

 in revising and amplifying the standard specifications of the Asso- 



