SELLING LUMBER 



199 



The Merits of Wood and Its 

 Limitations 



By E. A. Sterling * 



Manager, Trade Extension Department 



National Lumber Manufacturers' Association 



Chicago, 111. 



Wood has many merits which were discovered in the early days 

 of civilization. These remain unchanged because the .material 

 itself is the same. The only great difference is in the manner in 

 which wood is used. Customs and manner of living have changed, 

 bringing similar changes in the uses of wood, but not influencing its 

 merits. 



Wood first has the merit of being available nearly everywhere. 

 This was one of the reasons it became the almost universal ma- 

 terial for the shelter and protection of mankind. The distribution 

 of trees has determined the fate of empires. Where forests have 

 been cut and destroyed, and the land has become barren and un- 

 productive, people have had to move elsewhere. Regions which were 

 once thickly populated are now almost abandoned because the trees, 

 and with them the water, the soil and the building material, have 

 gone. 



Today railroad and other transportation facilities tend to pre- 

 vent such close utilization of the immediately available wood. It can 

 now be shipped from places where it grows to regions where it is 

 used. In our own country the treeless West does not suffer especi- 

 ally because few trees grow, since lumber is shipped in from other 

 regions. The same merits create a demand for wood whether it is 

 used where it grows or elsewhere. 



Another merit which always has and always will make people 

 want to use wood, is that it is easily cut and shipped. Stone is 

 hard to make into blocks, is heavy to carry, and for simple structures 

 is not so convenient to use. Brick and the many other products 

 made of clay, are serviceable and have merit, but they are more diffi- 

 cult to make and use than wood. Trees can be cut down even with 

 primitive tools. They can be fashioned into implements, weapons 

 and many other forms. The merits of workability applies especially 

 to the individual worker or builder who wishes material which he 



Treeless 

 Regions 

 Saved by 

 Railroads. 



Wood's 

 Workability 

 Appeals to 

 the Individ- 

 ual User. 



