384 



SELLING LUMBER 



Little Co- 

 Operation 

 from 

 Lumbermen 



Good Stock in 

 Wood Blocks 



Following 

 Through 

 an Order for 

 Wood Blocks 



of their inability to divorce themselves from personal interest, in 

 favor of the general good of the lumber trade. I will grant to a 

 large extent, this has been brought about by a lack of intimate 

 knowledge of the utility of creosoted wood blocks for floor pur- 

 poses, and mainly the object of this paper is to bring home to you 

 gentlemen the possibilities that this field offers you, as an outlet 

 for millions of feet of block stock, that today is being lost, &nd 

 concrete, mastic or other mineral compounds substituted. 



You are all aroused over the gains made by the cement manu- 

 facturers and freely admit that they are alive to their opportuni- 

 ties to promote the use of concrete, for any purpose that offers an 

 outlet for their product. On the other hand, you gentlemen of the 

 lumber trade cover the field thoroughly, follow the trade reports 

 of new buildings, looking to an increase in your sales, but with 

 very few exceptions do we ever find instances of live co-operation 

 by the lumber trade in the promotion of creosoted wood blocks 

 for interior service. 



A short story of the manufacture, promotion and sale of creo- 

 soted wood blocks may be of timely interest. Contrary to a gen- 

 erally accepted opinion among the laymen, the stock used in wood 

 block manufacture is of excellent quality. To begin with, we buy 

 3x8 and 4x8, 10 to 20 feet, square edge and sound, long leaf yellow 

 pine, free from bark, loose or rotten knots or any other defects 

 detrimental to its strength or durability. The annual rings in three 

 (3) inches measured radially from the center of the heart shall 

 average not less than eight to an inch; orders for this material 

 being placed with mills, on such lines of road that allow for deliv- 

 ery to our plants and give us the benefit of a manufacturing and 

 treating in transit arrangement. The method of handling the ma- 

 terial from the tree to the car through your mills is too well known 

 to warrant discussion. On receipt of the material at the treating 

 plant, it is removed from cars and stacked in open piles for rapid 

 seasoning, which period varies, according to the weather condition 

 and the degree of seasoning each specific order may make neces- 

 sary 



As an example, let us follow through an order for, say 1,000 

 square yards of 3-inch interior blocks for machine shop floor. The 

 order, when made out, will advise the plant to cut 3-inch blocks 

 from 4x8 dry stock and to treat by the Rueping process, using 

 English oil. Floor condition dry. With this information, our su- 



