That the present hardwood rules are wholly inadequate 

 and wasteful in the extreme, is an opinion that is shared by 

 competent engineers and experts who have had occasion to 

 study the problem. This seems clear from a passage which 

 I encountered only a few days ago in a pamphlet on "Wood 

 Waste Problems" issued by the Forest Products Laboratory 

 at Madison, Wisconsin, and written by Arthur T. Upson. 

 This passage reads as follows: 



"These rules are in most instances the outgrowth of 

 early conditions when the use of lumber was not re- 

 fined as it is today. The result is that the lumber grades 

 not only do not fully meet the requirements of use in 

 most cases, but they are so complex and misleading that 

 the average consumer has no assurance that he is get- 

 ting material best suited for his needs." 



We must not delude ourselves in the belief that waste 

 and cost in the utilization of our product is no concern of 

 ours. I am sure that every thinking man realizes that every 

 dollar's worth of unnecessary waste or cost in utilization 

 is a direct tax on this industry and never was it so impor- 

 tant as now that such unnecessary waste and cost be elimi- 

 nated. The competition from now on, with metals, fiber 

 products and other wood substitutes will be extremely keen 

 and we can not carry the handicap of excessive cost of utili- 

 zation and successfully meet this competition. 



Now the question arises, how are we to construct such 

 a set of rules as will enable our product to better meet the 

 needs of the consumer and minimize waste and cost utiliza- 

 tion ? Broadly speaking, every grade of lumber that is made 

 should have for its purpose the meeting of some particular 

 manufacturing need as closely as it is possible and in con- 

 formity with the timber that is available and economical 

 production practices. The question then arises, how is this 

 to be done? 



I have for several years served as Chairman of the In- 

 spection Rules Committee of the American Hardwood Man- 

 ufacturers' Association and I yield to no man in the know- 

 ledge of inspection rules, either in their written specifica- 

 tions or in their actual application, nor in the practical uses 

 to which our product is put, but I do not mind admitting to 



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