A Di.tKXxiAi. Ur.coKi) lM 



testifies that tliis best was no mean aii't. Kec()<>niti()n ot" tiie al)ilitv 

 of the men who liave been assoeiated with tlie hil)()rat()rv l)v indus- 

 tries, by technical societies, by great industrial associations and l)y the 

 governments of this and other countries is a })art of the record of the 

 laboratory that in itself would require much space to tell. 



It has been told elsewhere that the need for the laboratory was 

 recognized for many years before its creation actually became a physi- 

 cal fact. Of interest are tlie first steps in forest products research, 

 first only a man or two with ideas, then the establishment of small 

 scattered units working on big problems witli l)ut meager e(iui])ment 

 and limited means usually nearest the point where the prol)lem ex- 

 isted. The realization grew upon some of these pioneers that problems 

 of nation-wide interest involving many industries were being most 

 inadequately provided for, and little progress being made toward far- 

 off goals. The evolution of a new approach toward the desired ends 

 marked the important step that is of chief interest in the story of the 

 Decennial. Mr. Howard F. Weiss saw the germ of the present hd)- 

 oratory conceived and descri])ed it in an address to members of the 

 laboratory several years ago. 



'Tt was in 1908 that I was brought face to face with the fool- 

 ishness of the whole situation. I felt like a very poor repre- 

 sentative of tlie greatest government on earth in thus trying to 

 demonstrate tlie art of preserving timber with a lack of funds for 

 effective organization. 



"It was in Washington that I met ^NIcGarvey Cline who was 

 having similar difficulties although engaged in a somewhat dif- 

 ferent line of work. ]Many an evening we spent discussing pos- 

 sible ways of putting into execution the plan of equipping a 

 suitable laboratory, with the lack of fimds always confronting 

 us. Our first ground gained was permission to spend $12.5 per 

 month for renting a building in which we might locate the labora- 

 tory. The job fell to me to find a building for this purpose. I 

 spent many weeks going from Chevy Chase to Great Falls and 

 all through (xeorgetown. looking u]) buildings with sufficient floor 

 space, and which could be rented at $12.5 per month. I Mas un- 

 al)le even to p-et an abandoned car l)arn for this amount, 



"Then Cline conceived a brilliant idea. It was to secure the 

 cooperation of some university. I did not think this was a very 



