Here'g \flhere Wertern Pine Selectg Go

By Robert O. Leonord Vestern Pine Associction

Like a radio soap opera, the perennial whodtrnit of the lumber industry-Who's Getting all the Western I'ine Setects ?-is now entering its frfth consecutive year of playing to capacity galleries.

And the audience is growing restive. They'd like to see the villain apprehended'and the hero and hiroine-in the person of the Western Pine industry and themselvesreunited and living happily forevermore.

But, sadly enough, the villain-and he's strictly mythical--continues on his merry, uncaptured way and the happy ending just nevcr arrives. From the industry and user standpoints, this is regrettable indeed and if either were writing the script the reunion would occur this aftcrnoon. Unhappily, the authors are a set of conditions over which no one has tlte slightest control and they, in fact, arc thc real villains of the piece.

Thc demand for pine selects is a historic feature of lumber markets, antedating the western phase of pine logging and running back to the days of Lief Iiricson when, in search oi clear pine timbers for his father's ships, that young man cruised the north Atlantic coast and set up camps as the New World's first citizen and pioneer industrialist.

The Pilgrims some years later unwittingly revived Lief's business when they cleared the land and built thei'r homes from the timber they felled. They, too, exercised selection and many of the homes they and their children and their children constructed stand toclay, staunch monuments to the durability and beauty of clear pine.

Timber in their day, rvas not an asset. It rvas, in fact, a hanclicap to the establishment of farurs and torvniites and so they used only what they regarded as the llest part of the log and burned the rest, or left it to rot. And that, lamentably, became by habit a standard of lumber's comparative use value.

From that day onward for generations, clear pine Selects were used for home and building constrttction-inside and out-and knotty lumber was ttsecl only for scrap and rough purposes.. It was an uneconomical practice, even then, to utilize only Selects rvhen sound-knotted pine lumber would do an equally effective job in many parts of the building, but economy of effort wasn't highly regarded and economy of resottrces was several hundred years away.

Today the habits of the years still persist in many places and, where for example a grade of C select Idaho white pine, ponderosa pine or sugar pine is apparently needecl, there's little thought given to the serviceability of a good upper Common.

So there go a number of selects'

And there are latter-day habits, too. During the war rvhen every lumber user depended entirely upon allotments for his supply, he very naturally took all the lumber he could get in the highest grade his shipper could and would supply. And that, just as naturally, led to use abuses in what devetoped to be astonishing proportions, particularly among government agencies.

Selects were cut up where cutting grades (shop lumber) previously had been eminently satisfactory. The habits of the war were not easily broken and today Selects are still being used where Shop will do the job.

A campaign of education by the Western Pine Association among government users is beginning to show resutts but the agencies are many irnd the personnel, much of it inexperienced, requires time to reach. And regulations are regulations.

The shortage of selects is, of course' not confined to pine lumber. The tremendous postwar growth of the plywood industry absortred vast amounts of top grade Douglas fir logs which brought about a shortage of fir selects. That, in turn, bolstered the already topheavy demand for pine.

The shortage of 'Western pine selects'stems, in part' from the habits of generations rvhich regarded any board with a knot in it as fit only to be left in the forest' The war, too, gave rise to improper lumber use when buyers, dependent upon allotments, took the highest grades available regardless of their ultimate purpose' The rapid growth of the plywood industry is also a factor, absorbing vast amounts of top grade Douglas fir logs which in turn has bolstered the already topheavy demand for pine.

And pine lumber manufacturers' meanwhile, were discovering a ripe market for package trim' Incidentally, there's a type of developn-rent which may progress' Growth in marketing awarer.ress by the modern lumber producer is bringing a realization that anything which rvill take him out of the very unpredictable commodity market and into the more stable fabricated field is, if it's sound, a good thing.

Thus, in the case of packaged trim, many selects are never seeing the inside of a box car in their original form' They are, instead, being run to door and window casings, furniture parts and nlany another finished article'

But the backbone of the select shortage situation is, simply, that business is very good and Western pine is very good lumber. What's more, the buyer and consumer are not unaware of the latter.

The uses for good Western pine selects are many and varied and 'ivhen times are good the demand is heavy from every segment of the huge consuming field-residences to toys and woodcarvings to windorvs. Inherently, the industry can produce only a fixed proportion of any single grade of lumber. Where, for example, General Motors can boost or cut its production schedule on any of its many makes to meet changing market conditions, the lumber industry must take and sell all the log contains. It cannot produce ouly commons when commons are sottght-or only selects rvhen the market is there.

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Throughotrt the Western pine region, the average amount of selects cut from .the log is just a fraction over l0 per cent and all of thc log must be sawn to prodttce them. To boost production on selects, ttre entire manufacturing operation, lly thc naturc of it, must be increascd irr cxactly thc sanre proportion. More logs must be sawn, With virtually every mill in tlte great l2-state area running at capacity, all thc selects which can be nranttfacturcd are lleing manufacturcd.

'.fhc fabricator knows that Westcrn pinc lttnrller is thc finest olrtainable f<lr rnost finish j<lbs and ntany other parts of grxrd residential an<l commercial buildings, and for a host of otlrer purposes, trxl. And the consumer, thr<lugh industry-sponsored education, also knows it. The Western I'ine Association has perhalls the llest record in the cntirc lumber industry for continuous, effective advertising t<; the rvood using .rnd specifying public. And it's from thc ultimate c()nsumer, ()r grass r<lots, level that deman<l springs-a deman<l u'hich is most <liflicult to srvitch antl acc<lunts, lly the \\'ily, at lcast in llart for the generally shalkru'er rlips in thc Western lline nrarket.

Itut if the successfrrl pronrotion is mtltttentarily emltarrassirrg to the in<lustry, thc in<lustry is doing sonrething to rclieve the situation, lly developing in the Association's research laboratory an effective knot sealer, it has cleared the rvay for wide use of sttund-knotted common Iurrrber in many places where paint failures from leaching knot resins once prevented it.

Today, rU)per commons run to siding and exterior trim can bc coated with Wl'-578 knot sealer prior to painting and provide the same beauty and durability once possible orrly rvith select pine. I\{oreover, that san.re resttlt can lle acc<lmplishecl ntorc ec<lnoutically.

And by greater attention to milling and seasoning of the associated species-Douglas fir, larch, rvhite fir, Engellr1at1 spruce, cedar and lodgepole pine-the industry can furnish good alternates, manufactured to the same high standards so long associated with the Western pines.

In their fabricating operations, too, .many Western pine operators are releasing selects to market and utilizing instead cut stock and narrow u'idths finger-joined and Lindermanized, then run to pattern, for their growing packaged trim business. As strong as u'l.role lumber, the glued stock is equally paintable and looks no different in finished application.

So the villain is not going scot-free and as education in proper use of lumber continues he may yet be collared. It lvill be a happy day for the real user of selects and, if it n.reans greater utilization of lorver grades, for the industrv. too.

Storm-Lcp Shingles

The Parafflne Companies, Inc., San Francisco, announces that its Storrn-Lap straight-edge asbestos-cement shingles are gaining steadily in popularity. Rot-proof and termite-proof, the material is permanent, and never needs to be painted or stained. Anchored down at all four corners, the shingles lie flat to the roof and are storm-proof.

Nil.DA Appointr Wilgon

Everett B. Wilson, of Washington, D.C., has been appointed public relations consultant to the National Retail l.unrber l)ealers Association. FIe will be responsible for the 1>lanning, coordinating, and development of pttblic relations programs and activities trnder the guiclance of the officers of the Association and the Comnrittee on Public llelations. Mr. Wilson has a record of thirty years ex1>erience in newspaper, sales training and pr()m()tion, and public relations rvork. I{e is also the auth<>r of trvo books, "Getting Things l)one in IJusiness," and "Getting Along with I'eople in Business."

Thecter-in-c-Box

A unicque new "theaterin-a-box" sales demonstration kit called ShingleVision has been develoPed by United States GyPsum Company to help lumber merchants roofing and siding sales representatives. Shingle Vision weighs less than'lO pounds, and is contained in a comPact carrying case smaller and lighter than a portable typewriter. Pictures are shown through a translucent screen by a 35 mm. slide projectorwhich packs away into the case. Actual color slides are included in the kit. It is not limited to selling roofing and siding. The projector will shorv any 35 mm. slides, color or black-and-white. Cornplete information is available through U.S.G. representatives or direct from the company, 300 W. Adams Street, Chi: cago 6, I1l.