N.t.M.A. VIEWPOINT

(Continued, lrorn Page 6)

Approval of the new lumber sizes was voted by the ALS Committee at its May, 1963 meeting. Between now and the end of 1963, the U. S. Department of Commerce will decide on approving the new size standards. Its decision will rely heavily on the results of a poll of its 'oacceptor list"-lumber producers, retailerg wholesalers, architects, contractors, builders and others who manufacture distribute, use or work with wood.

When accepted by the Commerce Department, the new sizes for softwood lumber will be applicable everywhere in the United States.

New, understandable and reliable lumber size standards have been requested and endorsed by major wood consumers for many years-and for a variety of reasons.

Many industry customers are confused by the present size system. Lumber with a moisture content of 30 per cent or more (unseasoned), and lumber with a moisture content of 19 per cent or less (seasoned), are presently surfaced to the same dimensions at the mill. Consequently, as unseasoned lumber shrinks in transit or shortly after being nailed in place, the two end up at difierent sizes by the time they see service as studs, joists, rafters and other structural members.

The new size system will require seasoned and unseasoned lumber to be surfaced, at the mill, to slightly difierent sizes

(Continueil on Page 9l)

r.A.s.c. VIEWPOINI

(Continued lrom Page 6) tailers and wholesalers, as well as problems of the producer.

We further insist that unseasoned lumber, historically used in the construction of home and apartment buiding in California, is put in serious jeopardy by an unwarranted contention on the part of the NLMA in favor of Kiln Dried Lumber. The proponents of this scheme claim to be motivated by the desire to enhance the use of lumber. We see no way whereby confusion in the market place and a discrediting of a proven product can accomplish that goal. Two, and even three sizes for the same nominal dimension is NOT simplification.

Southern California does not employ oofactory built" home construction practices. Where such practices are employed the quantity of lumber consumed declines. California's home building is a strong, virile, expanding market for lumber. Irresponsible tinkering with present marketing practices could readily disrupt and destroy our sources of supply, our building methods, our marketing practices and our relationships with local building codes and officials.

We see in the ALS Committee o'Standardization" resolution a calculated move by a few large producers to capture a larger share of the national lumber market-and we fear for our survival if our rnany small mill sources are forced out of business.

(Cantinued, on Page 90)

w.t.M.A. VIEWPOINT

(Continued lrom Page 6) est men in government agree, that the American Lumber Standards Committee as it is now constituted does not represent all echelons of our industry. Consequently, Secretary of Commerce Hodges should exercise his legal and administrative right to disband the present committee and appoint a new one, immediately, to provide a forum for all segments of the wood using industry.

'oWhen that is done, then a fresh look should be taken at present standards; new research teams should evaluate, on a wholly objectioe plnne,how strong, durable, transportable, and usable our'Western soltwood products are now as contrasted with how they might be manufactured and used better after various changes in size or moisture content,

"Our W.L.M.A. members have begun writing to their Congressmen and to Secretary Hodges in protest over the arbitrary and unpublicized way in which A.L.S. changes have been pushed by a small but determined group in the W'est. This is a matter which must be discussed openly, with conclusions reached openly, and by a representative body. We do not believe that the Administration or the Pacific Northwestos delegation to Congress will 'buy' this 'package' when they know the story behind its origin. We aim to help them unravel that story, then set about to rectify the inequities it could cause . irreparable inequities if the present proposal ever becomes the industry standard."

NEED MORE STOCK. . FAST?

Hoppy Horry Hippo ARI yourso-corMqn .o#lzt3)MA

WESTERN LUTABER COfiTPANY

r.A.5.C.

(Continued, lrom Page 89)

California builds excellent homes for all classes of home buyers. It uses unseasoned lumber and employs many thousands of men. This procedure can be destroyed by a narrowly directed move toward inferior o'factory built" homes whose component parts include less t'lumber" and more of the products produced by only a few large producers. The simple matter of boards is an excellent case in point. Present span tables permit use of 3/n" resawn boards made from 2 x 6 Utility. These boards cannot be produced from the proposed new size of lYz" dimension lumber. What then is the rnill to do with the 2 x 6 Utilitv it produces? California's BOARD markei exceeds 300 million board feet annually. The proponents of the ALS Committee proposal include those manufacturers that produce plywood. which would have to be used instead of boards.

Mr. Secretary, we have fought against a biased ALS Committee. Your office is our final hope for equality and consideration. W'e sincerely hope you will see fit to: l. Reject the ALS Committee recommendation.

2. Dissolve the present ALS Committee.

3. Appoint a more representative Committee to insure equitable representation for the entire Industry.

4. Direct restudy of the "Standardiza. tion" question by the new Committee.

'We cannot ask all this of you, and then stand aside. We are ready and willing to join in any effort to reconcile industry difierences. Progress in our Industry is our working goal and we are prepared to devote time and effort thereto.

Sincerely,

Paul R. Ilollenbeck Exec. Vice President, Lumber Association of Southern California

Corlow Releqses Cotolog

The Carlow Company has announced release of their newest catalog, covering Morgan woodwork products.

This latest in a series of Carlow catalogs is an attractive, multi-colored five-part manual featuring Morgan products. Included are sections on entrances, mantles, stairs, stairparts and fire doors.

The extensive ring-bound volume is of standard catalog size, colorfully and carefully prepared, gives a complete picture of the Morgan line, with specifications and section plans for every listing, and a price sheet at the end of each section for quick reference. Thoughtfully included also is the first fire door manual in the Southern California area.

Carlow Company. with warehouses in Los l\ngeles, Van Nuys, Colton, Pacoima a1d E! Monte, has a sufficient supply of these books on hand for any deaiei or architect who would like one.

N.LM.A. VIEWPOINT

(Continueil lrorn Page 89) so that each will be-as nearly as possible--the same size in service.

To further dispel the confusion, the proposed new size standards require lumber, surfaced at a moisture content hisher than 19 per cent, to be identified-inlayman's language-as to size and quality. it *itt be assumed that any lumber, not properly designated as dry, was surfaced at the unseasoned condition.

Minimum dressed sizes for nominal land 2.inch unseasoned, lumber are not stipulated in the proposed new standard. Instead, they are to be determined on the basis of the shrinkage which occurs in seasoning to the 15 per cent average mois. ture condition.

Lack of uniformity in sizes has, in the opinion of most construction authorities, put lumber at a serious disadvantaee in the building industry.

How Consumers Will Benefit

l. Standard lumber sizes. based on a specified moisture content will provide a better and more reliable product. Seasoned and unseasoned lumber sizes. related to this specific base, means guaranteed sizes under a clear-cut and enforceable standard which will provide predictable in-service dimensions for all light-framing lumber.

2. With the ready identification for all lumber dressed to standard size after seasoning, the consumer will know what he is buying and using.

3. New dimensions for dry and unseasoned lumber will result in precisely engineered dimension lumber, having efficient and easily understood structural values.

4. Engineering calculations, for using the new sizes, will reflect the increased strength and stiffness, due to seasoning, which permit higher stresses for the lumber and its fastenings.

5. The proposed size standard will stimulate the output of grade-marked lumber, making it more truly descriptive of quality, and giving the consumer a product of known performance.

The designer can plan with precision and close tolerances demanded by today's modular units for component construction.

The specifier, using the new standards, can be specific with the assurance that lumber will be as specified.

The builder will know and understand exactly what he orders and can rely on getting it.

The homeowner will benefit from the purchase of a better home, constructed of lumber of recognized quality, performance and lower cost.

The building code official will have a clearer, faster and more reliable means of identifying the grade, specieg size and quality of light-framing lumber. His inspections will be simplified, and his code enforcement strengthened.

The lumber manufacturer and the distributor will naturally benefit from a greatly improved public conception o{ lumber as a modern building material, which, finally understood, can be bought and used with confidence . and economy.

The new sizes will result in a significant savings in shipping charges-another benefit to be shared with the consumer.

A new 'oengineered" size, for sheathing and paneling boards, will cut shipping costs and make these items easier to handle and install.

The beneficial new lumber size standards are in the proposal stage only. They can become official only by convincing the U. S. Department of Commerce that they are wanted by an overwhelming majority of consumers, specifiers, producers and dis" tributors of lumber.

We urge you to ilo this by writing n: U. S. Department of Commerce, Commodity Standards Division, Washington 25. D. C.

Reduclion in lnsect Losses

A single selective harvest of the trees most susceptible to bark-beetle attack can reduce insect-caused damage in ponderosa pine forests for 22 years and may be efiective in reducing losses for 50 years, according to a new research report from the U.S. Forest Service experiment station in Berkeley.

The report, by station entomologists Boyd E. Wickman and Charles B. Eaton, is Technical Paper Number 66, "The effects of Sanitation-Salvage Cutting on InsectCaused Pine Mortality at Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest, 1938-59."

'oThe report of these studies is particularly timely during this epidemic year of bark-beetle losses in California, "Dr. Keith Arnold, station director, said in announcing the report. o'The authors show not only that a method of timber cutting based on research can reduce losses substantially in normal years but also that the benefits will carry through epidemic years.'n

Wickman and Eaton summarize results of a study in which individual trees were selected for logging on the basis of their vigor-leaf color, branch form, and other signs of tree health. The idea being testpd was that since bark beetles prefer to attack weekened trees, logging susceptible trees before beetles got to them would keep bark beetles from increasing. This method, now widely practiced in ponderosa pine forests, is known as sanitation-salvage logging.

On some parts of the experimental forest, in Lassen County, the most susceptible trees were harvested. On other parts, no cutting was done. Over the 22-year period, beetles killed four times as much timber in the uncut stand as in the selectively logged stands.

The reduction in insect losses was largest during the third year after sanitation-salvage logging, when tree mortality dropped 94 percent below that in uncut areas. There. after the effects of cutting declined, but by the twenty-second year insect-caused losses in logged stands were only 4,0 percent oI those in uncut areas. Even during bark beetle epidemics, the .beetles caused less damage on logged areas. Wickman and Eaton estimate from data given in the report that it will take about 50 years after time of logging for tree killing to reach the same levels in cut and uncut timber.

Copies of the reports are available from Pacific Southwest Forest and Ranse Experiment Station, P.O. Box 245, Berk--eley l, California.

Del Mor Ronch Sold for Second-Home Colony

Oceanic Properties Inc., land development subsidiary of Castle & Cooke Inc. of of Honoluluo announced it is purchasing the 5000-acre Del Mar Ranch on the Sonoma county coast about 118 miles northwest of San Francisco for about $2.7 million.

Oceanic intends to start development of the ranch early next year as a high-quality, "second-home" colony, president Frederick Simpich Jr. said. Further details will be announced later when planning has been completed.

The property is being purchased from Edward, Elmer and Ernest Ohlson and the estate of the late Chester Ohlson, its brother owners for the past 22 years.

Other blocks of land bordering the Ohl. son property are also for sale at present. They are expected to be sold quickly.

Oceanic also announced it has completed arrangements with Metropolitan Realty Corp. and William R. Staats & Co. for joint construction of a $4.5 million medical office building in Los Angeles, adjoini.g the Good Samaritan Hospital on Wilshire boulevard.