ilIeet the New Champ rrr lir Two-By-[our ttghts

The fastest grorving this and the fastest growing that is always being exploited in these days of progress. So when a lumber item becomes far and away the fastest growing thing from a standpoint of building popularity, it is food for dfrcussion, and deserves specific report.

The lumber item that has developed more popularity than any other of any species during the past two years, is a very modest and unpretentious bit of Douglas Fir; the two-by-foureight. It has, in fact, completely outdistanced any other item of ordinary building material, so that there really isn't even any second in the race. In fact the two-by-four-eight has invaded much territory where Fir was never used before; and is sold in innumerable far-away lumber.yards where few if any other Fir items are carried. In addition to which its use has increased tremendously in all the territories where Douglas Fir has been in common use as a general building material.

What happened was that during the last two years the whole nation has gone to building tremendous numbers of small wooden dwellings in which eight foot ceilings are standaid, and in the construction of which two-by-four eights are the most natural of building materials. All the carpenter has to do is stick them in place and nail them there. They are straight. They make a flat wall. And a flat wall is imperative in tens of thousands of dwellings that have been built, and are beirig built, because the inside sheeting in most of these houses is wall board, and predominantly plaster board.

Now, a plasterboard wall has to be fastened to flat studs, or there will be trouble-soon. Most other boards also suffer from being nailed to a wall that is not perfectly flat, to studs

Coastql Plqningr MiU Starts

The new planing mill of the new Coastal Plywood Corporation has been completed and is in operation at Cloverdale, California. It will be used for custom milling, and remanufacturing. The new sawmill is well under way and will probably be in operation by early spring, manufacturing more than 150,000 feet daily.

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that are not perfectly straight. And Fir two-by-fours are uniformly straight, and walls built from them are uniformly flat' And, since these are days when poorly manufactured, poorly seasoned, and crooked lumber of many species has become all too common, mostly from small and inefficient mills, these straight two-by-four-eights have become more popular with, the carpenter, the contractor, and the builder himself, than words can tell.

THE CALIFORNIA LUMBER MERCHANT asked Hal V. Simpson, big chief of the West Coast Lumbermen's.Association about this two-by-four-eight situation. He suggeste?l that probably five per cent of all Douglas Fir is now made into that item. ,IIe says that since the war quite a number of medium size mills have come into existence in the Fir region that specialize in the making of this one item. Many other mills make them from the side cut of mills that specialize in sawing railroad ties. But a greater number come from the core of the big peeler logs that have been peeled for plywood. A great volume of two-by-four-eighls is produced in this way, probably 15 to 25 per cent of all of the entire product of that item. Mr. Simpson explains the tremendous demand for this item by pointing to the tens of thousands of one story, low cost, and ranch style homes that are being built throughout the land.

It is reported that in some territories for outside regular Fir consuming regions ,every lumber yard now carries two-by four-eights. Once the carpenters get to use them, they demand them. Thus a once lowly lumber item has quickly become the national champ.

Lqth qnd Plqster Men To Meet

The 1949 annual convention of the California and Plastering Association will be held in San February 24, 25, and, ?$ next, according to the announcement of Executive Manager George J. Mannschreck. The headquarters will be the U. S. Grant Hotel.