Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1905-04-06
BREWER SA|D|T, TOO FIR LUMBER Finish
HOW SALE OF FIR FINISHING May
Be INCREASED.
The mississippi Valley Lumberman
Points Out the Way to Largely
Increase the Use of Fir for Finish.
ing Material. y No. ) Grade Should
be Established,

The possibility of increasing the sale
OF fir finishing lumber was expressed re.
Gently by a manufacturer of that wood
in the remark, "Pnt it in the shape
wanted by the retail dealers" That
means to manufacture and offer it for
sale in the grades the retailers have been
accustomed to in the woods they have
been handling; make grades that will
correspond in price and quality with
similar grades in other woods. This is
not a new proposition for the manufac.
turers OF west coast lumber and shingles
They have been through the same thing
with red cedar siding and red cedar
shingles. 1t was formerly the custom of
most Of the mills to put everything in
siding that was not good enough for the
No. 2 Clear, into No. g. While there
was much good stock in the lowest
grade, there was so much that was not
acceptable to the trade, that it was a
drug on the market. Then some OF the
m ore progressive of the manufacturers
commenced to improve the third grade
by culling out the worthless stuff, and
now it is recognized as valuable, and
there is demand for it. The shingle
proposition was much the same. Every.
thing in the six to two shingles that
would not go into the grade of Extras,
or its equivalent under another name,
was graded Standard, and the Standard
shingle became anything but standard
Then the manufacturers comm enced
making a grade next below Extras tnat
was not mixture of everything not
good enough for that grade, and they
found ready mark.t tor it.
At present the fir grading rules pro.
vide for three grades of clear fir finishing
lumber. A number of the mills are
manufacturing and selling No. grade,
but for the most part their efforts to get
it before the trade are made entirely and
exclusively through their travelling sales.
men. They do not quote it on their
price lists, and the trade does not know
they are making it, nor what 1t is. The
average dealer looks at the list and sees
nothing quoted between a No. Clear
finish and the grade of Common, and be
gets the idea that the grade No. is not
any too good because there is no inter-
mediary grade on which quotations are
made. In addition to that, his expert
ence with fir Common has taught him
that it is not the equal IN quality of the
corresponding grade in white pine to
which he has been accustomed. No. 2
Clear fir finishing lum ber is about the
equal Of G Select in white pine finish, in
the defects admissible, but it is better
than that grade OF pine because of it's
adaptability to stain. Pine treated with
stain looks dead when compared with
properly stained fir finish. The latter
has beautiful grain and takes almost
any stain with very satisfactory results.
In the matter of grade there is too wide
a spread between the No. Clear finish
and the grade of Common. The latter
is not particularly acceptable grade as
it is put out by the majority of the mills.
If the manufacturers would make and
quote grade of No. Clear fir finish
according to the rules already adopted,
they would undoubtedly sell larger
amount OF finish, and would relieve the
No. ! grade OF some of the demand that
goes to it as result OF the belief that
because No. 2 is the lowest quoted grade
of finish it is therefore a rather poor
grade. Yellow pine finish, with which
fir completes in many markets, is made
in three grades, First and Second Clear,
Third Clear, and Select. Why not do
the same with tir?-Mississip Valley
Lumberman.
(,,,araptoaI C,1ro tO,