shipped, otherwise there is danger of worm damage, and a heavy claim or even total rejection is possible. Not only in logs, however, but also in lumber are worms frequently found and, apart from the damage to the particular stock itself, British importers fear the possibility of the pests spreading to other stock in the yard and for that reason are likely to take drastic action, even to the extent of refusing to take delivery if their presence is discovered on the dock. It is therefore essential that a careful watch be kept for worms and under no circumstances should stock having the slightest indication of their presence be shipped.

USE OF PLYWOOD

The use of plywood by the automobile industry is steadily growing. At the present time its chief uses are for interior panels and seats in omnibuses and tops of light commercial delivery vans. North European birch is principally used and to a small extent Japanese and Chinese ash, but a patent plywood having a metal face and back and a wood core is also being used.

FUTURE OUTLOOK

Not only for passenger cars but also for trucks, chars-à-bancs, and omnibuses is the outlook for increased production favorable and with it a greater demand for American ash may be anticipated. One of the noticeable features of British transport to-day is the extent to which chars-à-bancs and omnibuses are being used. Not only are they used for pleasure purposes, but in many instances they are directly competing with the railroads. Regular daily services are run between London and Bristol, Portsmouth and Brighton, and Liverpool and Glasgow, to give but a few illustrations, and to such an extent is their competition being felt that the principal railroad groups are now seeking permission to run motor-vehicle traffic parallel to their own roads a privilege now denied them. Interurban omnibuses cover many sections of Great Britain and almost daily their services are spreading out in new directions. Again, the use of motor trucks is steadily increasing and heavy as well as light freight is now being delivered within a wide radius, and the delays of loading and unloading necessary in railroad traffic are thus avoided and much time is saved.

All these factors indicate that, apart from the export trade, the outlook for a steady increase in the production of motor vehicles is favorable, and as no wood has been found by the British manufacturers that compares with ash for framework, an increased demand from the United States for supplies can reasonably be anticipated. Competitors of the United States, however, fully appreciate the importance of this industry and are not overlooking any opportunity to secure a greater share of its lumber requirements. Ash from Poland is well liked, its freedom from worms making it particularly desirable, and exporters in that country are making great efforts to increase their business. The "Buy Empire timber" campaign is also drawing attention to native ash, and many consumers are now paying more attention than formerly to this variety.

However, the United States will doubtless continue to supply the bulk of the ash requirements of the British motor-vehicle industry

but more careful attention to texture and the avoidance of shipping wormy stock would not only make the business more profitable to the exporter but would prevent many claims-such causes of irritation and such disturbers of amicable business relations.

MILLWORK

The manufacture of window sash and frames, molding, interior trim and finish, doors, and staircases, or joinery, as it is called, is an important branch of the British lumber trade and gives employment to a large number of persons. There are many hundreds of these factories spread over the country, ranging from those having few employees and using little machinery (and much of that of primitive design), to first-class ones with a large number of employees, equipped throughout with up-to-date machinery.

The great activity in house building during the past few years has been a powerful stimulus to the millwork industry, which has enjoyed a period of prosperity unknown in pre-war days.

PRINCIPAL WOODS USED

Pine (redwood) from the White Sea and to a lesser extent from the Leningrad districts of Russia, the Gefle, Soderhamn, Hudiksvall, and Sundsvall districts of Sweden, and Douglas fir from the United States and British Columbia are the principal species used for millwork. The Russian wood, although more expensive, is preferred to the other species on account of its texture, evenness of grain, and the smooth flat finish that can be obtained, and as long as supplies are available it will furnish the bulk of the lumber used for high-class millwork in Great Britain. Douglas fir is the second choice for high-class work, its freedom from knots and defects, also the large sizes in which it can readily be obtained (little north European lumber being over 3 by 11 inches) being strong factors in its favor. Its use, however, will always be governed by the availability of Russian supplies, it being too expensive for ordinary purposes, but should imports from that country for any reason be curtailed, the demand for Douglas fir in the No. 2 clear and better grade would undoubtedly increase.

Swedish pine from the districts mentioned above is used exclusively for the millwork and interior trim used in the ordinary type of house and is much less expensive than either the Russian wood or Douglas fir. None of the pine grown in the other north or eastern European countries is suitable for millwork; the wood being in most cases coarse-grained and knotty it is used for building, box, and casemaking purposes. The pine from the Finnish part of the Province of Karelia, however, is an exception. The wood from this Province, which lies partly in Finland and partly in Russia, is of a superior texture to pine from other districts of Finland and is readily accepted for remanufacturing.

Although pine lumber from the north European districts mentioned contains a considerable number of knots, these are small and tight and, as most of the interior woodwork in British dwelling houses is painted, they are not considered a serious defect. Of more importance in British eyes is the ability of a wood to take a perfectly smooth, flat finish, and this quality is possessed to a high degree by the pine

grown in the Russian, Swedish, and Finnish districts mentioned above.

In addition to these, small quantities of north European spruce, or "whitewood" as it is called, are used.

Hardwood interior trim is seldom seen in Great Britain except in the homes of the wealthy and the quantity used for this purpose is of little importance to the lumber industry. Even where softwood is used, however, for general interior purposes, the newels and balustrade rails are usually of mahogany, and occasionally oak, in dimensions of 3 by 3 to 8 by 8 inches square, 8 to 16 feet long. The latter species is also used for window frames and sills to some extent, the American northern variety being preferred.

PURCHASE OF SUPPLIES

Most manufacturers of millwork lumber are also importers and purchase their requirements through agents, in this manner avoiding the importers' profit. While the lumber is seasoned before being shipped, it is seldom dry enough to be used on arrival and as few factories have kiln-drying facilities it is frequently held for as long as a year before use. As an outlet for undesirable sizes, British millwork factories are a valuable asset to the north European mills and at the end of the shipping season large accumulations of sizes in little demand are sold to Great Britain at, in many cases, bargain prices to prevent their being carried over to the next season.

TRADE ORGANIZATION

The millwork industry is well organized and has its own organization called the English Joinery Manufacturers' Association, with headquarters in Nottingham, to protect the interests of its members.

EQUIPMENT OF MILLS

The equipment of British millwork factories varies considerably both in number and kind of machines employed. There are still many hundreds employing few workers and using out-of-date equipment but the tendency during the past few years has been toward the concentration of this industry in the hands of large manufacturers with facilities for turning out any sort of work at short notice. Many of these plants have thoroughly up-to-date machinery, either modeled on American patterns or else imported from that country. The success of these methods has been such that, with the exception of standard doors and a small quantity of molding from Sweden, foreign-made millwork has practically ceased to be a factor in Great Britian and even the sales of imported molding have been severely curtailed.

In addition to the pendulum (swing) saw used to crosscut the rough lumber into stock lengths which is generally located just outside the mill proper, an average modern millwork factory will contain the following equipment, the number of machines naturally varying with the size of the plant.

Push saw bench.-As soon as the lumber, which has previously been cut to the required stock lengths, enters the mill proper, it passes to the push saw bench. This machine, generally fitted with a rising and falling table, consists of an ordinary circular plate saw, a 14 or

16 gauge being most common, although occasionally an 18 gauge may be used. On this machine the stock is resawn to the rough sizes required. Planer. The lumber then passes to the planing machine. In some of the smaller factories a combined planer and surfacer is used, but in the more up-to-date ones two separate machines are used, i. e., a hand-feed surfacer and the ordinary roller-feed single planer. It might be added that it is now compulsory in Great Britian for combined surfacing machines to be fitted with a circular safety cutter head, but in the majority of the roller-feed single surfacers the British machinery manufacturers still supply a square cutter block.

Molder or shaper. After the planing operation the stock moves to the shaper or spindle molder, as it is called, or if in a large shop to the four cutters for molding. These machines in the average factory run at lower speeds than their American counterparts. In passing, it might be said that, owing to the individual methods and ideas of the average British architect, who insists on original patterns, it is not possible to get the production runs of similar plants in the United States.

Tenoning and mortising machines.-After the stock has been molded or shaped it passes to the tenoning machine, which generally is of the single-end type, somewhat similar to the average American machine of its kind although lacking the high-speed fitments generally embodied in the American tool.

If the stock has to be mortised it will go to a combined chain-andchisel mortising machine, which is a tool like the combined planer peculiar to the British shops.

Sanding machines.-In some shops where sanding is done the material will now pass to the sanding machine, which may be of any one the following varieties: Hand-block belt sander, horizontal belt sander, or a column belt sander. In some of the large factories one may even find a roll-feed drum sander but these are not generally understood or appreciated at their true worth in the United Kingdom. However, a more lively interest is now being stimulated through the efforts of the representatives of American machinery houses.

The plant described may be considered as fairly representative, but there are many hundreds of small millwork factories which are without any four-cutters or sanding machine equipment. These rely on the shaper for their molding work and use cheap hand labor for sanding.

MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS

Window sash and frames.-The manufacture of window sash and frames is the most important branch of the British millwork industry. It might be thought that, in view of the great number of houses of a similar size that have been erected with the aid of the Government and municipal subsidies since the armistice, patterns and sizes of window sash and frames would have been standardized, but such is not the case. Uniformity in appearance is noticeable in the long rows of unsightly working-class dwellings built during the Victorian era, common in the industrial sections of Great Britain, and that is precisely what architects now strive to avoid and, as a consequence, designs and sizes are constantly changing and a great variety are used for the different types of dwellings that have been and still are being erected.