Strable Hardwood Co.

DTSTRTBUTORS

511-545 Fir3t Street, Oakland, Calif.

Editorial in THE KANSAS CITY STAR, Kansx City, Mo., April B', 1924.

A Business Romance

The Forty Years Ago column this morning announces the incorp^oration at Je_fferson- City, April 2, 1884, of ihe Long-Bell Lumber C-omg1n_v. _The capitaliiation of the niw company was $300,000, of which all but two shares were owned bv Mr. -R. A. Loni of Columb_us, Kas., and Mr. Victor Bell of Kansas City. This was-the relatively modest beginning-of what.now is perhips the greatest slngle Duslness operated tn tsansas Lrty.

, The prqsent capitalization of the Long-Bell company is 30 million dollars. The gross sales in 1923 were 4ll rr,illion dbllars, The wonderful development of this business is a tribute to the genius .of .Mr. -Long. Mr. Bell died many years ago, long before the activities ot the cornpany had reached extraordinary proportions. The growt-h of the concern was not alone in the exparisioir of the business of cutting timber, making and selling lumSer; it was in large measure due to Mr. Long's foresight in acquiring, far in advance of immecliate needs, largC tracts oT timber, which-'appreciated in value even before the cutting. In reaching out for thesl timber lands, Mr. Long's interests extended throufh Missouri, into Arkansas and other souther4 states, where numerous mills were estab- lished. Later he went into the Northwest, where great areas of virgin forest remained. In that region Mr. Long is building a model tow{r, designed to be a community center for his own employes and the business outlet of a new resion of development. To thii somewhat incidental enterprise Mr. -Long is giving much attention and a somewhat altruistic purpose that fits in well with the successful ,lumberman's humanitarian ideals and the resources he now possesses to indulge his likings.

The career of Mr. Long and the development of the interests directed by him constitute a real personal and business romance. The beginnings of this romance antedate the incorporation of the Long-Bell company. They were modest in the extreme. They were centered in a little lumber yard in Columbus, Kas., where Mr. Long personally assisted in handling the lumber as well as doing thE buying and selling. And it is said by those who know him best that he would rather talk about those early days, when he and Mrs. Long worked for each other, and for that indefinite thing called the future, than of any other period of his interesting life.

Mr. Long has not achiev6d success by selfish concentrition or denial. He has shared his fortune in consistent measure with the promoters of church and welfare endeavors. A number of those associated with him in responsible business positions have become independent in a business way. His success has been of the Hnd that needs no apologies.

NOLET-UP AT SAN DIEGO

Reports coming from California's southern metropolis, San Diego, confirm that that city is in a most healthy state, in the building field, and that the merchants in that city are not looking for a let up of any kind in their program of building for the year.

Young Douglas Fir Thrives Under Shade Of Inferior Species

The results of experiments made by the Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, in attempting to establish young Douglas fir transplants as an undestory to scrub oak, aspen, and birch, up to the present show a very satisfactory survival and development, according to a recent statem€nt of that bureau. Douglas fir planted in this .way in the Bearlodge district of the Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota, in the spring of. 1922 and 1923, is showing an average survival of thrifty trees equal to 83 per cent of the total number planted. Four of the remaining 17 per cent are living, although not developing satisfactorily. Of 500 trees planted thus experimentally in 1922, 439, or 80 per cent, ar€ doing well; while 192 oat of. 250 planted in 1923, or 77 per cent, are also in a thrifty condition. This result is regarded as very encouraging, the more so as on the last examination the percentag€ of thrifty trees from the 1922 planting was higher than.on the first examination a year ago. Even of the comparatively few trees lost, a small portion of the failure was due not to any 'w€akness in the transplants themselves but because of trampling by stock grazing in this vicinity.