Lumber Leader Commends New Furniture Booklet

By George F. Lindsay Of the Office of Frederick Veyerhaeuser Member, Sub-Committee on "Furniture, Its Selection and LJser" National Committee on Vood utilization, Departmetrt of Commerce.

The furniture industry ranks next to the building trades as a user of woods: it ,consumes a billion and a half board feet of lumber each vear. Since the National Committee on Wood Utilization has as its purpose the fostering of good wood using practices, it is appropriate that it should publish a bulletih, outlining the eisentials of judging ftlniture. This it has done in a new booklet called "Furniture, Its Selection and IJse."

Although the principal purpose of the bulletin is to educate the consumer, there is a large amount of fascinating material which should interest the lumber industry within the 120 pages of the booklet. The dominant position of domestic woods is illustrated in one table, whi'ch demonstrates that 96.9 per cent ofall woods used in furniture manufacture in 1928 were grown in this country. Eightyeight and one half per cent of the woods were American hardwoods; eight and four-tenths per cent were American softwoods, while three and two-tenths per cent were imported hardwoods.

There are three intensely interesting chapters on wood, the first of which lists the principal woods used in furniture manufacture; the second details the steps preliminary to its being made into furniture, and the third discusses the various phases of veneered and solid 'construction. The next chapter takes up construction details, and is followed by a thorough discussion of finish.

It is my feeling that the problems have been exceedingly well presented, and that the bulletin ,contains a fair exposition of the facts which the home-maker should know before attempting to make an investment in home furnishings. Since 92 per cent of the furniture used today is of wood, there is a large amount of factual data which may be profitablv studied bv the hardwood lumber manufacturer.

AT"TENDS ROTARY CONVENTION

Lest the impression be given that woods are the only subjects analyzed in the bulletin, we may well examine the contents. The bulletin is divided into four sections. The first treats of the preliminary problems of the home-maker. One ,chapter suggests a buying plan; another outlines some thoroughly elastic budgets; the questions of comfort and of utility are also put on the stand, anil give testimony.

Then follows the second part, concerning materials and 'construction, which has already been reviewed. A chapter 'on upholstered ,furniture completes this analysis, and the third part then begins a discussion of furniture styles, with an outline of period styles, which is followed by a chapter telling how varying types may be ,combined to the best advantages.'

The fourth part discusses ,care and repair of furniture, and a glossary of furniture terms rounds out the bulletin. Approximately 50 illustrations and diagrams bring out salient points throughout the booklet. Every effort has been made to keep the discussion from being techni'cal, and the general re-action of the reader is that a large number of meaty facts are combined within its covers, in an interesting style.

The bulletin is a sister publication to the recently issued "Ifow to Judge a House," which has been accorded a warm welcome throughout the ,country. It is issued, as is customary with National Committee on Wood Utilization publications, under the guidance of a sub-committee, which in,cludes members from varying fields. The ,c\airman of the sub.committee is Alexander B. Trowbridge, A.I.A., ,former President of the Ameri'can Federation of Arts. An advisory committee composed of leaders in interior decoration, museum authorities, and educators in home economics, passed upon the material.

Herb Klass On Eastern Trip

Herb Klass, of The Pacific Lumber Company, San Francis,co, left May 10 for a business trip to Chicago and other Eastern points.