Should !an els

;1ber Dept., of :1and, Ore.

, elief that if 25 per cent of the retail yards .:>tates were to stock and display fir panels , year the panel plants of the Pacific Coast overtime to fill their orders and on a basis instead of on the basis they are now op-

.l'n the past laminated panels have not been available to the retail yards in such quantities and at prices that would make it advisable for them to stock them, for the reason that very few retail yards could afford to purchase a full car, and only distributors in the larger cities carried them in stock and then if a retailer wanted a few thousand feet of panels he must buy from the closet panel distributor and pay the "lei" freight on same. The r ·esult has been that when the retailer had a call for panels he would take the customer's order and send it to some distributor to fill and many times the retailer was not familiar with plywood gradeii and could not intelligently discuss the requirements of his customer. As as result the customer would abandon the idea of using panels.

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For many years we had only three grades of Fir panels; namely good two sides, good one side and drawer bottom grade. These grades do not correspond with lumber grade term s and the retailer, carpenter, contractor, or home builder is at a loss to know what grade will be adapted to his requirements. There have been many changes recently and most plants now offer in addition to the above grades a No. 2 Clear and Better two sides panel and a No. 2 Clear and Better one side panel. These grades correspond to our No. 2 Clear and Better or "B" grade lumber. The No. 2 Clear and Better two-side panels are graded from both sides and are suitable for use where the both sides would be exposed. The No. 2 Clear and Better one side being graded from the best side and suitable for use where should be shipped in the same car with green lumber and the retailer, carpe nter and contractor are familiar with and correspond to the grades of lumber he is using. I have always contended that the grade "drawer bottom" was misleading and that not over 5 per cent of the drawer bottom grade panels that have been sold in the last decade were t1sed for drawer bottom purposes.

The problem of supplying the retail yard without excessive cost has also been simplified to a very great extent, as they can now buy mixed cars of house doors, garage doors and panels, also many shippers are able to furnish panels in mixed cars of lumber; shippers, however, must use caution when shipping panels with lumber, and so load them that the panels will not be damaged by the lumber while the car is in transit. I do not believe that panels should be shipped in the same car with green lumber and

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