LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture, 



Division of Forestry, 

 Washington, D. C, September 15, 1895. 



Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith for publication a brief 

 but comprehensive discussion of the characteristics and properties of 

 wood in general and of our American timbers in particular, which it 

 is hoped may be useful to engineers, architects, carpenters, lumbermen, 

 and all wood workers. The paper was prepared by Mr. Filibert Roth, 

 in charge of the investigations in timber physics. 



Although much of the information contained in this bulletin exists 

 in the experience of practical woodworkers and in books in other lan- 

 guages, it has never before been published in English in systematic 

 and accessible form and with special application to American timbers. 



Such a publication can not, of course, exhaust any part of this great 

 subject. It is desired that it may be followed by a more elaborate 

 treatise when additional knowledge has been gained through the inves- 

 tigations now in progress. The information it contains is largely based 

 on actual experiment and scientific observation, and will, it is hoped, 

 not only explain the experiences of the practical worker with his mate- 

 rial, but will remove erroneous notions, and thus aid in improving the 

 practice and lead to a more rational use of our forest resources. 



Respectfully, 



B. E. Fernow, 



Chief of Division of Forestry. 

 Hon. J. Sterling Morton, 



Secretary. 



