COMMERCIAL USES OF SUGAR PINE 



283 



At intervals of 3 to 5 years, middle-aged trees produce 

 a fairly abvindant crop of seed, but owing to the large 

 amount of seed eaten by birds, squirrels and other rodents, 

 poor germination and injury to small seedlings by fire, 



native young growth of sugar pine. Planting experiments 

 so far have not been entirely successful. Sugar pine can 

 be grown in Europe and in the eastern United States, but 

 its development is slower and less satisfactory than that 



drought, and strong sunlight, there is usually a lack of of our eastern white pine grown under the same conditions. 



COMMERCIAL USES OF SUGAR PINE 



THE wood of sugar pine is very similar to that of 

 eastern white pine and has practically the same 

 qualities and uses. The sap wood is white or yel- 

 lowish white and the heart wood light brown, in some 

 cases tinged with red. Like eastern white pine, one of its 

 most prominent characteristics is that it shrinks, swells 

 and warps but little under varying moisture conditions, is 

 easily worked with tools and is not likely to split when 

 nailed. Smooth and rather fine in texture, it has a beauti- 



of the trunks were used and thus thousands of feet of 

 excellent saw timber were left to rot in the woods. The 

 shake maker seldom bought the timber, but cut the sugar 

 pines wherever he chose. At the present time shake mak- 

 ing survives only in the remote sections where the port- 

 able shingle mill has not found its way, or where dead 

 pines are far from the sawmills and must be utilized in 

 this way to secure part of their value. 



Close similarity of the wood to that of the eastern 

 white pine has enabled sugar pine to enter markets which 

 the eastern species can no longer supply. Foreign markets 

 for this lumber have also been developed in recent years. 



LOADING CREW AXD MICHIGAN WHEELS l.\ USE I.\ CALIFORNIA 



On land not too steep and rough, sugar pine logs are brought to the railroad by 

 means of big wheels. This photograph shows the stiff-tongue or Michigan 

 logging wheel, delivering a sugar pine log at the landing. 



ful light satiny luster when finished. It is resinous and 

 has a pleasing fragrance and does not impart a contam- 

 inating flavor to food materials brought into contact with 

 it. It is also fairly durable in contact with the soil. 



Sugar pine lumber first came into use shortly after the 

 discovery of gold in California. At first the demand was 

 principally for "shakes" or split shingles which were used 

 not only for roofs but also the sides of cabins. With the 

 need for more pretentious buildings the business of sawing 

 sugar pine lumber developed. Shake making is still prac- 

 tised in California, and, although belonging to a disap- 

 pearing tribe, the shake maker is as well known and as 

 picturesque a character as the prospector. The average 

 size of a roof shake is 6 inches wide, 32 inches long and 

 one-fourth inch thick. The first requisite in sphtting 

 shakes from sugar pine logs is straightness of grain. Many 

 splendid pines, 5 feet or more in diameter, were felled and 

 then discarded by the shake maker because the splitting 

 properties were poor. Of the best trees, only 20 to 50 feet 



HUGE SUGAR PINE LOG ON SLIDEWAY 



Five and one-half foot sugar pine log going down slideway, Sierra National 

 Forest, California. The log-chute is made of straight logs, 50 or 60 feet long 

 laid in two parallel rows, about 5 inches apart. The inner surfaces are hewed 

 off and greased. If the grade is over 30 per cent and the logs are greased, they 

 slide of their own accord, otherwise, horses or donkey engines pull them to the 

 mill. The chutes from the woods to the sawmill are often IM to 2 miles in 

 length. 



On the Pacific Coast sugar pine is used in the manufact- 

 ure of high grade products for which white pine has been 

 the standard in the eastern United States. The latest 

 and most complete information on sugar pine is contained 

 in a recent publication of the Forest Service,* from which 

 the following account is quoted as furnishing the most 

 accurate data: 



"With the advent of the sawmill in Cahfornia, the 

 more accessible stands of sugar pine were eagerly sought 

 by the lumbermen because of the superior quality of the 

 luinber. Its durability, lightness, and softness as com- 

 pared with other available woods led to its use for shakes, 



' Bulletin No. 426, United States Department of Agriculture. 



