THE USES OF WOOD 



813 



comes almost wholly from plant- 

 ed trees. Few of them were 

 planted in expectation that they 

 would ever come into market 

 for lumber. They have never 

 been regularly taken by lumber- 

 men ; but a few logs have been 

 cut here and a few there when 

 streets have been widened or 

 parks cleared. The supply of 

 willow wood from that source 

 has generally been ample, but 

 now, because of the war, the de- 

 mand is much greater than it was 

 formerly, and it may be antici- 

 pated that the search for suitable 

 willow for limbs will continue 

 for years, and no one who has 

 trees of this wood should per- 

 mit them to be destroyed but 

 should try to dispose of them to 

 manufacturers of limbs. 



White willow that goes to fac- 

 tories often causes damage to 

 saws and other tools that are 

 employed in working it. That 

 is done by metal in the wood. 

 Such is a common fault with 

 much wood that is cut from trees 

 which have grown about resi- 

 dences and in the vicinity of 

 barns and near fences. While 

 such trees are growing they are 



YUCCA P.\LM IN THE MOHAVE DESERT 



The photograph of this strange tree was made available by the courtesy of the United States Forest 

 Service The scene is in southern California, where these uncouth trees, which look like specimens from 

 the Carboniferous Age, are furnishing splints used by surgeons in setting broken bones. The equivalent 

 of 40,000 board feet is cut annually. 



RAW MATERIAL FOR SURGEONS' SPLINTS 



A section of the trunk of the weird yucca palm is being prepared for the factory where it will be con- 

 verted into sheets of veneer to be cut into splints for binding broken bones. These by tens of thousands 

 are now being sent to Europe for use in the army hospitals. The sheets of wood look like lace and are 

 as strong as horn. Photograph by the United States Forest Service. 



apt to be made use of as fence 

 posts to which to nail boards, or 

 as posts on which to hang gates ; 

 or the planks which form sheds 

 are nailed to them ; or they may 

 have been equipped with ham- 

 mock hooks. The metal driven 

 into the trunks remains there 

 until the saws find it when the 

 wood is passing through the mill 

 or shop. The growth of a few 

 years completely hides all trace 

 of the metal until the logs are 

 opened. Experienced sawmill 

 operators do not like to handle 

 timber that has grown in cities 

 or towns or near barns or resi- 

 dences because of the hardware 

 concealed in the wood. 



White willow did not become 

 the leading wood for limbs by 

 any accidental choice. It was 

 proved by trials and experience, 

 and only after it was found to 

 be the best was it admitted to 



