THE USES OF WOOD 



1345 



puncheons, not only the 

 first stories, but the second 

 as well. Redwood splits so 

 perfectly that puncheons a 

 foot or more wide and two 

 or three inches thick can be 

 rived in shape nearly as 

 perfect as sawed lumber. 

 Jn eastern hardwood re- 

 gions, during the years 

 when split floors were be- 

 ing made, the finest floor- 

 ing puncheons were of ash, 

 because of the facility with 

 which that wood splits. 

 Chestnut and oak were also 

 favorite jnincheon timber. 

 Split boards suitable for 

 floors were often made into 

 doors for the cabins, when 

 sawed stock was not con- 

 venient. Those who want- 

 ed something a little better 

 than sjilit puncheons for 

 floors, and could not pro- 

 cure lumber from a saw- 

 mill, had recourse to the output of the whipsaw operated 

 by hand power. Floors and doors were the first places 

 in cabin building to be filled by sawed lumber. When it 

 became more plentiful, the entire cabin was built of it, 

 but that was not the case at first. 



It remains true, however, that floors conforming to 

 civilized standards were not common till sawed lumber 

 became available. The older and ruder wooden floors 

 were really makeshifts. Nevertheless, even when after 

 sawed lumber was to be had, some preferred to adhere to 

 the old punch- 

 eon size in 

 providing 

 flooring 1 u m - 

 ber, that is, 

 they wanted 

 planks as large 

 as could be 

 had, and some- 

 times they 

 w e I- e m u c h 

 thicker than 

 necessary. 

 Floors strong 

 enough for 

 factories were 

 put in r e s i - 

 dences. At the 

 present time, 

 flooring 1 u m - 

 ber is pre- 

 ferred in strips 

 from two to 

 four inches 



METHODS OF SAWING FLOORING 



Flat grain, edge grain and quarter-sawed stuff all come from the same 

 log. I'he name given the stock depends upon the manner in which the 

 hoards are cut. Any wood may be quarter-sawed, but better results are 

 obtained from oal< than from most others, because the quartered grain 

 in oak is more easily seen. 



FLOORING ON SEA AS WELL AS ON LAND 



A large bill of lumber is required annually to floor the better class of boats, for all flooring is not 



destined to remain on land. Some of the handsomest floors to be seen anywhere are put in vessels, 

 and wood gives as good service there as in any other situation. 



wide and an inch or less in 

 thickness; but there was a 

 time when the house 

 builder imagined that the 

 wider the flooring lumber, 

 the better. Modern prac- 

 tice prefers the narrow 

 strips. They give less 

 trouble on account of 

 shrinking and swelling. 

 The openings where the 

 strips are joined edge to 

 edge take up the swelling 

 of the wood in damp 

 weather; and the shrinkage 

 in dry weather is distribut- 

 ed among the many cracks 

 and is not much noticed. 

 But the wide flooring 

 boards of many years ago 

 might shrink or swell half 

 an inch per plank, causing 

 unsightly cracks to open 

 and close with the changes 

 of the seasons, or the alter- 

 nating wet and dry spells 

 of weather. Such behavior did not seem to be regarded 

 as a very serious matter then. An old house in Pike 

 County, Pennsylvania, was torn down after the pitch 

 pine floors had served i6o years and were still service- 

 able, and the size of the flooring planks amazed the 

 modern mill-men who saw them. The planks were two 

 feet wide and an inch and a quarter thick. Such a floor 

 would be out of fashion now, though when the old Pike 

 County house was built, the wide pine flooring planks 

 doubtless excited the admiration of all who saw them. 



The length of 

 service to their 

 credit is proof 

 of the excel- 

 1 e n t wearing 

 qualities of the 

 northern pitch 

 pine, a woo d 

 which deserves 

 a better repu- 

 tation than has 

 been accord- 

 ed it. 



AI o s t mod- 

 ern floors are 

 made of woods 

 moderately 

 hard. No such 

 c u s t o m was 

 strictly ad- 

 h e r e d to in 

 former times. 

 In the white 



