THE USES OF WOOD 



1347 



it a precise and definite meaning. Flat grain and edge grain are the 

 most common terms. The former is applied to lumber sawed tan- 

 crentially, that is, ofif the side of the log in the same way that the slab 

 is taken of?. Edge grain flooring is cut radially ; that means, the saw 

 is set to cut from the sap to the heart. The same method is known 

 as "quarter-sawing." When the sawing is done from the sap to the 

 heart, the edges of the annual growth rings are exposed to view in 

 the flat surface of the flooring strips, hence the name, edge grain. In 

 this instance, "grain" is synonymous with annual ring. When an edge 

 grain floor has been laid and is ready for use, the exposed surface, 

 that which takes the wear, shows the edges and not the flat sides of the 



growth rings. These rings 



{Coitilcsy Maple Flooring Manufacturers Ass'n) 

 THE GROWTH OF CENTURIES 



A long, large trunk, clear of branches, is a guarantee 

 of age and maturity in maple, and it is from such 

 trunks that the highest class of flooring stock is 

 procured. Trees which will cut a thousand feet of 

 good maple flooring are above the average, though an 

 occasional tree overruns that 6gure. 



may be visible in the floor 

 as one walks across it. 

 At any rate, they may 

 usually be seen if a care- 

 ful examination is made. 

 Such is not the case if the 

 floor is laid of flat grain 

 lumber. It presents a 

 different appearance. 



One kind may be pre- 

 ferred in one situation, 

 another in another. It is 

 partly a matter of taste, 

 partly a matter of utility. 

 Edge grain flooring is 

 stronger, harder, and 

 wears better, according to 

 claims of some ; but this 

 claim is at times open to 

 question. The kind of 

 wood and the rate of 

 growth have something to 

 do with the appearance of 

 the floor. The question as 

 to which is the best is still 

 unsettled, but if one kind 

 were unquestionably bet- 

 ter than the other, the pub- 

 lic would long ago have 

 found it out, and the best 

 kind would be in use to the 

 exclusion of the other. 



Floors of parquetry are 

 built of blocks, strips, and 

 borders. They should 

 not be confused with the block floors which are popular in factories. 

 Those of parquetry are in the best class and may be quite expensive. 

 It would not be wholly inappropriate to call them "wooden tile" floors, 

 because in pattern they resemble tile. Woods of dift'erent and con- 

 trasting colors are selected, because beauty is the object sought in such 

 a floor, and it is produced by contrasts and harmony. Nothing would 

 be gained if all component parts of such a floor were alike in color. 



The woods may have colors imparted to them by artificial means, 

 by employing stains and dyes. As white a wood as holly may become 

 a substitute for as black a wood as ebony; birch may take the place 

 of red mahogany ; and yellow poplar may answer for woods of deep 



{Courtesy Maple h'louinig Mainifaeturers Ass'ii) 



A BEAUTIFUL BEECH 



In the forest this tree often attains a height of 120 

 to 140 feet, with smoothly rounded bole as sym- 

 metrical as the pillar of a cathedral. The bark is 

 light gray. The wood is close-grained, hard and 

 strong and excellent for use as flooring. 



