THE USES OF WOOD 



975 



A LARCH IN NORTHERN 

 MICHIGAN 



The larch or tamarack furnishes roots of peculiar 

 value in boat building. The large, sharply-bent 

 taproot makes a knee to brace ship frames. The 

 long, fibrous roots supplied the thread with which 

 the Indians sewed together the pieces of bark in 

 making their canoes. The larch sheds its leaves in 

 winter, hence its nakedness in the picture. 



following tabic which gives 

 the annual demand by states 

 for shipbuilding woods, the 

 figures representing feet: 



New York, 37,700,500: 

 Pennsylvania, 26,716,000 ; Cal- 

 ifornia, 20,617,010; Oregon, 

 14,900,400; New Jersey, 13,- 

 341.796; Virginia, 11,138,497: 

 Maine, 10,299,400; Delaware, 

 7,867,136; Connecticut, 7,084,- 

 354 ; Maryland, 6,350,700 : 

 Washington, 5,876,560; Mas- 

 sachusetts, 4,607,864; Louisi- 

 ana, 4,589,300; Michigan, 

 4,480,200 ; Ohio, 3,322,660 ; 

 Wisconsin, 2,669,000 ; Tennes- 

 see, 1,775,000; Florida, 1,615,- 

 000 ; West Virginia, 1,614,000 ; 

 Indiana, 1,462.000; Arkansas, 

 1,210,000; Illinois, 1,020,000; 

 North Carolina, 800,000 : 

 South Carolina, 756,000; Dis- 

 trict of Columbia, 535,000 ; 

 Alabama, 511,000; IMissouri, 

 431,000; Rhode Island, 414,- 

 000 ; Minnesota, 107,000 ; 

 Idaho, 63,000. 



The wood with which to 

 build boats is doubtless pro- 

 cured in the forests of more 

 than thirty-one states, but the 

 reports do not show the origin 

 of the timber which shipbuild- 

 ers use, though it is well 

 known that every forested re- 

 gion furnishes some of it. 



The ship industry gives a 

 better line on trade, from the 

 historical view, than any other 

 industry gives. Most com- 

 modities are intended to be 

 sold in the markets of this and 

 foreign countries ; but shij)s 

 are designed, not to be them- 

 selves sold, but to carry otlrcr 

 products to market, and shijjs 

 have never been built unless 

 the builders were reasonabl\- 

 certain of cargoes. During 

 early years American-built 

 vessels carried cargoes to and 

 from our shores, and while 

 that condition existed, our 

 shipbuilding was a pretty fair 

 index to our sea borne trade. 

 But gradually foreign vessels 

 captured our ocean-borne traf- 

 fic and our vessels almost dis- 



A SPLENDID CANOE TREE 



The yellow or tulip poplar was formerly known as 

 the canoe poplar because it was the best in the 

 eastern states for dugout canoes, hewed from its 

 faultless trunk. Such trees are now sawed into 

 house finish and stock for making vehicle bodies. 

 It is the largest hardwood tree of the United States. 



