982 



AMERICAN FORF.STRY 



hewed from southern live oak. Douglas fir is a valuable 

 knee wood, and for small and medium-sized vessels much 

 use is made of tamarack roots. This is the same tree that 

 furnishetl roots as threads with which Indians sewed 

 patclics on their bark canoes. When the tamarack tree 

 grows in the soil which it seems to like best, that is, a 

 tilled swam]) with a soft soil a couple of feet deep above 

 and a stratum of hard clay below, its roots take on a 

 peculiar form. The root strikes straight down through 

 the soft soil to the clay, and not being able to penetrate 

 that, the root turns at right angles and follows the surface 

 of the clay, thus forming the crook which becomes 

 the knee. 



.Ml wood used by shi[)builders does not consist 

 of heavy timbers. Doors, window frames, and inside 

 finish of many kinds must be provided, much as is done 

 in land buildings ; and the kinds of wood used are not 

 nuich different from those on shore. The iron ship needs 

 wood finisii in amounts ile|)i.'niling ujion the kind and 

 size of the ship. 



( )ur forests ])rovide few woods suitable for the large 

 pins witli which shij) timbers are fastened together. The 

 supply the navy for ages." Small prophetic vision had pins are known as treenails and they vary in length from 

 he of the mighty demands that would be made upon our one to four feet and in diameter from a little less to a 

 forests to provide ships for our war with Germany in little more than an inch. Very hard and strong wood is 

 1917 and 1918. .'\11 the timber needed for our first navy demanded and it must possess small tendency to shrink 

 would scarcely supply one of our shipyards one month and swell. Oak does fairly w-ell if carefully selected and 

 at this time. prepared, and a little red eucalyptus from California has 



The policy of buying and protecting forest lands fell been used on the Pacific coast, but the best is black locust, 

 into disuse when iron ships seemed to be about to do This tree's native range lies along the middle .Appalachian 

 away with wooden vessels. The promise was not ful- Mount:iins and in the adjoining region east and west, 

 filled, as the jjresent war has emphasized. The oak land though locust has been planted and it grows in nearly all 



.M^UWb AND B.AkGKS 



Boats may be useful without being pleasing in appearance. Scows, dredges, 

 barges and otbers that are designed to work in unromantic situations, are 

 as necessary as are any others. They are generally built of heavy anil 

 ihirable planks antl timbers to provide the strength which they must have 

 to assure long service. 



parts of the United States. The manufacture of locust 

 treenails by farmers and lumbermen was a paying busi- 

 ness, on a small scale, uiuil iron ships largely disj^^ed 

 wood. When we began building wooden shiiis to^pht 



acquired as a ship timber reserve nearly all passed out of 

 the government's ownership in the years following tiic 

 advent of the iron ship ; but a little of it remains in 

 Florida and is included in the National Forest there. 



The "knee" is an essential in 

 l)uilding the wooden ship. It is 

 sha])ed like a crude capital L, 

 and the bend suggest the name 

 knee. It is a brace inserted in 

 the angle where two timbers join 

 in the framing near the bottfjm 

 of the vessel. The braces are 

 iiewed or sawed from trees, a 

 section of the trunk and the at- 

 tached limb or root constitutiiiL; 

 the knee. Sizes vary. Large 

 shijis rei|uire huge and strong; 

 knees ; other vessels take those 

 of smaller size, while very small 

 knees are sometimes used in 

 Ijoats which are little larger than 

 big skiffs. 



Many kinds of trees produce 

 growths suitable for knees, but 

 all do not. The wood must be 

 strong and durable. The largest t, ■ ,. , , , ,„,„ , . ^ ., , ^ , , r- ■ ■ , , , . 



*^ ihis relic 01 the war of 1812 was sunk in the Battle of Lake trie in which tJie .Americans won a signal 



and StrOnijeSt knees are those victory over the Brltisli. TIu- vessel was recently raised and is now one of the show objects at Erie, 



*^ ' " Pennsylvania. It was built of green timber cut on the lake shore and is in a good state of preservation. 



CO.MMODOUE I'EKKVS KL.\G.srnP Nl.\c;.\R.\ 



