Uses of Lumber 



Jiv Warkun B. Bullock 



I 



X all the talk of "war babies" of the months since the 

 luiropean war broke out in all its fury it has been 

 su])])ose<l that the steel and metal industries were those 

 which were chiefly feeling the increased prosperity, due 

 to a demand for the products of steel mills for shells and 

 other equipment, and of the copper smelters for various 

 war uses of that metal. It is generally supposed, even 

 today, that the prosperity in war supplies is directly appli- 

 cable chiefly to the metal plants, but the trouble abroad 

 has produced some unique uses for various woods, as 

 well as steel. 



It was for the Wisconsin manufacturers of birch to 

 discover that they could find a fine market for their wood 

 in the gun factories. In the days before the war, when 

 rifles were not being made in such enormous c|uantities 

 as at present, the demand was chiefly for black walnut. 

 The supply of this wood, however, had decreased until 

 it was rare in some parts of the country, and the demand 

 for a substitute was strong even before the war. The 

 summer before Europe's conflagration burst out, the 

 writer was in Kansas, and found that there was a hand- 

 some demand there for black walnut stumps. In eastern 

 Kansas, be it known, the black walnut was in days gone 

 bv in great demand for rail fences. Large quantities of 

 this wood, now of great value, were used for this rough- 

 est of purposes. But with the shortage of supply came 

 the discovery of Kansas farmers that their old stumps 

 were fine material for gunstocks. On this Kansas trip 

 the writer saw carloads of stumps waiting for transporta- 

 tion to the East for conversion into stocks. Prices paid 

 were high, it might be added, as these butts, dug from 

 the ground and trimmed, were just the size needed for 

 the gunmakers. Whole train loads went East, so the 

 supply, even of stumps, was nearly gone before the great 

 demand for wood caused by the war. 



When firearms manufacturers began looking for some 

 wood to take the place of the reliable old walnut, the 

 attention of Northern timber owners was called to their 

 birch, especially the cherry, or shell-bark birch, as it is 

 known in the country where it grows. Tests bv various 

 standards were made of birch for gunstocks, and it proved 

 entirely suitable. So the Wisconsin association of man- 

 ufactuers who handle birch and other hardwoods sent 

 telegrams to firearms manufacturers all through the East, 

 suggesting that birch be considered. 



The result of this campaign was instantly apparent. 

 Prices have jumped to as high as $(30 per thousand feet, 

 delivered in the East, for birch of the proper thickness 

 for this use, and sales are still being made of Northern 

 birch for this purpose. 



T 



IF Kansas has lost its trade in black walnut for guns 

 through the destruction of the source of supply, there 

 has lieen found a new use for one of the other woods 

 of Kansas, (Jklahoma, Missouri, northern Texas, and 

 other Middle Western States in the Osage orange. This 

 wood, hardly more than dwarf tree and never grown 

 artificially except for hedges and wind-breaks, has been 

 found to be of practical use in meeting the shortage of 

 dyestulfs due to the same war conditions which made a 

 new market for birch. Experiments by forestry experts 

 and chemists disclosed that the Osage orange contains 

 color which can be converted into a long series of dyes 

 of the yellow shades, ranging from brown to tan. and 

 which seem to be effective in wool or silk fabrics. The 

 tests have not as yet been worked out extensively chem- 

 ically, but several dyestuffs concerns are preparing to 

 develop this new field with the cessation of shipments of 

 dyes from abroad and the consequent famine in the color 

 market in .\merica. 



^ ^ ^ ^ 



HE series of experiments in wood preservation 

 which have been carried on for several years by 

 various experts have developed the fact that there 

 is a woeful lack of facilities for the average user of 

 lumber to iiroperly treat the wood he wants to use in 

 places where it will be especially susceptible to decay. 

 Creosote, which has been found to be the most valuable 

 preservative, has been sold only in large quantities, mak- 

 ing its use difficult for the farmer or small miscellaneous 

 user of wood, who is in greatest need of the preservati\e. 

 In response to this demand, some creosote companies 

 have at last arranged to put out creosote in small quaii- 

 !ities. This sale of creosote oil is now to be commenced 

 through local retailers, as the manufacturers have ar- 

 ranged to put out their oil in five-gallon cans or barrel 

 lots at reasonable prices, and in such form that the oil 

 can be used or the farm or on the spot by building 

 contractors. 



J|l 5}i ^ Jjl 



TO revert to the talk of "war liabies," there is a 

 belief among hemlock manufacturers of the 

 North that large contracts for yellow pine by 

 European governments are partially responsible for the 

 recent increase in demand for hemlock. The use of 

 yellow pine for trench work, both as timber for the build- 

 ing of dugouts, the sustaining of dirt roofs and the 

 boards for other trench purposes is said to be extensive, 

 and especially so during the last few months, when the 

 prospect of a winter in the trenches or underground 

 forced radical steps for the comfort of the soldiers. The 

 first year of the war largely exhausted the home supplies 

 ot timber for such purposes, and heavy shipments of the 



173 



