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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



invention of improved hoops in rather recent years that 

 this drain on the hickory supply was checked. 



The principal supply of commercial hickory comes 

 from Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Indiana 

 and Ohio, although some hickory is produced in thirty- 

 three or more states. It is estimated that the yearly out- 

 put of hickory lumber in the United States is less than four 

 hundred million feet, board measure. The wood of the 

 various kinds of hickories varies in hardness, elasticity, 

 weight and color. Users of hickory seldom make distinc- 

 tions according to 

 species but depend 

 on inspection to 

 secure the kind of 

 wood that meets re- 

 quirements. Some 

 species are so lack- 

 ing in good qual- 

 ities that they are 

 seldom cut for the 

 market. " Second 

 growth" hickory 

 comes from trees 

 which have grown 

 rapidly on land 

 from which the 

 large trees have 

 been lumbered, or 

 from trees growing 

 in the open. The 

 greater value of 

 this wood lies in the 

 fact that the wide 

 rings of annual 

 growth have a high 

 proportion of dense 

 summer wood. 



Pin-hole borers 

 sometimes lessen 

 the value of the 

 wood of live hick- 

 ory trees. A greater 

 loss is due to "iron 

 streaks." This de- 

 fect is caused by a 

 discoloration of the 

 wood which starts 



HICKORY FOR VEHICLE PARTS 



Hickory is first in importance among the woods used 

 The photograph shows hickory and oak spokes piled 

 manufacturer. 



in small holes through the bark made by the sap-sucker, a 

 species of woodpecker that is very fond of the sweet sap 

 of the hickories. The discoloration affects the appearance 

 of the wood rather than its mechanical qualities. After 

 hickory wood is cut and is being seasoned, it is very liable 

 to be attacked by beetles that honey-comb the lumber, 

 leaving behind them large quantities of powdered wood. 

 After the beetles are at work, little can be done to 

 save the lumber, but they may be kept out of newly 

 sawed lumber by sprinkling it with oil. 



Shagbark is generally believed to furnish the highest 

 quality of hickory wood, and to best meet the severe 

 requirements of carriage and wagon work. The Big Shell- 



bark hickory has wood that is very similar and almost 

 equally valuable. The Pignuts produce wood of high 

 quality which is used to a greater extent than that of any 

 other of the smooth bark hickories. The Mockernut has 

 darker heartwood than the Pignut but the wood is about 

 the same in quality. These trees have a wide ring of 

 sapwood surrounding the heart and for this reason have 

 been preferred for certain uses because it was believed 

 that the sapwoqd was stronger than heartwood. Investi- 

 gation has demonstrated that there is no perceptible differ- 



ence between 

 heartwood and 

 sapwood except 

 that the heartwood 

 is more apt to be 

 knotty. Much hick- 

 ory that was fdrin- 

 erly wasted because 

 of " red heart " is 

 now accepted by the 

 inspectors. Hick- 

 ories in the Shag- 

 bark class have 

 thin white sap- 

 wood, light-brown 

 heartwood and the 

 wood is more apt to 

 be straight-grained 

 and free from im- 

 perfections than the 

 wood of Pignut 

 and Mockernut. 



Bitternut hick- 

 ory is not regarded 

 as producing a high 

 class of wood for 

 commercial use. 

 The thin sapwood 

 partly accounts for 

 the prejudice 

 against it and it is 

 probable that in the 

 future this wood 

 will be more 

 highly rated. 



Nutmeg hickory 

 has wood of fair 

 quality but is not much used because the tree is limited in 

 its distribution. Water hickory and Pecan all produce 

 wood that is comparatively weak and light in weight. 

 Their wood is of slight commercial importance because it 

 is inferior in every respect to the other hickories. 



Much hickory was formerly used in agricultural im- 

 plements that were manufactured on the farm or in the 

 local wheelwright shop. Among these were mauls, flails, 

 plow handles, cradles, scythe snaths, ox yokes, and rakes 

 of all kinds. Dozens of modern farm tools and machines 

 ranging from plows, planters and cultivators to reapers, 

 stackers and fertilizer distributers could not well dispense 

 with the hicknrv that forms various parts of them. The 



in vehicle parts, red and white oak being next. 

 for seasoning in the plant of a large hub and spoke 



