HARDWOOD RECORD 



33 



of a number of subdivisions. The lumbermen who are making the 

 biggest successes of their businesses are those who have subdivided 

 and subdivided, not artificially or arbitrarily, but as a result of the 

 study of the needs of the consumer. This means knowing what the 

 factory is going to do to the lumber, of course; and that involves 

 making a detailed study of operations in every consuming line. 



A lumberman who happened to have some sap-stained stock that 

 was likely to prove a "sticker" used his knowledge of the furniture 

 trade to compile a list of concerns in his section of the country that 

 were putting out furniture finished in mission and other dark effects. 

 Then he wrote to these concerns, explaining that he had a lot of 

 good lumber which was sap-stained and was otherwise excellent 

 stock; that it would be just the thing for use in furniture which 

 was to be finished dark, and that in order to move it the buyer 

 could get the lumber at a price considerably below the usual figure 

 for stock of that grade. The idea took, and the lumberman moved 

 his offering sap no defect, although the rules would have lowered 

 the grade on it if it had been inspected in the old mechanical style. 



In order to make himself serviceable to a consumer who was 

 complaining about the character of lumber he was getting, and fearing 

 that he would have to buy firsts and seconds instead of No. 1 com- 



mon, a hardwood man who happened to have the run of that par- 

 ticular factory suggested that the men at the saws be instructed to 

 turn over boards which seemed to be defective, inasmuch as the lum- 

 ber was thick enough to make it likely that the defect would not show 

 on the other side. This could be douo in the case of lumber used in 

 furniture and interior finish, inasmuch as but one side was exposed. 

 The use of this simple expedient resulted in enough clear cuttings 

 being added to enable the manufacturer to continue to buy common 

 lumber instead of having to increase his expense through the pur- 

 chase of upper grade stock. 



Selling lumber mechanically means, first, piling it according to 

 the grading rules and not according to a knowledge of consuming 

 needs; and next, offering it to the user merely according to the grad- 

 ing rules, and not with reference to the way it is to be used. The 

 rules of the hardwood associations are immensely important as a 

 standard ,by which to settle disputes and from which to evolve other 

 special grades; but the lumberman should not bind himself down, 

 to them in such a way that he cannot adapt his stock and his services 

 to the wants of the consumer. 



Instead of trying to make the user buy what you have to sell, why 

 not find out what he wants to buy and then give it to him? 



'> C<g02-:.'SC>K/ "-^y^^'C'^ '^'^^t;Ji^:>^tf>2t>S*^^ 



A ^ew Mexican Hardwood 



During the last few years attention has been called to a new 

 Mexican hardwood, which is used extensively for special purposes 

 under the name of chijole or iron wood. While an article in a recent 

 number of another lumber journal gives a brief account of this im- 

 portant wood, it does not inform the reader from what tree it is 

 derived. Without specimens of the leaves, flowers, fruit or wood 

 it is practically impossible to determine the botanical name of the 

 tree. The common name "chijole" may belong to any one of the 

 hundreds of important trees and shrubs in Mexico. Judging, how- 

 ever, from the gross characters of the wood as stated in the journal 

 referred to, one is led to believe that this wood is derived possibly 

 from some leguminous tree. Dr. Jose Ramirez in his dictionary of 

 common plant names gives chijol, cocuile, colorin de peces, flor de 

 papagallo, jabi, jabin, and mata pez de Mexico as the Mexican names 

 for Piscidia erythrina L. (Ichthyomethia piscipnla (L.) Kuntze.) 

 There are no other plants recorded in this work known by this name, 

 and the two names chijol and chijole) are sufficiently alike to justify 

 the belief that the corresponding botanical name of chijol (not 

 chijole) is Piscidia erythrina, an important leguminous tree growing 

 throughout the West Indies, Mexico, and Central America, yielding 

 to commerce a very valuable wood. 



This valuable tree grows also in Cuba and Jamaica, where it affords 

 an excellent timber knovra as Jamaica or white dogwood. It is much 

 employed there for piles for wharves, and other work in damp or wet 

 situations, because of its strong and durable qualities. Another 

 species of this genus is Piscidia carthaginensis L., which is also a 

 native of Jamaica. It much resembles the former both in grain and 

 color; the wood is known as black dogwood or bitchwood, and is more 

 esteemed than any other in the West Indies for making naves of 

 wheels. 



The true chijol or Jamaica dogwood is a small tree from twenty 

 to fifty feet in height and from two to three feet in diameter at the 

 base. In the West Indies it is found in the plains and in the hills 

 up to 3,500 feet altitude. In IMexico it occurs in nearly similar 

 situations and often in inaccessible locations chiefly along the Gulf 

 coast, where the chijol is said to grow in great profusion. The tree 

 is a native also of Florida, where it grows on the keys and in the 

 limestone soil on the mainland south of Miami. 



The wood is very heavy and hard, tough, more or less brittle, close' 

 grained, compact, susceptible of a high polish, containing few large 

 scattered open ducts; pith rays very narrow, inconspicuous; color 

 dull yellow brown, the sap-wood lighter. Sargent in his book entitled 

 "Woods of the United States" records the weight of this wood to 



be about fifty-five pounds per cubic foot. Chijol becomes exceedingly 

 hard after seasoning and often does considerable damage to tools 

 used in working it. The wood is, therefore, usually cut and worked 

 when green, for it shrinks and warps very little during seasoning. 

 The popularity of this wood is based almost entirely upon its great 

 durability. Authentic records show that the best grades of chijol 

 surpass iron and steel in durability when placed in contact with the 

 soil. It is stated that fence posts of the chijol which were set in the 

 ground in the ancient city of Panuco, Mexico, more than three hun- 

 dred years ago are as perfect as the day they were cut from the green 

 log. This extraordinary freedom from decay is due to the presence 

 in the wood of a narcotic or poisonous substance within the cavities 

 of the pores or vessels of the wood and the cells of the bark. This 

 poison acts as a preservative, rendering the wood immune against 

 the attack of insects and fungi, which are, as a rule, very destructive 

 to woods in all tropical countries. The bark, leaves, twigs, and 

 roots are particularly astringent and a decoction prepared from them 

 is said to be used extensively for stupefying fish. The Mexicans gen- 

 erally reduce the bark of. the roots to a powder by grinding, and 

 place it in a bag or basket. The latter is then dragged up and down 

 the stream until the active principle has been extracted and the fish 

 are stupefied, leaving them free to be captured. 



The wood being tough, hard, and durable, is much used for railroad 

 ties, wharf pUes, felloes of wheels, cart and carriage work, roUers 

 of native sugar mills, and for other work requiring a tough wood. 

 In Mexico it is used extensively for posts and is unsurpassed as a 

 building material. It finds an important use in boat and dock build- 

 ing, and for all purposes where great durability is required. In addi- 

 tion to its use as timber, great quantities of chijol are made into 

 charcoal, and in some localities it is used extensively for firewood. 



It is said the chijol trees along eastern Mexico grow very large and 

 are abundant, but the present crude methods of cutting the timber 

 and bringing the logs to the places of transportation is too expensive 

 to be undertaken with the expectation of profits. Modern methods of 

 logging have not yet been introduced in removing logs or sawed tim- 

 ber. It will be practically impossible to take out this wood except 

 by up-to-date methods on account of the broken character of the 

 regions in which this species is found ; a large part of the timber can 

 not be reached even with these means except at an almost prohibitive 

 price. The present methods employed are gravity slides, oxen, and 

 gangs of men, which are antiquated, laborious and expensive. The 

 methods used by the Mexicans are crude, slow, and wasteful at best. 



L. L. D. 



