H A R D W O on RE CORD 



35 



of selling plans would cause a system which had shown its value in 

 one plant to fall down in another. 



The experience of this concern, which is one of the most progressive 

 in the business, merely emphasizes the fact that is often overlooked : 

 that success is like genius in that it is a matter of taking pains 

 and of studying details. Broad principles of operation are all right 



as a general guide, but it is a dangerous matter to attempt to apply 

 them to individual propositions, until an analytical study of the 

 situation has demonstrated beyond question that the two fit. Making 

 a plan and then running your mill by it, instead of building a plan 

 to suit the mill, is a good deal like buying a $9.99 suit; there is 

 likely to be a misfit. ■ G. D. C, Jr. 



'^ly^;; ;i;^/uyJa^^cJ^aH^>t^^tt;i^.to:.v/^v■-su^^^ 



Willow, a iSfew Substitute Wood 



When beech came into use among the hardwoods of the northern 

 forests and tupelo in the South, it was generally supposed that the 

 last important substitute woods had been found. However, there was 

 another to come in, and it is now coming. It is the black willow. 



This is not a new tree lately discovered. It is familiar to most 

 people who are acquainted wdth forests, and it is generally called wil- 

 low without a qualifying term. It has been customary with most 

 people to think of all species of willow as practically the same and 

 nearly worthless. No good reason could be given for distinguishing 

 one species from another. Few persons, even among those fairly 

 well posted on the different kinds of trees, took the trouble to dis- 

 tinguish the willows. 



Twenty odd species are native in the United States, besides several 

 foreign which have been introduced and are running wild. About half 

 of these develop trunks large enough to be called trees, but most 

 of them do so only under most favorable circumstances. 



Black willow (^Saliv nigra) is the largest of all native willows. 

 It may attain a height of from eighty to one hundred feet and a 

 diameter of six, but that size fs unusual. Heights of from sixty to 

 seventy feet and diameters from two to three are fair averages of 

 mature trees, but such sizes are reached only where conditions are 

 favorable. 



Its range covers the eastern half of Ihe United States, including 

 the whole Mississippi valley westward to the semi-arid regions. It 

 extends west into Texas, tianks the Eocky mountains by passing into 

 New Mexico and Arizona, and thence northward six hundred miles 

 to central California. 



It reaches its highest development in the lower Mississippi valley, 

 including the lower Ohio. It is not a swamp tree to the extent of 

 cypress and tupelo, but it does best in wet, fertile land. Occasional 

 overflow helps rather than harms it. 



Dry black willow weighs 27.75 pounds per cubic foot. That jjlaces 

 it in the weight class with yellow poplar. It is rather low in strength 

 and elasticity. The wood is very porous, but the pores are exceed- 

 'ingly small. It splits with diflSculty, and nails easily. The wood 

 varies in color, but if dry is generally brown, with a tinge of blue. 

 When freshly cut it is often quite blue, or it may be nearly black; 

 but the color soon changes to a brown. The blueness does not appear 

 to be the result of fungus, however an expert report on that matter 

 has not been made. 



The rapidity with which willow is coming into use is shown by 

 figures of output. The federal census for 1908 gave the sawmill 

 cut of this wood in the entire country at 302,000 feet, with Pennsyl- 

 vania and Mississippi as the largest producers. Three years later 

 Louisiana alone was credited in a wood-using report with a cut 

 exceeding 6,000,000 feet. A report of fence posts in Iowa in 1909 

 credited willow with 88,113, but posts are not a new use. 



The rapidity with which willow is coming into use is due to its fit- 

 ness for many purposes. It reaches northern markets in large amounts, 

 as much as 200,000 feet in a single shipment, and it goes also to 

 other markets. Thorough tests of its suitability for panel cores in 

 piano making have been made with results Jiighly satisfactory. It is 

 further contemplated that it will be used as back and bottom boards 

 for pianos. It shows no tendency to warp at any time. One concern 

 which employs it as panel cores uses stock twenty-seven inches wide, 

 which affords a pretty severe test. A shipment of willow lumber 

 was recently made averaging eleven inches wide. Trees are not only 

 large but usually are sound. They frequently have trunks of clear 



lengths thirty or forty feet. A large shipment recently showed 50,000 

 feet No. 2 common and only 6,000 feet No. 3 common, while 150,000 

 feet were the better grades. 



A large mill in Louisiana rafts its willow logs down the Mississippi 

 from points above. Its yard contains numerous willow logs from two 

 to three feet in diameter, and some four feet. Many of them are as 

 sound and smooth as yellow poplar. When the lumber cut from 

 stock like that is thoroughly seasoned, its shipping weight is from 

 2,300 to 2,500 pounds per 1000 feet. It is, therefore, an economical 

 wood from the freight standpoint. 



Under favorable circumstances the growth of black willow is 

 probably equal to that of any other American timber tree. Instances 

 have been cited, apparently on good authority, of willow stands on 

 some of the abandoned cottonfields in the Mississippi flood plain, 

 which have produced 100,000 feet of willow logs per acre in sixty 

 years. That is, of course, more than can be expected under ordinary 

 conditions, but it shows what the possibilities are for this wood 

 which is just now attracting attention because of its many excellent 

 qualities. It is known to exist in rather large amounts in many 

 parts of the country ; and the rapidity with w^hieh it grows assures 

 it a place in future supply. The abundance and lightness of its 

 seeds favor natural planting in all vacant spaces within considerable 

 distances of trees. It is largely a waste land species, which gives 

 it additional value. 



The history of the uses of black willow fully uphold the claims now 

 made for it. Two hundred years ago willow planking for small 

 boats was used because it was a wood which resisted dints and 

 bruises without splintering. The same quality today gives it a place 

 in the manufacture of baseball bats and other athletic goods. 



Before labor-saving machinery had so largely replaced hand labor, 

 willow was in almost universal use as lapboards and cutting boards 

 by shoemakers, cobblers, and harness makers, first because it was 

 light, but chiefly for its peculiar and spongy softness. It did not 

 dull the woi'kman 's knife, nor was the surface of the wood scarified 

 or chipped by the use of the knife on it. That identical quality is 

 still valued by artisans who use cutting tables. 



It is one of the best woods for ironing boards, sleeve boards, and 

 others where heat is applied to the surface, for it will not warp, 

 check, or split in high temperatures. Its ability to resist intense 

 heat has long been known. That it is difficult to burn seems strange, 

 because willow charcoal is the best known for gunpowder and the 

 value of the powder is due to its quickness to burn. The first railway 

 trains used wooden brake blocks, and experience showed willow to 

 be the best, because it was almost impossible to set it on fire by 

 friction, while most other woods quickly kindled into blaze when 

 brought in contact with revolving car wheels. 



Wooden brake blocks are no longer used, but willow's resistance 

 to heat still creates a demand for it. The thick wooden-soled shoes 

 worn by workmen in rolling mills and glass factories, who must 

 stand on hot floors, are usually of willow; and the wheelbarrows 

 which carry ore, ashes, and other material to and from the doors of 

 red-hot furnaces are of willow, because it can stand fiery ordeals 

 which would char or kindle into blaze most other woods. 



It is one of the best materials in this country for wooden shoes. 

 Persons unacquainted with that industry would be surprised to learn 

 how many wooden shoes are made and worn in the United States. 

 They are literally sold by the cord in Chicago and other large cities. 

 In Europe alder is considered the best material, but in this country 



