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Second Growth Defined 



The term "second growth" when applied to wood is frequently 

 used without a definite idea of its meaning, and it doesn 't mean 

 the same to all people who employ the term. The usual idea is 

 that second growth timber has come on since the primeval forests 

 were cut, or that it is timber which occupies old fields or tracts 

 laid bare by fire or some other cause. 



The chief consideration is that second growth timber must be 

 comparatively young, and in many instances it is regarded as an 

 advantage if it has grown on ground somewhat open. That, how- 

 ever, depends upon what kind of timber it is, and for what purpose 

 it is intended. 



A large part of the loblolly pine in the South is second growth, 

 in the sense that it occupies old fields or other areas which were 

 vacant at a comparatively recent period; but 'it is of no advantage 

 to this pine to grow in open stands. If it does so, it is less val- 

 uable, because it is wanted in the form of long, shapely logs, free 

 from limbs and knots. That kind is produced only in thick stands. 

 Consequently, no one ever advertises loblolly pine, or any other 

 pine, as second growth. Such an advertisement would not help to 

 sell the lumber. In fact, the older a pine is, provided it has not 

 been injured by decay, the better the lumber is. 



Hickory is exactly the reverse. That is the wood most fre- 

 quently advertised as second growth. When it stands in open 

 ground, or where surrounding trees do not crowd it, the increase 

 in size is rapid, and the trunk contains little heartwood, sometimes 

 none, until the bole attains considerable size. Very tough wood 

 is wanted. A short trunk with plenty of white sap, and with 

 fibers tough and interlaced, is preferred to a long bole, which grows 

 slowly in the shade of the forest and becomes brashy rather than 

 tough. In that sense, to apply the term second growth to hickory 

 really means something. No better hickory is procurable than that 

 which grows in old fields, and in open spaces in the forest. The 

 trunks are short, but the wood is excellent. A rather large amount 

 of hickory of that kind goes to market, for it is a wood of rapid 

 growth where it occupies open spaces and is nourished by good, 

 deep soil. That is why some of the old states like Ohio and 

 Indiana continue to send much good hickory to market, though the 

 old forest supply was pretty closely cut years ago. 



Second growth, is an advantage to ash and elm, and in fact to 



nearly all woods in which toughness and strength are highly de- 

 sirable; but it holds in all cases that trees which develop in open 

 ground and increase in size rapidly, have short trunks and large 

 crowns. It is the large crown, with plenty of leaves, which can 

 develop only in open ground, that causes the trunk to increase 

 rapidly in size. The growth of wood is in direct proportion to the 

 quantity and health of the foliage. A starved, compressed crown, 

 in a thick forest, cannot feed the trunk sufficiently to induce 

 rapid growth. 



Elm and ash are found in open ground occasionally, but genuine 

 second growth is less abundant with them than with hickory. 

 They are sawed into lumber oftener than hickory, and toughness 

 and abundance of sapwood are not so frequently insisted upon. 



No one ever advertises second growth walnut, yet, in proportion 

 to the total quantity of growing trees, it is doubtful if any wild 

 tree of this country is more frequently found fulfilling typical 

 second growth conditions than black walnut. It is an old-field and 

 wayside tree, and springs up plentifully and grows rapidly. No 

 one wants second growth walnut, because walnut is purchased for 

 the color and size of its heartwood. Young trees, growing rapidly 

 in the open, develop heartwood so slowly that a trunk eighteen 

 inches through may not have more than six or eight inches of 

 colored heart, often less than that. The old, forest-grown walnut 

 possesses the desired properties, though it is neither tough nor 

 very strong. 



Oak is like both hickory and walnut, that is, some users want 

 young, tough, second growth, others will take only mature trees, 

 from which most of the elasticity and toughness of youth has 

 departed. It depends upon the use intended. The wagon maker 

 would rather have the young tree, and he cares nothing about the 

 color and figure of the heartwood; in fact, the less of it, the 

 better. The furniture maker has no use for young oak of second 

 growth, but wants veteran trees, with old, rich heart, abundance 

 of figure, and plenty of grain. Beauty rather than excessive 

 strength is the chief consideration. 



Taking the country generally, there will be more second growth 

 timber in the future than there has been in the past, because the 

 primeval forests are being cut, and growth more or less open, and 

 timber of less age will largely meet demand in the years to come. 



S pias:M^aa<awiroy.n !iro iii>i^ia^iw;ia.^^ 



It was, of course, a man who said, "Inconsistency, thy name 

 is woman! " 



Here's an instance to prove the point. 



A clothing dealer in one of the leading cities of the Ohio valley 

 was carefully explaining why a reduction in the tariff on wool or 

 woolen goods would not affect the cost of clothing appreciably. 



"The material doesn't cost much compared with the price paid 

 by the ultimate consumer," he pointed out. "It must be remem- 

 bered that the goods in fabric form move through two or three 

 hands before reaching the factory or tailor; then the cutting up 

 and manufacturing process puts an additional impost of expense 

 upon them; and the greatest load of all is added in distribution 

 to the trade and sale over the counters of the retailer, because 

 the latter has to maintain expensive quarters in the heart of the 

 city, install the most expensive and convenient fixtures and de- 

 liver the goods ten miles by motor truck, if necessary, in order to 

 get the trade. I venture to say that changing the value of 

 woolen goods by means of a tariff reduction will not affect the 

 price of a suit of clothing to the extent of thirty cents, on an 

 average. " 



This was an impressive demonstration; but it would have been 



more conclusive, as well as more consistent, if the same idea had 

 been followed out by the clothier; for he was at that time letting 

 a contract to a builder for the erection of a home which was to 

 cost five or six thousand dollars, in which all of the interior finish 

 above the first floor was to be of pine and other softwoods, while 

 even downstairs hardwoods had a chance chiefly at the floors, 

 most of the doors being of inferior material. 



The reason oak was not being more generally used was because 

 of the "expense," the clothier having inquired of his architect 

 which would be the cheaper. When he learned that cypress cost 

 less than poplar and pine less than oak, he ordered the designer to 

 substitute the less expensive woods. 



But he nevertheless believes that the cost of material is a 

 minor factor and that manufacturing and labor expense forms the 

 chief load — in the clothing business. 



It is equally true of the lumber field, but consumers appear not 

 to realize it. And this creates a splendid opportunity for the 

 hardwood trade to do a little intelligent boosting. The average 

 owner doesn 't realize how much it would add to his home, in 

 beauty, durability and value, to have oak and other hardwood trim- 

 mings and floors instead of softwoods chosen because of their 



