48 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



cypress, ninth; baswood, tenth; yellow poplar, eleventh. 



As Chicago has always been the principal distributing jioint 

 for the forest products of the Lake States, it is not surprising 

 that white pine should stand as high as it does in the list, al- 

 though the quantity used in domestic remanufacture annually is 

 five million feet less than that of white oak, and the average cost 

 indicates a wide use of the lower grades. 



Red gum is becoming one of the principal woods demanded by 

 the wood users of Illinois, an<l probably the quantity named has 

 materially increased since the time the statistics in this work were 

 collected. 



Of the twent3'-five foreign woods shown to be employed by Illi- 

 nois wood-workers, mahogany is the most prominent one, involving 

 as it does 6,600,000 feet. 



The work recites that Chicago occupies a high place as a nuuiu 

 facturing district and consuming center, and as is well known is 

 the greatest point of lumber distribution in the world. 



The book makes for the first time a showing of Chicago's im- 

 portance as a point of lumber consumption and center of wood 

 manufacture. Thus in 1909 Chicago 's lumber receipts were 2,- 

 600,000,000 feet, and_ the accompanying table shows that forty- 

 three per cent of the quantity involved.in receipts was actually 

 consumed for remanuf acturing purposes outside, be it borne in 

 mind, of lumber used in the rough and dressed lumber shipped and 

 for the other purposes specified in an early paragraph of this 

 article. 



The states of Kentucky and Arkansas furnished almost equal 

 quantities of the larger percentage of the white oak consumed in 

 the state, the remainder coming from no less than fifteen different 

 states. Tennessee supplied the larger proportion of the red oak. 

 Most of the red gum came from Arkansas and Missouri. Wiscon- 

 sin supplied most of the red birch, basswood and elm, while most 

 of the sugar maple and beech came from Michigan. Tennessee is 

 credited with supplying the larger proportion of the yellow poplar, 

 and Mississippi the cottonwood. Almost thirty per cent of the 

 chestnut came from West Virginia, and twenty-two per cent from 

 Tennessee. 



The largest percentage of the lumber listed in the table came 

 from Wisconsin; next, Louisiana; third, Michigan; fourth, Missis- 



sippi; the Pacific coast; three per cent and foreign countries, one 

 per cent. 



Other tables in the book attempt to show quantity and cost of 

 the wood per thousand feet going into manufactured products in 

 Illinois. In one table is shown the total quantity of lumber used, 

 irrespective of its kind, and the average cost per thousand feet, and 

 its total cost at the factorj'. In distribution, the industries are 

 divided into fifty-one distinct classes. 



It is shown that nearly twenty-three per cent of the lumber enter- 

 ing into remanufacture in Illinois was purchased for the construc- 

 tion of railroad cars, involving an expenditure of over $12,000,000, 

 which is nearly one-quarter of the annual expenditure of all other 

 industries shown. 



The lumber employed for packing boxes is only about thirty-five 

 million feet less than that demanded by car builders, but costs 

 4*6,000,000 less. 



In relative importance, the first six wood-working industries in 

 Illinois are manufacturers of cars, boxes, doors and planing mill 

 products, farm machinery, furniture and pianos. These six lines use 

 over seventy and one-half per cent of the total woods reported. 



There are many interesting facts discussed in the document con- 

 cerning wood utilization in the state of Illinois. It is apparent 

 that Chicago is a great leader in the production of a good many 

 minor special lines, notably barber shop furniture, bathroom equip- 

 ment, picture frame moldings, chairs, cigar boxes, couches, daven- 

 ports and coach frames, freight and passenger elevators, electric 

 apparatus, hardwood flooring, incubators and poultry accessories, lad- 

 ders, laundry machinery, meat blocks, parlor furniture frames, school, 

 lodge a:ud church furniture, sewing machine tables and bar fixtures. 



One interesting and not disappointing feature of the report is 

 the fact that there are but nine refrigerator factories in Illinois, 

 of which six are located in Chicago. 



One remarkable feature of the report is the showing that the city 

 of Chicago consumes sixty-two and six-tenths per cent of all the 

 lumber remanufactured into various wood products in the state of 

 Illinois. 



Is it any wonder then that Chicago is the Mecca for luniiiiTniou 

 from not only every part of the United States, but every jiart of 

 the known world who have lumber to sell? 



vi jyAi^5a&/^&,.\^ja^Maii:>^}ia^uiTO!!)iii^^ ' ^^ti:i'iyista ' ' 



m 



f^- 



Sappy Oak 



, Let us forget for a minute the connection with and the wrangles 

 over sap, bright sap, sap stain and percentage of sap in grading 

 rules and specifications, and think of sap merely as oak. Sap oak 

 has suffered unjustly from abuse. 



It has been neglected because it has not been projierly valued. 

 The sap part of oak has been considered as inferior and the out- 

 side or sappy boards have never been regarded with much favor. 

 Consequently, they have been dumped indiscriminately. The sun 

 has been allowed to check them, dirt has gotten into them and 

 stain set up, and all of these things are doing to sap oak what 

 we understand is gener^iUy done to a dog when it is given a bad 

 name and turned loose. 



If i)roperIy cared for from the time it is cut until it is used, 

 and if used in a correct manner and in the right place, sap oak 

 will often give good results. For certain schemes of finish in cab- 

 inet work it is really a better body to work on than heart oak. 

 It is the same way in flooring and in mill work. If one but takes 

 care of the sap and segregates it from the heart stock so as to 

 get it all together for harmony in texture and color, there is a 

 chance to do just as effective work with sap as with heart. There 

 is no comparison of sap with heart for timbers and exposed work 

 outside where durability is an object under the method of using 

 the timber jjlain, but with the modern systems of treating wood 

 the sap part of oak is lieing made much more useful and durable 

 even for outside work. 



It is sap oak for high-grade interior work that the writer has 

 in mind, for mill-work, interior trim, furniture and other cabinet 

 work. For instance, if sap oak flooring is selected and laid with 

 care and properly stained before finishing, it will present a beau- 

 tiful appearance — one that appeals to some people more strongly 

 than the red tone of the heart. It may be finished either very 

 light or an unusually dark stain applied with a filler and then in 

 rubbing oil' there is brought out a strong contrast of dark and 

 light effects that is very striking. 



The same effects produced in flooring may be obtaincrl in a 

 higher degree in furniture and cabinet work. The only thing nec- 

 (jssary is to take care of the sap stock from the time it is cut at the 

 mill until it is ready to be used at the factory. Then get enough 

 of it together to make harmony. To have the sap dominating in 

 the particular work in which it enters, and then if the work is 

 carried out right, one can get new appreciation of the possibilities 

 and beauties of sap oak. We need more of this appreciation as an 

 incentive to take better care of it at the mill when it is first man- 

 ufactured. The sappy part of oak is more likely to check from the 

 sun and wind, iind therefore needs extra care. 



It should be carefully piled with perhaps more cross sticks 

 tlKin the heart stock in order to keep it straight and in good 

 shape. .Ml this will make it cost a little more, but it shnuKI mid 

 Hovoral times thc^ additional cost to the value of the stock. 



J. C. T. 



