24 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



finally becomes a finished spoke passes through a number of 

 processes from the time it is split or sawed from the bolt until it 

 is ready for service in the wheel of which it becomes an essential 

 part. Hubs, bolsters, sandboards, reaches, poles, felloes, and spokes 

 are the most important, places filled by this wood in wagon making; 

 but it occasionally has many other uses. 



Hickory has neari/ as wide a range of uses in wagon making 

 as oak has. Much more goes into axles, but less into spokes and 

 hubs. Axles are six feet long and in cross section run in sizes 

 2%x3% up to 6x7 inches, with extra sizes when wanted. Sugar 

 maple, in the same .sizes, is much employed for axles in large 

 wagons. It is very strong and stiff. Eveners, singletrees, and neck 

 yokes are often made of hickory and are listed regularly as vehicle 

 material. 



Cottonwood, yellow poplar and red gum are %vagon bed material; 

 the lumber of which ^vagon boxes are made. The boards come in 

 three lengths, 12, 14 and 16 feet, and are known as wide or 

 narrow. The wide boards are from thirteen to seventeen inches in 

 width, the narrow from nine to twelve. The lumber must be 

 sawed of a size that will dry full one inch in thickness. Wagon 

 box boards are strictly high-class lumber. They must be prac- 

 tically free from defects. In addition to that, they must be of 

 wood that seasons well, stands well after it is seasoned, and which 

 dresses with a smooth surface and possesses good painting qualities. 

 That is a combination not easily found, and of the hundred or more 

 species of wood in thi forests of the United States, very few have 

 been found suitable for wagon beds. The National Wagon Manu- 

 facturers' Associatioii lists only three, those named above; but, 

 of course, wagon beds are sometimes made of other woods, and 

 occasionally with very good results. 



Yellow poplar is highest in price in Illinois, and probably in 

 nearly every other wagon material market in the country. It takes 

 a high price to bring the broad, clear poplar boards to the wagon 

 factory, because such boards are demanded in many other indus- 

 tries and the supply is limited. Poplar's superiority as wagon 

 box boards consists in the wood 's lightness and toughness, its 

 small liability to split, warp, check, shrink, and swell, its suscep- 

 tibility of smooth polish, and its fine showing when painted. It 

 was once used more extensively for wagon beds than at present, 

 because it had not yet reached such a high price. 



('ottonwood usually is considered next in rank to yellow pojjlar 

 as wagon bed material, and more of it is used than of poplar 

 because it is cheaper. It is generally inspected under the same 

 rules as yellow poplar. It finishes nicely, paints well, and wears 

 in a satisfactory niaiir.er. Black willow is sometimes substituted 

 for Cottonwood as wagon bed material. 



Red gum is coming into use for wagon beds, but the quantity is 

 still much below yellow poplar and Cottonwood. Some wagon 

 manufacturers say that it has not yet made good, and that its 

 seasoning difiiculties have not been wholly overcome. It is said 

 to be hard to work, inclined to split when nails are driven in, and 

 even after the wood is painted it may warp. These are the worst 

 charges filed against U, and they may not hold when the wood is 

 better understood. The rapidity with which it is Coming into use 

 for other purposes indicates that it will soon take high rank as 

 wagon bed material. 



Longleaf and shortleaf pine listed in the foregoing table form 

 the bottom of wagon beds. The place is not exacting, and many 

 woods answer. The other woods shown in the table fill various 

 places in the manufacture of wagons. Much is built in the tops 

 of business wagons, f-uch as are used by butchers, bakers, fuel 

 companies, milkmen, and contractors on public works use. 



Osage orange, sometimes known as bodark, fills a somewhat 

 peculiar place in the wagon industry. It is made into felloes, and 

 the wagons which contain it are sold in the hot, dry, sandy regions 

 of the Southwest, in Texas, Oklahoma, western Kansas, and 

 beyond. The wood is reputed to neither shrink nor swell, and it 

 will stand up in a hoi, sandy region better than any other known 

 wood. Wagons so equipped fetch considerably higher -prices than 

 those equipped with oak felloes. Osage orange is reputed to be 



almost proof against decay when set as fence posts or otherwise 

 exposed to weather; yet, it is a peculiar thing, and is apparently 

 well authenticated, that it sometimes decays in a few months if 

 thrown together in a pile, even indoors. It is said that a wagon 

 which is left unused, though under a shed, may lose its Osage 

 orange felloes by decay in one year's time; but the felloes are 

 practically immune to decay if the wagon is kept going. 



The manufacturer of wagons procures much of his material 

 through the usual trade channels, but some of it can be had only 

 by special effort. Much of the wagon dimension stock is standard, 

 and is bought and sold in the markets in the common way, but 

 most large manufacturers require some special sizes to meet par- 

 ticular requirements. These are cut to order under contract. The 

 manufacturer anticipates his wants as far in the future as pos- 

 sible. Regular stock is generally bought without much trouble. 

 The purchaser can pick what he needs from various lots ofl:ered. 

 Travehng men visit him regularly and take orders for what he 

 needs in their line; but special needs are not usually thus provided 

 for. Ljsts with specifications may be sent to dealers, or to mills, 

 and some purchases are made in that manner; but few large fac- 

 tories are able to procure in that way all the wagon stock they 

 need. It is necessary for them to send buyers into the field who 

 visit dealers and mills, and place orders to meet particular needs. 

 The mills which cut wagon stock are anxious to sell their product, 

 and the wagon factories are willing to buy, but it is not always 

 easy for the seller to find the most profitable buyer, or for the 

 jirospective buyer to locate the stock he wants. 



It is a mistake to suppose that wagon stock is the output of 

 large mills onl}'. Some is produced in that way, but much of it is 

 literally gathered up "along the highways and hedges." Small 

 mills, many of which arc owned by farmers, turn out some of the 

 best wagon material. The mills may not run more than two or 

 three months in the .vcar, in winter when work on farms is slack. 

 The timber is cut f ro;^i farmers ' woodlots. Perhaps a field or two 

 is being cleared, and trees fit for wagon material are cut into 

 wagon stock; chair dimensions may be made of the leavings, and 

 the scraps are cut into cordwood. Practically everything is saved, 

 but in early years such material was piled in the clearings and 

 burned. 



Some of the best oak and hickory wagon stock comes from 

 farmers' woodlots. Much of it may be second growth, therefore 

 of rapid growth, and tough and strong. 



Canal's Effect on Character of Shipping 



.\ccording to the statement of one of the old captains sailing 

 on the Pacific, the opening of the Panama canal will see tho 

 resumption of the employment of a large number of sailing vessels 

 operating between Atlantic and Pacific ports. The statement of 

 this seafarer is a complete refutation of the statement that the 

 days of the old "windjammer" are nearing an end. 



This captain, whose name is Carlson, states that on his last visit 

 to Newcastle, he counted 120 off-shore sailing vessels in the harbor 

 and that a majority of them were loading coal for the west coast 

 of South America. A few of them were under charter to carry 

 nitrate from the west coast to the United Kingdom. Nearly every 

 week in the year, the sailing skipper declares, the same number 

 of "wind-jammers" may be seen at Newcastle, the skippers there 

 preferring them to steamers. It is also stated that these sailing 

 vessels are operating under higher freight rates than are the 

 steamers. 



According to the opinion of the skipper quoted, it will not be 

 long before the shipyards of the world will commence once more to 

 turn out sailing vessels. He believes that large schooners with 

 from four to six masts will be built on the Pacific coast, each hav- 

 ing a capacity of from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 feet of lumber. 



This condition, if it materializes, will not only be welcome from 

 a romantic point of view, but should have a marked efTect upon 

 the lumber business inasmuch as it would probably result in an 

 increase in the use of wood in vessel construction. 



