3° 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



lumber business this movement -nill be ourried on to best advantage 

 by conservmg the effort which is now wasted in turning out stock for 

 which the demand has waned. The wise lumberman, intelligently 

 scanning the business horizon, will adapt his products to the market, 



and not attempt to batter down a stone wall of prejudice by trying century lumber enterprise. 



to force the market to accept his products as he lias made them. The 

 first plan calls for investigation, analysis and thought ; the other is 

 the result of mechanical, stolid methods which are the survival of the 

 stone age of business, and have no place in the conduct of a twentieth 



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The Manufacture of Canoes 



The modern canvas-covered canoe is primarily a pleasure boat, 

 though considerable numbers are built for business. It is a light, 

 cheap, convenient article, and few things made chiefly of wood con- 

 tribute more to the health and happiness of the people. It is exclu- 

 sively for out-of-door use, and it tempts peojile into the open air 

 who otherwise would seldom take an outing. 



A recent report on boat building in Maine gives some interest- 

 ing details of the manufacture of canvas-covered canoes in that 

 state. It is a development from the birch-bark canoe, which was 

 an Indian invention antedating history in this country. The 

 modern canoe is of practically the same form and its method of 

 construction is much the same, though machinery now performs 

 most of the work which the Indian did with his hands, and canvas 

 has taken the place of the birch bark which the savage was forced 

 to use because he had nothing better. 



Northern white cedar or arborvitae is employed almost exclu- 

 sively for the canoe ribs. This was the wood used by the Indians. 

 They preferred it because it was about the only wood which they 

 could manipulate with their crude tools. By beating and hammer- 

 ing with stone mauls, the billets of wood parted in thin laths just 

 right for ribs, which the Indian could easily bend to the desired 

 form. The modern manufacturer prefers the same cedar, not 

 because it is easily worked, but because it is very light and is suf- 

 ficiently strong for service. It is one of the lightest woods of 

 this country, and is cheap and abundant. 



This cedar makes excellent boards for planking, and it is so 

 tough that the boards may be very thin and yet strong enough 

 to meet every requirement of the canoe maker. Unfortunately, 

 the white cedar is poor sawlog material. Trunks are small, 

 usually not straight, often hollow, liable to windshake, and the 

 sawmill turns out few boards of a quality fit for canoe planking. 

 A quite satisfactory substitute has been found in a tree which 

 grows on the northern I'acific coast, in Oregon and Washington, and 

 is known as western red cedar, shingle cedar, and giant arbor- 

 vitae. Faultless canoe planking is sawed from this wood, and 

 eastern canoe makers are now using considerable quantities of it. 

 The southern white cedar, which is entirely distinct from the 

 northern cedar, and grows near the coast from New Jersey south- 

 ward, is light enough for canoe planking, but is said to be too 

 brittle. 



The gunwales are made of clear red spruce which grows in New 

 I'^ngland, but much of the best now comes from West Virginia. 

 Different woods are used for gunwales, and mahogany is not un- 

 common. It is heavy, but it looks well and wears a long time. 

 In Maine the thwarts are of yellow birch, or sometimes of sugar 

 maple; and these woods, together with white ash, are made into 

 seats. Paddles are generally of spruce, but some prefer hard 

 inaple which is a little stronger but is less elastic. 



Northern white cedar stock comes to the factory in pieces 

 somewhat larger than the rib. They are sawed to size and shape, 

 steamed, bent to the desired form on a wooden mold or pattern, 

 fastened, and left for twentj'-four hours. 



While on this mold the gunwales are put in, most of the plank- 

 ing is nailed on, and the ends of the ribs sawed off. The half- 

 made canoe is then taken from the mold, the jjlanking is finished, 

 and the thwarts and deck are put in. Then comes one of the 

 most important parts of the whole operation. The canoe is soaked 

 in linseed oil for twenty-four hours, and everv inch of wood in 



it is thoroughly saturated, and becomes practically immune to the 

 influences of water. 



The next step in the process is the stretching and fastening of 

 the canvas. An interesting detail at this point is the removal of 

 the fuzz from the canvas by means of a gasoline lamp. After the 

 surface has been siugcd to prevent the fuzz from protruding 

 through the varnish, a coat of filler is applied to the canvas, and 

 the canoe is put out of doors, bottom side up, and it remains three 

 or four weeks to permit the filler to harden. A second coat of 

 filler is then applied and the canoe goes out of doors again for 

 several days. This second coat of filler is carefully smoothed 

 down by the workman's hand. No brush has been invented that 

 will do as good work as the bare hand. The next step is a coat 

 of paint to give the desired color, and finally a finish of spar 

 varnish is given both the inside and outside of the canoe. 



There are various styles and patterns of canoes. Some are 

 designed for use on lagoons and ponds in city parks. Some are 

 for pleasure journeys on lakes and rivers. Others are intended 

 for the serious work of travelers and explorers in remote regions. 

 Extra long and large canoes are made for parties, such as boat 

 clubs and boy scouts. 



The service which a good canoe will give is remarkable. An- 

 nouncement was recently made that a United States oflScer had 

 been ordered to proceed in a canoe from the source to the mouth 

 of the Mississippi, a distance, following the bends of the stream, 

 of about 2,500 miles. That will be an easy trip, however, com- 

 pared with some which the canoe goes through safely. It is not 

 unusual for explorers to carry their canoes long distances over 

 very rough country, passing from one river or one lake to another. 

 A good account of such service by a canoe is found in Dillon 

 Wallace's book "The Lure of the Labrador Wild." 



Canoes large enough to carry three or four persons with neces 

 sary baggage are sufficiently light to be carried by one man. The 

 old style wooden boat of equal capacity could scarcely be carried 

 by its whole crew. 



Manufactured Exports Ten Times Farm 

 Products 



Manufactured goods exported from the United States have in- 

 creased in the last thirty-three years more than ten times as rapidly 

 as the agricultural exports, as shown by figures collated by the 

 Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Farm product exports 

 have not decreased in value, but the manufactures have grown so 

 much more rapidly that the increase is as ten to nine. 



From the year 1880 to 1913 agricultural products sent abroad grew 

 in value from $694,000,000 to $1,200,000,000, an increase of seventy 

 per cent. Manufactured products exported in 1880 were valued at 

 $122,000,000, in 1913 at $1,200,000,000, an increase of more than 

 eight hundred per cent. 



What is claimed to be the largest one-piece flagpole in the world 

 is to be erected on the grounds of the provincial courthouse in 

 Vancouver, British Columbia. The pole is a British Columbia fir, 

 20.5 feet in length, weighing approximately five tons after being 

 dressed and allowed to season from six to eight months. It will 

 be set in a foundation of concrete ten feet deep, giving it a height 

 of 195 feet above the ground after being placed in position. 



