April 20. I!t22 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



29 



The Commercial Range of Hickory 



By William Harrison Lamb 



The hickories are unique among our native hardwoods. They 

 are adapted to certain uses for which no satisfactory substitutes 

 are known, and they are an all-Araeriean product, there being no 

 foreign species, as in the case of many other American woods. 



The high day of hickory was at the peak of the development 

 of the American light vehicle, when enormous quantities were used 

 for spokes, rims and other parts for which the use of hickory per- 

 mitted the light design so characteristic of our vehicles. Now 

 the vehicle industry is being modified by the development of the 

 automobile, which with the increasing tendency toward wire- 

 spoked and metal disc wheels, can easily survive the extinction 

 of hickory. But although the manufacture of light buggies, car- 

 riages and other vehicles may decline, there will always be a ready 

 market for all of the available hickory. 



As the supply of mature, large-sized hickory declines, however, 

 there must be greater dependency upon second growth, and more 

 and more will the supply be found in the hands of the small wood- 

 lot owner. As a matter of fact it is becoming more and more 

 evident every year that our future hardwood supply is going to be 

 had from the farm. 

 The experience with 

 -walnut during the 

 recent war demon- 

 strated that enor- 

 mous quantities of 

 jiny widely distrib- 

 uted hardwood may 

 be obtained from 

 the small timber 

 holdings under the 

 intense methods 

 used to procure wal- 

 nut for war pur- 

 poses. 



It is evident now, 

 that as the virgin 

 stands of hardwood 

 become exhausted, 

 the supplies will 

 have to be secured 

 in a similar man- 

 ner. When this time 

 arrives, we will have 

 to achieve some im- 

 provement in lum- 

 bering and in trans- 

 portation to meet 

 the new conditions. 

 Sawing outfits for 

 producing lumber 

 "will have to be as 

 portable and inex- 

 pensive as those 

 now used in cutting 

 firewood, and we 

 must have lighter 

 units of transporta- 

 tion than the pres- 

 ent freight car with 

 its large capacity. 

 So long as reload- 

 ing has to be done 



on shipments of less amount than our standard cars carry, it will 

 continue to be uneconomical to collect the scattered hardwoods. 

 With little units like those in use on the railways of Europe, it 

 would now be possible-for many farmers to market small quantities 

 of valuable hardwoods. Good roads and the auto-truck may even- 

 tually take the place of the light railway car in this country, but 

 whatever the exact nature of the solution, there will have to be 

 some modification of the present system before the great wealth of 

 material in the small woodlots can find profitable outlet. 



Commerciai Range Will Extend 



In the case of hickory, as the large s'tands become exhausted, the 

 commercial range will become gi-eatly extended. Now the best 

 material is coming from more or less restricted regions, but when 

 that is gone, we will revert to the virgin commercial ranges. There 

 the second growth and the stuff which could not be utilized at the 

 time of cut-over and the more valuable timber reserved in the 

 wood-lots will constitute the commercial stand. The big problem 

 then confronting the hickory industry will be one of transporta- 

 tion. Show the 

 farmer a profit on 

 his hickory and it 

 will be forthcoming 

 over a vast area, 

 extending from 

 Massachusetts to 

 eastern Texas, and 

 from Iowa to Flor- 

 ida. Certain areas 

 will offer distinct- 

 ive combinations of 

 species and others 

 only one or two va- 

 rieties. From east- 

 ern Texas will come 

 water hickory and 

 pecan. From south- 

 ern Alabama and 

 Georgia will come 

 mockernut. From 

 northern Illinois, 

 southeastern Iowa, 

 northern Missouri 

 and northern Penn- 

 sylvania will come 

 bitternut. Toward 

 the commercial cen- 

 ters will come an 

 increased assort- 

 ment of these and 

 other species. 



Indeed, a cursory 

 survey of the pres- 

 ent status of the 

 hickory supply pre- 

 sents a most confus- 

 ing aspect, at least 

 until the commer- 

 cial ranges of the 

 various species are 

 carefully worked 

 out and all laid 



Map drawn by the author to show graphically where present supplies of hickory are situated 



