HARDWOOD RECORD 



4» 



l''oi'estry. simply stating tlic imnihci' i>f samples 

 111- desires and the use to which lie wishes to put 

 tlieni. Of the elass of woods in which h<» is in- 

 teresli'd, e. g., I'or use as school collections, woods 

 for furniture manufacture, etc. 



of course it is not exjiceted that tin' nien- po>- 

 ■ >sion of su<-li samples will make tlieii- owner 

 -ni expert in identifying I'liilippine woods : i>ut 

 I hey may often i>revent his beins imposed upon 

 iln-ou^h either tlie ignoraiu-e r)r the l)ad faith 

 mT I 111 \ciidor. 



Peculiar Uses for Wood 



While visitin;< tlic operations of a logj^in^ 

 iiiacltinery manufaelurinit; concern recently, says 

 a correspondent of an English contemporary, an 

 interesting occurrence took place. A large ship- 

 ment of logging cars was almost ready to be 

 sent to a <'oiieern in Ilritisli Honduras. These 

 were to l)e used nu a railroad several miles 

 lotig and eipiipped with a small steam logging 

 locomotive. Tlic original order for the cars 

 .vtaie<l that they were to I)e equipped witli stan- 

 <lard tread wheels for ttse witli ordinary steel 

 rails. After work had commenced the order wa> 

 •eliatiged in regard to the tread of the wheel. 'I'iie 

 tirm liad discovered that msihogany rails would 

 l.'e elieai)er for them than steel, and so tlie tread 

 of tile wlieels was made six incites and tlie road 

 I'tlttiliped witli wooden rails. 



To lumliermen in lliis country this would ler 

 tainly seem a waste tif costly material. Imt the 

 I'act that tills road lies through a .iungle where 

 I lie rainfall is heavy and the ground constantly 

 moist, steel rails would corrode rapidly. Un- 

 der such conditions mahogany rails would last 

 much longer than steel rails, while the first 

 tost of the wood would also he considerably less 

 liian steel. 



In South America there are a nuuilrer of 

 woods similar to lignum-vitic and so heav.v that 

 they will sink in water. Those are of a some- 

 wliat oily nature and resist decay for many 

 leiirs. The step at the approach of one nf the 

 ■■Id Spanisli cathedrals in lirazil is made of what 

 is i<nown as ironwood. This has been in use 

 for one hundred and twenty-live years and in 

 such a position w<iuld naturally liave constant 

 aafi hard wear. 



In the ruins in Y-.icatau the lintels ol many 

 of the doors in the masonry walls are made of 

 wood from tiie sapodilla tree, from whicli the 

 chicle used in thi' manufaeturi' of eiiewing gum 

 Is also obtained. These are still sound despite 

 tlie fact that these buildings have been aban- 

 doned for so many years that the- natives have 

 !">^t nil traditions of their original owners. 



Supply of Paper Birch Not Decreasing 



I'be 1', S. rieijartment of .Vgricullure is au- 

 tiinrily for the statenii'nt liiat the |>aiii-r birch, 

 i.ften called also white birch, or canoe bircli. is 

 one of the few timber trees in this country whicli 

 seem to be holding their own against ax and 

 .fire. The average citizen, liowever, jirobably 

 takes no particular interest in the paper bireli. 

 Vet it is doubtful if any other kind of wood on 

 the face of Ihe earth is found in so many house- 

 holds, for paiier birch furnishes most of the 

 siiools made in the United States. 



Maine is the chief center of spool manufac- 

 ture. Its factories turn out .SOO.OOO.OOO spools 

 yearij-. chii-fly birch. Kew woods as liard as 

 this can be worked with as Utile dulling of the 

 tools; its principal recommendation lies in that 

 fact. It is handsome in color, and. after the 

 wood becomes seasoned, it shrinks and warps 

 very little. That is an important consideration, 

 liecause the delicate macliinery that winds the 

 thread would fail to work if the spool changed 

 its shape to a perceptible degree. 



The birch wood for spools must be selected and 

 handlid with care. The tree's red disk heart- 

 wood is objectionalile because it will not turn 

 smooth in the lathe, and the color is not de- 

 sired. Few industries waste more wood, in pro- 

 portion to the quantity used, than spool mak- 



ing. Ileartwood, knots, and all other detects, 

 frequently amounting to more than one-half of 

 the tree, are rejected. From one-half to three- 

 fourths of the remainder may go to the refuse 

 heap in sawing the bars and turning the spools. 

 Despite this waste, the paper birch does not 

 appear to be threatened witli extinction. It Is 

 a are tree- that is. it spreads rapidly over 

 spaces left vacant liy forest fires. The most i-x- 

 tenslve paper birch forests of .Maine and New- 

 Hampshire occupy tracts vvliieh were laid liare by 

 tlie great forest fires which swept the region 

 irom 1823 to IS."!?. 



■I'he tree is short lived. .\t an age when the 

 white cedar, for example, is just Iieginning to 

 lay on useful wood, the paper liircli has passed 

 its prime and is ready f.u- decay. It is placed 

 at still furtlier disadvantage liy being unable to 

 compete with other trees for light and soil. It 

 prospers when growing alone, hut it gives up 

 the fight after stronger trees Ijegin to crowd it. 

 Nevertheless, it is believed that more paper 

 birch is growing in tiie fnited States today than 

 21)0 years ago. 



An Interesting Special Machine 



Tlie Eagle lAimlier t'ompany. of Rapide-de- 

 L'Original. Quebec, has Just had a special 

 doulile edger liuilt. of whicli the following is a 

 brief description : 



The macliine is .54 inches wide in tlie clear 

 lietween guides. The front table is 10 feet long, 

 and the rear table 1!) feet. There are four 

 feed rolls — two in front of the saws and two 

 back of them. The table and feed rolls are in 

 two lengths. On Ihe right hand side they are 



14 inches long, and on the left hand side 40 

 inches. The 14 and 40-inch feed rolls are driven 

 independently, and each has two feeds, or rales, 

 at wliieh the lumoer may b<' fed to the saws, tlie 

 feed wtu'ks being mounted on the top of tlie 

 husk. 



In line witli the 14-iuch rolls is a cluster of 

 live saws, while on the left hand side is one 

 siaiiouMry and four movable saws, which are 

 adjusted bv means of hand wheels. Tlie saws 

 are 22 inches in diameler. 



The press rolls are in three lengths, one 14- 

 iiich and two 20-inch. 



The rear taiiie is so trussed as to require no 

 support except at the ends. leaving a space of 



15 feet in tlie dear underneath, for the pur- 

 p.ose of passing slabs through. 



Both the 14-inch and the 4il-ineh rolls cm the 

 rear l.able are driven. 



This edger was built by tiie (lordfui Hollow 

 Blast Crate Company, of (Jreenville. Mich., lb- 

 well-known manufacturer of the <;ordon hollow 

 blast grate and the Tower line of edgers and 

 trimmers, which it claims is tiie most extensive 

 and complete on the market. 



Fence Posts of Iowa 



The Forest Service has recently issued a 

 report on the fence post situation of one of 

 the leading agricultural states of the country. 

 Iowa. It is estimated that the farmers in tliis 

 state alone use annually .$1,400,000 worth of 

 new fence posts, wbidi re(jiiire a total labor 

 cost of SOOtl.OOd fer setting them. The de- 

 partment olliciais believe that a part of this 

 expenditure might be saveil. stating that the 

 opportunity for econom.v of labor and material 

 is found, first, in the species of the wood usimI 

 in the post, second, by treating to previMit 

 decay. 



The average life of a fence post is stated to 

 be fourteen years, with an average cost of 13.7 

 cents. There is, however, a great difTerence in 

 the lasting properties of various wood species, 

 the comparative life ranging about as follows: 

 Osage orange, red cedar, locust, white oak, 

 southern white cedar, catalpa, black walnut. 

 butternut, red oak and willow being named in 

 the order of decreasing endurance. The aver- 

 age cost of posts varies with the dilTerent 

 woods, red cedar being Ihe most expensive. 



Ihe average cost per post being 2i!% cents per 

 post, while willow posts at li lents apiece 

 are cheapest. However, considering Ihe ques- 

 tion from a point of durability as well of In- 

 itial cost, the osage orange post Is probably the 

 most economical. 



Preservative treatment Increases the life of 

 all wooden posts, and more than doubles Ihe 

 period of nsefuluess of those thai are mostly 

 sa|) wood. It losts miiili less to treat a post 

 than it does to buy a new one and put It In 

 Ihe ground, and In addition a very material 

 conservation of post stock would be cffecti'd. 



African Mahogany Demand 



Considerabb' diiTerenec' <■! opinion exiuls as 

 to the quantity of African mahogany which is 

 likely to reach England anil ihi' chief conti- 

 nental ports between now and Ihe end of the 

 .year, sa.vs tlie TImlier News and Sawmill Engl- 

 ni'cr of Liverpool. From Information lo hand 

 from the West Coast of Africa, It seems pretty 

 clear that while there Is plenty of mahogany 

 cut, yet Ihe labor is very scarce, owing to lis 

 having been drafted inio more remunerative 

 channels, leaving only a limited aiufiunt of la- 

 bor to operate mahogany. On the other hand. 

 It Is stated that millions of feet are stored at 

 the port of Henin ready for shlpinenl. Tnere 

 may be a good deal stored there, but we doiibl 

 if there is the volume tliat some would try to 

 make out. The net ri-sult. after viewing the 

 subject from all standpoints, and sifting all 

 av.'iilabie information, is that there will he mod- 

 erate supplies coming fr<iin Ihe clilef ports be- 

 tween now and the end of Ihe year, with pos- 

 sibly a slight inerea.se in the volume early next 

 year. 



Tlie opening <if the season and the Increased 

 quantities which have arrived, to which we re- 

 ferri'd a month ago, met an eager marki't, with 

 tlie result that the wood that was sold by 

 Iirivate treat.v changed hands rapidly, and 

 at auction praclieally all that was offered was 

 sold to eager buyers. IM'ieos are. if anything. 

 a little firmer than they have been for all 

 c-lasses of wood tliat will answer to the Ameri- 

 can demands. Small, inferior and lient logs, 

 whicli are usually disposed of at home, are as 

 dear as ever, but without any added value 

 recently. 



The demand in Ihe I'nited Kingdom is Im- 

 proving, wliich is a distinctly satisfactory slate 

 considering Iliat the trade in this direction lias 

 lieen of the dullest for many a long day. The 

 demand, from the X'nlK'd States is. taken col- 

 lectively, very good, although there are large 

 buyers over there wlio ari> nol now In Ihe mar- 

 ket at present prices. These may be expi'cted 

 to face the music whatever the tune may be 

 liefore Ihe end of the year, because they can 

 not afford to allow their slock to beconn' de- 

 pleted to any great extent. Continental or 

 ders are more numerous than they were, but 

 many of these have to be returned because 

 buyers forward same at prices llml were ruling 

 some lime back, and which are, of conrse, not 

 now in operation. 



Indian Wood for the Pencil Trade 

 \ short time ago Ihe Indian Forest Ueparl 

 meni published an instructive pamphlet, giving 

 full particnlars of the various woods obtainable 

 in this country, their hardnes.s. weiglil and uses. 

 The pani|)hlel made it clear that India could 

 supply Ihe world's market with quite a large 

 numlM'r ot valuable woods capable of being 

 adagited to almost every conceivatde purpose. 

 Irom the plainest to the most ornanii>nlal. .'iid 

 what si ruck one in looking through lis pii- 

 was the wealth of timber thai could be u-'i 

 tor pencil making, and Ihe practical absence of 

 Ihe high-grade pencil factories In this country 

 that could hope lo compete with Ihe Imported 

 article from the Continent and America. Bui 

 everything conies to hlin wlio wails, and, if Ihe 

 lack of I'nierprlse pri-eiiides Ihe use of Indian 



