50 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



April 25, 1921 



Rotary Cut 



Northern 

 Veneers 



Members of 

 Maple FInorini] 

 Manufar tiirers' 

 Association 



"C^URNITURE manufacturers and factory buyers who insist on 

 having high quality veneers should send us their orders. We 



are specialists in Northern Veneers. 



We also manufacture Northern Pine, Spruce, Hemlock, Cedar 



Posts and Poles, Lath and Shingles, which we ship in straight 



cars and cargoes or mixed with our "Peerless Brand" Rock 



Maple, Beech or Birch Flooring, f-i-t Our I'th , v 



Tlie Northwestern Cooperage & Lumber Company 



Chicago Offices: 812 Monadnock Block GLADSTONE, MICH. 



YOU WILL not 

 appreciate the 

 Mengel grade and 

 the Mengel serv- 

 ice until you have 

 tried "something 

 just as good." But 

 will you not take 

 our Word for it? 



The FIesgi l Co?£e^iy 



INCORPC'RATED 



Louisville. Ky. 



THE PAST AND PRESENT IN MAHOGANY 



Sails for the *'Gold Coast" 



Oliver M. Wolfe, son of Clarence P. Wolfe, editor of the New 

 Harmony Times, at New Harmony, Ind., and postmaster of that 

 town, has sailed for Africa, where he will buy mahogany logs 

 from the natives of the "dark continent" for the Talge Veneer 

 Company at Indianapolis. He made a trip to Africa for this same 

 company about a year ago, when he purchased a large number of 

 valuable logs. On the second trip he will go to that part of Africa 

 known as the "gold coast." He expects to be gone for a year or 

 so. Mr. Wolfe was in the aviation department of the United States 

 government during the world war. 



Squirrels Plant American Walnut Groves 



Bouncing along the fence rail like a bit of animated thistledown, 

 he manages to convey the impression that he hasn't a serious 

 thought in his head, and few^ would suspect that the squirrel is 

 the chap who supplied the American Army with the wood for 

 its gunstocks, though he didn't mean to do it, of course. He was 

 looking after his own food supply, saving the resources of summer 

 against the famine of winter, but incidentally he placed a big de- 

 posit to man's account in Nature's savings bank. 



The Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, 

 is authority for the statement that the squirrel, through his habit 

 of burying nuts, has been the most important agent in the repro- 

 duction of American walnut groves. The timber from the groves 

 planted years ago by the squirrels satisfied an important need 

 during the war w^hen w^alnut was used to make gunstocks and air- 

 plane propellers. Substitute woods for gunstocks have been tried 

 by many manufacturers, but none has been found that proved as 

 suitable for this purpose as black w^alnut. 



The fence-rail forester seems to have the needs of American 

 walnut in his mind v/hen he goes about his work. As a sapling 

 this species can not endure much shade; if it is to survive it must 

 be planted in rich soil w^here the sunlight w^ill fall upon it. The 

 squirrel has set out w^hole groves by burying nuts in the open areas 

 at the forest edges, and also many single trees by planting in the 

 fence corners. Why he buries the nuts is evident enough, but 

 why he leaves some of them to sprout and grow is not so clear. 



!t may be that an unusually severe winter or a hunter or an owl 



or something else kills the little banker before he has time to 



draw out his savings. An early spring may make him independent 

 of his storage plant. Or it may be that he has an absent-minded 

 streak in his graceful make-up and just forgets where he puts a 

 thing. Whatever the cause, humanity profits from the results. 



In Bulletin 933, a professional paper by the Forest Service, the 

 growth and management of black walnut timber is discussed. In 

 reviewing the present supply of this valuable wood the specialists 

 estimate roughly that there are 821,000,000 feet of walnut timber 

 in this country. This figure is approximate only, and it is well to 

 remember that only 50 per cent of it is available to commerce. 

 The remaining 50 per cent is growing in inaccessible spots, or is 

 held by owners who refuse to sell. 



American walnut is valuable, it is easy to secure a stand, and 

 it makes a fairly rapid growth. There is always a demand for it 

 and, in war time, an exceptional demand at high prices. Under 

 these circumstances it w^ould seem that large commercial groves 

 would be the common thing, but the fact that this tree requires 

 the use of good agricultural soil handicaps commercial production. 

 Before the w^ar the annual cut of black walnut ran betw^een 40 and 

 50 million feet a year, but the inroads made upon the groves dur- 

 ing the hostilities have considerably reduced the supply now 

 available. 



Careful m&nagement of the existing groves and the establish- 

 ment of new ones wherever economic conditions will permit will 

 be necessary ineasures if the needs of the future are to be met. 



American w^alnut has exceptional qualities when planted as 

 an ornamental tree. With the exception of a tent caterpillar, its 

 foliage appears to nearly free from insect pests that damage the 

 beauty of other shade trees. It also furnishes a nut which is of 

 edible and commercial value. 



The Wiggington Desk Manufacturing Company, formerly of 

 West Virginia, has located offices in the Starks building, Louis- 

 ville, Ky., and plans to purchase certain buildings at Camp Taylor, 

 when the sale of property there starts next w^eek, with the idea of 

 putting in a big woodworking plant. 



The Prestonia Manufacturing Company, Louisville, Ky., manu- The following is said of American walnut logs by Farnsworth & 



facturers of cabinets, had added forty men, and is installing a lot Jardine's of Liverpool in their quarterly circular, issued .April 1 : 



of new machinery for manufacture of living room and library "American logs — The light arrivals were sold privately. Lumber 



specialties. Only occasionally inquired for." 



