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Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



August 25, 1921 



A Brief for Sound Wormy Chestnut 



By J. M. rritchmd 



Mr. Mayhew, of the W. M. Rilter Lumber Company, has 

 broujjht to our attention the fact that a British court has entered 

 a judj^ment of $3,000.00 against a manufacturer of pianos on 

 the grounds that Wormy Chestnut used as core wood in the 

 manufacture of piano cases is liable to be infected with worms or 

 injurious germs, which class of lumber is prohibited from importa- 

 tion to Great Britain, and the probabilities are the said piano 

 manufacturer will be compelled to remove from England the piano 

 cases in question, unless something may be done to bring about a 

 repeal of this decision of the British court. 



Mr. Mayhew has secured several opinions as to whether or not 

 Wormy Chestnut used as core stock contains any infectious germs 

 and the unanimous opinion is that Wormy Chestnut does not 

 contain any infectious germs or worms when used as core stock or 

 base for veneer, and that any worms or germs which might have 

 been in the Chestnut tree will be destroyed during the process 

 of seasoning the lumber and the application of hot glue. All agree 

 that Wormy Chestnut ranks as the very best hardwood for core 

 stock and these opinions are upheld by Professor T. E. Snyder, 

 Specialist in Forest Entomology, who is recognized by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture as being an authoritative expert in matters re- 

 lating to insects affecting forest products. 



The following are excerpts of Professor Snyder's letters on this 

 subject : 



"Your letter of the 6th instant, addressed to the Bureau of Ento- 

 mology, has been referred to this office for attention. In reply, we 

 beg to state that sound wormy chestnut is much less liable to insect 

 injury than ash, oak or hickory. In fact, we do not know of any 

 authentic case where chestnut has been attacked by Lyctus powder 

 post beetles after seasoning. 



"The insects which infest living chestnut trees are entirely dif- 

 ferent from Lyctus Powder post beetles and are timber worms, 

 namely a Lymexylon beetle technically known as Lymexylon seri- 

 ceum Harris. You are perfectly right in stating that sound wormy 

 chestnut is not liable to be infected with worms. 



"We take pleasure in enclosing pur publication on Lyctus pow^- 

 der post beetles and their control. You will note that those insects 

 work only in the seasoned sapwood of hardwoods and, as you know^, 

 chestnut does not have a very large amount of sapwood." 



"Your letter of the 24th has been received and we take pleasure 



In Bulletin of American Hardwood Manufacturers' Association 



in giving you the following additional copies of our publication on 

 powder post beetles. 



"We believe that sound wormy chestnut as a core or base 

 for veneer is more suitable than any other hardwood which you 

 could use, particularly as the sapwood of other hardwoods is in- 

 fected by the very injurious insects described in the pamphlets sent 

 you, whereas chestnut is never so attacked. 



"As you know, sound wormy chestnut is a trade name which 

 has been in existence in the lumber markets for many years and 

 applies to chestnut timber which contains holes made by timber 

 worms while the tree is living in the forest. These insects attack 

 the living trees through knots or broken branches and make 

 holes through the wood of the living trees. After the tree is cut 

 and the wood dries out, these insects will not continue to w^ork in 

 the wood and, hence, the wood is graded as sound wormy chestnut. 



"We consider the utilization of sound wormy chestnut a matter 

 of conservation, since such wood can be used when covered by 

 veneer, whereas it could not be utilized, on account of the worm 

 holes for ordinary uses. 



"You may be interested to learn that a very large percentage of 

 all chestnut timber is affected by these worm holes — indeed, in 

 some localities as high a percentage as 75, and there is no trade 

 prejudice in the United States against the grade sound wormy chest- 

 nut, since it is w^ell realized that it is not actually infested by worms, 

 any more so than pecky cypress lumber is infected by disease. 



"If there are any further details which we can give you, we shall 

 be glad to do so. 



"It seems to us that a strong point to emphasize in your appeal 

 is that chestnut lumber is not infected by insects which are ordi- 

 narily destructive to other hardwood veneer and the core or base of 

 hardwood veneer. This injury is fully discussed in the pamphlets 

 sent you." 



It is astounding that the British court has rendered any such judg- 

 ment against the use of Wormy Chestnut and the seriousness of the 

 situation is that if such a decision is allowed to stand, it could 

 logically follow that wood of any kind containing worm holes, might 

 be excluded from the importation into Great Britain. We shall lend 

 our earnest co-operation in an effort which will be made through 

 proper authorities to have this injustice in the case of Wormy 

 Chestnut replaced. 



Williamson Plant One of the Best and Largest 



Improvements and extensions made at the works of The Wil- 

 hamson Veneer Company, at Eighth and Baltimore streets, High- 

 landtown, a suburb of Baltimore, have made this plant one of the 

 largest of its kind in the country, if not in the world. It occupies 

 not less than eight blocks and consists of six large buildings, besides 

 a big yard for the storage of all kinds of woods used by the com- 

 pany in its business. The enterprise is of Western origin, having 

 been established more than half a century ago at Indianapolis, 

 Ind., by Marshall D. Williamson, the father of the present head 

 of the company and one of the pioneers in the production of 

 veneers. Because Mr. Williamson came to regard Baltimore as 

 possessing great advantages over the West he removed the works 

 to that city in 1 900 and was eventually succeeded by his son, 

 Dwight W. Williamson, now active as president, and the latter's 

 son, Roger W. Williamson, as vice-president and sales manager. 

 The business has steadily grown, vindicating the judgment of the 

 founder, until now woods from nearly all parts of the world are 

 received there to be turned into veneers for a great variety of 

 purposes. 



The cutting mill is equipped with one of the largest veneer 



knives in the world, this implement being not less than seventeen 

 feet long. There are besides four ten-foot rotary veneer machines, 

 two seven-foot stay-long veneer machines and two saw mills. 

 After being sawed into suitable lengths and trimmed the logs are 

 placed in steaming vats for from I 2 to 24 hours, after which they 

 are ready for the knives. Walnut and mahogany are cut into strips 

 making 28 to the inch, with oak and poplar sliced 20, 16 and 8 

 to the inch. These strips are then put through the dryer on rollers 

 in a chamber where a temperature of 200 degrees Fahrenheit is 

 maintained. .After that they are ready to be stored or packed for 

 shipment. 



(C'lntiHUt <l finm ptitJ*' ■'■''> 

 and the extension held firmly in place. To provide additional 

 support two braces, B, which fit snugly agianst the underside of 

 the table are attached to the blocks by screws. 



Were it not for the fact that the table top is tilted once in a 

 while a couple of supports could be dropped to the floor. Addi- 

 tional rigidity might be given the extension by dropping a couple 

 of bolts down tlirough the iron to to engage the braces under- 

 neath. With this rig the work was carried on expeditiously and 

 accurately and with a minimum of effort. 



