Novembd- 10, 1918 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



There are a number of woods which usually do not go 

 to market under their own name, and sassafras is one of 

 them. For that reason, nobody knows how much is" cut 

 yearly or just what its ultimate destiny is. At most, it is 

 not an abundant or an important tree as a source of lumber, 

 but it has more importance than it is commonly given credit 

 for. The annual cut of sassafras lumber in the United 

 States appears in statistics as less than twenty-five thousand 

 feet, all of it cut in Tennessee; yet, another set of statistics, 

 those compiled to show the woods used by factories, places 

 the yearly use of sassafras at 360,280 feet. That is twenty- 

 five times as much as the reported output of the sawmills; 

 yet there is reason to believe that it falls much below the 

 annual contribution of sassafras to the country's lumber 

 supply. 



Sassafras readily passes for ash if the inspector is not 

 too particular; and that is what becomes of most of it. 

 The occasional sassafras log reaching the sawmill is rolled 

 aside until there is a cut of ash logs, and then all go through 

 together and no one is ever the wiser. Sometimes it is 

 equally successful in passing for chestnut, but it resembles 

 chestnut less closely than ash. 



Coffin makers use a little sassafras in place of chestnut 

 as coverstock for veneers. It is barely mentioned in the 

 boatbuilding trade, and has a little more standing in the 

 manufacture of woodenware, while makers of fixtures and 

 furniture place some of this wood, as also do the manufac- 

 turers of agricultural implements. The makers of sash, 

 doors, blinds, and millwork are the largest users of sassa- 

 fras, and there is no telling how much of it goes along with 

 ash without being distinguished from that wood. Ash is 

 considerably stronger than sassafras. 





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