January 10. 1919 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



31 



Red Gum 



Red gum belongs in the witchhazel family and it and witchKazel 

 are the only members of the family among the trees of this 

 country. Gum may attain a diameter of four feet, but an average 

 size is not more than half of that, and while some trees exceed 

 a height of 1 00 feet, the majority do not grow that tall. 



The principal range of red gum lies south of a line drawn from 

 Virginia to Missouri, and the finest timber is found in the lower 

 Mississippi valley, and the best development is usually credited to 

 Arkansas and Mississippi. 



It is more abundant . than any other single species of hard- 

 wood in this country, though all oaks taken together exceed gum 

 in total quantity. The entire stand of red gum in the United 

 States is believed to amount to about 45,000,000,000 feet, of 

 which 1 1,000.000,000 are credited to Arkansas and 9,000.000.000 

 to Louisiana. 



This tree grows well in very swampy ground, but it thrives also 

 in well-drained soil. Its seeds are enclosed in a bur and they 

 depend to some extent for dispersal upon becoming entangled in 

 the w^ool, hair or feathers of quadrupeds and birds. 



The trees are disposed to grow in thick groves. The crowd- 

 ing shades off the lower limbs and this results in clean, smooth 

 trunks, tall and straight. This produces ideal material from 

 which to cut veneer, and accounts, in part, for the favor in which 

 gum is held by veneer manufacturers; but the quality of the 

 wood, as to texture, grain, and color, are gum's chief recommen- 

 dations as veneer w^ood. 



In color, gum is of two kinds, heart which is reddish, and sap 

 which is of paler tint. The tree itself is called red gum; but some- 

 time? a distinction between heart and sapwood is recognized, and 

 the former is spoken of as red gum, while the latter is called sap 

 gum; but both kinds are cut from the same tree. 



The usual figure of gum is due to dark coloring matter dis- 

 persed through the lighter w^ood, forming clouded and mottled 

 effect in patterns somewhat irregular in form, yet arranged 

 according to a general system. The figure is similar in arrange- 

 ment to that characteristic of walnut but is lighter in tone than 

 that of black walnut, but more nearly resembles the figure of 

 Circassian walnut. The figure of gum exists in both sapwood 

 and heartwood, but it is not found equally in all trees. In some 

 there is so little figure that it can scarcely be noticed, or it may 

 escape notice altogether. The most strongly-figured gum may 

 successfully pass for Circassian w^alnut. 



Gum has another figure, w^hich is brought out by quarter- 

 sawing; but while the figure is quite pleasing, it is not very 

 strong and is usually held as less important than the other. 



The growth rings are not sharply defined in gum and not much 

 attention is given to the figure produced by cutting obliquely 

 across the rings, as is often done with chestnut and ash. 



Red gum is generally reduced to veneer by the rotary process. 

 Quite a small percentage of the total output of gum veneer is 

 made by slicing and sawing. The rotary process is follow^ed 

 in manufacturing ninety-nine percent of the total. 



The uses of gum veneer are so various that it would be easier 

 to make a list of places where it is not used than of those w^here 

 it is. Most is employed in the manufacture of furniture, interior 

 house finish, musical instruments, shipping boxes, and sew^ing 

 machines. 



Two species of cypress grow in the South. The common one is 

 bald cypress. It is the main source of cypress lumber and occurs 

 near the coast from Maryland to Texas and up the Mississippi 

 valley to Missouri. The other is scarce and is more abundant in 

 Georgia than in any other state. In English it is called swamp 

 cypress, but botanists call it Taxodium imhricanuirij which means 

 shingle cypress. 



VENEERS 



IN 



MAPLE 



BIRCH 



BIRDSEYE MAPLE 

 Plain Maple 

 Plain Birch 



Can be furnished promptly in \os^ 

 run or dimension stock in local ship- 

 ments or car lots. 



Write, wire or telephone 



BIRDS EYE VENEER COMPANY 



ESGANABA, MICHIGAN 



AU Three of Us WUl Be Benefited if You Mention HAlU)WOOD RECORD 



