N »re^M;x!;;i^yi)}ma^3ttfJit^iWiOTMroi^^ 



Beech, Birches and Maples 



The Department of Agriculture has published a bulletin con- 

 tributed by the Forest Service on beech, birches, and maples in the 

 United States, and their uses, both present and historical. This 

 belongs to a series of bulletins on the "Uses of Commercial Woods 

 of the United States," begun three or four years ago. Preceding 

 publications related to the cedars, sequoias, cypresses, and pines. 

 The present publication is the first dealing with hardwoods. 



The three genera, beech, birch, and maple, which include eighteen 

 commercial species in addition to a number of varieties and forms 

 too small or too scarce to be of much importance, form a group 

 closely related. This relationship, however, is commercial rather 

 than botanical. 



The woods of all have several points of similarity, such as 

 hardness, strength, and susceptibility of fine polish, and in the 

 main their uses are similar. They grow usually in the same re- 

 gions, and they are often milled and lumbered as though they were 

 a single wood, but the resulting lumber is piled and sold separate!}'. 

 It is not unusual in the Appalachian region, the Lake states, and 

 New England for lumbermen to speak of beech, birch, and maple 

 as "the hardwoods," thereby placing them in a group by them- 

 selves, separate from oak, elm, hickory, and others which belong 

 in the hardwood class. This is specially true when beech, birch, 

 and maple go to chemical plants which manufacture charcoal, wood 

 alcohol, acetates, and other byproducts. These woods constitute 

 about ninety per cent of all the hardwoods employed in distillation 

 in the United States. They also make up a large proportion of 

 the country's hardwood flooring, furniture, finish, and agricultural 

 implements. In a variety of small commodities they hold first 

 place. 



Though there is a general similarity in the properties and quali- 

 ties of this group of woods, yet each has its individuality, and in 

 numerous ways it differs from the others, and has different or 

 special uses. 



Only one species of beech grows in the United States. It is the 

 same tree whether it grows in Maine or Texas, but it is not alike 

 valuable in all regions because climate and other conditions have 

 much to do with its development. ' ' An earlier record is claimed 

 for beech," says the bulletin, "than for any other wood, even 

 antedating the sycamore and cypress of Egypt. The words ' beech ' 

 and 'book' were synonymous in some of the earliest written lan- 

 guages coming into Europe, due to the practice of writing on thin 

 beech strips. The existence of the root of the word in Sanscrit 

 has been taken as strong evidence that the wood was used for 

 writing materials in central Asia before the migration of the an- 

 cestors of the Germanic and Slavonic races westward into Europe. 

 In beech, therefore, we probably have the oldest existing name of 

 a wood in the world." 



The most important uses for beech are in the manufacture of 

 flooring, furniture, woodenware, clothespins, and in distillation, 

 though it fills many other places. 



The birches differ from beech in that they include a number of 

 species, some of which are valuable, others of little importance in 

 the supply of material. Nine in all are listed, one or more of 

 which may be found in nearly every state of the Union. Sweet, 

 red, cherry, or wintergreen birch, which are some of the names 

 by which it is known, is usually placed at the head of the birches in 

 value; but yellow birch is a close second. These two supply most 

 of the birch of commerce. Their ranges overlap, and both go to 

 mills together in many regions, and it is next to impossible to sepa- 

 rate the lumber in the markets, and there is little occasion for 

 doing so. These two trees supply practically all of the birch made 

 into flooring, finish, furniture, and fixtures. The largest product 

 comes from the Lake states and the northern Appalachian region. 

 Eiver birch, so named because it is apt to be found on the banks 

 of rivers, particularly between Pennsylvania and Louisiana, has 

 poor color and no figure, and is employed only for common pur- 

 poses. It and yellow birch have ragged bark that rolls up in tat- 



—30— 



ters. No other birch of the middle and southern states has this 

 feature. 



Paper birch is a northern and northeastern tree, coming down 

 through New England and New York to northern Pennsylvania. It 

 formerly furnished the bark for canoes, and now supplies most of 

 the wood for spools. It is an aggressive tree and takes possession 

 of forest tracts bared by fire. 



No birch of the United States, except these, has ever been 

 important or will probably ever be. Gray birch is known in New 

 Kngland as old field or poverty birch, and is of small size; four 

 little-known species occur in the far West and Northwest — 

 western, Kenei, mountain, and white birch, and their only use is 

 locally as fuel. 



There are seven maples, if the box elder is counted as one; but 

 the common hard maple or sugar tree is put to more use than all 

 the others together. It is the common flooring, finish, furniture, 

 and distillation maple, and its range of additional uses is so exten- 

 sive that they are listed as classes rather than individually. The 

 wood of most of the other maples is listed in commercial transac- 

 tions as soft maple, except the western, or broadleaf maple of 

 Oregon and California, which occupies a sort of middle ground, but 

 is not abundant or important. The other maples are the black, 

 which is usually considered a form or variety of the sugar maple; 

 red and Drummond, belonging in the soft maple group; and vine 

 maple, which is more of a curiosity than a timber tree, and grows in 

 Oregon and Washington. 



Probable Victory in Pridham Case 



W. B. ilorgiiii, cliainnan of the National Classification Committee 

 of Lumber and Wooden Box Interests, has returned from Washington, 

 where he went to attend the hearing in the Pridham case before the 

 Interstate Commerce Commission. The hearing was concluded some 

 time ago, but the commission has recently been going more thoroughly 

 into tlie economic features involved. Mr. Morgan says that in his 

 opinion the commission will decide in favor of the wooden box inter- 

 ests and asserts that this will be a marvelous victory for the lumber 

 interests of the country and particularly of the South. He bases 

 this view on the fact that the railroads are very much opposed to 

 the fiber packages, owing to the numerous losses which have to be 

 paid out as a result of bi-eakage, leakage and other conditions. He 

 says the railroads estimate their losses from this source at approxi- 

 mately $100,000 per day. Mr. Morgan also says it is quite apparent 

 that the small increase in the cost of the wooden packages is more 

 than absorbed by the saving in transportation through the greater 

 effectiveness of the wooden containers. He, therefore, believes that 

 there is no validity to the claim made by the fiber people that the 

 use of wooden containers results in higher cost to the consumer. Mft 

 Morgan also believes that a favorable decision from the commission 

 in regard to the wooden packages will very greatly remove the neces- 

 sity for the railroads to advance rates five per cent, as they have 

 recently claimed. In fact, he estimates that the saving in claims 

 alone will amount to about $90,000,000 a year. He thinks this is 

 one of the most important phases of the controversy. Mr. Morgan 

 is very much interested in the probability that the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission will order the common carriers to keep a record 

 of the results obtaining as between goods shipped in fiber packages 

 and those shipped in wooden containers. He believes a tabulation of 

 records along this line will prove of very great value to the com- 

 mission in reaching a decision in regard to the merits of tlie con- 

 troversy. 



Wearing a long face won 't get you anything. Trade it off for a 

 cheerful countenance, even if you have to give some effort to boot. 



Our faith in the future and better things to come is the greatest 

 sustaining force we have when the going gets hard. 



The easiest way to get all you want in this world is to not want 

 too much. 



