HARDWOOD RECORD 



of the kiln, because at such point the air will be taken out of the 

 kiln before it has done its full service absorbing moisture from 

 the lumber. It is, therefore, necessary to so design a kiln that 

 only the saturated oil will be drawn out. It is also a well-Unowu 

 fact that hot dry air as it absorbs moisture will gradually settle. 

 This compression caused by the settling of the air as it absorbs 

 moisture can be made useful for permeation purposes. It is not 

 difficult to see that the circulation in a kiln offers the most effect- 

 ive opportunity for control and efficiency in use of the fuel which 

 generates steam. 



Perhaps a word of appreciation should be said in closing with 

 regard to the marked interest that has been shown in the lumber 

 drying art within the last two or three years. Woodworkers are 



beginning to realize that the proper drying of lumber is of the 

 utmost importance to their success. The process of education and 

 comprehension has been slow, but it has been progressive and those 

 in a position to observe, realize that we are at the beginning of a 

 period of more rapid development in scientific lumber drying. 



Instead of assigning the operation of the diy kiln without regard 

 to the intelligence of the operator, the time is rapidly approach- 

 ing when the kiln will be operated systematically, when the rec- 

 ords will bo more important than those of the watchman, when 

 the temperature and humidity of the kiln will be ,iust as closely 

 watched as the water column and the steam gauge, when the 

 lumber will be just as carefulh' tested as costs of manufacture 

 and selling are now computed. 



\'^ :;^:.v-:.v>:^:/.v>:^:/:v:>lO^^■i.:<!;v:l^v^^&/V;^w:■ai;^^^ 



The state of Florida has published a report of its wood-using 

 industries. The material was collected and the bulletin was 

 written by the United States Forest Service. Twenty-seven woods 

 are used for manufacturing purposes, but ten of these are supplied 

 by outside regions, so that the state is making use of only seven- 

 teen native grown woods. This is the more remarkable when it 

 is considered that the state has in its forests 165 woods of which 

 no use is reported for any purpose. 



For one wood that goes to the factories, ten never appear there. 

 The report gives a list of 165 woods which are not named in the 

 output of factories. It is doubtful if any other state equals Florida 

 in the number of native species. However, many of them are 

 scarce, and the trees are small, so that the total amount of avail- 

 able timber is not as large as the number of species might indi- 

 cate. Some of the woods are hard, heavy and strong, with fine 

 colors and figure. The chief future uses will probably be found 

 in the manufacture of small commodities rather than in furniture, 

 flooring, finish and similar articles. 



About ninety-seven per cent of all the material reported in 

 Florida is softwood, and longleaf pine greatly surpasses all others 

 combined in quantity. The following table shows the amount of 

 each wood used annually, and the average cost of each per 1,000 

 feet: 



SiMMART OF Kinds of Wood Usf.d is Florida 



Quantity used Average 



annuall.v cost per 



Common Name Feet b. m. 1.000 ft. 



Longleaf pine ,')G.').3.'iO.S72 $ 11.66 



Cuban pine 63.563,000 11.04 



Loblolly pine 33,049,000 11.77 



Cypress 32.838,727 17..'-.8 



siiortUaf pine 10,775,000 11.60 



Spanish cedar 10,189,208 24.95 



Kvergreen magnolia 2,658,000 8.02 



Red gum 992,000 11.55 



White oalc 701,179 35.91 



White ash 280,000 25.07 



Sand pine 250,000 13.20 



Yellow poplar 104,344 89.02 



Hickory 103,500 32.90 



Swoot magnolia 80,000 22.00 



White pine 79,071 87.04 



Mahogany 33,495 164.2!) 



Black gum • 33.000 10.00 



Live oak 32.000 59.00 



Birch 28.000 70.71 



Red oak 6.200 72.58 



Sugar maple 5.000 30.00 



Spruce 5,000 37.00 



Uasswood 2,000 35.00 



Madeira 1,600 168.75 



Teak 1.000 225.00 



Red cedar 500 44.00 



Rosewood 100 400.00 



Total 521,141,796 $12.41 



The use of wood is not highly diversified in the state. Only 

 seven industries are of sufficient importance to be separately con- 

 sidered, and a number of others are grouped as miscellaneous. 

 Cypress is the only wood appearing in every industry. The table 

 which follows lists the industries, shows how much wood \9 used 

 annually In- each, and the average price paid for material: 



StMMAUV OF WOOD.S USCD BT INDISTRIES IM FLORIDA 



Quantity used Average 



annually cost per 



Industries Feet b. m. 1,000 ft 



Plauing mill products 407,712.007 $ 11.64 



Boxes and crates, packing 55,589,000 9.82 



Sash, doors, blinds, and general mill work.... 35,856,500 18.49 



Boxes, tobacco 9,616.235 21.93 



Car construction 8,545,588 18.76 



Miscellaneous 2,064,271 32.50 



.Ship and boat building 1,591.100 :J8.38 



Vehicles and vehicle parts 167,095 50.02 



Total 521,141,796 S 12.41 



The report sa3's that Florida is doing what other Gulf states 

 are doing; that is, cutting pine and cypress and leaving the rest. 

 These species are most abundant, and under present conditions 

 there is more money in them than in the smaller and more dis- 

 persed hardwoods; but the people of Florida should not lose 

 sight of the fact that they have a rare lot of hardwoods and that 

 there is a good market for them if pains are taken to reach that 

 market in the right way. 



More than ninety-five per cent of the wood now passing through 

 Florida's factories is pine and cypress. These species are exploited 

 at the expense of all others. While they last they will make the 

 lumber business profitable, but when they are gone the wood- 

 worker's attention will turn to what is now being neglected — the 

 hardwoods. 



Florida appears to be suffering more from forest fires than 

 most of the southern states. The fires are small and slow. They 

 do not attract much attention as they creep along among the 

 pine, but they get in their deadly work no less surely, though more 

 slowly, than the forest conflagrations which wipe out many square 

 miles in one stretch. The traveler in Florida, almost anywhere 

 outside the boundaries of the swamps, is soon accustomed to the 

 sight of long lines of fire which keep close to the ground. The 

 blaze ma3' not be more than a foot high, but when it has passed it 

 leaves every tree seedling dead. The saw palmettoes, which nearly 

 always cast a low shade to protect the ground, are scorched brown 

 wherever the fire touches them. They may sprout again the next 

 year, and tree seedlings may come up again, but the fire will fol- 

 low, and every visitation leaves the ground more barren. No 

 forests will stand fire indefinitely, and Florida's forests in every 

 part of the state are showing the results of burnings. 



The report suggests that the numerous hardwoods, though their 

 average size is small, will attain an important place in the future 



