HARDWOOD RECORD 



41 



Trees are small, Jcarte, an J of ]ir:KtiiM)ly no value for lumber. 



Pum;>kin ash (Fraxinus profunda) lias been the subject of consider- 

 iible discussion by persons who know little about it. The name has 

 been assigned to the same origin as that of "pumpkin pine" — to 

 soft, homogeneous wood which cuts easily in all directions like a 

 pumpkin. That is .simply a guess and a very poor one. The wood 

 has no such character and the name has nothing to do with the wood. 

 The tree grows in deep swamps and like many other swamp trees 

 it has an enlarged base, which is a provision of nature to give the 

 tree anchorage in the soft mud. the enlarged base is ribbed like a 

 pumpkin, hence the name. The tree is remarkably scarce. It was 

 unknown to botanists before 1S93, though the region where it grows 

 liad been settled more than a hundred years. Trees are known tn 

 exist in certain swamps in Missouri, Arkansas and Florida. It is 

 needless to say that this ash is of no commercial importance. 



Berlandier ash {Fraxinus herlandieriana) now grows wild in west- 

 ern Texas, but it was probably not planted there by nature. It is 

 supposed to have been brought ovei- from Mexico by earlj' settlers. 

 It is scarce, but it grows well and may attain importance in the 

 future. In Mexico it reaches a diameter of six or eight feet. 



Lcatlierleaf ash {Fraxinus vchttina) is a desert tree found in 



canyons from western Texas to eastern California. Few irunks are 

 eight inches in diameter, and the wood is not strong. It would 

 possess little value if it did not grow in an arid region where any 

 wood is welcome. It is one of the best handle woot's of that part 

 of the country. 



Dwarf ash {Fraxinus anomala) would puzzle most people who 

 might find it in the woods. The compound leaf, characteristic of all 

 other sjiecies of ash, is missing from this. A simple leaf' is in its 

 'place. No one would take the tree for an ash until the seeds betray 

 its identity. It is a desert species, of small trunk, which never 

 goes to sawmills. The range lies in Colorado, Utah and Xevada. 



Fringe ash {Fraxinus cuspidata) is the smallest ash tree of this 

 country, and some would not call it a tree but a shrub. Trunks 

 never exceed a few inches in diameter. Its range lies from Texas 

 to Arizona. 



Thirty-nine states are credited in statistical reports with production 

 of ash lumber, but more than a third of the whole comes from Ohio, 

 Indiana, Arkansas and Wisconsin. States which report none are 

 Arizona, ('olora<lo, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, 

 Utah, and Wyoming. The country's total ash production uf lumber 

 in 1911 was 214,398.000 feet. 



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Wood Preservers^ Meeting 



The tenth annual meeting of the American Wood Preservers' As- 

 sociation was held at the St. Charles Hotel, New Orleans, January 

 20, 21 and 22. A. E. Larkin, the president, was in the chair and 

 introduced Mayor Behrman who delivei'ed the address of welcome, to 

 which the first vice-president, J. H. Waterman, responded. The 

 Louisiana Society of Engineers, through its president A. M. Shaw, 

 welcomed the visitors on behalf of that body. 



At the conclusion of this preliminary part of the program, the 

 annual address of the president was listened to. He urged the 

 desirability of a better method of distributing data, and suggested 

 the publication of a monthly bulletin as a means of giving informa- 

 tion to those entitled to it. 



The entertainment committee x'rovided abundantly for the pleasure 

 of the attending members, without seriously interfering with the 

 transaction of the business of the meetings. 



The association's membership is now 187 compared with 157 last 

 year. It had twenty members in 1904 and has grown steadily ever 

 since, the increase being much move rapid in late years than when 

 the association w as in its infancy ; and the figures clearly indicate 

 that the body has not yet attained full growth. More than half of 

 the original membership of the year 1904 is still with the association. 

 The jiresent membership is scattered through thirty-one states and 

 five foreign countries. Forty-seven of the members are railroad men. 



The president appointed a committee on resolutions, consisting of 

 E. A. Sterling. .T. Foley, M. K. TurnbuU, H. F. Collier, and J. H. 

 Waterman. Mr. TurnbuU was named as chairman. 



A paper by Dr. Hermann Von Schrenk on "Creosote and Coal 

 Tar Mixtures" was illustrated with stereopticon views by which 

 were shown tests made with oils and mixtures, to determine their 

 viscosity, evaporation, and their results as shown by impregnation of 

 various woods. The tests showed, he contended, remarkable varia- 

 tions in the matter of penetrability and he said there was no criterion 

 whereby the effects of certain standard mixtures could be measured 

 and compared with those of the unmixed oil. The reading of this 

 paper caused a discussion in which a number of members joined. 



A report on piling belonging to the Santa Fe railroad in Galveston 

 bay was read at the Wednesday morning session by F. B. Ridgeway 

 of the International Creosoting Company, at Texarkana, Ark. He 

 presented specimens of piling driven in 1875 when creosoting was in 

 its infancy, and others not so old l>y twenty years, where decay had 

 not destroyed ten per cent of timbers. 



A |iaper on the subject of fireproofing wood was written by Robert 

 E. Prince, of the Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wis., and 



in his absence was read by Secretary Angier of the association. He 

 quoted figures showing fire losses in various foreign countries, and 

 when these are compared with similar statistics for the United States 

 it is apparent that destruction of property by fire in this country 

 greatly exceeds the average in most other countries. The only two 

 which suffer greater per capita loss than the United States are 

 Canada and Argentina. In the United States the fire damage in 

 1912 was $2.55 per capita. In no European country did it reach 

 $1, while in Germany it was 20 cents, in Sweden 13, the Netherlands 

 12, and in Switzerland only 4 cents. 



The fireproofing of wood is not a new subject. Until the latter 

 part of the last ceuturj- wood preservation and fireproofing both 

 occupied a precarious position in the business world. While the 

 preservation of timber against decay is now well established, its 

 [)reservation against destruction by fire has made much slower prog- 

 ress. In this country the industry of fireproofing wood, or of render- 

 ing it slow burning is confined to two companies, both of which are 

 located in New York City. The total annual output of these two 

 plants is less than that of a timber treating plant of average ca- 

 pacity. This fireproofed wood is used mainly as trim and flooring 

 in building in New York City. 



The agitation about fireproof building material in the United States 

 has resulted in a number of cities passing laws prohibiting the use 

 of inflammable material in the exterior of buildings, and the result 

 is the sale of wood shingles in those cities has fallen off perceptibly, 

 as shingle manufacturers cannot guarantee their product to be 

 fireproof or fire retarding. The consumption of other forms of wood 

 building material has also suffered from laws of this kind. 



The possibility of treating wood to render it fire resistant offers 

 an excellent field for extending the business of wood-preserving 

 plants. Should a satisfactory treatment be found such plants could,, 

 with a slight increase in equipment, handle both forms of treatment. 

 The ideal treatment would, of course, give wood both qualities. 



The impregnation of wood with some fireproofing salt appears to be 

 the most promising method of rendering it noninflammable. The- 

 cost of a treatment of this character, exclusive of kiln drying, may 

 be roughly estimated as the same as the cost of a full-cell treat- 

 ment with a high-grade coal-tar creosote. 



The main problem is not to find suitable fireproofing materials, but 

 to bring the cost within reach of users. The combustion of wood may 

 be divided into two parts: 



First. The driving off of the volatile gases by heat, and their 

 ignition causing flame. 



