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Those who are not familiar with the subject will be surprised 

 to learn that the foreign woods which come to this country annually 

 are valued at about $52,000,000, besides our own supply of about 

 40,000,000,000 feet, which is utilized for various purposes. Notwith- 

 standing the extensive use of iron for construction purposes in ships 

 and house building, there has been no diminution in our consumpton 

 of woods, ether native or foreign. The imports during 1911 showed 

 an increased value of over $25,000,000 over the imports of 1906. The 

 class of foreign hardwoods has increased considerably in consumption 

 within the past ten years, which is an indication of the greater demand 

 for the purpose of interior finish and furniture. 



There is a special class of foreign woods which is seldom referred 

 to in the trade papers. Reference is made here to the commercial 

 woods of the turner, and a list of the most important kinds which 

 come to the American markets may prove of interest to dealers, as 

 well as to wood users. 



Brazilwood (Caesalpina echinata) is the product of a leguminous 

 tree at one time used extensively as a dye-wood. It , grows very 

 abundantly in Central and South America and is imported chiefly 

 from Costa Eica and Colombia. This wood is frequently shipped 

 from Pernambuco and is now called Pernambuco wood. When 

 first cut it is of a light color, but soon becomes darker on exposure 

 to the air and light. The peach-wood, Nicaragua-wood, and Lima- 

 wood of commerce are produced by this and several closely allied 

 species. 



Braziletto-wood is furnished by Caesalpina irasiliensis, which grows 

 in the northern part of South America, Jamaica, and in other parts 

 of the West Indies to the height of about twenty feet. This wood 

 is much used for ornamental cabinet work. Both the brazil and 

 braziletto are employed in turnery and for making violin bows. 



Canary-wood is obtained from Laurns indica and Laurus canariensis, 

 trees native of Madeira and the Canaries. These woods have the odor 

 of sassafras and are often used in house carpentry and also for in- 

 terior of boats, for inside works of drawers, boxes, etc., as their odor 

 is supposed to repel insects. Canary wood is very durable when 

 seasoned, remarkably tough, strong, and excellent for handles of tools 

 generally. 



Cocus or kokra are names applied to two entirely distinct woods. 

 One is obtained from tropical America and the other from the East 

 Indies. The tropical American wood is the green ebony {Brya 

 ebenus) and is now principally derived from Mexico and Honduras. 

 It is only a small tree yielding logs of about six or eight inches in 

 diameter. The sap-wood is thin and nearly white or often yellowish, 

 whUe the heart-wood is deep rich-brown mixed with green. The wood 

 is exceedingly hard, heavy, strong, tough, and susceptible of a very 

 high polish. It is much used for rulers and other small work. The 

 cocus wood obtained from the East Indies is a product of several 

 species of AHi:-ia lebbek, which is also called the siris tree. The 

 wood has a handsome grain rendering it suitable for fancy work, 

 such as paneling, carving, picture-frames, toys, combs and turnery. 

 This tree has a very wide distribution and has been introduced into 

 most of the islands of the West Indies. 



There are several other trees which yield commercial woods called 

 green ebony. The principal one is said to be the Excoecaria glandn- 

 losa of Jamaica, but this wood is now very rare and consequently very 

 little used. Jacaranda mimosi folia of Brazil is often called green 

 ebony and formerly was used for turnery and has also been used with 

 succfess in dyeing, but at present is not much known. 



A good many species of true ebony are known to yield in great 

 abundance the black ebony of commerce. There are more than sixty 

 species of the genus Diofipyron and the best known kinds are those 

 from the East Indies, i. e., D. ehenus, cordifolia, ebenaster, mahola, 

 melanoxylon, roylei and tomentosa. The ebony derived from West 

 Africa is commoijly considered the most uniformly black. The princi- 

 pal species from West Africa are Diospi/ros crassiflora, D. dend\., 

 D. mespeliforviis, D. momiuttensis, D. atropurpurea. 



The kinds obtained from Mauritius and Ceylon are more or less 

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variegated aud are often cream-brown, and those from the I'hilippine 

 Islands are seldom solid black. 



Fustic or mora {Chlorophora iinctoria) is a West Indian tree, the 

 wood of which was formerly used extensively in cabinet work, but 

 was found to "darken and change color on exposure to the air and 

 heat. It is still used occasionally in turnery, but its chief tise is for 

 making a dye extract. The principal imports come from Venezuela, 

 the West Indies, Mexico, and parts of Colombia. 



There are several ironwoods which have been imported from tira° 

 to time in small quantities. Metrosideros terns from the East Indies 

 rarely comes in the American markets. It is the ironwood of Chma 

 where it is much used for making rudders, anchors, etc., for sliips 

 and boats. Some species of Sideroxylon from southern Florida aul 

 the West Indies furnish other iron woods that are used in this country. 

 Another close hardwood that is heavier than water, is the Argavia 

 sideroxylon of northern Africa. This wood is used in southern Euvcp.'. 

 but does not come to this country, except in the form of small mauu 

 factured articles. 



Another tree which yields wood used for making excellent furniture 

 and fancy work is the jackwood or cos (Artocarpus integrifoUa). 

 The tree is the bread-fruit tree of the West Indies. The wood is 

 coarse, and open-grained, though heavy, of a beautiful saffron color, 

 and emits a peculiar but by no means an unpleasant odor. 



King-wood {Daliergia sp.), one of the most beautiful of the h.iiil- 

 woods imported, comes into the American markets occasionally from 

 Brazil, in trimmed billets, from two to seven inches in diameter. Tt is 

 also called violet-wood, because it is streaked in violet tints of diflfei- 

 ent intensities. It is finer in the grain than true rosewood. Ihc 

 smaller pieces are frequently striped, and occur sometimes full f.f 

 elongated zone eyes. 



Letter-wood or snake-wood (Brosir)iuin auMetii) is a scarce aud 

 costly wood of British Guiana and Brazil. It is very hard, of a 

 beautiful brown color, with black spots. These spots are visible only 

 in the heartwood which is seldom more than twelve or fifteen inches iu 

 circumference. It is now chiefly used for making walking sticks. 



Lignum-vitae is a common, well-known, hard, heavy wood produced 

 by several species of Guiacnm found in the West Indies. It is used 

 for a great variety of purposes requiring hardness and strength. 



Nutmeg-wood is a name given to the wood of the Palmyra palm 

 (Borassus fiabelUformis) , which is used in turnery, and, from its 

 mottled character, for umbrella and parasol handles, walking sticks, 

 rulers, fancy boxes, etc. 



The stems or trunks of several palms obtained in the East and 

 West Indies are imported, to a small extent, for fancy use. They 

 furnish a great variety of mottled, ornamental wood, black, red, 

 brown, and speckled, and are used for cabinet and marquetry work, 

 and for walking sticks, umbrella handles, and billiard cues. Among 

 the most common kinds are the cocoa-nut, betel-nut, and Palmyra. 



The nuts of two South American palms, the vegetable ivory nut 

 (Phytalephas macrocarpa), and the dark coquilla nuts from Attalea 

 funifera, are largely used by turners for small fancy articles. 



Partridge-wood {Andira iner'mis) is a name for the wood of several 

 trees coming from South America. It is used for waking-sticks, 

 umbrella and parasol handles, and in cabinet-work and turnery. The 

 colors are variously mingled, and most frequently disposed in fine 

 hair streaks of two or three shades, which in some of the curly speci- 

 mens resembles the feathers of the bird. Another closely allied kind 

 is called pheasant-wood (Cordia gerascanthus) , obtained in Jamaica, 

 almost exclusively used for turning. Purple wood is produced by 

 Copaifera pubiflora and C. bracteata, two trees of British Guiana, 

 which furnish wood of great size, strength, durability, and elasticity. 

 The color varies much in different specimens, some being of a deep 

 red brown, but the most beautiful is of a clear reddish purple, exceed- 

 ingly handsome when polished. It is used for inlaying work, mar- 

 quetry, and in turning. Some varieties are called king-wood, but they 

 are variegated, while the true purple-wood is plain. Queen-wood is a 

 name applied occasionally to woods of the cocus and greenheart {Nee- 



