HARDWOOD RECORD 



31 



■ < lira), imported from Brazil. The wood of Laurus cMoroxylon, 

 tlie West Indies, furnishes a greeu wood of commerce. 

 l;ed Sanders is a hard, heavy East Indian wood, obtained from the 

 • rocarjrus santalinus, imported from Madras and Calcutta, chiefly 

 ;i dye-wood. It takes a beautiful polish, and somewhat resembles 

 izil-wood. 



I.'osewood is a term as generally applied to a great variety of trees 



iwing in different countriesj so called sometimes from the color, 



■ ! sometimes from the smell of the wood. The rosewood imported 



such large quantities from Brazil is obtained chiefly from the 



:iiranda brasiliana, and some other species. The Physocahjmma 



iherrium from Brazil, is said to furnish one of the rosewoods of 



:nmerce. It is the "Pao do rosa" of the Portuguese, and the 



:|>-wood of the English. The great bulk of true rosewoods goes 



France and Germany. A rosewood is obtained in Central America 



mil Honduras, from a species of Amyrix and another from Dalbergia 



"lira. East Indian rosewood, a valuable mottled black timber, is 



'I'tained from Dalbergia latifolia and D. sissoidcs; these furnish the 



well-known Malabar blackwood, which is heavy and close-grained, 

 admitting of a fine polish. The best carved furniture in East Indies 

 is made from this wood. A similar kind of rosewood is obtained on 

 the west coast of the Gulf of Siam, but the grain is not so close as the 

 South American wood. Large quantities are exported annually from 

 Bangkok to Shanghai, and other parts of China. 



The East Indian satinwood is the product of Chloroxylon swictenia. 

 It is a close-grained, hard, and durable wood of a light orange color, 

 and when polished has a beautiful satiny appearance which it loses 

 by age, unless protected by a coat of fine varnish. This tree occurs 

 abundantly in the northern parts of Ceylon, "flowered satin," but 

 the variety known, on account of the pattern, is scarce. 



The West Indian satinwood is obtained from Simaruba tulae, in 

 the Bahamas, and from several species of Fagara. The wood of the 

 European Yew (Taxus baccata), being hard, compact, and of a very 

 fine, close grain is occasionally used for fine cabinet work, or inlaying, 

 and by turners for making jewelry, boxes and musical instruments. 

 The wood taken from parts near the root are often very beautiful. 



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y Northern J^Iichigan Hardwoods 



The following is a summary of an article which recently appeared 

 ill the Invattor of Detroit, Mich. Many persons will be agreeably 

 surprised that so great timber resources remain in a region which 

 has been for a long time accessible by both rail and water trans- 

 portation. Notwithstanding lumbering on an extensive scale has 

 been carried on in the copper country of northern Michigan for 

 fully half a century, it is conservatively estimated that there is now 

 standing in Houghton and Keweenaw counties saw timber whose value 

 on the stump exceeds $17,000,000. This estimate does not include 

 millions of cords of cordwood, pulpwood, cedar poles nor lagging, 

 of which there is a large amount in these two counties, and whose 

 value would easily run into the hundreds of thousands. Nor is 

 there included 80,000 acres of timberland, containing probably 

 750,000,000 feet of commercial timber, which is held by corpora- 

 tions which do not offer the stumpage for sale. 



It is estimated that the timberlauds of the copper country 

 will cut about 9,000 feet to the acre. In Keweenaw county, exclusive 

 of holdings reserved from the market, there are 91,000 acres of 

 wooded lands, running approximately 819,000,000 feet of saw timber, 

 while in Houghton county there is an area of about 384,790 acres 

 of standing timber, which will approximate 3,463,110,000 feet, or 

 a total of 4,282,110,000 for the two counties. 



These extensive stands of timber are accounted for by the fact 

 that the pioneer lumberman cared for nothing but pine. Other 

 woods of equal value were ignored, and the monarch of the northern 

 forest alone fell before the initial onslaught of the lumberjack. 

 As a result, the copper country today boasts of the largest and finest 

 belt of hardwood timber to be found in the Middle West. In Kewee- 

 naw county, especially toward the east coast, there is a large amount 

 of oak, which is now being bought in by Wisconsin furniture indus- 

 tries. The oak is not so plentiful in Houghton county, but the tim- 

 ber runs heavily to basswood, birch of every known variety and elm. 

 In both of these counties hard maple predominates. The trees 

 r.'.ich an unusual height and girth, thanks to the unconscious for- 

 I sting of the pine-cutters, and the finest quality of. flooring is now 

 l.iing manufactured from this northern maple. 



Birds-eye maple, while not abundant, is encountered more fre- 

 quently than in any other timber belt in this section of the county. 



It is of prime quality, and is selling on the stump for as high 

 as $50 the thousand. It is much in demand among the veneer- 

 makers, and large quantities have been purchased within the past 

 two years for export trade. 



The basswood has been used freely by the mining companies for 

 the brake-shoes on the huge drums upon which the cables used for 

 '' Misting are coiled and uncoiled. It is also sought by wood-dish 



manufacturers and the producers of excelsior and wood-wool. For 

 this latter purpose, however, a preference is now being expressed 

 for poplar, which is one of the copper country's commonest and 

 cheapest woods. 



The peculiar geographical position of this region renders it an 

 ideal site for lumbering operations. The peninsula is criss-crossed 

 by numerous railroad lines, and when a railroad is not convenient, 

 there is always Lake Superior, Portage lake, Torch lake or the 

 network of government canals which thread the peninsula. There 

 never has been experienced any diflSculty in getting timber to market. 



Attracted by the unique advantages offered by the copper country 

 as a manufacturing center, a dozen wood-working industries are 

 now headed for the land of the red metal. These plants embrace 

 practically every department of the industry and are coming from 

 as far south as Maryland and from as far west as Colorado. A 

 majority of the plants which will make Copperdom their home 

 are now located in the lower peninsula, and their attention has 

 been attracted by the activities of the Copper Country Commercial 

 Club, whose operations cover the entire peninsula, and which is 

 located at Houghton. 



Quacks in Tree Surgery 



The quacks wlio adminisicr worthless or injurious nostrums to 

 human beings are not wholly alone. The new science called "tree 

 surgery" has been abused by quacks for a long time, and abuses 

 may be expected to increase and' multiply in the future as the 

 popularity of the new surgery grows. One of the treatments con- 

 sists in administering iron tonic to a sick tree and thereby re- 

 build and tone up its health. The treatment is so simple that 

 its exact nature must be concealed, or the owner of the tree 

 will attend to it himself rather than fee a surgeon for doing it. The 

 regulation dose consists of a half dozen nails, and the instrument 

 for administering is an ordinary hammer. The nails are driven into 

 the tree's roots, or into the trunk as close to the ground as possible. 

 The theory is that the tree's sap that comes in contact with the 

 nails is oxidized and is transfused through all parts of the trunk, 

 branches, and leaves, thereby effecting a cure of whatever disease 

 the tree may have. There is no question that iron rust is carried 

 some distance from the point where the nails are driven in the bole; 

 but it is not apparent what benefit accrues to the tree. It is said 

 that fatal results follow if copper nails are substituted for iron. 

 It is claimed that the tree will die the following year. The argu- 

 ment is, therefore, that none except a skilled tree doctor should 

 practice this surgery, because a mistake in the metal used may prove 

 as disastrous as a mistake in certain kinds of human medicine. 



