October 10. 1917 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



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Vehicle Woods from Memphis District 



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(Continued from last issue) 

 Relatively few kinds of lumber are suitable for wagon box 

 boards. Several qualities must be taken into consideration, and 

 the grading rules are strict. The wood ought to be reasonably 

 light; it should be of fine grain so that it will dress smooth; it 

 ought to take and hold paint well; it ought to be rather hard in 

 order to resist wear; and, of course, it should not warp badly or 

 split and check during weather changes. The difficulties of find- 

 ing all of the qualities present in a single wood are responsible 

 for the short list of woods suitable for wagon box boards. TTie 

 country has been pretty well searched for material that will meet 

 these requirements. Boards are wanted from thirteen to seven- 

 teen inches wide and long enough for a wagon bed. 



The Memphis region produces three woods available for 

 such box boards. They are tupelo, cottonwood and red gum. 



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Several others are occasionally employed but the demand 

 them is not large. 



Tupelo or cotton gum has taken the place of yellow poplar 

 as a box board wood to some extent. Poplar is less plentiful 

 than formerly and of higher price, and tupelo closely resembles 

 it in appearance. Cottonwood stands on its own merits and is 

 not thought of as a substitute for anything. It is light and tough, 

 has a smooth grain, and paints well. The fertile lands along the 

 lower Mississippi and its tributaries produce the finest cotton- 

 wood for box boards. Willow growing in the same situations 

 is nearly as good and it is received without prejudice in many 

 vehicle factories. Red gum has come into extensive use as wagon 

 bed material in recent years. Formerly it was objected to be- 

 cause the processes of successful seasoning were not understood; 

 but that has now been remedied, and red gum box boards rank 

 as high as yellow poplar and white pine ever ranked in the days 

 when those timbers were abundant in the highest grades. The 

 large sizes of red gum trunks make it easy to procure the broad 

 boards demanded for beds of farm wagons. 



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