42 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



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Pertinent Information 



A Ship a Day 



Uuriug April a -liiij a day was i.ompleteil iu the United States, of the 



average size of 0,000 tons. The total for the month was 236.000 ilead- 



weight tons, the largest output for a single month by 75.000 tons. The 



liest previous record was for last .Tune, when the total was 152,136 toijs. 



Let Contract for Housing 



The contract for tln' ncrtinn ni ^..m.. mis cottages, mess hall and other 

 buildings for the ruitcd Stales Shiiniiiii.: I'irporation to house the addi- 

 tional workmen in the shipyard of the Uethlehem Steel Corporation and 

 other plants near Baltimore has heeu awarded to the Consolidated Engineer- 

 ing Company, and work will be commenced without delay. The contract 

 involves about $3,000,000. All the buildings are to be of frame. 

 Report on Baltimore Exports 



The statement of exports of lumber from Baltimore for March shows 

 a restoration of spruce to a leading position. The movement of this wood 

 had fallen to small jimpoTtions tin- prcvinns month. Nine hundred and 

 sixty-nine th^ii-nml n^i \\:i. -lM|,|H,i. :iihI the most striking feature of 



this showini; i- ilh \ciy ni,Hl,.cl :Mh: made in the declared value of 



the wood. Alili.iimh ihc >ln|ni.hi. in \l;irrli, 1018, were smaller than 



.$7S..Si;7 to JliO.Olis, a gain -m -imI.mil: ,i- m ,■,111,,, i ^|,r,i;ii attention. 



Oak and poplar also made a l':iii- ~li..'Aiii-, wlii.li 1- :ill ili<- -e impressive 



wlieu the ilreumstanees under vvliirh it was ma.li' are mnsidered. The 

 only other items on the list were cypress, which once more takes a back 

 seat, and hardwoods, the movement In both being small, and apparently 

 of an incidental character. In fact, there were only five Items on the list 

 against three times as many under circumstances approaching normal, 

 w-hich is hardly encouraging to expectations that the foreign movement 

 may show gains. A year ago the variety of the shipments was far greater, 

 even though the different items did not exceed a very moderate volume. 

 Swedish Furniture Prices 

 A report by R. S. T.iwnseiiil, liiili-.l States consul at Gotebord, Sweden, 

 says that country maiuilactiu .'s a lair .lamunt of office furniture copied 

 from the American article, some of which is exported to England. The 

 oak necessary for the construction of this furniture Is imported from the 

 United States, as the oak grown in Sweden is found too knotty and is very 

 difficult to work. This Imported oak is used. In most cases, only for the 

 tops of desks, bookcases, etc., while the rest of the piece is made of soft 

 pine stained to look like oak. The chemicals used in preparing and finish- 

 ing the wood, as well as the glue used in fastening the pieces together, 

 are obtained from England and Germany. Embargoes on exports from 

 )nd Germany have greatly handicapped the Industry, 

 ■e on October 1, 1917, the prices of Swedish office fur- 

 ed twenty-flve per cent, -\nother raise of twenty to 

 "ccurred .Tanuary 1, 1018. 



Fine Wood for Flutes 



.allied woods inr the makers nf flutes and piccolos is 

 grenadilla or blackw.H.,1 i Ihilh, , ,,,,1 un In m^jiiUni ) . which -rows in West 



.\frica under the equator. The w 1 ii:i, ilic lin. ^t liinatoiy qualities and 



these improve with ai;c. iiic oi.id- ihc iisinunciit th.. l.cticr the tone. 

 The greatest care is ex.rci.cl in i.i.qiai in;; tliis k.,.„] f..v lliites and piccolos. 

 The imported product is sliipped in rough logs four feet in length, which 

 are split and cut in the required dimensions for the body, head and foot 

 Joint. These pieces are In turn bored with a small reamer of about three- 

 eighths inch. 



To Encourage Wood Distillation 

 The Mississippi legislature has passed a bill exempting from taxation 

 for a period of five years all wood distillation plants that may be built 

 iu the state. The purpose of this bill Is to encourage the wood-distillation 

 industry in Mississippi. The measure will afifect pine more than hard- 

 woods, but there is much hardwood in the state that might be used In 

 destructive distillation. 



A Rainy Day Workshop 



The basswood is a tree of peculiar interest to persons who believe 

 in rainy weather. The bloom of this tree always has one roof over it, 

 and usually two roots. The bloom is suspended by a short stem beneath 

 a specially-shaped leaf called a bract. This bract serves as a sort of 

 umbrella over the flowers to keep them dry ; but there Is still another 

 provision for keeping the rain from wetting the blooms. Basswood leaves 

 are so adjusted to the twigs, and their edges overlap in such a way, that 

 they form a sort of thatched roof, and the bloom is protected by them, 

 nain water has a hard time reaching the flower which is sheltered by an 

 umbrella (the bract) and the umbrella itself is sheltered by the leaf thatch 

 above. An observer on one occasion watched a basswood tree during 

 two rainy days in succession, and in that time the flowers remained dry, 

 and during both days bees worked constantly In the flowers, extract- 

 ing honey which they carried to their hive a thousand feet distant. 



When the basswood's seeds ripen in autumn each cluster, still hanging 

 beneath its utnbrella, separates from the twig, and the umbrella, acting 



Engl! 



One of 



on the principle of an airplane, sails away with its load of seeds and 

 drops them some distance from the parent tree. 



Wooden Combs in Germany 



A recent commercial report published liy the I'.nreau of Foreign and 

 Domestic Commerce, Washington, says that. accoi.iiiiK to a German trade 

 paper, wood Is now being largely use.l in place ..1 ivory, celluloid and 

 other substances in the manufacture of combs in Germany. Excellent 

 toilet combs, it is stated, are made from thinly cut. faultless birch and 

 beechwood. They are light in weight, clean and cheaper than any other 

 kind of comb and prove entirely satisfactory in use. These new "war" 

 combs Include ornamental combs, which are frequently carved or painted. 

 Why Not Try Buckeyes? 



The government has been getting after some of the west coast shingle 

 makers because they use flour in making paste with wliich to fasten 

 labels on their bunches of shingles. It requires considerable flour for paste 

 when it comes to smearing labels for billions of shingles, and in view of 

 the fact that all the flour we have, and more too. is needed for bread and 

 pies, it is reasonable that sonichciv .honl.l ohjc t to using so much for 

 pasting papers on shingle Iciicih- c oii-ci|ie m ly. the manufacturers 

 intend to leave the labels niT iiiel si\c iicit imici, Hour. 



Why not make paste of l.iickcycs ■- Tli. sc ,. I, noxious nuts are of no 

 food value to men or lower animals, though a starving red squirrel will 

 gnaw out the non-poison part and eat it, and the California Digger Indians 

 have a way of preparing them for food by denaturing the kernels in a 

 kettle of boilinir water and sand. Buckeyes are reputed to make excellent 

 paste by grimlini; the kernels into flour and using it in the same way 

 as wheat riour. Ilookbiiulers formerly made their paste of buckeyes, or 

 some ot it: ami il lia.l the reputation of being proof against roaches that 



W i . ■ : . I . I ,11.1 I. :i. I rc|i,ii;iiion~ of inickeye paste are well founded 



Of \c I > I' niMli-, not lie iio-itively asserted; but why not 



put tic iM ,11- I I- ,1 ic-t l.y IrxiiiL; if; I'liere will never be a more oppor- 

 tune time for doing so. Buckeyes are plentiful in regions where these 

 trees grow, and they are scattered from the Atlantic to the racific, though 

 they are not found everywhere within those bounds. They are particu- 

 larly abundant in several eastern states where wagonloads or carloads of 

 (he nuts might be easily collected in autumn. They ought to be put into 

 markets for less than half the present price of wheat per bushel. 

 The Persimmon Tree 

 Down south some of the people are discussing the question whether the 

 persimmon tree ought to go or stay, whether it Is worth the ground it 

 occupies with all its sprouts, or whether it should be exterminated. North- 

 ern people are generally unacquainted with the tree and are prejudiced 

 neither for or against it ; but they know some of Its good points. The 

 textile mills depend largely upon persimmon wood for shuttles. Nearly 

 the whole supply comes from that tree and dogwood, which Is another 

 insignificant species. Persimmon wood possesses extraordinary strength. 

 Maple, birch and hickory are generally regarded as our strongest woods, yet 

 not one of them equals persimmon in that respect. In fact, there is not 

 another commercial wood In this country as strong as air dry persimmon. 

 It even goes tibove pignut hickory. It would perhaps be better business 

 to afford extra protection and encouragement to persimmon than to advo- 

 cate destroying it because of the tree's habit of sending up its sprouts all 

 over creation, to which habit the southerners file their strongest objections. 

 Sassafras Bark 

 Sassafras bark Is on sale in Chicago at thirty-five cents a pound. It 

 is used for making tea. and the old folk-lore credits it with "thinning the 

 blood in preparation for summer heat." Whether or not it contains the 

 ha;moglobiniferous properties attributed to It, the drink is pleasant and 

 most people like it. Sassafras trees make good lumber, which the inspector 

 may let slip through as ash, but trees seldom are large enough for saw 

 logs. The bark is obtained from roots of small saplings, usually in old 

 fields of wornotit soil. The flowers are also boiled in water for tea. Large 

 quantities of roots, bark and all, are distilled for sassafras oil, which 

 soapmakers use in scenting their soap. Sassafras tea connoisseurs prefer 

 maple sap Instead of plain water, in making the beverage. But people 

 who live In cities cannot tap maple trees, and so they must sweeten their 

 sassafras tea with ordinary sugar and run the risk of having Hoover on 

 their backs for using too much sugar. 



California Backsliding 

 The Pioneer Western Lumberman, published at San Francisco, sounds the 

 alarm that California is backsliding in its use of lumber in house building. 

 The declaration is made that no more wood is demanded by builders now 

 than was used ten years ago, in spite of the fact that the state's popula- 

 tion has increri^ed a million ; and the following reason is offered to account 

 for t)ii I ..;. i,i |)j,. use of lumber: 



(III- I . ns for the consumption of lumber failing to keep pace 



witli i!,' I :i iim iiopulation has been the substitution ot cement, plaster, 

 metal iini om|,,.^iiion materials for portions of the building where wood 

 was formerly used and where wood, in the generality of cases, would have 

 been the superior material for the purpose. 



Another reason and a most potential one has been the epidemic of apart- 

 ment-house construction. This type of structure has stiuck the fancy 

 of many who have given up the atmosphere, responsibility and pleasure of 

 a home for the soul-warping, child-dwarfing and labor-saving environment 

 ot steam-heated catacombs, in which are incubated habits of slothfulness 

 that can not do otherwise than detract from the morale of the individual. 



