^^yvKD.'Jiac^iss?.;';:: 



The Wood of Chairs 



:v* iiii iui|iurtnnt item in the 

 uiily ruiigtitutc probably the 

 world, but they maku an item 

 si'imrntoly from furniture and 

 Hi tlio woodworking imluatrios 



• 'hairs and chair stock c<> 

 '.vood working industry. The; 

 biggest single item in the fui 

 important enough to be set ; 

 u'tvcu individual classification 

 the United States. 



Ill bulletin 605, recently distributed by the Forest Service, chairs 

 ■iiid chair stock arc listed as liglith iu the rank of wood consuming 

 industries, being preceded in inijiortance only by jilaning mill 

 pruduct.s, boxes and crates, lar tonstruetion, furniture, vehicles, 

 woodenwarc, novelties and a^jrimilturnl implements. 



Prior to our entering upon the shipbuilding activities of the 

 past year or two, the lumber roi|uircments for chairs and chair 

 stock exceeded that of ship aiul boat building. There are many 

 kinds of wood entering into chair making, but a dozen only are 

 used to the extent of more than a million feet a year. The normal 

 total annual consumption of lumber for chairs and the relative 

 quantity of the leading woods used in this industry are here shown 

 as follows: 



Total U-. 



Oak 



Maple . 



Birch ... 



Beech .. . 



Elm 



Re<l gum. 

 Two otlj 

 There was 

 Service sti 

 entered in 

 woods on V 

 It will be 

 three timi- 

 wood in ir 

 some that 

 the cxplan: 

 for turned 

 old is still 



\V,>..|..S l-MEU !.■< Lll.MUS 



Feet. l'..i. 



I Miinimlly...:;Stl.70i),5lin Cbe»tnut 0.2411.030 



135.'J«i>.llS .\iih 2.705,050 



47,2111, 747 .Miiliognny 2,405,700 



30.114.3:12 I'oplsr 1,140,000 



27,1S7,021 Hlckor.v 1,102,200 



23,157.0811 ll.iHswooil 1,75S,338 



S.7'JO.2.S0 



r wdihIs come very near to furnishing a million feet. 

 usi-,1 ii71,;i-M feet of nycamorc, according to the Forest 

 ti.stie.i, and 815,068 feet of white pine. Many woods 

 i^niallor (juantities, but those listed above constitute the 

 hich the chair industry mainly depends for raw material, 

 noticed that oak leads the list, furnishing practically 

 i as much of the raw material for chairs as the next 

 i[irirtance, which is maple. It will perhaps be news to 

 lickory is so extensively used in chair making. Tart of 

 tioM of this is found in the use of hickory for rounds, and 

 posts in the making of a type of chair which though very 

 quite popular. 



•5Si^^S> 



'^.• i,i<i^.-^<A!.i.- ■:<.'.,_•.{:■.: 



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Maple by States and Industries 



The latest figures on the production of maple lumber show a cut of 

 909,420,274 feet per year in the United States It is produced in 

 thirty -four States. Eight kinds of maple contribute to this total, and 

 if box elder is counted as maple, which it is, there are nine species, 

 namely, sugar maple, silver (commonly called soft) maple, mountain 

 maple, striped maple, Oregon maple, vein maple, dwarf maple, red 

 maple, and box elder. The common sugar tree furnishes perhaps 

 ninety per cent of all the maple lumber, and is generally called hard 

 ni.Tple, all the others being classed as soft. The four states, Michigan, 

 Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, furnish more than half 

 of all maple lumber, and Michigan alone more than one-third of it. 



Not much maple goes to its final use as rough lumber. It first 

 passes through shops or factories. In fact, a little more goes to fac- 

 tories than passes through sawmills. That apparent inconsistency is 

 accounted for by the fact that certain factories receive logs instead 

 of lumber and thus make use of some wood which has not first passed 

 through sawmills. 



The accompanj-ing table was compiled to show the use of maple in 

 twenty states and by twelve industries in those states. These twenty 

 states consume 99 per cent of all the maple, and the twelve industries 



95 per cent of it. This makes it apparent that the table represents 

 practically the whole consumption of maple in this country, though the 

 area covered by 'the table includes fewer than half of the United 

 States, and the twelve industries are only the most important of the 

 fifty-three wood-using industries recognized in this country. 



As a rule, states which produce much maple are large users of it. 

 Factories which need it are generally located in pro,\imity to the 

 supply. However, considerable quantities are shipped rather long 

 distances to supply the wants of regions which are not large producers 

 of this wood. 



The largest industry in the table is mill work. That term includes a 

 number of items, but the largest, so far as maple is concerned, is floor- 

 ing, but milhvork includes much wood used as interior house finish and 

 stair work. The second largest item is furniture and this business is 

 well distributed over the country, but Wisconsin heads all other states 

 in the manufacture of maple furniture. 



The accompanying table should assist manufacturers of maple lum- 

 ber who are not marketing their stock to as good advantage as they 

 think they oiif;bt. It shows where the largest call is for grades suitable 

 for particular industries. 



USES OF MAPLE BY INDUSTRIES AND STATES— BOARD FEET PER YEAR 

 .\grlcultural 



Mill 



ork 



Michigan .... 



Illinois 



Xew Torlc.... 

 Wisconsin . . . 

 Pennsylvania 



Ohio 



Indi 



,193,370.406 

 18.666,000 

 23,770,700 

 4,148.000 

 9,681,890 

 6.207.910 

 1,540,442 



Vermont 15,685,916 



Massachusetts 442.500 



New Hampshire. . . 5.730,000 



West Virginia 4,381.400 



Maine 348,000 



Missouri 696.906 



Minnesota 4,259.542 



Kentucky 266,000 



North Carolina 30,000 



Iowa 68,000 



Connecticut 354,550 



New Jersey 360.500 



Tennessee 1,775,000 



Furniture 

 14,303,163 

 21,936.000 

 13,403,700 

 28,793,000 

 10.092.000 

 5,036.201 

 6,933,379 

 3,711,608 

 8,563.000 

 2,301.2111 

 1.168.000 

 465,000 

 3.133.500 

 869,077 

 1.841.0' 10 

 1,205,000 



Bo.\e3 Shoe lasts 

 29,217,500 14,350,000 

 28,509,000 



ents instruments Handles Wi 

 485,500 1,347,500 23,483.000 2 

 210,000 



25,482,000 17,653,000 

 7.994.000 11,839,800 



160.000 



729,000 11,850,000 



2,056,000 



1.032,600 



4,270,200 



3,084,660 



200,000 



270,000 



400,000 



10.500 



136,000 



647,800 



2,369.000 



1,597,300 



19,000 

 70,000 

 259.000 



1,428.000 

 1,400.000 

 2,307,850 

 3,S35,496 

 1,S65,000 

 400,000 



337,500 



2,962,000 



1,040,500 



715,000 



301.000 



1,545,348 



302,000 17.000 



167,000 1,190,000 



1,066,000 30,500 524,000 



934,000 



2,064,400 



4.481,000 



625.000 



2,536,701 



4,596,808 



32,900 



6.000 



421.000 



2,500 



62,500 



1.594,151 



1,443,000 



190,000 



20,000 



2,091,000 



91,645 



16,000 



fixtures appliances 

 7,366,500 3,064,000 



695,000 598,000 

 2.215,000 819,000 



182,000 



150.000 

 2,528.000 



229.000 

 21,000 

 785,611 



49,000 

 50,000 

 183,000 



1,407,750 

 1,159,000 

 2.575,000 



322,000 1,655,000 



