x6 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES. 



Cucumber Tree. 

 Magnolia Acuminata — I.inn. 



The habitat of the cucumber tree extends 

 from western New York through southern 

 Ontario to southern Illinois; south in the 

 Appalachian mountains to southern Alabama 

 and northeastern Mississippi, through cen- 

 tral Kentucky and the eastern part of Ten- 

 nessee, and through northeastern, southern 

 and southwestern Arkansas. In 

 the northern part of its range, the 

 tree is comparatively rare, finding 

 its best growth in the valleys and 

 lowlands at the base of the North 

 Carolina and Tennessee mountains. 

 It thrives best near streams in rich, 

 humid soil, but in no place is its 

 growth sufficiently common to form 

 much of the forest. 



In nearly every state where it is 

 found it is known as the cucumber 

 tree from the resemblance of its 

 fruit, when green, to a small cu- 

 cumber. In some parts of Missis- 

 sippi and Kentucky, however, it is 

 known as mountain magnolia, in 

 West Virginia as the cucumber and 

 black lin, and in Arkansas as the 

 magnolia. 



Thr leaves are simple and from 

 six to ten inches in length, with 

 heart-shaped base, scattered along 

 the branches; dark-green above, 

 lighter below, and covered with 

 white silky hairs when young. At 

 maturity there is only a fringe of 

 hair on the veins beneath. They 

 have ' a notable appearance from 

 their large clean look when con- 

 trasted with the foliage background 

 of the oaks and maples, among 

 which the cucumber tree is usually 

 found. 



The bark is dark gray, quite 

 rough and covered with thin scales. 

 The flowers are three to six inches 

 * in diameter, terminal, solitary and 

 bell-shaped; green or pale yellow. 

 The cucumber tree in the period of 

 blossoming is less noticeable than 

 the other magnolias, as the tulip- 

 like flowers, though large, are 

 scarcely distinguishable at a dis- 

 tance because of the new leaves by 

 which they are surrounded. 



Magnolia Acuminata must not be typi 

 confused with the umbrella tree or 

 large leaf umbrella, which belongs 

 to the magnolia species and in some states is 

 known as the cucumber and large-leaved cu- 

 cumber tree. The leaves of this tree, the 

 Magnolia Tripi tola (Linn), are from sixteen 

 to twenty inches long, of a smooth, thin, 

 bright green, and tapering narrowly to the 

 stout petiole. Its bark is thin, gray and 

 smooth, with bristly warts, and the fruit is 

 :i bright rose color when fully ripe. 



THIKTY-NINTH PAPEE. 



The Magnolia Acuminata ('< .rdata (Miehx) 

 (Loud), or yellow flowered cucumber tree, 

 also resembles the cucumber tree and is 

 known as the cucumber tree in Virginia, Mis- 

 sissippi and Louisiana, and as the cucumber 

 tree and heart-leaved cucumber tree in North 

 Carolina. This tree is found occasionally in 

 the Alleghenies, but is most perfect in culti- 

 vation. It has bright yellow blossoms and 



CAL FOREST GROWTH CUCUMBER TREE, WEST 

 VIRGINIA. 



its leaves are dark, almost evergreen, in color. 



The cucumber tree of commerce is a large, 

 handsome, symmetrical tree of pyramidal 

 shape, sixty to ninety feet high and occasion- 

 ally reaching a height of 100 feet, with a 

 trunk three to four feet in diameter. It has 

 comparatively small branches, spreading be- 

 low and erect towards the top of the tree. 



In structural qualities the wood is light, anTl amethyst. 



soft, durable, but not strong. The heartwood 

 is light yellow, the sapwood nearly white, and 

 is of a close-grained, compact structure. The 

 weight of a cubic foot of the seasoned wood 

 is twenty-nine pounds. 



The wood has been used for flooring and 

 for the sides and backs of drawers and the 

 bodies of carriages. It is also used for wood- 

 enware and paper pulp. 



The cucumber tree is noted for 

 its scattering growth. It thrives in 

 common with poplar, oak and chest- 

 nut, but never is seen in groups in 

 these hardwood forests as some- 

 times occurs in poplar growth. It 

 is a tree which is never frequent 

 enough to become a well-known com- 

 mercial wood. While cucumber is 

 invariably felled and sawed into 

 lumber, where poplar, oak and 

 chestnut and other hardwoods are 

 being manufactured, it never comes 

 into the market under its own name, 

 but masquerades in the sap grade 

 of yellow poplar, which it quite 

 closely resembles in color, weight 

 and texture, although an expert can 

 readily distinguish the two. In 

 reality, it has a higher value than 

 sap poplar but, its character being 

 so similar, it will probably always 

 constitute a small percentage of the 

 poplar output. 



The handsome cucumber tree 

 shown in connection with this arti- 

 cle was photographed recently by 

 the editor of the Hardwood Record 

 on the properties of the E. E. Wood 

 Lumber Company in McDowell 

 county, West Virginia. 



Antiquity of the Saw. 

 The saw is an instrument of high 

 antiquity, says The Practical Carpen- 

 ter, its invention being attributed 

 either to Daedalus or to his nephew 

 Pcrdix, also called Talos, who, hav- 

 ing found the ja.w of a" serpent and 

 divided a piece of wood with it, was 

 led to imitate the teeth in iron. In 

 a bas-relief published by Winekel- 

 mann, Daedalus is represented holding 

 a saw approaching very closely in 

 form to the Egyptian saw. There are 

 also imitations of the use of the cen- 

 ter bit, and even in the time of Cicero 

 ir was employed by thieves. Pliny 

 mentions the use of the saw in an- 

 eient Belgium for cutting white build- 

 ing stone ; some of the oolitic and 

 cretaceous rocks are still treated in 

 the same manner, both in that part 

 of the continent and in the south 

 of England. In this case Pliny 

 must be understood to speak of a proper or 

 toothed saw. The saw without teeth was then 

 used just as it is now by the workers in marble, 

 and the place of teeth was supplied, according 

 to the hardness of the stone, either by emery 

 or by various kinds of sand of inferior hardness. 

 In this manner the ancient artificers were able 

 to cut slabs of the hardest rock6, which conse- 

 quently were adapted to receive the highest 

 polish, such as granite, porphyry, lapis, lazuli 



