HARDWOOD RECORD 



31 



cases, wagon boxes, staves, sporting goods, tubs and churns. Of 

 course there is in addition a long list of uses to which basswood may- 

 be put, but the above mentioned ones are the most important. 



Strange as it may seem, many of our supposed ' ' Spanish cedar ' ' 

 cigar boxes are made of basswood, nicely stained to give the proper 

 external appearance. In the end they are just as good and can be 

 obtained so much more cheaply. 



The prices paid for the various lines of utilization naturally differ 

 very materially. For instance, the average price paid for all the 

 various grades of basswood used in the different industries in Illinois 

 was $27.55 per thousaml. In Michigan, near the source of supply 



the average price paid at the mill was only $20.79. In Minnesota 

 the average price was only $15.30, according to the statistics of 

 that state. On the other hand, in Connecticut the average was 

 $40.37, but undoubtedly the better class of material used in this 

 state accounted for this large price. 



For the individual uses the prices also vary very much. As an 

 example of this, in one state the average price reported for cabinets 

 and ofBee fixtures was $58.49 per thousand, for boxes and crates it 

 was $23.26, for panels in interior finish, $28.40, for musical instru- 

 ments, $36.18, for furniture, $22.50, and for trunks, $23.25. 



N. C. B. 



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Where The Hickory Logs Go 



A good share of our hickory is being sent abroad in log form, sta- 

 tistu's furnished by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce 

 at Washington showing that hickory logs to the value of over $300,000 

 were exported last year. Statistics available from advance sheets of 

 the "Annual report on commerce and navigation shed a little light on 

 just wliere these logs go. The manufacturing trade here might be 

 better off if it could keep these logs at home and instead send the 

 manufactured products abroad. 



The statistics, which cover the fiscal year ending with June, 1913, 

 show total exports of hickory logs to the amount of 8,293,000 feet, 

 valued at $309,896. This means a return of a little less than $37.50 

 per thousand feet of the logs. How much the returns would have 

 been had these logs been converted into wagon wood, handles or handle 

 blocks is problematical, but it is easy to understand that it would 

 have been considerable above this figure. 



Most of these hickory logs went to Europe, iu fact, nearly all of 

 them, the exact distribution being as follows: 



EXPORT.S OP HICKORY LOGS, FISC.XL YEAR 1913 



This may be taken as fairly representative of the distribution of 

 hickory logs right along, though the markets in different sections fluc- 

 tuate more or less from time to time. For example, last year the 

 trade was very light in France, being only about one-fifth what it 

 was the year before. It was also comparatively light in Germany. 

 Netherlands, on the other hand, used more than twice as much hickory 

 as it did the previous year. Tlie demand from England runs fairly 

 steady from year to year and this is really the biggest market. The 

 United Kingdom uses easily more than half the total of hickory 

 logs exported. 



It is well to consider tvro or three things in connection with the 

 hickory lumber trade. The first one is that at least forty per cent 

 of our hickory handle trade is export and the bulk of these handles 

 go to the same markets as those to which the hickory logs are sent. 

 The second, and perhaps the most important thing to consider, is 

 that the world 's supply of hickory is in the United States and is 

 really confined to a limited territory. The supply is limited enough 

 so that the trade should be able to get hold of it and control it in 

 such a manner that instead of exporting so many logs they will 

 be worked up here and the manufactured product exported instead. 

 The more nearly finished the manufactured product the better, but 

 even exports of billets and rough lumber would be better than 

 hickory log exports. The third matter for consideration is this: 

 We have a good foreign trade in hickory-manufactured products — 

 good enough to be an important item to the industry, not only in 

 handles, but in vehicle stock — and to maintain and look after this 

 trade requires exporting connections, agencies and representatives on 

 the other side. In other words, it makes a channel of trade. Why 

 not then use this same channel, these connections, to enlarge the 



trade in hickory-manufactured products to the end that we may 

 get more out of the hickory itself and also furnish more employ- 

 ment for those engaged in the industry of manufacturing hickory 

 into wood stock, handles and other articles of commerce? The logs 

 bring a certain amount of money to this country in return, but the 

 manufactured articles would bring considerably more, and since the 

 only source of raw material supply is in a limited territory in the 

 United States it ought to be practical and comparatively easy to 

 get more returns out of it.— J. C. T. 



Influence of Source of Seed Upon Forest Growth 



Most of tlie timber used came from seed, though some of tlie 

 second-growth hardwoods developed from sprouts. One of the most 

 common methods of starting a second crop of trees that do not 

 sprout readily is to leave a few trees of the desirable species to seed 

 up the ground. The openings made by the removal of the other 

 timber are favorable for the growth of seedlings and usually it is 

 not long before there is a thicket of young trees to take the place 

 of the old ones, provided, of course, fire has been controlled. 



It has been supposed that it did not make much difference what 

 shape and quality of tree was left so long as it was of the right 

 species. Naturally a lumberman prefers to leave something that is 

 not merchantable, and it has been argued that because a tree was 

 stunted, or misshapen, or diseased, was merely the result of the con- 

 ditions of growth and that there was no reason why the offspring 

 from such a parent should not under more favorable conditions 

 develop into the best of timber. 



Some very extensive and exhaustive experiments to settle such 

 points have been made in Germany and it has been conclusively 

 demonstrated that seed collected from stunted and suppressed trees 

 produce plants less resistant to disease than plants grown from seed 

 collected from the larger and more vigorous specimens; and also 

 that the individual characteristics of the mother tree may be trans- 

 mitted through the seed. Thus a tree that has a decidedly spiral 

 growth is very likely to transmit the character to the seedlings so 

 that eventually a considerable portion of the stand may be of spiral 

 growth. Such timber is very undesirable from a lumberman's point 

 of view and should be discouraged. Consequently in leaving trees 

 to furnish seed for the next crop or in collecting seeds to plant it 

 should always be borne in mind that the new crop will depend very 

 largely upon the source of the seed. Seedlings grown from seed from 

 crooked, spreading, crippled trees are for the most part of very 

 poor form, especially if the trees developed on poor soil. 



In collecting forest tree seed to plant it is important not to take 

 it only from well-formed, thrifty trees but also from trees growing in 

 the right locality. Seed for planting in the valleys should not be 

 gathered from high mountains, and vice versa. In like manner 

 southern grown seed should not be used in the North. The best plan 

 is to choose seed from good trees growing in the same or similar 

 locality to which they are to be planted. 



The farmer has learned the great advantage to be gained by a 

 careful clioice of seed for his cereal and garden crops, but the same 

 practice is seldom applied to timber growing. 



