HARDWOOD RECORD 



21 



This pine is growing with great vigor at Miami, Pla., where it has 

 been planted. It has likewise been planted in the Florida Everglades. 

 Its needles are as long as those of longleaf pine, but limber and 

 drooping. It grows almost aS rapidly as eucalyptus. Its seeds are 

 abundant, as large as almonds, and valuable as food. 



Railroad building, wharfs and mining operations now constitute 

 the principal demand for United States lumber shipments to Chile. 

 Furniture from this country is in demand also; and several other 

 manufactures of wood meet with favor in that country. 

 Summary 



A summary of the situation on the whole west coast of South 

 America brings out the fact that it is a field for development rather 

 than one already developed. The further fact is patent that it is a 

 region with small available timber resources at present, and until addi- 

 tional rallro:iiIs sliall be built across the Andes Mountains to tap the 

 tropical forests r:ist of the ranges, the most of the timber used for 

 all purposes must be imported. The United States is the natural 

 source of timber supplies. In fact, our country has so great a natural 

 advantage in that trade that it can hold it against all rivals. 



The most of the South American timber trade is now held by 

 California, Oregon and Washington, and the trade is almost wholly 

 softwoods. The reason for it is that the west coast of South America 

 now buys structural timbers largely and they are such timbers as the 

 Pacific coast states can furnish more cheaply than the Gulf states; 

 but with the opening of the Panama Canal the southern yellow pines 

 may be expected to make a much better showing in western South 

 America. 



The further fact is apparent that American hardwoods have not yet 

 secured much foothold there. The reason is that not much wood of 



that kind is used there. Hardwoods are for manufacturing purposes 

 rather than for use as rough structural material, and that part of 

 South America is not making much furniture, vehicles, boats and farm 

 implements. These are imported, and as far as hardwoods are con- 

 cerned, it appears that at present there is a better opening for the 

 manufactured articles than for the oak, maple, gum and other hard- 

 wood lumber of which they are made. 



It is likely that the market for hardwood lumber can be increased, 

 because in some of those countries the tariffs on manufactured articles 

 are high and the small factories might be induced to increase their 

 outputs and buy the rough hardwood lumber from us. This need not 

 lessen our exports of manufactured wooden commodities to that 

 region, because the field is there for much larger trade than we now 

 have. 



The total exports of lumber in 1913 from the United States to 

 those countries is here summarized : 



Feet. 



Chile 64,322,000 



Ppru 48,037,000 



Colombia 2,002,000 



Kcundor 451,000 



Bolivia 66.547 



'iotal 115,478,547 



The origin of the names of these five countries follows: Chile 

 means snow; Peru was the name of the river where Pizarro landed; 

 Colombia was named for Christopher Columbus; Ecuador means equa- 

 tor; Bolivia! was named for Bolivar, "the Washington of South 

 America," who fought for the independence of nearly half of that 

 continent. 



.' C'gogtt;iS»siyALBax;ioa^Wi;i>^5C«^ 



Birch Coming Into Its Own 



Bircli should never have been substituted for mahogany or cherry. 

 It should have stood on its own merit from the first. It is not a 

 second-place wood, not an apology for or a substitute for anything. 

 While it may be a compliment to birch that it has passed as 

 ■ mahogany for a hundred years, the time for compliments of that 

 kind is now over, and the day is not distant when no one will 

 wish to conceal real birch behind the false claim that it is a tropical 

 wood. Without detracting one iota from the genuine worth of 

 mahogany, it can be stated that birch possesses certain qualities 

 which are superior to mahogany. It is stronger. It stands strains 

 which would snap the tropical wood. It cannot be truthfully as- 

 serted that in beauty of grain when properly finished birch goes 

 ahead of mahogany, because it does not — no wood does. But in 

 combining strength and beauty, it ranks above mahogany. It takes 

 finishes which no mahogany has ever yet received. 



At the recent furniture show in Chicago the display of birch was 

 instructive. When employed as an imitation of mahogany it was 

 given the load to carry. If it was a bedstead, the rails were birch, 

 because the strains fell there; if a chair, the arms and other parts 

 were of the American wood, where strength as well as beauty were 

 demanded; if a hatrack or coat tree of slender central spindle, more 

 than likely the strain fell on a birch piece. That rule was general, 

 though it was not universal. 



It is not necessary to claim for birch*' tliat it is superior as a 

 furniture and finish wood to all others in America. There are other 

 extremely high grade cabinet woods in this country, and all that 

 need be claimed for birch is that it ranks with the best of them. 

 It is strong, hard, stiff, takes fine polish, responds remarkably well 

 to the application of stains and fillers, and if a figured wood is 

 wanted, selected birch supplies it. All of the qualities of a superb 

 cabinet material are here. It is no experiment. It has held its 

 place and gained ground from the fia-st, and it has reached a point 

 where it is able to stand on its own merits and against all comers, 

 either domestic or foreign. This claim extends to lower as well as 



to the best grades of highly colored and finely figured stock. Birch 

 fills plebeian as well as aristocratic places; it is the camp stool as 

 well as the rocker; the .bed slat as well as the carved legs of the 

 grand piano. It is fit for nearly every part and class of woodwork. 

 It detracts nothing from its long and honorable reputation to know 

 that excavations have shown that the terrible war chariots of the 

 Assyrians, with scythe blades on the hubs and spears on the ends of 

 the poles, were made of birch — rims, hubs, spokes, axles, poles, and 

 body. Then why hide the identity of this splendid wood under 

 aliases and disguises f 



Progress in Wood Bending 



Wood bending is almost exclusively a hardwood proposition because 

 it involves the use of hardwood all along the route from wheel rims 

 and shafts to chair braces, and includes all of the used articles in bent 

 wood. In the progress of this industry many machines and appli- 

 ances have been invented to facilitate the work and to reduce the per- 

 centage of breaking. Until recently most of the attention has been 

 centered on appliances for clamping and holding and bending the 

 wood, but now there is a new line of progress through the develop- 

 ment of enclosed retorts for steaming or preparing wood to be bent. 

 While this is the most recent jihase of progress in wood bending, it 

 is really in many respects the most important because it is not only 

 a source of economy in the use of steam for bending, but perhaps 

 contributes more than any other one thing to reducing breakage and 

 to insuring a smooth even bend. For many generations the practice 

 has been to boU wood in open vats or steam it in home-made wooden 

 boxes. This has wasted much heat and has never accomplished the 

 results it should. The newest idea in this line is an enclosed retort in 

 which wood for bending can be steamed under pressure. It is a good 

 idea, too, offering advantages enough in steam economy to pay for 

 itself and it certainly improves the condition of wood to be bent. It 

 is a good idea that should have been taken up with long ago and now 

 that we have it it should receive the attention it merits from all those 

 who have bending to do. 



