30 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



I'lie bark is rougher nml of Jarkcr color; but otberwiito the rcitoiii' 

 blnnce U clo«« enough to iihow tlio roUtiouahip at once, and it was 

 probaUly called gum btvauito it looked like the other tupolocii, 

 which, in their turn, looknl like rod gum. 



Sour gum had to go one stop further to (^ot its name. It lookit 

 ;:kc black gum, but the ordinary ob!<erver sees that there is sonic 

 sfToronce, so the name sour gum was applied. The Icavos arc sour 

 to the taste, and the name was natural. Many mountaineers in tbo 

 Appalachian region, well acquainted with both sour gum and black 

 u'uro, insist to this day that suur gum is the same as black gum, 

 •'with a slight variation." 



Thb True Gum 



DLiregarding the throe little-known trees whioh aro properly 

 called gums, it may be said that red gum is the only American 

 >pocies entitled to the name. Perhaps it should be colled sweet 

 rather than rod gum, because that name had the priority of a 

 century or more. Besides, the name red gum sometimes loads to 

 misundorstandings, because some persons apply the term to the tree 

 ns it stands in the woods, while others restrict the name to the 

 red heart wood only, and call the white wood "sap gum." 



In lumber operations generally the custom is to use the simple 

 name gum when speaking of this wood, and that is a proper thing 

 to do. If the other gums or so-called gums are referred to, a de- 

 scriptive term is nearly alw.iys employed, and there is small likeli- 

 hood of misunderstanding. It will not bo long, if the present 

 tendency means anything, until the name "gum" in lumber trans- 

 actions will mean this wood only. 



What Early Writers Said 



One of the earliest writers who mentioned red gum was John 

 Lawson, an Englishman who traveled through the southern colo- 

 nies 200 years ago and wrote a natural history of the Carolinas. 

 He spoke of the tree as follows: 



"The sweet gum is so called because of the fragrant gum it 

 yields in the springtime upon incision of the bark or wood. It 

 cures the herpes and inflammation, being applied to morphew and 

 tetters. It is an extraordinary balsam and of great value to those 

 who know how to use it. No wood has scarce a better grain, 

 whereof fine tables, drawers, and other furniture might be made. 

 ■Some of it is curiously curled." 



Ten or fifteen years after Lawson 's travels through the South, 

 another Englishman, Mark Catesby, wrote a valuable book on the 

 resources of the southern country, and in speaking of red gum 

 he said: 



"The wood is good timber and is used in wainscotiug, etc. The 

 grain is fine and some of it beautifully variegated and very fit for 

 curious work in joinery; but when wrought too green is apt to 

 shrink and fly from its joints, to prevent which no less than eight 

 or ten years is suflicient to season its planks. Yet the regular form 

 and beauty of this tree deserves the regard of the curious. From 

 between the wood and the bark of this tree issues a fragrant 

 gum, which trickles from the wounded trees, and by the heat of the 

 sun congeals into transparent, resinous drops which the Indians 

 chew, esteeming it a preservative of the teeth. The bark is also 

 of singular use to them for covering their houses, which has fre- 

 quently given me opportunity of gathering gum from trees so 

 stripped of their bark, one of which would yield a hatful of gum." 



Peter Kalm, a Swedish naturalist who visited New Jersey and 

 eastern Pennsylvania 165 j-ears ago, wrote of red gum: 



"The wood can be made very smooth, because its veins arc 

 extremely fine; but it is not hard. You can carve letters on it 

 with a knife, which will seem to be engraved. Mr. Lewis Evans 

 told me from his experience that no wood in this country is more 

 fit for making molds for casting brass in than this. I Inquired 

 of Mr. Bartram [in Pennsylvania] whether he had found the rosin 

 on this tree which is so much praised. He told me that a very 

 odoriferous resin always flows out of any cut or wound which is 

 made in the tree, but that the quantity here is too inconsiderable 

 to recompense the labor of collecting it. In the southern countries 

 the heat fills the tree with gum, but in the northern ones it does 

 not." 



CncwiMO Gum 



It IK wvll luiuWM that chewing gum in conxidcrable uiimuul.i wus 

 formerly miiuufncturod from the resin of this tree. It is not 

 necessary to pool the trunk, n» Catoxby intimated, in order to 

 secure the rosin. It exudoK through the bark and falls to the 

 ground in Hniall, hard particlos, calloil "tears." Theso were col- 

 lected for the manufacturer. The induxtry of collecting it has not 

 yet wholly censed in some parts of the South, but other nintorials 

 from Mexico and elsewhere have largely replaced it. 



Standardizing Farm Buildings 



It miiy be a long time lioforr f.irm IjiiiMiiigH aro standardir.ed, but 

 the movement is in that direction. The farmer has for untold gener- 

 ations been following rules and fancies of his own in constructing 

 stalls for his stock, mangers in which to feed his horses and cattle, 

 racks for their hay, bins for their grain, cribs for corn, and so on, 

 and many farmers will doubtloFs continue to do so for a long time 

 to come. Tho tendency, however, is strong in the opposite course. 

 The haphazard system which once determined the size, sha|>c and 

 arrangement of farm buildings is giving way in favor of order and 

 method. Outbuildings once were scattered about the premises with 

 no more system than autumn leaves. The residence was at the spring 

 or well; the barn was nearby or far off, but with little regard to 

 slope, wind, drainage, or appearance; tho cribs, sheds, woodhouse, 

 .smokehouse, hogpen, ash hopper and washhouse were located without 

 thought or purpose. 



There was as little planning indoors as out in the matter of build- 

 ing. Horse stalls were large enough for elephants or too small for 

 mules. Cribs were made as convenient as possible for the accommo- 

 dation of rats, and the capacity of granaries and bins in bushels 

 was measured by the rule of three, if measured at all. Space for 

 hay in barns was largely a matter of chance, and there were often 

 haymows in barn attics or basements so remote from all means of 

 ogress and ingress that hay was handled three or four times with 

 pitchforks to place it where it belonged. In feeding time, there was 

 equal difliculty in getting it out of the mow and into the racks 

 where the horses could eat it. 



This shiftlessness or ignorance is passing away. The more pro- 

 gressive farmers started the movement on their own premises, and 

 worked out a number of the economic problems involved. The 

 United States Bureau of Plant Industry has taken the matter up and 

 in bulletin 212, which was recently issued, called attention to th» 

 unnecessary waste frequently caused by poorly planned and inade- 

 quate farm buildings. The matter is under investigation by the 

 American Society of Agricultural Engineers also, whose chairman is 

 E. S. Fowler of Minneapolis, Minn. The next annual convention of 

 this society will be held in Chicago next December. 



Among the topics upon which considerable progress has already 

 been made are the following: 



1 — Standard plans of stalls, mangers, alleys, etc., In barns. These will 

 embody tbc correct space units determined after a careful study 

 of the needs of animals, sanitation and tbe cost of construction. 

 2 — Tentative plans tor small farm buildings, Including cribs, sbeds, etc., 



with recommendations for convenient and cheap construction. 

 3 — General speclficotlons for barn framing. 

 4 — Essentials of the farm house. 



Tho question is of interest to the lumberman as well as to tho 

 farmer and the agricultural engineer. Standardization of mangers, 

 racks, stalls, cribs, barn alleyways and other parts of buildings will 

 assist the millman in cutting the stock. These parts will not be built 

 of general lumber, with great resulting waste as in tho past, but of 

 dimension stock sawed for the purpose. Standard plans and specifi- 

 cations are now available for all kinds of farm buildings. They are 

 based on units. The small building has few units, and as stalls, 

 mangers, racks, etc., the large one has more. 



The silo is doing a great deal in the way of standardization on 

 the farm. The silo may be bought ready to set up and of the dimen- 

 sions wanted. There is no reason why most of the farm buildings 

 might not be put on the market in the same way, in whole or in 

 part. Neither is there any reason why the location of such buildings 

 can not be planned for convenience, in relation to one another. 



