HARDWOOD RECORD 



31 



particular, that they produce sounding boards as nearly perfect as 

 have ever been fashioned by man. It equips the whole stringed band 

 with sounding boards, zithers, harps, mandolins, or guitars. Its scope 

 is not entirely encompassed even then, but it magnifies the deepest 

 tones of large organs when used as pipes in those instruments. 



Spruce ordinarily has no figure. Xobody buys it for its variety 

 of shade and tint, or for bird's-eye effect, or curly design, or feather 

 grain. It is the plainest wood in the world, and that is exactly 

 wherein one of its chief values as lumber lies. It affords a per 

 petual example of how a wood can be plain without a suggestion of 

 dullness and monotor%'. It is uniform in color, clean in appearance, 

 pleasing in its plainness, in good taste, and always reliable. Door 

 makers buy it for this reason, and it is widely used for frames, ami 



intericu- finish, where a wood that will hold its shape is wanted. 

 Immense quantities are used in box making. The white color 

 recommends it for that use, because it shows clearly the printing 

 and stenciling which shippers place on their boxes. It is a clean 

 wood, and imparts no stain or odor to the contents of boxes. For 

 the same reason it is employed in some kinds of cooperage, such as 

 butter tubs, churns, and other receptacles for food products. The 

 list of its uses is long and varied, and shows how wide the demand 

 is. It goes to foreign countries from both the Atlantic and Pacific 

 coasts, and the domestic trade reaches every important market in 

 this country. It is a wood which has a place of its own, and it 

 is not generally regai-ded as a competitor of others, or as gaining 

 its grounii by crowding other woods out. 



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Japanese Oak Abroad 





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Oak lumber has always been more conspicuous as a standard for 

 lioat aud house building and interior finish purposes in England proh 

 ably than any other species of wood. Historical references to sliiji 

 and house construction would tend to convey the impression that oak 

 was practically the only wood considered in building houses for tiie 

 "old inhabitants of the islands, and the ships in which they have navi- 

 gated the seas. The Timber News of Liverpool says that formerly 

 the supply of oak was secured entirely on the islands themselves, but 

 of late years the United Kingdom has been forced to draw its supply 

 from Austria and Russia, where a very suitable substitute for tli.- 

 English oak is found. The latest arrival in the British local marker, 

 is Japanese oak, which has gained considerable favor there by reason 

 of its qualities, and which is destined to be an important tinilxi 

 species of the islands. 



The American oak is not considered as an active competitor of tin- 

 old English and Austrian oaks on account of the fact that they are 

 considered only in connection with the highest class of wainscoting 

 and paneling work, and it is pretty generally considered that their 

 character and figure render them peculiarly suited to this line of 

 manufacture. 



The real reason for the shipment of Japanese oak on the British 

 soil is the unusual increase in the value of Austrian and Eussiau 

 products. The cost of Austrian oak is now about double what it was 

 fifteen years ago. 



Japanese oak was first used on the Continent about 1906, but shiji 

 meuts at that time evidently came from ine.xperienced lumbermen wlm 

 liad not been able or had not taken the trouble to submit the best 

 available samples of their product. As a consequence the character 

 of the first few shipments was poorly considered by Continental and 

 British buyers, and a serious sentiment against Japanese oak sprang 

 up in those markets. However, the good qualities of the wood were 

 recognized by a few experts who maintained the courage of their 

 convictions and continued shipping cargoes to the British market. 

 One concern abroad bought a large steamer cargo of Japanese oak in 

 September of last year. This cargo showed a surprisingly improved 

 grading, and the result was that buyers were enthusiastic over its 

 (juality. The reason for this increase in popularity is the better gradi' 

 obtained by a stricter attention to detail in logging and manufacture. 



The wood is now felled at the proper time of the year aud every 

 important point of operation is carefully observed in Japan. The 

 felling of the trees in the woods should commence about the middle or 

 end of October, according to the weather. If in September it is 

 still warm, the felling is postponed so as to prevent the sap renuiining 

 in the ties and spoiling the color of the wood. 



The Japanese oak trees are always found on top of or on the high 

 slopes of hills and mountains. They are felled by hand and after 

 felling are hewn in squares. They are then cut into lengths where 

 the first branch appears. The only reason for squaring the logs is to 

 facilitate hauling them to various railway points. 



It has been found that the only feasible time of hauling these logs 

 to transportation is in mid-winter when snow covers the ground. A 



liard path is beaten in tlie snow prior to hauling, and the square tim- 

 bers are then puUed by means of one or two horses twenty or thirty 

 miles to the railroad .station. The horses are hooked to them by 

 means of a spike fastened to the end of the log, to which a rope is 

 attached. 



The loading onto the steamer is accomplished by means of cooley 

 labor, each cooley being armed with a eant-hook which he uses nith- 

 lessh' on the log. As a result there has been considerable protest at 

 the senseless marking which occurs from such handling. There has 

 been some elfort made to secure the logs without these holes, but on 

 account of an emphatic protest from the coolies against working with- 

 out the hooks they continue in use. 



When the logs have been inspected they are placed near the shore 

 and when the steamer arrives are thrown into the sea. There are 

 never more logs in the water, however, than can be loaded in a single 

 day. Thus they are submerged only a few hours in the salt water. 



A German newspaper, commenting on Japanese oak as compared 

 with the Hungarian or Slavonian oak, says it is of fine growth, mild 

 and of a nice color, which corresponds with the requirements of the 

 western European furniture trade. It is successfully used in bank 

 fittings, cabinet work, and interior decorations, and high-class cabinet 

 work in shipbuilding. The Japanese oak billet shows a large per- 

 centage of mottled figure. The mottle has the largest spread across 

 tlie board and if it is required for center-matching to make a wide 

 panel, it gives an effect hard to find in any other oak. Hence it is 

 particularly well adapted for wainscoting. When finished in the nat- 

 ural color, the adaptability of this wood to staining is easily seen. 

 The quality is mild and soft, with an even texture which is evidenced 

 in the heart side as well as the sap side. The wood, therefore, is 

 worked with ease. There is also a quality to this oak which makes it 

 possible to cut and dry wide boards without any danger of serious 

 cracks. It would seem that Japanese oak has a promising future in 

 the foreign market. 



The Japanese oak is finding its way to the Pacific coast of the 

 United States, where its use for cabinet work, furniture, interior finish, 

 and boat building amounts to about 200,000 feet a year. It is often 

 called Siberian oak, and the commercial supply comes from Siberia 

 as well as Japan. The cost of the plain oak when it reaches the 

 Pacific coast factories ranges from $60 to $90 a thousand, while the 

 quarter-sawed is listed at $115. It generally arrives at Portland, 

 Seattle, and San Francisco in the log, and the sawing is done at the 

 factorv which uses it. ' 



Some of those inland waterway appropriations have been used to 

 poor advantage as far as the lumber fraternity is concerned. 



The public does not care half as much about tariff matters as the 

 politician persuades himself that it does, 



There 's a buzzing around the furniture factories that souiids like 

 a call for more of both lumber and veneer. 



Poor sawing is one form of wasting timber that is preventable, 

 therefore should not be tolerated. 



