i6 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES. 



Tupelo. 



yifssa OQitatica — Linn. 



The range of growth of this tree is from 

 the coast region of southern Virginia into 

 northern Plorida; through the Gulf states 

 to the Nueces river in Texas; northward 

 through the states of Arkansas, Tennessee 

 and Kentucity, through southern Missouri and 

 Illinois, along the Wabash river. 



It is commonly known as large 

 tupelo in Alabama, Louisiana and 

 Texas; as tupelo gum in Georgia, 

 Alabama, Mississippi and Louis- 

 iana; as sour gum in Arkansas and 

 Missouri; as swamp tupelo in South 

 Carolina and Louisiana; as cotton 

 gum in North and South Carolina 

 and Florida; as wild olivetree in 

 Louisiana; as olivetree in Missis- 

 sippi; as Olivier a grandes feuilles 

 in Louisiana; as tupelo in North 

 and South Carolina and Missouri; 

 in the European markets it is called 

 bay-poplar; and the name Circas- 

 sian walnut is often applied to it. 



The leaves of tupelo are ovate- 

 oblong, acute and long-pointed at 

 the apex, usually entire, but some- 

 times remotely and irregularly 

 toothed; young leaves are white 

 and downy, but at maturity they 

 are firm and bright green on top, 

 pale on the lower surface; from 

 five to seven inches long, and two 

 to four wide; midrib broad and 

 thick, veins prominent. 



The flowers appear in March and 

 April on long, pubescent peduncles; 

 the staminate grow in dense clus- 

 ters, the pistillate solitary. The 

 purple fruit ripens in the early fall 

 on a slender stalk three to four 

 inches long; it is about an inch 

 long, with thick skin and acid flesh ; 

 the stone is brown or nearly white. 



Tupelo bark is about' a quarter of 

 an inch in thickness, dark brown 

 and furrowed lengthwise, the sur- 

 face rough. The tree is large and 

 stately, with an unusually broad 

 base, an abundance of roots, show- 

 ing somewhat above the ground, 

 and a fine pyramidal crown. The 

 trunk is often three to four feet in 

 diameter, and the tree from eighty 

 to a hundred feet high. It reaches 

 its maximum development in the 

 cypress swamps of western Ijouisiana and 

 eastern Texas. Tupelo is one of the char- 

 acteristic trees of the southern marshes, 

 where it grows intermingled with swamp 

 white oak, red gum and cypress. It often 

 thrive.* in regions covered with two to three 

 f0»' of water the year round. The large 

 straight trunks are usually free from de- 

 fects, ? fact which scientists attribute to 

 the aacient race of plants from which it 



FIFTY-SEVENTH PAPER. 



springs; during certain geological eras the 

 tree was scattered over the entire continent 

 of North America, doubtless as far north 

 as the Arctic Circle. 



The wood of tupelo is nearly white, slightly 

 tinged with yellow, however, and the heart- 

 wood and sapwood present practically the 

 same appearance, although the latter is 

 slightly more creamy; the percentage of sap- 



TYI'ICAL GUOWTII TUPELO SHOWING GIRDLING. 

 COAST. 



wood is large. The wood is light and soft, 

 and takes a fine, smooth finish ; it is very 

 close-grained and diflicult to split. A cubic 

 foot of seasoned wood weighs about thirty- 

 two pounds; the green wood is too heavy to 

 float. Sapwood is very susceptible to decay, 

 especially when in contact with the ground, 

 while heartwood shows considerable re- 

 sistance to such conditions. The timber can 

 be treated with preservatives to great ad- 



vantage. Tupelo seldom grows in pure stands 

 which are large enough to warrant its being 

 logged as a separate proposition; since it is 

 usually mingled with cypress, it ordinarily 

 is logged with that wood. It is now considered 

 practical to cut tupelo logs without previous 

 girdling, piling them on the banks of streams 

 until they are sufficiently dried out to float. 

 Sap rot during the drying-out period can be 

 very much retarded by coating the 

 ends of fresh logs immediately after 

 they are cut with hot coal tar creo- 

 sote, and piling them in single 

 layers. 



Tupelo is a wood which requires 

 extraordinary care in seasoning, 

 since the large quantity of water 

 in green wood and its peculiar 

 structure render it extremely liable 

 to warp and twist. The less delay 

 there is in piling the better, and 

 piles should be constructed with 

 only even lengths in each, while the 

 cross strips should be of some other 

 wood, narrow as possible, and di- 

 rectly under each other in the pile. 

 The piles should not be more than 

 four and a half feet in width, and 

 three or four feet apart; their 

 pitch should be fully twenty inches 

 to a sixteen-foot pile ; all piles to be 

 laid so that the prevailing wind will 

 blow parallel to the cro.ss-strip8. 



Although many have become dis- 

 couraged by their experiments with 

 tupelo, as manufacturers study it 

 more closely they ai'e finding that 

 it can be air and kiln dried with 

 the greatest satisfaction. It is 

 destined to become popular and al- 

 ready the uses to which it is put 

 are many and varied. For all sorts 

 of manufactured articles in which 

 certain grades of poplar are em- 

 ployed, tupelo may be used with 

 equal satisfaction, and European 

 markets are buying it largely for 

 furniture. The wood is best suited 

 for interior use, owing" to the lia- 

 bility of sapwood to decay. For 

 instance, flooring is now being made 

 from it, which is claimed to be 

 superior to cypress for this pur- 

 jiose, as the latter often ' ' slivers, ' ' 

 wliile tupelo becomes harder and 

 smoother. Such flooring is well 

 adapted for depots, factories or 

 warehouses. 



Tupelo is becoming very popular with 

 manufacturers of molding, because of the 

 even quality of its grain, the ease with which 

 it is worked, and the highly polished surface 

 it presents when finished. Large quantities 

 of the wood, particularly the low grades, are 

 used in the manufacture of wagon and other 

 box boards and it holds nails readily, with- 

 out liability to split where they are driven. 



GULF 



