28 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



prn states along the lakes and in the Mississippi 

 valley are probably too severe. The principal 

 groves in the West lie south of San Francisco 

 bay, but the tree has been successfully grown 

 much further north. 



The experiments in eucalyptus growing in Cal- 

 ifornia have attracted the attention of several 

 large eastern manufacturers, and inquiries re- 

 garding its commercial possibilities are con- 

 stantly being made. They state that hardwood 

 is becoming scarce and that they must look 

 about for a future supply. If the eucalyptus 

 can be made to answer the purpose it will be 

 more profltablo to plant it than to ship hard- 

 wood from South America, Africa and other dis- 

 tant points. With this point in view California 

 lumbering interests are deeply Interested in the 

 new industry, which promises to fulfill a long- 

 felt want in the markets of the world. 



Red Gum. 



The Timber Trades Journal of London ha.s 

 the following to say about red gum, or satin 

 walnut, as it is known across the ocean: 



"There has been a large, steadily growing 

 and generally satisfactory shipment of red 

 gum — or satin walnut, as it is generally 

 called here — directed to the London market 

 during the last twenty-two years or so, and 

 it is now looked upon as one of the staple 

 hardwoods for use in the cabinet and other 

 trades. Although we have but an indiffer^t 

 opinion of its qualities, the liability of the 

 wood to twist and warp being its most serious 

 defect, the fact that such an extensive and 

 regular business has been done for so long 

 proves that the wood is in favor and adapted 

 to the needs of many English consumers, and 

 we should express the opinion that so long 

 as the price can be limited to present reason- 

 able rates a constant and steady demand 

 will continue for the wood, the market being 

 capable of absorbing large quantities of the 

 material. 



"The consumption here lias been slightly 

 weaker the last year or two, the wood having 

 been supplanted for the manufacture of com- 

 mon classes of furniture by the fashion for un- 

 quartered or plain oak, of which there has 

 been generally abundant supplies at low rates. 

 The trend of fashion, however, is again turn- 

 ing, and red gum is once more coming to the 

 fore. 



"It has been on trial as a material for 

 street paving, but the result did not prove a 

 success, whether owing altogether to the un- 

 suitability of the wood or to the defective 

 quality said to have been supplied not being 

 clearly defined. If the wood on any further 

 trial should prove adaptable for such purpose 

 a very large and extensive outlet would be 

 found for its use. 



"A continuance of the growing scarcity of 

 poplar, which appears to be a certain prob- 

 ability, should benefit the market for the 

 wood, as some substitute will have to be 

 found to take the place of the lower grades 

 of poplar, and, in the absence of few other 

 varieties at present before the market this 

 satin walnut should, for many purposes, have 

 a good chance. At the present time there is 

 a quiet, steady trade being done, with sup- 

 plies moderate, but sufHoient to meet present 

 requirements. 



"In the northwest counties the market for 

 satin walnut is very limited. As is generally 

 known, it is principally used for the cheaper 

 class of cabinet work, principally in the man- 

 ufacture of bedroom suites. As in other 

 things, there is fashion in wood manufacture, 

 and latterly red gum, or satin walnut, has 

 not met with so much favor. Latterly ship- 

 pers to Liverpool have been sending a larger 

 proportion of medium grade, and this has 

 met with a better reception than prime. Per- 

 haps the best center for this wood is the Mid- 

 lands, a good deal being used in Birming- 

 ham." 



A Welcome Visitor. 



The man.v friends of L. \'. Hoyle, the veteran 

 hardwood operator of Chicago, Indiana and the 

 south country, have had tlie pleasure of a visit 

 from him during the last few days, and the Hard- 

 wiion ItKCOHD was honored with a call. 



Mr. Boyle has had a long history in lumber 

 affairs. He was born near Logansport, Ind., sev- 

 enty-six years ago, and today is as sprightly and 

 alert of mind as many men twenty years his 

 .lunior. He is accompanied by his wife, who is 

 two years bis senior, and is also in remarkably 

 good health. In ISoli, in connection with his fa- 

 ther, Mr. Boyle ran a sash saw mill near Boyles- 

 ton, Ind. He operated from 1870 to 1880 near 

 Indianapolis, largely in walnut. He recalls that 

 at the time of his operations near Boyleston he 

 sold the good end of the splendid walnut of those 

 days at .$18 a thousand, and hauled it to Logans- 

 port for delivery, whence it went by canal to 

 Toledo, being reshipped three times before 

 reaching destination at rhiladelphia. 



Between 1.870 and 1880 Mr. Boyle had saw 

 mills in the vicinity of Indianapolis, cutting hard- 



L. V. r.DYLE. 



woods, largely walnut, and also conducted a dis- 

 tributing yard in Chicago, Contemporary with 

 him in the trade at that time were George D. 

 Emory, of Chelsea, whose portrait appears as sup- 

 l)lement to this issue of the Record, and the late 

 Col. A. D. Straight, of Indianapolis. Between 

 1880 and 1890 he operated very largely in poplar 

 at Obicin, Tenn., and from 1890 to 1895 was en- 

 gaged in a hardwood enterprise at Boyle. Miss. 

 In ISO.") he retired from business and removed to 

 (L'alifornia, locating near San Diego, Cal. Since 

 that time he has been engaged in growing oranges 

 and lemons. He has just disposed of his grove. 

 From Chicago the couple will go to various points 

 in Indiana, where they spent their early married 

 life. They will then return to California, where 

 Mr. Boyle has planned to build a home to spend 

 his remaining years. 



Mr. Boyle is the father of Clarence Boyle of 

 Chicago, vice-president of the Heath-Witbeck 

 Company, and this visit nf his father and mother 

 is particularly to see him and to celebrate the 

 fifty-fifth anniversary of their married life. The 

 portrait accompanying this sketch was made es- 

 pecially for the H.4RDWOOD Record and is an ex- 

 cellent likeness of ilr. Boyle. 



Acclimatizing Trees. 



Trees are fixed, almost inflexible, in their 

 habits. For centuries, indeed as long as we 

 have record, each species has kept in its 

 beaten ways, insisting on the same average 

 temperature and refusing to grow where this 

 could not be found: seeking and occupying 



certain kinds of soil and demanding certain 

 amounts of moisture and avoiding situations 

 where these were wanting. 



The latest authorities go so far as "to de- 

 clare that trees can not be acclimatized: that 

 is, that even the ingenuity and perseverance 

 of man are unable to induce trees to change 

 their habits far enough to adopt a country 

 not closely like their native habitat. 



This fastidiousness in the habits of trees 

 has its good and its bad sides. It absolutely 

 limits the forester's choice of trees to grow- 

 in a given region. To seek to force tree 

 growth in uncongenial conditions is entirely 

 fruitless. But, on the other hand, there is 

 practical certainty of results. If beech or 

 spruce thrives where the average warmth 

 and moisture of the growing season from 

 year to year ranges between certain degrees, 

 then wherever else, in the northern hemis- 

 phere at least, the same average is found, the 

 forester may plant beech or spruce, whether 

 or not they be not already there with confi- 

 dence that they will flourish. 



The same law works both ways. If the for- 

 ester finds beech or spruce or any other tree 

 growing in a region of which the climatic 

 conditions are not recorded he knows within 

 very narrow limits what the climate is, sim 

 ply because he knows that at home this tree 

 grows in such a climate. In other words, 

 trees, especially, of course, those which are 

 particularly fastidious, are very satisfactory 

 substitutes for thermometers and barometers 

 SO' far as the average temperature and mois- 

 ture conditions during the vegetative seasons 

 are concerned. 



There is a close relation between a tree's 

 demands upon temperature and its demand 

 upon soil. Given the proper temperature, it 

 will grow where the soil is unfriendly, and 

 given the most congenial soil, it will gro'«' 

 where the temperature is not ideal. The 

 colder and wetter the soil the better will it 

 grow with a relatively high temperature; the 

 drier and warmef the soil, the better will it 

 grow with a relatively low temperature. Thus, 

 on a northern slope the forester will often 

 find it safe to plant trees which would not 

 thrive on the southern slope of the same 

 mountain, because northern slopes are cooler 

 and moister than southern ones, and this dif- 

 ference may suflice to offset a slight disad- 

 vantage in the general temperature of the 

 region. 



There is a wide variation among trees as 

 to the range of temperature which they en- 

 dure. Some, such as the Douglas fir, yellow- 

 pine, eastern sprtice, or ,'ispen, grow over the 

 wide areas from north to south; others, such 

 as Mexican white pine, eucalyptus, or red- 

 w-ood, are more narrowly confined. But it 

 should not be inferred that only geographical 

 lines can be drawn for the distribution of 

 any species. The right temperature condi- 

 tions m.ay be found outside of the geographic- 

 distribution at higher or lower altitudes. A 

 southern species whose home is in the moun- 

 tains may possess a second home in thi> 

 northern latitudes of a level country, and a 

 nortliern lowland species may thrive, also, on 

 mountains in the south. — U. S. Bulletin. 



Steams Lumber Company. 



The Stearns Lumber Company, Inc., which 

 conducts extensive "lumber operations iti 

 Whitley county, Kentucky, with headquarters 

 in the town which bears its name, has ac- 

 complished a great deal in the past four 

 years. Sixteen miles of railroad have been 

 constructed, some of it under great difficul- 

 ties, over steep grades, curves, cuts and fills. 

 The town of Stearns now has about 1,200 in- 

 habitants, and other towns of from 200 to 

 500 have sprung up, known as 'Worley, Bar- 

 tliell, Yamacraw and Oz. The company now 



