CKKAMKUY NKAU CA I '1 1.1. Ai 



Its chief uses are for flooring, agricultural 

 implements, furniture, machinery frames, 

 wood type, pegs, interior finish, vehicles and 

 veneers. When green, maple has a strengtli 

 greater than that of hickory, but when sea- 

 soned, and especially after being exposed 

 to the weather, it fractures easily under a 

 sudden .iar, with a short break, so that in 

 important structural qualities it is somewhat 

 deficient. The tree grows slowly and those 

 oven twenty-four inches in diameter are per- 

 haps 250 years old. 



Hard maple as a material fur lumber is a 

 comparatively new wood, and only within a 

 few years has it received serious considera- 

 tion from that standpoint. Fully half the log 

 jiroduet is now sawed into inch lumber and 

 converted into tongued and grooved flooring, 

 used extensively for public and office build- 

 ings, warehouses, stores and residences. The 

 next largest quantity of inaijle produced is 

 sawed into thick planks and used by agricul- 

 tural machinery makers for framework, fur- 

 niture and shoe lasts. That percentage of 

 the wood which shows a peculiar turn of the 

 grain, or the birdseye effect, giving it a beau- 

 tiful figure, is usually (-old to veneer makers, 

 who reduce it to thin layers for the veneer- 

 ing of furniture and for interior woodwork. 

 Maple has to be cured with the greatest 

 care to avoid staining and thus disfiguring 

 its fine ivory color. It is, therefore, that of 

 late a great deal of pure white maple as it 

 comes from the log is seasoned on end, in 

 sheds built for that purpose, so that no 

 sticker marks may by any chance show upon 

 the surface of the wood when it is dry. 

 Maple is very susceptible to the chemical 

 action of the sun and often "yellows" when 

 exposed. The wood has become the most im- 

 portant product of the northern Inrdwoud 

 forests. 



Gray Elu. 



I'hiiHs .1 nil ricaiui. 



The American or gray elm is known in 



some parts of the country as swamp elm and 



rock elm, but it is not the true rock elm, 



which is discussed in another sketch. 



The tree is graceful and wide-spreading, 

 from seventy-five to one liundred and twenty- 

 five feet high, with a trunk about three feet 

 in diameter and often free from branches 

 to a height of sixty feet. The bark is 

 thick and gray, divided by deep fissures into 

 liroad ridges. The wood is heavy, hard, 

 strong and tough. It is coarse-grained, with 

 a light brown heartwood and sapwood thick 

 and somewhat lighter. The timber is very 

 durable when in contact with water or earth. 

 A cubic fof)t wciglis aliovit forty pounds. 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



This wood is the softest remaining in 

 ilichigan, with the exception of liasswood. 

 Deals four to six inches thick are often manu- 

 factured entirely free from knots and shake. 

 The wood has not the strengtli of rock elm, 

 but a very high type of lumber is obtained 

 from it and used extensively by furniture 

 makers, manufacturers of billiard tables, bar 

 fixtures, etc. 



The highest type of gray elm is found in 

 the northern portion of the lower peninsula 

 of iMchigan. The trees there are large and 

 tall and the wood is soft and smooth, while 

 in some sections tlie grain is inclined to be 

 tough and stringy, and the lumber will not 

 bring nearly so good a market price. In the 

 region noted the trees grow from two to six 

 feet in diameter at the butt and from fifty 

 to seventy-five feet in height to the crotch, 

 with branches often so large that each pro- 

 duces a log. 



The grain of gray elm is similar to that 

 of black ash, but not so pronounced, and it 

 ha.s much more strength. The wood makes a 

 very satisfactory interior finish and can be 

 toned to any desired color not lighter than 

 the natural tint of the wood, which is about 

 like that of white oak. 



A tally of more than half a million feet 

 of gray elm lumber recently manufactured 

 by a Michigan house showed twenty-nine per 

 cent of firsts and seconds, forty-one per cent 

 of Nos. 1 and 2 common and thirty per cent 

 of No. 3 common. A division of Nos. 1 and 

 2 common showed sixty per cent of the for- 

 mer and forty per cent of the latter. In the 

 past gray elm has not met with the apprecia- 

 tion its high qualities warrant. It can be 

 produced in good widths, has a large propor- 

 tion of high grades and as a substitute for 

 certain woods is very satisfactory for many 

 purposes. It is the second most important of 

 the hardwoods of the Cadillac district. 



Beech. 



Fagim Americana. 



In full growth this beautiful tree is round- 

 topped, with wide-spreading branches, and 



49 



IIKINZ SAI.IIM 



si'.\ri(i.\ SI 



LAC. 



Ai: I Aim. 



AI'I'I.K ORCHARD ON OUTSKIRTS OF CADIL- 

 LAC. 



shows a normal altitude of about sixty feet. 

 In its forest form it often attains a height 

 of from one hundred and twenty to one hun- 

 ilred and forty feet, with smooth rounded 

 bole, as symmetrical as the pillar of a cathe- 

 dral, and a diameter of from two to four 

 feet. The bark is light gray and remarkably 

 smooth. The color of the heartwood is red- 

 dish, the sapw-ood nearly white. Beech tim- 

 ber is close-grained, hard, strong and tough, 

 but not durable when exposed to the weather. 

 It takes a fine polish, but has to be sea- 

 soned with care to avoid cheeking. Eepre- 

 sentative uses of the wood are for tool 

 handles, the interior work of fine furniture, 

 wagon making, inside finish and flooring. 

 Abroad it is used quite extensively in car- 

 pentry work. The weight of a cubic foot is 

 about forty-two pounds. Beech wood is de- 

 ficient in elasticity and is somen-hat inclined 

 to warp and crack. 



The tree grows in a mixed forest, and in 

 its northern range is commonly found inter- 

 spersed with hard maple, birch, basswooil, 

 elm, ash and hemlock. It is only within the 

 last ten years that beech has been consiil- 

 ered an important commercial wood; pre- 

 viously its consumption was entirely confined 

 to the charcoal furnace and domestic pur- 

 poses. Of late the merits of the wood have 

 been exploited and appreciated, with the re- 

 sult that it now constitutes a large element 

 of hardwood manufacture. 



Many millions of feet are being converted 

 into flooring and the ' ' pure red ' ' product is 

 highly esteemed for ornamental floors in 

 modern homes. While possibly it may not 

 wear as well as maple, it .stays in place 

 lieautifully, and nearly all the large flooring 

 factories of the North w-hose principal out- 

 [Hit is maple have a side line of beech floor- 

 ing. Another great and growing use of the 

 wood is for interior woodwork in cabinet fur- 

 niture. It is especially ilesirable for drawer 

 sides, ends and bottoms, for backing, as a 

 base for veneer work. Its uses are rapidly 

 widening, as the price is relatively low. 



The beech is one of the truly beautiful 

 trees of the forest, and in the eyes of many 

 is as much to be admired as the American 

 elm or maple. Covered with blossoms in 

 early spring, it is a splendid sight, and its 

 perfect leaves are seldom eaten or spotted by 

 insects. Even in winter, after they have 

 fallen, its bark has a particularly sparkling 

 appearance and its massive head may be seen 

 to advantage. 



