WOOD IN GENERAL 241 
duced to strips or shreds, or else chemically treated so as to 
separate the ultimate fibrils for paper pulp. Osiers from 
various species of willow (Fig. 228) afford woody fibers of 
the first kind which are extensively used for wickerwork. 
Thin flat strips of willow, poplar (Fig. 253), and other soft 
woods form the chip of which chip hats are braided. Similar 
strips of ash (Fig. 245), hickory (Fig. 30), and other hard 
woods which split easily and evenly make the splint which is 
woven into large market baskets, chair bottoms and backs, 
Fic. 226.—Amadou (Fomes fomentarius, Pore-mushroom Family, Poly- 
poracee). C, fruit-body growing out like a bracket from the side of a 
tree, 4. D, The same cut vertically, to show the numerous fine tubes 
extending downward vertically from which the dust-like spores fall. 3. 
(Hennings.)—Brownish or grayish above, rich brown within. Native 
home, Eurasia, North America, parasitic on beech, etc. 
and the like. White pine and spruce, shredded by machinery, 
yield the familiar packing material known as excelsior. Spruce 
and poplar are the chief woods used for the wood pulp from 
which the cheaper grades of paper are made, or as an in- 
gredient in book papers of higher quality. Thus the paper 
of this book is made of cotton rags mixed with poplar pulp. 
72. Wood in general. In economic importance woods 
rank next to vegetable fibers. Just as the great use of fibers 
is for clothing, which is almost as necessary to us as food, 
so the great use of wood is for buildings, which are scarcely 
