68 Discussion of Industries 
are in great demand for banjo necks. White pine is not con- 
spicuous here as in other industries, but a small amount is used 
for pipes of church organs and bottoms of piano keys. Red 
gum and sugar maple are especially suitable for action parts 
and a very large amount is used in this way. White ash, white 
oak, and red oak, in addition to service for framework of larger 
instruments, are used for keyboards. White pine also appears 
in keyboards, maple in bridges and bottoms, gum for cores and 
trim, yellow poplar for cores and edgings, and spruce for bar 
stock. Basswood is a favorite for keys, birch is used for key- 
rails and hammers, beech, elm, and Douglas fir for backs of 
pianos and organs and small instruments, and beech for bot- 
toms. Mahogany is prominent in the industry, contributing 
4,000,000 feet board measure. Its use is very general for 
veneering in all industries and this amount of lumber repre- 
sents probably 80,000,000 feet, superficial measurement. One 
large importing establishment in New York reports a local 
consumption of several million feet of mahogany logs. This 
enormous quantity of mahogany is converted largely into 
standard veneer 1/24 to 1/28 of an inch thick, and much of it 
goes into the piano and furniture industries in the States of 
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. 
In the recent development of the phonograph business great 
numbers of these instruments are built by the musical instru- 
ment factories, often on the same floors with pianos. Built-up 
panels and veneer are consumed in vast quantities in this branch 
of the industry. Practically all of the sounding boards for, 
this industry are furnished by two factories in the Adiron- 
dacks. Eastern spruce is as good if not even better than west- 
ern spruce for sounding boards, as its ring grain is more even. 
Although western spruce can be obtained in greater widths, 
narrow strips are preferred, consequently eastern spruce meets 
this need with the utmost satisfaction. One of the best devel- 
oped machines in the wood-working industry is found in the 
plants manufacturing piano parts. Strips of wood are fed in 
the form of molding and after a series of operations the 
material comes out at the other end of the machine worked into 
