Discussion of Industries 15 
The hardwoods contribute the raw material for the curtain 
poles and trimming. Red gum is used exclusively for curtain 
poles, while basswood is used only for rug poles. Beech, ash, 
and sugar maple contribute to the production of both curtain 
and rug poles, but the principal raw material used for rug 
poles is beech. In 8 years this industry has undergone a 
tremendous expansion, as twenty times as much is now con- 
sumed in a single year as was reported in 1912. 
CASKETS AND COFFINS 
Twenty-two woods are consumed locally for the production 
of caskets and coffins, and 29,230,000 feet of raw material 
brought an average price of $65 per thousand during the high- 
market period of 1919. The industry includes not only caskets 
but also the rough outer boxes, which explains the use of a 
large quantity of very ordinary wood. The more expensive 
veneers, such as mahogany, are imported from the tropics for 
the outside finish of the highest-grade caskets. 
Two styles of caskets are made, usually the finest class being 
finished in natural wood, while the others are covered with dark 
woolen cloth. Since the cloth-covered caskets are in more gen- 
eral use, the woods which are suitable for this purpose include 
chestnut and white pine, the principal species contributing to 
the industry. Chestnut has the capacity to resist decay and 
contributes more than 50 per cent of the raw material for the 
whole industry. Some of the larger factories depend almost 
entirely upon chestnut and white pine. Because chestnut 
resists decay and because minor defects, such as worm holes, 
do not interfere with usefulness in this industry, its utilization 
in the form of very low-grade stock is possible. The standard 
grade known as “sound wormy” is consumed in very large 
quantities and at prices well below the average for the industry 
Well selected high-grade chestnut stock is sometimes used as 
outside material, but generally it is used as a backing with a 
veneer of the more expensive woods or as the body of the cloth- 
covered coffins. Mahogany and yellow poplar, white and red 
oak, and birch are all popular woods for the outside finish. 
