78 Discussion of Industries 
price below the average. Black walnut is, on account of its 
workable qualities, a desirable material but too scarce and 
expensive to be utilized to a large extent. With the exception 
of southern red cedar, it is the most expensive native wood 
used in the industry. There is much chestnut in the woodlots 
of New York that might be utilized in the casket and coffin 
industry were it not for the fact that the large corporations 
in the business generally prefer to obtain their stock from 
wholesalers located in the larger timber areas of West Vir- 
ginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina. Chestnut which has 
suffered chestnut blight makes very satisfactory material. 
Large factories are located in New York, Brooklyn, Buffalo, 
Rochester, Elmira, Oneida, Syracuse, Webster, and other 
points throughout the State. 
CHAIRS 
Table 12 accounts for 22,300,000 feet of raw material con- 
sumed. This industry is really a part of the furniture manu- 
facture; but certain manufactories make a specialty of chairs, 
and it is possible to fairly well distinguish these plants from 
the general furniture establishments. Hardwoods contribute 
almost all of the woods going into chairs. The seats and backs 
are generally of veneer and manufactured as a separate com- 
modity by some factories. Usually three sheets of thin veneer 
are glued together, and the articles are generally perforated. 
Such built-up stock for three-ply seats and backs, having the 
grain of the middle sheet at right angles to those on the outside 
is much stronger than a solid wood construction of the same 
thickness. 
New York turns out all kinds of chairs, from the cheapest 
camp chairs to the finest office and lodge furniture. Mahogany 
and black walnut are the most expensive woods employed, and 
beech is the cheapest. The rather low price, as reported in this 
table, is due to the fact that one of the largest firms using 
several million feet of Adirondack hardwoods, owns its 
stumpage. This is an example for the trade. There is no 
