54 THE BOOK OF FORESTRY 



the wood laid on in the spring and that laid on in 

 the summer, although trees like beech and maple show 

 little difference. The spring wood which is laid on 

 when the growing season begins and plenty of moisture 

 is available consists of thinly walled elements which 

 appear quite porous in such trees as chestnut and oak. 

 This porous part of the annual ring gradually passes 

 into the more solid summer wood where the structure 

 is dense and thicker walled. 



Color. Presence of an attractive color in wood of 

 a given species may greatly increase its value, although 

 many of the so-called fancy woods are highly stained. 

 The presence of color in heartwood is due to resins, 

 gums and oils which are usually considered by- 

 products. While certain species like walnut or redwood 

 have a uniform shade most others have lighter or 

 darker streaks running through the colored portion. 

 Most highly colored woods turn a still deeper shade 

 on exposure to the air and, of course, the action of oils 

 and finishing liquids in bringing out the color and 

 grain is well known. While the color may appear quite 

 intense, only a few woods contain dyes of marketable 

 value and these are Chiefly foreign; logwood and Brazil 

 wood being the best known of the foreign species. 

 During colonial times many colors were obtained from 

 the forest for dyeing yarns and leathers, and the 

 '"butternut" jeans of the Confederate soldiers are well 

 known. Osage orange, the roots of the barberry as well 

 as the inner bark of black oak all furnish yellow dyes. 

 The staghorn sumac, in addition to containing the neces- 

 sary tannin for dressing leather, also supplies a dye 

 which colors it yellow. The gathering of leaves and 

 stems of this shrub constitutes quite an industry in cer- 

 tain parts of the South. Red gum supplies a purple dye 



