IMPORTANT FOREST TREES AND THEIR USES 51 



those parts the supplies are getting short and it 

 is necessary to cut timber in the more remote sec- 

 tions distant from the railroad. The ash short- 

 age is even more serious than that of hickory 

 timber. The supplies of ash in the Middle West 

 States north of the Ohio River are practically 

 exhausted. The demand for ash and hickory 

 handles is larger even than before the World 

 War. The entire world depends on the United 

 States for handles made from these woods. 

 Handle dealers are now willing to pay high 

 prices for ash and hickory timber. Some of them 

 prepared for the shortage by buying tracts of 

 hardwood timber. When these reserves are cut 

 over, these dealers will be in the same position as 

 the rest of the trade. 



Ash and hickory are in demand also by the 

 vehicle and agricultural implement industries. 

 They also use considerable oak and compete with 

 the furniture industry to secure what they need 

 of this timber. Most of these plants are located 

 in the Middle West but they draw their timber 

 chiefly from the South. Hickory is a necessary 

 wood to the vehicle industry for use in spokes and 

 wheels. The factories exert every effort to 

 secure adequate supplies of timber from the farm 



