SELLING LUMBER 



23 



terially increased; but to take pitch as a standard of durability 

 at the present time, so far as we know, is impracticable. 



What is summer wood? 



A pine tree, as it grows, forms two classes of wood, physical 

 classes of wood, every year. From the time that the leaves start 

 to grow in the spring, in March, until about the latter part of June 

 or July, it forms a light-colored, very porous class of wood, which is 

 called spring wood. From about the end of July to the end of the 

 season's growth it forms a very much denser class of wood, which, 

 as you look at it in cross-section, is dark, more or less resinous, 

 flinty when you cut it with a knife, and that part is called summer 

 wood. In other words, each annual ring is composed of two dif- 

 ferent bands a light-colored band of spring wood, and a dark- 

 colored, hard, resinous band called summer wood. It is essentially 

 the summer wood which gives the high strength value to different 

 classes of pine. The higher the percentage of summer wood in the 

 ring, the stronger the stick. 



Why is heart stock more suitable for construction when used 

 in moist places? 



The answer to that is, the relative resisting power of heart 

 and sap wood. Sap wood, of practically all species of pine, when 

 used in construction work, would decay in a comparatively short 

 time. If it is subjected to moisture at all, it probably will not 

 last more than three or four years, particularly in the Southern 

 states. Heart wood, on the other hand, has a much higher resisting 

 power, and that is true, irrespective of whether it is loblolly, short 

 leaf pine, long leaf pine, Cuban pine, or what not. Hence, when 

 more or less permanent structures are built, the specifications 

 usually require that the sticks shall be almost wholly of heart 

 wood. 



How is a salesman to determine the difference between long 

 and short leaf after it has been manufactured? 



The answer to that is very simple. He can't do it. (Laughter.) 

 Gentlemen, that probably is one of the most vexing problems which 

 the pine industry has had to meet for years: I trust, before the 

 end of these sessions, we will hear a good deal about the prac- 

 ticability of applying the new density rule. The pine tree growing 

 in the South, as it grows is botanically divided into probably five 

 or six species. The fibers of those woods are practically identical, 

 and the only difference in the timber is in the per cent of actual 



Strength 

 in Summer 

 Wood 



Identifying 

 Variety in 

 Lumber 



