WOOD-USING INDUSTRIES 

 TABLE 11 HANDLES AND TOOLS 



49 



The handle and tool industries do not occupy a high rank in the list, coming 

 sixteenth, with a percentage of 0-2 per cent of the total, but the industry has 

 a special importance for the reason that 99 per cent of the raw material manu- 

 factured is native to the province. The remainder is purchased from the United 

 States. 



Handle and tool manufacturers are experts in the physical qualities of our 

 native woods, and know how to utilize them best to suit different purposes. 



Almost all the material used is hardwood ; spruce comprises only 1 

 per cent. Birch still leads but maple is a good second. Ash comes third, forming 

 20-3 percent. 



Broom handles are made of birch, maple, and beech; axe handles of maple, 

 and hickory; hay-fork handles of white ash. 



Second-growth white ash is very much valued for the manufacture of hay- 

 fork handles or any other steam-bent handle, on account of its elasticity and 

 ability to keep its shape. The last named quality makes second-growth white 

 ash more appreciated than hickory for this particular purpose. 



Birch is used for shovel handles and snow-shovels, as is most of the basswood; 

 beech is used for carpenters' planes and levels. All of the hickory reported 

 was used for telegraph and railway tools. 



The manufacturers of handles and tools complain that they cannot find 

 in Quebec the raw material desired, in sufficient quantity to supply the demands 

 of the industry. A fairly large number of handles are purchased ready-made 

 from Ontario and the United States. This manufactured material has not 

 been included here, as the bulletin deals only with raw material manufactured 

 inside of the province. 



The raw material is received at the factories mostly in the form of round 

 logs. This has the effect of lowering its price which is $17.21 per thousand 

 feet board measure, the nearest to the general average for all the industries. 



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