46 



THE HICKORIES. 



Two industries in Pennsylvania, vehicle parts and handles, together use 

 nearly five-sixths of the 18,000,000 feet of hickory going into products of final 

 manufacture. The remainder is divided in varying small amounts among eigh- 

 teen industries, of which car building, making of mine sprags, and machine 

 construction are the principal ones. On account of the variety of special 

 uses for which hickory is demanded, a large amount of waste is occasioned, 

 both in the preparation of the raw material as well as in the finished commod- 

 ity. This waste probably exceeds that of any other valuable hardwood. 



Six species of hickory grow in Pennsylvania and some of them are found 

 more or less generally throughout the State. In the tree they can be readily 

 identified by their botanical characteristics, but when cut into lumber the 

 species are difficult to distinguish. The information available to guide in 

 their separation was so meager that they are therefore presented in this re- 

 port under the generic name hickory. The growing scarcity of hickory, to- 

 gether with the fact that no suitable substitutes have been found for it in a 

 number of its special uses, accounts for the high average price the manu- 

 facturers paid for it. Apart from its scarcity, the wood is a most valuable 

 one, owing to its combination of qualities of extraordinary hardness, 

 strength, toughness, and flexibility. No such combination exists in any other 

 domestic hardwood. Further, it has a straight grain, is moderately elastic, 

 hard to split, and very perishable; it is a difficult wood to season and to work 

 and to be made to hold its shape. 



Table 29. Consumption of Hickory, year ending June, 1912. 



