132 



WEIGHING APPARATUS. 



This industry as measured by the consumption of wood is one of the small 

 ones of this report. It includes material for scale manufacture such as is 

 used by railroads, called track scales and hay wagon scales, often used in 

 coal yards, besides platform and counter scales for stores, warehouses, and 

 cabinet scales such as are used for compounding medicines, weighing gold, 

 silver, and precious stones. 



Longleaf pine is the most common wood for large scales on account of its 

 durability, strength, and elasticity. It goes principally into the framework 

 of track and wagon scales and was shipped to Pennsylvania from the Gulf 

 states. Sugar maple is next in quantity answering more for the counter 

 and platform scales than any other use because, being hard, tough, strong, 

 and close grained with a tendency to wear smooth, it is specially adapted 

 for this purpose. The handsome finish of mahogany and cherry, together 

 with their compact structure, and the property of holding their shape, com- 

 mend them for use as material for making the basal parts of cabinet scales 

 and for the frame of the glass cases usually enclosing these scales. 



Table 86. Wood for Weighing Apparatus, year ending June, 1912. 



PROFESSIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS. 



The amount of lumber used by this industry is relatively very small, but 

 the products grouped under it are numerous and vary according to the uses 

 they serve in the several trades or professions included. In the quantity of 

 wood used the pencil makers are the most important class. Similar to the 

 pencil manufacturers in New Jersey, New York, and other states, they 

 report using only one wood, red cedar, which is brought to Pennsylvania 

 from the southern states. Tennessee and Florida are at present the centers 

 of production of this wood. Other kinds, both domestic and foreign, 

 have been considered as possible substitutes because of the growing scarcity 

 of red cedar, but the experiments indicate that only a few species have been 

 found fairly successful and these answer mostly for a cheap pencil. This 

 brings out how difficult it is to find a wood combining all the qualities 

 requisite for pencil material and how essential it is that pencil woods pos- 

 sesp qualities almost identical to red cedar. Pencil makers procure their 

 raw material in the form of slats that are usually 2 inches wide and 7 inches 



