

If 



TAMARACK FOR FENCE POSTS 

 Locusts, Catalpa and Cedars are More Durable 



J. J. CRUMLEY 



During the past 2 years a large quantity of tamarack fence 

 posts has been suddenly thrust upon the market. This timber has 

 been used locally for this purpose for years, but was not shipped 

 extensively beyond its habitat until recently. 



Source of tamarack. The tree grows on the swamp lands on 

 both sides of the Great Lakes. It is especially abundant around 

 the borders of the numerous lakes in Michigan and on the extensive 

 swamp lands in the northern and eastern part of that state. It is 

 from this region that the great quantity of tamarack posts are being 

 shipped. It is distinctively a swamp tree, is rigidly confined by 

 nature to muck soil and low, wet land. The ground where it grows 

 is frequently covered with sphagnum and other swamp mosses. The 

 roots of the trees therefore are confined to the surface soil and under 

 dense stands they form a regular network which not infrequently 

 will support a man in walking over them who would otherwise sink 

 into the watery muck. 



Because of the marshy nature of the land the posts can be 

 gotten out only during certain seasons of the year. Men might cut 

 the posts during a more extended season but would not dare take 

 horses in to haul them out, as their feet would go through the net- 

 work of roots and become entangled in them. The time selected for 

 the work is in winter when the swamps are frozen and covered with 

 snow. 



Description of wood. The tamarack does not ordinarily grow 

 to large size like the oak or tulip poplar. The greater mass of tam- 

 arack forests is composed of trees from 6 to 14 inches in diameter. 

 The trunks of the trees are columnar and are usually straight. The 

 wood is quite similar to that of the hard pines, but with not as much 

 resin, and usually has thinner sap wood. The spring and summer 

 wood are quite distinct in the annual rings. The heart wood is a 

 pale, yellowish-brown. The sap wood is lighter in color, sometimes 

 nearly white ; but in numerous trees it is simply a paler brown than 

 the heart wood. In such trees it is difficult to distinguish clearly 

 between the heart wood and sap wood. This is especially true after 

 the timber is partially seasoned. The line of demarcation between 

 the heart wood and the sap wood is always perfectly clear in the 

 green standing tree ; but in seasoning, the heart wood becomes paler 

 and the sap wood becomes darker. The bark is extremely thin and 

 scaly, the outer flakes a dark gray. Under these outer flakes there 

 is a red tinge. 



(83) 



