! nxi ion of Forestry 



THE COMMERCIAL 



ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF THE HICKORIES. 



Of American hardwoods none would be more difficult to replace 

 than hickory in case of a shortage in supply. It is not used in such 

 quantity as white oak, or yellow poplar, or maple, but it is used for a 

 number of special purposes for which it alone is satisfactory. The 

 wood of the hickory is not remarkable for beauty of color or of grain, 

 it shrinks badly in drying, it is not durable in contact with the ground, 

 and it is very liable to attack by insects ; on the other hand it is heavy, 

 hard, strong, stiff, and very tough. No other commercial wood, 

 native or foreign, combines these properties to so great a degree. 

 The hickory spoke and rim and the hickory shaft have made possible 

 the American type of spring vehicle with its superior lightness and 

 strength ; the hickory handle has helped greatly to make the American 

 ax known all over the world. 



The Forest Service has cooperated with the National Hickory 

 Association, an organization of the users of hickory who have foreseen 

 a coming shortage in the supply, and who have united to help prevent 

 it, to study the different species, and to suggest means to produce and 

 maintain the necessary supply. 



THE ANNUAL CONSUMPTION. 



There are no accurate figures of the annual cut of hickory. The 

 census returns for 1908 show a cut of about 200,000,000 board feet. 

 This is intended to include, however, only the material actually cut 

 and sold as lumber, while much of the hickory cut is not lumber. In 

 1908 an additional cut, equivalent to about 135,000,000 board feet, 

 was worked up directly into other products, such as spoke billets, 

 handle blanks, and rim strips, difficult to reckon in board feet. This 

 gives a total consumption, excluding fuel, of about 335,000,000 board 

 feet, allowing for all necessary waste. If, however, the unnecessary 

 waste, both in the woods and at the mill, were included, the total 

 amount of hickory consumed would probably be not less than 

 450,000,000 feet. 



INDUSTRIES THAT USE HICKORY. 



The vehicle industry uses more hickory than any other, is most 

 dependent upon it, and takes about 65 per cent of the total cut. In 

 America spokes, rims, poles, shafts, singletrees, doubletrees, spring 



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