46 USES OF COMMERCIAL WOODS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



who judge it by its color only. The belfry where hung the lights 

 which signaled Paul Revere to rouse the minute men on the morning 

 of the fight was of white pine, clear, straight, soft, and of a rich color 

 which a century and a third had not changed when the belfry fell. 



The use of white pine for all classes of buildings is less than 

 formerly, because the total cut in the country is not now half of what 

 it once was. Increased cost has driven it from many places which it 

 once held and cheaper woods have been substituted, yet it holds its 

 own in higher class structures. It may be quarter-sawed, and pre- 

 sents an attractive grain. Large quantities of lath are made from 

 slabs or inferior logs. Such material was once thrown away. Win- 

 dow sash made by machinery has taken the place of the handmade 

 article of years ago, but the same high-grade lumber is demanded. 

 White-pine doors meet a large and exacting demand. The light 

 weight of the wood, its cheerful color, and its freedom from Avarping 

 give it a value in almost every market. It is too soft for floors which 

 are subject to excessive wear, but is excellent in certain situations. 

 As siding, it has few equals. It paints well, holds its form, lasts a 

 long time, and its appearance is attractive. The same properties fit 

 it for ceiling, molding, panels, brackets, and railing. It is exten- 

 sively used for shelves in cupboards, pantries, and fruit closets. Few 

 woods equal it for outside and inside window blinds. 



The white pine that grows in the Southern Appalachians is botani- 

 cally the same as the northern species, but the character and the ap- 

 pearance of the wood are different. The homogeneous-grained 

 pumpkin pine of New England and the cork pine of New York and 

 Pennsylvania are not found in the South. The lumber from the 

 southern tree is harder and is usually tinged with red. Its knots are 

 generally round and sound, and often red. It never produces as 

 much clear lumber as the northern pine, and the southern representa- 

 tive of the species seldom forms extensive pure forests. 



SHINGLES. 



The number of shinglec made from white pine in the United States 

 has been enormous. The three States, Michigan, Wisconsin, and 

 Minnesota, produced 85 billion in 24 years. Shingles have been 

 made of this wood since the earliest settlements of New England. 

 For two centuries they were made by the slow process of hand work. 

 The logs were cut into bolts by hand, rived with a frow, and the 

 shingles were shaved with a drawing knife, the only other machine 

 being a " shaving horse," a contrivance for holding the shingle while 

 the manufacture went on. It was a slow process, and the man who 

 could rive and shave 500 shingles in a day was fully up to the 

 average of his craft. That many shingles sold for a dollar or two, 

 depending upon time and place. The rustic shingle maker was an 



