WHITE PINE. 51 



been used than any other one wood. Forty-five miles of bored white- 

 pine pipe was in service at one time in and near North Tonawanda, 

 N. Y., with bore from 2 to 6 inches. After IT miles of it had been 11 

 years in use, it was so satisfactory that 28 additional miles of the 

 same kind were laid. The repair bill on the 17 miles for its eleventh 

 year of service was only $7.52. 



It is found advantageous to cover the outside of wooden pipe with 

 tar and other water-proofing materials, chiefly for the protection 

 it affords the metal bands that are wound spirally around it to give 

 it strength ; but experiments in coating the inside with water-proof- 

 ing have ended disastrously. Pipes so treated have fallen to pieces 

 from decay in a short time. That result is due to the exclusion of 

 water from the pores of the wood by the interior coating. Con- 

 siderably more water will flow through a wooden pipe than through 

 one of iron or steel of the same size, because wood is smoother and 

 friction less. This is true when both wooden and metal pipes are 

 new, and the difference in favor of wood increases with age. The 

 wooden pipe becomes smoother with usage, while iron and steel grow 

 rough with accretions and the bore becomes smaller. 



MISCELLANEOUS USES. 



The facility with which white pine may be gilded fits it for picture 

 and mirror frames. Its use for that purpose dates back more than 

 a century. 



Its use for heddles in cloth factories is a continuation of its em- 

 ployment for a similar purpose when nearjy every country house 

 and many in towns had looms for weaving cloth. It was the white 

 pine's light weight that fitted it for that place, as the heddles had to 

 be lifted or lowered for every thread that went into the woof. Its 

 1 wide use for warping bars was for the same reason. That appliance, 

 on which the thread for weaving woolen, linen, and cotton cloth was 

 wound preparatory to putting it in the loom, was in most farm- 

 houses at the period when weaving was done at home, but it has 

 now practically disappeared along with its companion pieces, the 

 rustic loom and the reel. 



In the white-pine region, chiefly in the Lake States, the wood has 

 a number of uses which are somewhat local, though of considerable 

 importance, and are due largely to the convenience with which the 

 wood may be had. Among such are bodies for bobsleds and sleighs. 

 Some manufacturers prefer the wood above others for that purpose. 

 It forms parts of windmills, beds for farm wagons, scales and ap- 

 pliances for weighing cattle and other live stock, vats of various 

 kinds, sash and finish for hothouses, wood pulp, ice boxes, trunks, 

 and spools on which to wind wire or rope. 



