THE USES OF WOOD 



WOOD IN GAMES AND SPORTS 



BY HU MAXWELL 



ACCORDING to available statistics, about twenty- 

 five million feet of vv^ood of thirty-two kinds are 

 consumed yearly in this country by manufacturers 

 of appliances and apparatus for games and sports. 

 Several industries require much more wood than this 

 one, and produce articles 

 which, in the aggregate, sell 

 for more money, but no one 

 of all of them, with the pos- 

 sible exception of toys, af- 

 fords as much enjoyment. 

 In one direction, this indus- 

 try surpasses toys as a pro- 

 ducer of happiness ; for 

 toys concern children al- 

 most exclusively, while this 

 concerns old, young, and 

 middle-aged in the same 

 way. Games are for the 

 elderly as well as for the 

 youthful. 



The dividing line between 

 toys on the one hand and 

 the apparatus for sports 

 and games on the other, 

 need not be closely defined. 

 One merges into the other 

 and the place of some may 

 be disputed. It is not the 

 purpose of this article to 

 draw any close distinctions 

 or to insist upon ques- 

 tionable definitions. Many 

 manufactured articles clear- 

 ly belong here and doubtful 

 ones need not be classified. 

 The topics to be considered 

 include tennis, golf, base- 

 ball, ski jumping, snow 

 shoeing, bowling, archery, 

 vaulting and billiards. It 

 is proper to include hunt- 

 ing and fishing when en- 

 gaged in for sport and not 

 professionally. The limits 

 of the field are indefinite. 



The shaft or handle of a golf club represents one of 

 the most exacting uses of wood. In this country 

 hickory is employed in nearly all cases. It pos- 

 sesses the toughness and elasticity necessary, and it 

 surpasses in these qualities any other known wood. In 

 other countries, these shafts are sometimes made of 



hornbeam, greenheart, and other foreign woods, but 

 hickory has nothing to fear in competion with the best 

 of them. The woods listed as sources of material in 

 this industry consist of twenty-six hardwoods and six 

 softwoods. Seven are foreign. The list of woods 



follows : 



Woods Feet Used Annually 



Hickory 4,H4,0C0 



Maple 4,913,815 



Elm 3,226,750 



Ash 3,180,00 



Oak 2,497,5S9 



Birch 933,233 



Yellow poplar 970,200 



Yellow pine 943,00* 



White pine rOj.OOO 



Basswood 318,600 



Lig3Uffl-Titae 2 4,060 



Chestnut 222,000 



Beech 212,000 



Persimmon 20S,000 



Spruce 191,S00 



Ebony 189,000 



Hemlock 1SO,000 



Cypress 1:6,000 



Red gum irO,000 



Mahogany 100,000 



Douglas fir 85,000 



Cottonwood C0,000 



Black walnut 41,000 



Spanish cedar 31,500 



Sycamore 30,500 



Circassian walnut 25,000 



Rosewood 24,400 



Tupelo 20,000 



Teak 10,000 



Dogwood 6,000 



Holly 1,500 



Cherry 600 



A YEW TREE GOOD FOR ARCHERY BOWS 



The American yew tree that furnishes the wood of which bows are 

 made is found on the Pacific Coast. The accompanying photograph 

 represents a tree in Oregon. It is this wood's elasticity and "nervous- 

 ness" that gives it such great value as bow-wood. A tine yew bow 

 sells for three times its weight in silver. 



Total 25,191,807 



The manufacturers of 

 golf shafts select their 

 wood with infinite care, 

 because much difference 

 exists in the quality of 

 hickory. It is not unusual 

 for manufacturers to ad- 

 vertise that their product is 

 "northern second growth 

 hickory." That is a trade 

 term rather than a scientific 

 definition. Good hickory 

 may be produced in the 

 South as well as in 

 the North ; and "second 

 growth," if it means any- 

 thing, implies that the tree 

 has grown in open ground, 

 and has therefore, grown 

 rapidly and consequently 

 has wide growth rings with plenty of dense wood. In one 

 sense, every tree is of second growth if compared with 

 its parent tree. Some people understand second growth 

 to mean sprout or coppice growth, originating in stumps 

 where other trees of the same species have been cut. So 

 far as hickory is concerned, the wood of sprout trees is 



