COMMERCIAL USES OF THE HICKORY 



457 



manner in which hickory is now 



employed is largely a fuller 



development of its earlier uses. 



Nearly one-half of the hickory 



used by manufacturers of the 



United States enters into the 



construction of vehicles and at 



least one-third into handles of 



various kinds. Agricultural im- 

 plements probably follow these 



in the amount of hickory used. 



Carriages and buggies are 



American inventions made pos- 

 sible through the superior qual- 

 ities of hickory wood. Not only 



have they been highly important 



business and pleasure vehicles 



for millions of Americans, but 



they have been sent to all parts 



of the civilized world and may 



be seen in central Africa or the 



deserts of Arabia, or traversing 



rocky roads in India. Hickory surpasses any known 



wood in its ability to resist the excessive strains to which 



the spokes of light carriage wheels are subjected. Xo 



other country has wood to make vehicles so light in 



weight yet so strong and durable. 



Credit must be given to hickory wood for the develop- 

 ment of our famous American trotting horses, for the 

 splendid qualities of this wood made it possible to build 



racing sulkies of a lightness never before known. In the 

 light rim of the swiftly moving bicycle wheel, hickory is 

 just as serviceable as in the humble wheel-barrow. Other 

 woods serve well for heavy vehicles ; nevertheless, hickory 

 is largely sought for spokes, felloes and other parts of 

 heavy wagons and automobiles. It is used in dump-carts, 

 drays, stone-wagons, and sleds of all kinds. The sledges 

 used by Shackleton in his Antarctic expedition in 1908 

 had runners of specially selected split hickory because 

 severe tests demonstrated that the wood wore better than 

 German silver or other metal runners. 



Some hickory is used in the manufacture of cheap 

 furniture, especially for chair rounds. Adjustable wheel 

 chairs and children's high chairs employ considerable 

 hickory in their construction, and in recent years it has 

 come into vogue for rustic furniture. Other commodities 

 made of hickory are oil-well sucker rods, which may be 

 30 or 35 feet long, and the skewers used by butchers. 

 Canes, ladder rungs, trunk slats, dowel pins, wedges, 

 crochet rings, pins used in the manufacture of artificial 

 limbs, and insulator pins for telegraph and telephone lines 

 consume small amounts of hickory in widely different 

 ways. The wood is especially suitable for the manufacture 

 of spring bars, croquet mallets, tennis racquets and other 

 athletic goods, and it is also excellent for fishing-rods. 

 Some hickory is also used for crates and boxes where 

 exceptional strength is required. 



Hickory is an ideal winter fuel and the big fire-places 

 of our forefathers burned many cords of as fine hickory 



HICKORY USED FOR WHEEL RIMS 



The tough hickory has always been one of the most serviceable of woods for uses requiring qualities of great 



resistance to heavy wear and severe strain. 



as ever grew. It is just as popular for the open fires of 

 to-day, for it burns slowly, with little smoke, making a 

 hot, bright, companionable fire. 



The nuts are the most important by-product of the 

 hickory trees, and in the case of the Pecan, the returns 

 from the sale of its nuts exceed the commercial value of 

 its wood. The bark of hickory contains a yellow coloring 

 matter which has been used as a dye, but is of small utility. 



WOOD WASTE EXCHANGE 



EXTENSIVE Use by lumbermen and wood-working 

 factories of the wood waste exchange conducted by 

 the Forest Service is reported by officials who have 

 just completed a short field study to determine the extent 

 to which the opportunities offered are being taken advan- 

 tage of. Only a small per cent of the total number of 

 concerns listed were visited, but a comparatively large 

 number were found to have benefited by the exchange. 



Makers of wooden novelties, it is said, have been par- 

 ticularly successful in finding supplies of material near 

 their plants. Other wood-working industries have been 

 able to dispose of their waste at higher prices than they 

 could otherwise have obtained. Many of the firms were 

 located within short distances of each other, but until 

 recently have had no way of getting together. 



The wood waste exchange was established by the For- 

 est Service in 1914. It consists of two lists of manu- 

 facturers, which are sent out quarterly to persons desir- 

 ing them. One of these is of " Opportunities to Sell 

 Waste," and contains the names of firms which use saw- 

 dust and small pieces of wood. This list is sent to plants 

 having waste for sale. The other list is of " Opportunities 

 to Buy Waste," and gives the names of concerns which 

 have waste to dispose of. 



There is no charge for the service and any manufac- 

 turer who wishes to have his name added to either list 

 can do so by writing to the Forest Service, Washington, 



