THE USES OF WOOD 



151 



i^f^x 1 ^ 



THE CALIFORNIA COMBINED HARVESTER 



At one end of the harvesting evolution stands the sickle, and at the other end is the combined machine which cuts and threshes all at one 

 operation. Between the sickle and the harvester intervenes practically the whole span of human history. Gasoline tractors are now taking the 

 place of the horses. Photograph by H. H. Alexander, Fresno, California. 



indication that it will ever lose first place in the manu- 

 facture of agricultural implements. A hundred years 

 ago most farm tools were of wood. Metal constituted 

 such parts only as could not be made of wood. It is 

 not known how much wood and how much iron were 

 used in the United States a century ago in the manu- 

 facture of farm tools, but late statistics show the present 

 demand for wood for implements, and it exceeds 320,- 

 000,000 feet a year, and if the wood which goes into 

 hand tools for the farm were added the total would 

 probably exceed 400,000,000 feet. In the list which 

 follows, the forest's contribution to this great industry 

 is shown according to kinds of wood and the quantity 

 which each kind furnishes yearly. 



Kind of Wood Feet Annually 



Yellow pine 98,543,396 



Oak 69,346,130 



Maple 48,319,210 



Cottonwood 15,143,000 



Yellow poplar 12,412,300 



Red gum 1 1,976,000 



Ash 10,677,400 



Hickory 9,860,470 



White pine 8,243,440 



Kind of Wood Feet Annually 



Basswood 7,861,750 



Elm 7,249,000 



Beech 4,968.490 



Birch 4,704,000 



Cypress 2,682,000 



Spruce 2,623,500 



Douglas fir 2,537,250 



Hemlock 1,257,400 



Tupelo 1,140,000 



Chestnut 884,000 



Sycamore 



Western yellow pine 



Redwood 



Larch 



Sugar pine 



Butternut 



Eucalyptus 



Black walnut 



Hornbeam 



Cucumber 



Mahogany 



Cherry 



290,000 



219,000 



200,500 



100,000 



50,000 



10,000 



10,000 



8,000 



1,200 



1,100 



500 



300 



Total 321,319.336 



No important wood that grows in the United States 

 is missing from the foregoing list. Both softwoods and 

 hardwoods are represented, but the latter appears in 

 nearly double the quantity of the former. The employ- 



* 





REAPERS DRAWN BY TRACTOR 



The reaper was developed as a machine to be drawn by horses, but it did not stop there. The next step was to dispense with the horses and 

 substitute engines, which could work faster and at less expense. The principal parts of the modern reaper are still made of wood. Photograph 

 by the International Harvester Company, Chicago. 



