THE USES OF WOOD 



533 





genus rather than species, several being included under 

 one name, as oak, ash, elm, maple, and spruce. 



Both softwoods and hardwoods are employed in this 

 industry. Ten of the former are on the list, all of which 

 are native of the United States. Not a foot of imported 

 softwood is used, unless possibly a little spruce from 

 Canada for sounding boards, but none such is shown by 

 the records. The total annual demand for softwoods 

 exceeds 43,000,000 feet, as follows : 



Spruce, 29,144,150; white pine, 9,394,820; yellow pine, 2,107,994; sugar pine, 

 1.004,400; hemlock, 015,600; Douglas fir, 480,400; redwood, 286,200; balsam fir, 

 101,400; cypress, 70,000; Cedar, 17,509, total, 43,222,464 feet. 



In quantity 

 spruce exceeds 

 the other soft- 

 woods in the 

 above list. 

 Though it is 

 named as 

 though it were 

 a single species, 

 several spruces 

 are included in 

 the group, the 

 principal being 

 the eastern red 

 spruce that 

 grows from the 

 mountains o f 

 West Virginia 

 to north em 

 Maine, the 

 largest supply- 

 coming from 

 the two states 

 named ; and 

 Sitka spruce of 

 the northern 

 Pacific coast. 

 Some spruce of 

 the black and 

 the white spe- 

 cies, from New 

 England and 

 the Lake 

 States, and 

 from the adja- 

 cent regions of 

 Canada, con- 

 tribute to the 

 musical instru- 

 ment industry, 

 the total spruce exceeding 29,000,000 feet annually. 



The value of spruce in this industry is due chiefly to 

 its resonant qualities. It is a musical wood. Peculiari- 

 ties of growth make it so. It takes up and transmits 

 vibrations more perfectly than any other wood that can 

 be had in adequate quantities. 



The scientific explanations of spruce resonance have 

 not all been alike, neither are they all consistent. Agree- 

 ment is pretty general, however, that the cause lies in the 



THE INTERIOR OF A PIPE ORGAN 



This view behind the scene is in the First Uniyersalist Church in Detroit, Michigan 

 constructed wholly of California redwood, It is a rather new material for large musical instruments, 

 and it has been selected because of the well-known unshrinkable qualities of redwood. In that respect 

 it compares with mahogany. 



wood's long fibers and in their uniform and regular 

 arrangement. The fibers vibrate like so many taut cords. 

 Comparison might be made to a group of tightly-stretched 

 strings, parallel and of equal length, each vibrating free 

 from interference by the others, and all in unison, having 

 been acted upon by the same impulse. Wood consists 

 of fibers which may be compared to strings either parallel 

 or interlaced. The most of those of spruce are parallel, 

 hence their fine musical qualities. Most other woods 

 have shorter fibers and they may not be arranged so 



that they can 

 vibrate freely, 

 one interfering 

 with another. 

 Oak is a wood 

 of that kind, 

 and it is very 

 poor material 

 for sounding 

 boards for 

 pianos. 



A p p a ratus 

 has been used 

 to test and de- 

 termine the vi- 

 bratory quali- 

 ites of wood, 

 and formulas 

 and equations 

 involving high- 

 er mathematics 

 have been 

 worked out 

 to express val- 

 ues ; but no 

 scientific pro- 

 cess has found 

 out much more 

 than has been 

 ascertained by 

 simple experi- 

 ments with dif- 

 ferent woods by 

 practical mak- 

 ers of musical 

 i n s t r uments. 

 When Philadel- 

 phia was a vil- 

 lage of small 

 houses and 

 wooden roofs, Gottlieb Mittelberger listened to the patter 

 of the rain on the thin roofs of white cedar shingles 

 and from the tones thus produced, he worked out the 

 invention of the cedar pipes for his organ. He declared 

 the musical sounds of that wood superior to those emitted 

 by metal. 



The most highly specialized use of wood, due to its 

 resonance, is found in the piano sounding board. The 

 finest spruce goes there, though occasionally other woods 



The fine organ 



