420 FOREST PRODUCTS 



Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. It is most abundant in the valley of 

 the Red River. Its scientific name is Toxylon ppmiferum, Raf., and, 

 besides osage orange it is commonly called bow-wood, mock orange, 

 bodock, bois d'arc, yellow wood and hedge tree. It is frequently planted 

 throughout the East both for its wood and as a decorative and hedge tree. 



The tree is rather poorly shapen as a rule and seldom grows to be 

 over 50 ft. in height and 2 ft. in diameter. The wood is exceptionally 

 hard, heavy, strong, durable and coarse grained. It is a bright orange 

 in color, which on exposure turns to a deep yellowish brown. The wood 

 is in high demand for use as wagon and vehicle stock, especially for felloes 

 and spokes and for cross ties, fence posts, handles and other specialized 

 purposes. It was highly prized by the Indians as a material for bows 

 and arrows, hence the name bois d'arc. 



Osage orange, even in the time of the Indians, was used for dyeing pur- 

 poses, and in the region of its natural growth has been used to a limited 

 extent as a coloring matter. Since the outbreak of the European War, 

 however, it has been extensively experimented with and is coming into 

 commercial use as a substitute for fustic. The dyeing principles found in 

 osage orange are morin or moric acid and moritannic acid or maclurin, 

 as is the case with fustic. The extract from this wood is now manu- 

 factured and sold under the trade name of aurantine. The roots and 

 bark also contain coloring principles which have been extracted by 

 boiling. This practice, however, is limited to a very small local custom 

 in the Southwest. 



Results of experiments show that with iron and chrome mordants, 

 osage orange dyes are satisfactorily fast to light, water and washing, 

 especially when used on wools, and that they may be employed wherever 

 dyes from fustic wood are used. Osage orange is also used on leather, 

 wood, paper and, to small extent on cotton. It is especially effective 

 for orange-yellows, old gold, deep tan, olive and chocolate shades. It is, 

 moreover, used as a base for greens and grays in combination with other 

 colors and with aniline dyes. In comparison with fustic, the advan- 

 tages claimed for it are that it is cleaner, more uniform, yellower, faster 

 and cheaper. 



It is estimated by Kressman of the Forest Products Laboratory at 

 Madison, Wis., that over 25,000 tons of waste material are now available 

 annually from the manufacture of osage orange for various wood products 

 and that altogether from 40,000 to 50,000 tons of osage orange could 

 readily be shipped yearly from Texas and Oklahoma. In 1915 about 

 14,000 tons of fustic were imported to this country instead of the usual 



