90 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



February 



investigate and explain the apparent 

 discrepancies that exist. The old 

 farmer, as he covers up the half burnt 

 brands with the burning embers or 

 reinforces the bed with a stick of hard 

 wood, almost as sure of fire in the 

 morning as he is of sunrise, is an ex- 

 perimenter in a practical way, and his 

 conclusions are worthy of considera- 

 tion. The housemother, too, some- 

 times takes up this job, if the husband 

 lacks in force and ingenuity, and be- 

 comes a true vestal to keep the fire 



alive on the family altar. Such a one 

 was the good wife who, when the old 

 curmudgeon tested her temper by 

 bringing all crooked and knotted wood 

 for the kitchen fire ; as deftly arranged 

 it about her pots and kettles and the 

 flames wrapped around them, she 

 called his attention to how nicely they 

 fitted their purpose, and pleased her. 

 She was a true philosopher, upon 

 whose hearthstone the fire would 

 never smoke, grow dim, or expire. 



USES OF INFERIOR WOODS 



The Bureau of Forestry Demonstrates the Value 

 of Woods Now Generally Considered Inferior 



"VV7HEX there was an abundant sup- 

 ** ply of the best quality of tim- 

 ber it was the habit of lumbermen to 

 neglect all but the best species. For 

 instance, in Indiana and Ohio the 

 white oak trees were cut and the red 

 oaks were left. In the South only a 

 few years ago the gum, which is now 

 of considerable commercial import- 

 ance, was left to rot in the woods. On 

 the Pacific coast the western hemlock 

 was not considered worth transporting 

 from the forest to the mill. In conse- 

 quence the supply of high class tim- 

 bers has been seriously depleted, and 

 the character of the forest has been 

 changed by the reproduction of the 

 inferior species which were left in 

 possession ; while the lumberman has 

 had to extend his operations over a 

 large area in order to secure the neces- 

 sary amount of timber. If these in- 

 ferior species can be cut and marketed 

 at a profit, it will be possible in the 

 future to lumber with far less detri- 

 ment to the forest, and at the same 

 time the available supply of timber 

 will 1x- greatly increased. 



The current unfavorable opinions 

 concerning these so-called inferior 

 species are largely matters of tradi- 

 tion, which investigation proves was 



unwarranted. Indeed, in some cases, 

 lumber such as gum and sap pine is 

 exported from this country and held 

 in high esteem abroad. Our engi- 

 neers and architects, as a rule, con- 

 sider sapwood weaker and much less 

 fit for structural use than heartwood. 

 Of course in the matter of durability 

 of unpreserved timber under severe 

 conditions of exposure, there is no 

 question but that heartwood is very 

 much to be preferred to sapwood. 

 But for use indoors sapwood timbers 

 are abundantly strong. Carriage man- 

 ufacturers know that the strongest and 

 most resilient wood for spokes, shafts, 

 etc., is rapid grown sapling hickory. 

 It has lately been discovered that fast 

 grown second growth red oak, so fat- 

 as strength is concerned, is fully equal 

 to white oak. Much work remains to 

 be done to bring out the facts under- 

 lying the practicability of a more ex- 

 tensive rse of inferior timbers, and to 

 disseminate information as to the rela- 

 tive advantages of first and second 

 growth timbers and the value of such 

 woods as western hemlock and lob- 

 lolly pine, which are of increasing im- 

 portance in the national supply of 

 structural timber. The timber tests 

 which the Bureau of Forestry is mak- 

 ing are bringing the facts concerning 



