512 AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



bodies of it once grew south of the Red River in Texas, and much is still 

 cut there though the choicest long ago disappeared. Few trees are less 

 exacting hi soil, yet when it can make choice it chooses the best. In its 

 natural habitat it holds its place in the black, fertile flats and valleys, 

 and is seldom found on sandy soil. It is not a swamp tree, though it is 

 uninjured by occasional floods. The tracts where it grows are some- 

 times called "bodark swamps," though marshy in wet weather only. 



The tree attains a height of fifty or sixty feet when at its best, but 

 specimens that tall are unusual. Trunks are occasionally two or three 

 feet in diameter, but that size is very rare. At the present time probably 

 ten trees under a foot in diameter are cut for every one over that size. 



Rough and unshapely as Osage trees are, they have been more 

 closely utilized than most timbers. Fence posts are the largest item. The 

 board measure equivalent of the annual cut of posts has been placed at 

 18,400,000. The posts are shipped to surrounding states, hi addition 

 to fencing nearly 40,000 square miles of northern Texas and southern 

 Oklahoma. Houseblocks constitute another important use. These are 

 short posts set under the corners of buildings in place of stone founda- 

 tions. The annual demand for this kind of material amounts to about 

 1,000,000 board feet. An equal amount goes into bridge piling. The 

 principal demand comes from highway commissioners. Telephone 

 poles take a considerable quantity, and insulator pins more. 



One of the most important uses of Osage orange is found in the 

 manufacture of wagon wheels, though the total quantity so used is 

 smaller than that demanded for fence posts. 



About 10,000 or 12,000 wagons with Osage orange felloes or rims 

 are manufactured annually in the United States. That use of the wood 

 is not new. It began in a small way soon after the settlement of the 

 region. At first the work was hand-done by local blacksmiths and 

 wheelwrights. They found the wood objectionable, from the workman's 

 standpoint, on account of its extreme hardness and the difficulty of 

 cutting it. That objection is still urged against it though machines have 

 taken the place of the hand tools of former times. Saws and bits are 

 quickly dulled, and the cost of grinding, repair, and replacement in- 

 creases the operator's expense much above ordinary mill outlay for such 

 purposes. On that account many prefer to work the wood green. It is 

 then softer, and cuts more smoothly. If seasoned before it is passed 

 through the machines it is liable to "pull." That term is used to indi- 

 cate a rough-breaking of the fibres by the impact of knives. The readi- 

 ness with which the wood splits calls for extraordinary care in boring it, 

 and many felloes are spoiled hi finishing them to receive the tenoned 

 ends of spokes. 



