AMERICAN FOREST TREES 513 



A number of commodities are made of Osage orange but in quanti- 

 ties so small that the total wood used does not constitute a serious drain 

 upon the supply. Police clubs are occasionally made as a by-product 

 of the rim mill. Some years ago at the Texas state fair at Dallas, a piano 

 was exhibited, all visible wood being Osage orange, handsomely polished. 

 The rich color of this wood distinguishes it from all other American 

 species. When oiled it retains the yellow color, but unoiled wood fades 

 on long exposure. Clock cases of Osage have been manufactured locally, 

 and gun stocks made of it are much admired, though the wood's weight 

 is an argument against it for gun stocks. Canes split from straight- 

 grained blocks, and shaved and polished by hand, are occasionally met 

 with, but none manufactured by machinery have been reported. Saw- 

 mills in the Osage orange region use the wood as rollers for carriages and 

 off-bearing tables. Rustic rockers and benches of the wood, with the 

 bark or without it, figure to a small extent in local trade. It has been 

 tried experimentally for parquetry floors, with satisfactory results. 

 Sections of streets have been paved with Osage orange blocks. The 

 wood wears well and is nearly proof against decay, but no considerable 

 demand for siich W6Cks appears ever to have existed. Railroads which 

 were built through the region years ago cut Osage for ties and culvert 

 timber, but no such use is now reported. The demand for the wood for 

 tobacco pipes is increasing, more than 100,000 blocks for such pipes 

 having been sold during a single year. 



Osage orange weighs 48.21 pounds per cubic foot. It is twenty- 

 eight per cent stronger than white oak, but is not quite as stiff, is very 

 brittle, and under heavy impact, will crumble. For that reason, Osage 

 wagon felloes will not stand rocky roads. The bark is sometimes used 

 for tanning, and the wood for dyeing. 



RED MULBERRY (M orus rubra) is frequently spoken of simply as mulberry, and 

 is sometimes called black mulberry. The full grown fruit is red, but turns black or 

 very dark purple when ripe. The berry is composed of a compact and adhering 

 cluster of drupes, each drupe about one thirty-second of an inch long. What seems 

 to be a single berry is really an aggregation of very small fruits, each resembling a 

 tiny cherry. The mulberry is naturally a forest tree, but it is permitted to grow 

 about the margins of fields, and is often planted in door yards for its fruit and its 

 shade. It is looked upon by many as a tame species. 



Two mulberries grow naturally in this country. The red species ranges from 

 Massachusetts west to Kansas, and south to Texas and Florida. Its best growth is 

 found in the lower Ohio valley and the southern foot hills of the Appalachian moon- 

 tains. The largest trees are seventy feet high and three or four in diameter. If this 

 tree were abundant the wood's place in furniture and finish would be important. 

 The heartwood is dark, of good figure, and fairly strong. It takes a fine polish, and 

 resembles black walnut, though usually of a little lighter shade. Its largest use is as 

 fence posts. It is durable in contact with the soil. The effect when made into furni- 

 ture, finish, and various kinds of turnery, is pleasing. Farm tools, particularly 



