AMERICAN FOREST TREES 597 



when the wood is sawed tangentially, because of the small contrast in the 

 different parts of the yearly ring. Hornbeam may, therefore, be listed 

 among woods which have little or no figure. No one ever thinks of using 

 it for the sake of its beauty. Because of the small size and limited 

 quantity hornbeam will never come into commercial prominence. Its 

 uses are almost entirely local and domestic. The lumberman or the 

 farmer selects a hornbeam sapling as being the best material obtainable 

 for making a wagon or sleigh tongue, a skid, or a lever. The farmer 

 often laboriously works a section of the flint-like wood into minor agri- 

 cultural implements. 



The statistics of sawmill cut in the United States do not mention 

 hornbeam even among such minor species as holly, Osage orange, alder, 

 and apple. However, it is known that an occasional log goes to saw- 

 mills in the Lake States, and doubtless in other regions, and in some 

 instances the wood is kept separate from others and is sold to fill special 

 orders. Manufacturers of farm tools consider it the best wood for rake 

 teeth. That use has come down from the time when farmers made 

 their own rakes and pitchforks. They learned the wood's value 

 by experience, and manufacturers cater to the trade. 



It is sometimes called lever wood, and that name dates from long 

 ago when the man who needed a lever went into the woods and cut one 

 to suit his needs. The modern lever is usually somewhat different and 

 partakes more of the nature of a handle. They are seen in sawmills 

 where they manipulate the carriage machinery; on certain agricultural 

 implements where their function is to throw clutches in and out of gear; 

 sometimes they are used as the handle by which the rudder of a small 

 boat is controlled ; and occasionally the lever has a place as an adjunct 

 of a wagon or log-car brake. In all of these uses strength and stiff- 

 ness are required, and durability is duly considered. 



Wagon makers and repairers find several uses for hornbeam. It 

 would be more frequently employed if it were more plentiful. Nearly 

 any blacksmith who runs a repair shop for vehicles will testify to that. 

 It fulfills every requisite for axles; is made into felloes for heavy wagons; 

 and is considered the best obtainable wood for the tongues of heavy 

 logging wheels and stone wagons. 



Among various occasional uses of this wood it is listed by the 

 manufacturers of reels for garden hose; rungs for long ladders; stakes 

 for sleds, and also for cross pieces and parts of runners of sleds; wedges 

 for the makers of machinery; and hammer and hatchet handles. It is a 

 pretty active competitor of dogwood for some of these uses, and it has 

 been suggested for shuttles, but no report of its use in that capacity 

 seems to have been made. 



