TOOTHPICKS TO LUMBER WAGONS 31 



alleys and billiard cues? Then there are rifles and 

 fishing rods too, wooden decoys and patent fish 

 baits. The woods used for these purposes range 

 from good hickory for golf club shafts and dog- 

 wood or persimmon for the heads, to ornamental 



The common match and the safety match. The first is made in 



America where we have had wood in abundance; the second is made in 



Europe where wood must be conserved. 



ebony and mahogany; from ash and willow for 

 baseball bats to the wood of the Christmas holly 

 tree. We thus consume some twenty-five million 

 board feet annually. 



Matches and toothpicks seem like little things 

 which would not require the use of much wood. It 

 is natural to suppose that they could best be made 

 from sawmill waste, but this is not the case. 

 Because soft, absolutely clean material is necessary. 



