The Canadian Horticulturist. 



3°7 



ROCK ELM. 



HE growing scarcity of hickory and white ash has prompted 

 wagon builders to look about for substitutes. The makers 

 of common carriages are with them, to a certain extent, 

 while the builders of high-class carriage work still adhere 

 pretty generally to the old woods, finding, as yet, nothing 

 that satisfies them where lightness, strength, and elasticity 

 combined are required. 

 Agricultural implement makers have substituted steel and iron for wood in 

 a large number of places where it was formerly used exclusively. The imple- 

 ment factories are using less than one-half the lumber they did only a few years 

 ago. The light forged or cast steel plow beam has taken the place of the clumsy 

 wooden one of our fathers, that formerly absorbed a large amount of the finest 

 white oak, while the early spring tooth harrow, entirely of steel, has superseded 

 the old time V-shaped implement that formerly vexed the bosom of Mother 

 Earth. 



But while the others have reduced the amount of lumber more or less 

 required in their special lines, the makers of farm and road wagons and heavy 

 trucks are still forced to use nearly the same amount of wood as formerly. W hite 

 oak, white ash, and hickory has thus far been the chief wood used in wagon con- 

 struction. Other woods have been used for certain parts, but the three woods 

 named have been the chief reliance for good work, and now that hickory and 

 white ash are becoming so scarce, especially the former, and good, tough white 

 oak is no longer found in great abundance north of the Ohio River, while it is 

 called for for so many other purposes as to greatly enhance its value, substitutes 

 of as nearly equal value as possible, in strength, durability, and elasticity, are 

 eagerly sought after, that may be furnished cheaper than the old stock. 



Of all the woods tried, probably rock elm has proved the most satisfactory 

 for many uses in wagon building, where one of the three, oak, ash, or hickory, 

 has heretofore been almost exclusively used. Its elasticity and general toughness 

 should recommed it for axles, bolsters, and reaches. Indeed, it is being sawed 

 for these purposes to a large extent in some sections, a number of the Wisconsin 

 and Michigan hardwood mills having large orders for future sawing. 



While it may be true that the bulk of such stock at present goes to the small 

 wagon makers and repair shops, it is also true that some of the largest manu- 

 factories in the country are ordering a good deal of rock elm for their season s 

 stock, while the bending factories are taking a large increase over a year ago. 



This should be good news to the hardwood men of the extreme north, 

 where the timber is found of the best quality and in greatest abundance. They 

 will be gainers from the fact that it will allow them to clean up another kind 

 of timber when logging a piece of hardwood land. If they can market their 



