42 



THE SOUTHERN LUMBERMAN 



contributed sweet birch, and most of what was cut 

 in Tennessee was sweet birch. The most abundant 

 birch in the state is neither of these, but the river 

 birch (Betula nigra). It is not much sought after 

 because it lacks grain and figure to make it at- 

 tractive. Moderate success has attended efforts 

 to stain it in imitation of other woods. The tree 

 grows along river banks and is easily recognized 

 by the ragged appearance of its trunk, covered 

 with hanging rolls and tatters of light brown bark, 

 which the tree seems to be always in the act of 

 shedding. 



The Hackberries. 



Two species of hackberry occur in Tennessee 

 both passing by that name. They are much alike 

 and while botanists recognize both, the lumberman 

 does not. In fact, as often as not, hackberry is 

 classed as ash at the mill yards and is sold as such. 

 Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) and sugarberry 

 (Celtis mississippiensis) may grow side by side, 

 but in most regions where both occur the former 

 is most abundant. 



The Maples. 



Two species of m-aple are reported by manufac- 

 turers in Tennessee, aggregating about three and a 

 quarter million feet. In 1910 there were 229 mills 

 in the state cutting maple, but in small amounts 

 for the total product was little more than the tota' 

 used by manufacturers. In all parts of the maple 

 region east of the Rocky Mountains it is the cus- 

 tom of users to recognize two kinds of maple gen- 

 erally termed "hard" and' "soft." These names do 

 not conform very closely to species, for half a dozen 

 are called by the former name and occasionally 

 more than one by the latter, though usually soft 

 maple means the silver maple (Acer saccharinum). 

 Hard maple, or sugar maple, (Acer saccharum) i 

 the most abundant of the maples in Tennessee. II 

 is the tree which produces sugar in early spring. 

 Others which are found in the state, and which are 

 commonly classed as hard maple, are mountain 

 maple (Acer spicatum) a small tree called low 

 maple in Tennessee because it is apt to grow near 

 mountain water courses; the striped maple (Acer 

 pennsylvanicum) ; black maple (Acer saccharu' 

 nigrum) ; red maple (Acer rubrum); and Drum- 

 mond maple (Acer drummondii) in Southwestern 

 Tennessee. This tree is scarce and is generally 

 small. To these should be added the box elder 

 (Acer negundo) which in spite of its name belongs 

 with the maples. It is not an important timber tree 

 in the state, nor anywhere else, but is sometimes 

 used. The black maple may be recognized by the 

 dark color of the bark which characteristic is more 

 noticeable in winter than in summer, ,but the bark 

 alone is not an unerring criterion in determining 

 the species. The red maple is so called from the 

 bright color of its winged seeds which make a fine 

 display in early spring. In Tennessee this tree 

 occupies swamps and in the western part of the 

 state closely resembles the Drummond maple. 



The Walnuts. 



Black walnut and butternut are both reported by 

 Tennessee manufacturers, the former in largei 

 quantity than the latter, though most of the black 

 walnut came from outside the state, while all of 

 the butternut was home grown. Butternut is known 

 also as white walnut, a name which in early times 

 was often applied to hickory. The heartwood of 

 butternut is lighter in color than the heart of black 

 walnut, but otherwise the woods bear close re 

 semblance. The black walnut is generally regarded 

 as more handsome. Neither of them should be 

 counted on for a large part of the future lumber 

 supply. The butternut never contributed much, 

 but twenty-five years ago and lon s er ago than that 

 black walnut was in great demand for furniture. 

 It is not now in fashion in this country, and, be- 

 sides, it has become scarce and high priced. The 

 best wood comes from large trees because they 

 have comparatively more heart than small trees 

 and it is blacker and of finer grain. Black walnut 

 has long been, and still is, the choice wood for gun 

 stocks and pistol grips. Some prefer the softer 

 toned wood from the planted walnut trees of Eu- 

 rope. Tennessee produces good walnut, but the 

 best was long ago cut and not much young growth 

 is coming on. Trees in the open may be worth 

 more for their annual crops of nuts than for lum- 

 ber. In some of the northern states the butternut 

 pays better if left to bear nuts when other forest 

 trees are cut from around it. It might be more 

 profitable to let the Tennessee butternut stand. The 

 average value of the wood at the factories was only 

 $13.45. 



Other Hardwoods. 



A number of other hardwoods went to the fac- 

 tories in Tennessee, some in a small way, others 

 in large amounts. The particular commodities 

 made wholly or in part from each are shown in 

 the various industry tables in this report; but 

 the importance of the several species as a re- 

 source in Tennessee is not always apparent in these 

 tables. A wood must be fairly abundant and must 

 be fit for something in particular to make it a 

 commercial resource. The extent of its present 

 use is not a correct measure of its value. Some 

 species are not now in much demand, but they 



possess properties which will give them a higher 

 place in the future. On the other hand, some are 

 passing down the scale from their former high posi- 

 tion to minor places because of increasing scarcity. 

 Instances of that kind should be carefully consid- 

 ered, and if an increase of supply seems practicable 

 it ought to be encouraged. The extirpation of val- 

 uable species is not necessary in this country. The 

 people of Massachusetts cut all their original white 

 pine forests long ago, but they are growing young 

 forests to take the place of the old. Other states 

 can with profit follow the example of Massachusetts, 

 each devoting its care to the forest trees which pay 

 best. 



YELLOW POPLAR This is one of the finest 

 trees of the American forest. It is generally con- 

 sidered the largest hardwood of this country and 

 none exceed it in well-balanced proportion of trunk. 

 The fertile valleys and slopes of Tennessee have 

 furnished some of the largest poplars on record. 

 Reference has already been made to the five-fooi 

 poplar trunks, felled in 1779 on the Holston River 

 by Isaac Shelby, to be hewed into canoes to carry 

 his army of 750 men down the river to attack the 

 Indians who were assembling near Chattanooga to 

 march against the Carolina frontiers. This tree 

 has been the greatest canoe wood of America, next 

 to the paper birch. In some regions the name 

 canoe wood has been given it. A list of uses for 

 which it has been found suitable would include 

 almost every commodity of wood from the earliest 

 settlement of this country to the present time. 

 Only where great strength, hardness and toughness 

 are essential is it unfitted. 



The maximum annual cut of yellow poplar in this 

 country seems to have been passed, and the future 

 supply must come from a rather small region of 

 which Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia 

 are the center. More than half of the country's 

 supply in 1910 came from those states, most from 

 West Virginia, next from Tennessee, and third 

 from Kentucky. Estimates have been made that 

 the remaining yellow poplar on the stump in this 

 country does not much exceed 6.000.000,000 feet, 

 which will be exhausted in nine or ten years at the 

 present rate of cutting. Definite conclusions and 

 great weight should not be given estimates of this 

 kind. While they are based on the best obtainable 

 data, no one knows how much poplar remains in 

 the forests, and most of the general estimates of 

 this kind have proved too low when the time comes 

 to check them by exact information. It is certain 

 that most of this wood in the original forests of 

 this country has been cut, and that no large amount 

 remains. The yearly output must, for that reason, 

 soon decline with no hope that it can ever again 

 reach high figures; but some yellow poplar will 

 reach the markets for a long time to come. It re- 

 quires many years to grow a good sized tree as 

 poplars are usually rated, though it is a rather fast 

 grower. The long time required will stand in the 

 way of extensive planting. People who set apart 

 wood-lots will choose loblolly pine or some other 

 fast grower. A further fact against planting the 

 poplar is that it wants the richest soil. It had the 

 richest slopes and coves when it had choice of the 

 whole country. Farmers of the future will not give 

 up their best land to any forest tree, but will plant 

 food and provender crops there and put their wood 

 lots on poor or rocky corners. That will give the 

 yellow poplar no chance in competition with other 

 less choice species in the forests of the future. If 

 it is compelled to exist on thin soil it degenerates 

 so quickly that it becom.es a "white poplar." That 

 is the name usually applied to a runt yellow pop- 

 lar a poor soil specimen. It has little or no heart- 

 wood, is hard and tough, and being nearly all sap. 

 which is white, a quite common belief has devel- 

 oped that it is not the same species as yellow 

 poplar. It is the same, however, for there is only 

 one species of this tree in America, and one in 

 China; and, in fact, both might be considered as 

 one, though separated by ten thousand miles. 



Though not exactly on the subject of wood uses 

 in Tennessee, the evidence of geology is interest- 

 ing, because it warrants the belief that the yellow 

 poplar was growing in the Appalachian region cov- 

 ering Eastern Tennessee in the cretaceous age a 

 time so remote that no geologist will venture tc 

 measure it in years. The yellow poplar's peculiar 

 notched leaf is among the fossils in the strata be- 

 yond the Mississippi, which rocks, it is believed, 

 were laid down as sands in the sea which then cov- 

 ered the Mississippi Valley; and the sands, and 

 doubtless the poplar leaves also, were carried from 

 the Appalachian highlands to that sea by rivers 

 which then flowed westward, as they still do. If 

 that view is correct, the yellow poplar is one of 

 the very oldest broad-leaf species on earth, having 

 come down to us through almost measureless ages. 

 The character of the rocks in which the fossil 

 leaves are embedded indicates that the tree then 

 grew in soil of great fertility, as it does today, and 

 leads to the conclusion that the mountain regions 

 of Eastern Tennessee had deep, rich soil at a time 

 when the Gulf of Mexico extended at least as far 

 north as Nebraska. A tree so ancient, so splendid 

 and so vigorous does not deserve to perish by the 

 hand of man in the very region where it has held 

 its ground during millions of years, There are 



sentimental as well as sound business reasons why 

 steps ought to be taken to perpetuate the yellow 

 poplar in protected woodlots, since it cannot much 

 longer hold its place as a wild tree of the forests. 



DOGWOOD In 1910 Tennessee led in saw mill 

 output of dogwood. That for the whole country 

 was 1,469,000 feet. This quantity is so small as 

 to place dogwood among the minor species; yet in 

 the saw mill reports dogwood is not given justice. 

 The total is certainly too small. Tennessee alone 

 last year manufactured more dogwood into shuttle 

 blocks than the whole reported output of saw mills 

 in the United States. The explanation is that most 

 of the dogwood does not go through saw mills, 

 but is shipped in rough blank form to the shuttle 

 factories. The trees are small and logs one foot 

 in diameter are unusual, and a length of a few 

 feet is the average. Two species grow in Ten- 

 nessee, flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) which 

 is most common, and blue dogwood (Cornus alterni- 

 folia). It is doubtful if the latter is a commercial 

 commodity in Tennessee. 



SYCAMORE Tennessee is the fourth state in 

 the production of sycamore, it being exceeded by 

 Indiana, Missouri and Arkansas. In 1910 the saw 

 mill cut in Tennessee was 5,000,000 feet and the 

 manufacturers reported less than three-quarters 

 of a million feet. It is apparent that most of the 

 state's output of this wood is taken by manufac- 

 turers not operating in Tennessee. Twenty-six 

 states contribute to the saw mill supply, and, con- 

 trary to general belief, the total yearly output has 

 not decreased in the past ten years, though it was 

 not the same from year to year. In 1909 the cut 

 of sycamore in the United States was twice as 

 great as in 1899. For the most part it is a waste 

 land tree, and it should be encouraged. It takes 

 possession of gravel bars along rivers, steep banks 

 of ponds and streams and land subject to frequent 

 overflow. The best lumber comes from trees of 

 moderate size, for the very large are usually hol- 

 low. Sometimes trunks of great dimensions are 

 mere shells and of no value, though formerly 

 they were made into gums for the barn and gran- 

 ary, and wheat and corn were stored in them in 

 place of barrels. There is only one species of syca- 

 more in the eastern part of the United States, 

 but California and Arizona each has one. 



PERSIMMON The entire reported saw mill out- 

 put of persimmon in the United States does not 

 exceed one million feet, yet manufacturers in Ten- 

 nessee alone used 680,000 feet. Many other states 

 produce it, and the total cut must amount to sev- 

 eral million feet. The same custom prevails with 

 persimmon as with dogwood, that much is sold in 

 the log or bolt, and the saw mills never handle it. 



The wood goes to the shuttle factories or is 

 made into golf heads. Statistics are too meager to 

 determine whether the cut of this wood is in- 

 creasing or diminishing; but complaint is made by 

 shuttle people that they frequently find the wood 

 hard to procure. They use the sapwood only, 

 which is white, and in appearance somewhat re- 

 sembles hickory. The persimmon tree is a good 

 fighter in the contest for ground, and it spreads 

 rapidly into open spaces. The seeds are widely 

 dispersed, and a vigorous growth springs up from 

 stoloniferous roots. It is not probable, therefore, 

 that this valuable tree will disappear from Ten- 

 nessee in the near future, but whether it will pro- 

 duce enough wood to meet demand is doubtful. 



BLACK CHERRY In the annual report of saw 

 mill output by the Bureau of Census, black cherry 

 is classed among the minor species, not because 

 it is of small value, but that it is scarce. The 

 whole reported cut in 1910 was a little over 18,- 

 000,000 feet, and Tennessee's part of it is not 

 stated. Manufacturers in the state used less than 

 half a million feet. The species grows slowly, and 

 it is doubtful if much of it will ever be planted for 

 use. A tolerably good imitation of this wood can 

 be produced by staining red gum and tupelo; but 

 the real luster, the characteristic tone, of cherry 

 is due to the bright lining of the wood cells, and 

 this has not yet been successfully imitated by stain- 

 ing any other wood. ' 



BLACK WILLOW This is one of the most rapid 

 growing of Tennessee's native trees, and it is 

 worth considering in plans of future forestry and 

 conservation. The wood is plain and can never 

 have a wide range of uses, but it is suitable for 

 boxes and is worth growing for that purpose alone. 

 A mud flat, too wet for cultivation, has been known 

 to grow more than two thousand feet of lumber 

 yearly per acre, for forty years. That is doubtless 

 above the average growth of willow, but it shows 

 the possibilities. Willow plants itself and cares for 

 itself when ground is available. Tennessee has 

 much wet land, too much subject to overflow to be 

 profitable for field crops, and in such places willow 

 ought to be encouraged. It protects the land 

 against washing, collects sediment, gradually builds 

 the surface higher and ultimately may convert it 

 into dry land for farming. The wet situation in 

 which willow grows affords protection against fire, 

 and gives the young trees an advantage which is 

 denied to many species on dry land. The willow 

 produces a fence post or a small saw-log in a few 

 years; and old trees two or more feet in diameter 



