THE ST. LOUIS LUMBERMAN. 



7 1 



is occasionally made into lumber, but more fre- 

 quently crossties. 



Sycamore. 



This is a waste land tree, in the same class with 

 cypress in that particular. It has no objection to 

 good ground, but thrives on mudflats, hollow banks, 

 and gravel bars, and it thus brings profit where 

 otherwise there might be none. It occasionally 

 attains large size, but the best lumber comes from 

 trees of moderate dimensions, because the largest 

 are usually hollow. The growing of sycamore for 

 profit is perhaps practicable in Missouri where 

 there is much wet land and many tracts liable to 

 such frequent overflow as to be unsuited to agri- 

 culture. Sycamores plant themselves in countless 

 thousands along streams where the space is suffi- 

 ciently open to let in the sun, and the ground 

 moist. Growth is rapid, and as soon as the trunk 

 develops enough heartwood to make boards six or 

 eight inches wide, cutting may begin. Sycamores 

 from 10 to 15 feet in diameter have been measured 

 in the State, but they were never plentiful, and 

 probably none that large exists now. Missouri 

 stands second among the States in the production 

 of sycamore lumber, being exceeded only by Indi- 

 ana, and produces nearly five times as much as its 

 factories demand, and yet about half of their de- 

 mand is supplied by imported lumber. 



Basswood. 



Missouri ranks low in the production of bass- 

 wood. In 1909 the census report gave 111 mills 

 cutting it. The chief supply comes from the North, 

 and Missouri is on the extreme western edge of 

 the tree's region. Basswood is soft and white, and 

 has no grain or figure to make it attractive. It 

 finishes nicely, but always presents a plain appear- 

 ance. The name "bee tree'' is sometimes given it, 

 and this is supposed to mean that the trunks are 

 frequently hollow and are occupied by wild bees 

 for storing honey. This, however, is a misnomer, 

 for the trunks are no more liable to hollowness 

 than other trees. The bloom is abundant, is rich 

 in honey, and bees frequent it hence, the name. 



Black Willow. 



This tree is not of great importance in Mis- 

 souri at present, but its value will increase, rather 

 than diminish in the future because it grows rap- 

 idly, and thrives on land too wet or too much sub- 

 ject to overflow to be attractive to farmers. At an 

 age when cypress is scarcely large enough for 

 handspikes, willow may be cut for saw logs. Im- 

 mense quantities of it will come to maturity on 

 comparatively small tracts, from 100 to 200 trees 

 to the acre having been reported". It is the most 

 common willow in this country, though many other 

 species are found. It grows from Maine to Cali- 

 fornia, but only where water is abundant. It 

 reaches its best size and form near large water 

 courses where it prefers low, rich ground, but it 

 will do fairly well on thin soil if moisture condi- 

 tions are right. Until recent years the willow was 

 seldom put to any purpose; but it is now becoming 

 valuable for certain commodities. Millions of feet 

 of it are annually made into boxes in the United 

 States, principally for meats and other provisions. 

 It is one of the substitutes for yellow poplar and 

 cottonwood for wagon beds, and furniture makers 

 are working it into interior places where its ap- 

 pearance does not matter. It is not a handsome 

 wood, its color being dark and dull. Some manu- 

 facturers call it brown cottonwood. The lumber is 

 tough, light, difficult to split, and is cheap. Trees 

 four feet in diameter are occasionally cut, but the 

 average size of willow saw logs is less than half 

 of that: The willow's importance in Missouri would 

 seem to lie principally in the future. The wild 

 forests will be cut out in time, and only species 

 which will pay best will be planted and cared for. 

 As rough, coarse lumber, willow will commend it- 

 self, because of its rapid growth and the large yield 

 per acre. 



Sitka Spruce. 



Five woods known as spruce figure in the coun- 

 try's lumber output, the red, black, white, Engel- 

 mann, and Sitka. The three first named come from 

 the north and northeast, the Engelmann is a Rocky 

 Mountain species, and the Sitka's home is in Ore- 

 gon and Washington. Tlie Missouri manufacturers 

 use two of these woods, the black and the Sitka, 

 but much more of the latter than of the former. 

 The two woods average about the same in price 

 when they reach that State. The grades used are 

 rather high. 



Locust. 



This is one of the hardest, strongest, and most 

 enduring woods in this country. It was originally 

 confined to the eastern half of the United States, 

 and was best developed in the Appalachian Moun- 

 tains between Georgia and New York, but the 

 species has spread through the agency of man to 

 many districts where it did not formerly exist. 

 The tree is well known in Missouri, though it is 

 doubtful if it was found there at the coming of the 

 early settlers. Its rapid growth, and the natural 

 beauty of its foliage and bloom, together with the 

 excellence of its wood for posts and pins, made it 

 a favorite with those who planted trees for orna- 

 ment and use. However, the reports of Missouri 



manufacturers who work in wood do not show that 

 a single stick of home-grown locust was used In 

 the State, and the demand was met from without. 

 In some parts of the country the tree suffers much 

 from the attacks of the locust borer (Cyllem ro- 

 binia) which perforates the trunk and large 

 branches. Forty other known enemies attack the 

 tree, but most of them do little harm. The honey 

 locust is found in Missouri, but is inferior to the 

 above named locust in all respects except size, and 

 it has not been reported for manufacturing pur- 

 poses in the State. 



Black Walnut. 



The Missouri sawmills cut more than thirty 

 times as much black walnut as the factories in the 

 State make use of. The State ranks fifth as a 

 producer of this cabinet wood; those above it, in 

 the order named, are Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and 

 Kentucky. The best walnut lumber is cut from 

 large trees, for age is necessary to give the heart- 

 wood the rich color which makes it valuable. For 

 that reason, the planting of walnut trees for the 

 purpose of growing timber does not promise as 

 quick returns as in the case of some other species 

 which grow no faster. The wood has great value, 

 and is becoming scarce. It is the highest priced 

 wood in the United States that goes to market as 

 lumber, though osage orange, which is sold for a 

 special purpose, is above It. 



The Cedars. 



Four cedars figure in Missouri's wood-using in- 

 dustries, but in rather small quantities. Spanish ce- 

 dar, from Mexico, supplies most, and it is all made 

 into cigar boxes. Next is western red cedar from 

 Oregon and Washington, and its chief use is for 

 doors and frames. Red cedar, which grows in all 

 parts of the South, East, and Middle West, is in 

 much demand by coffin and casket makers; but 

 the total amount consumed in Missouri is small be- 

 cause the wood is expensive and scarce. Lead-pen- 

 cil makers pay so much for red cedar that they 

 secure most that reaches the market. There are 

 two pencil slat mills in the State. The northern 

 white cedar reported came from the Lake States. 

 It is frequently known as arbor vitae, and is seldom 

 sawed into lumber, though large quantities are 

 made into poles, posts and formerly into street 

 paving blocks. That converted into lumber is 

 chiefly consumed by manufacturers of canoes and 

 small boats, but a little finds place as car lining or 

 ceiling. 



Minor Species. 



Several woods are reported in use by Missouri 

 manufacturers, but in small quantities. Hackberry 

 is one of them. This bears more resemblance to 

 ash than to any other, but is in most ways inferior 

 to it. The species is not plentiful, but scattering 

 trees range over the country. Sassafras occasion- 

 ally attains to saw-log size, and it goes to saw- 

 mills with logs of other species. The lumber is 

 not generally set apart and kept separate, but 

 sometimes flooring is made of it. An old belief 

 prevailed, and possibly yet survives in some locali- 

 ties, that sassafras floors and bedsteads repel 

 troublesome insects, and conduce to sounder sleep. 

 Whether that view is correct or not, the wood 

 makes good flooring, wears well, is handsome in 

 appearance, strong for its weight, lasts well in' 

 damp situations, and in pioneer days was much em- 

 ployed along the Mississippi river for dugout ca- 

 noes. It reaches large size in Missouri. Pecan 

 is a species of hickory which is at its best in the 

 region south of Missouri. It is substituted for hick- 

 ory in some situations where great toughness is 

 not required. Holly appears among the woods used 

 in the State, but in quantity so small as to be unim- 

 portant, and it is not plentiful in Missouri. It is in 

 most demand by the manufacturers of brush backs 

 and musical instruments. Butternut receives little 

 more than mention among the woods in use. If it 

 can be had in sufficient amount it serves well in 

 many places, and in some can be substituted for 

 black walnut. It is lighter in color, and to some 

 it is known as white walnut. It is native to Mis- 

 souri, but most of the butternut lumber in the mar- 

 ket is cut in Texas, Indiana and Wisconsin. A 

 peculiar far western tree is listed by manufac- 

 turers in Missouri, but the total amount demanded 

 yearly is only a few thousand feet. The tree is 

 the yucca, a sort of palm, growing in California and 

 Arizona, with a trunk a foot or more in diameter, 

 consisting of tough fibers and a kind of pith, not 

 much resembling wood. It is cut in thin strips and 

 veneer, and is used for surgeons' splints and as 

 wrapping material for bottles. 



Foreign Woods. 



A number of foreign woods are employed by 

 manufacturers in Missouri, but mahogany and 

 Spanish cedar are the only ones demanded in fairly 

 large amounts. Circassian walnut comes from the 

 Caspian sea provinces of Russia and Turkey. It 

 generally costs about twice as much as black wal- 

 nut, or an average of ?203.33 per thousand in Mis- 

 souri. It has pleasing figure, and the colors are 

 subdued. It is not practicable to give even approxi- 

 mate figures by which to compare the amount of 

 the genuine with woods employed for imitation in 

 this country: but it is certain that imitations are 

 seen much oftener than the real. Perhaps the ratio 



of the imitations to 'the true Circassian walnut In 

 furniture, finish, and musical instruments exceeds 

 ten to one. Prima vera or white mahogany, is a 

 native of southern Mexico and Central America, 

 it has been in the market about thirty years, and 

 is not a true mahogany though it is not farther 

 from it than are some of the darker woods on the 

 market which pass for mahogany. The foliage is 

 bright yellow, at least at certain seasons of the 

 year, and trees may be distinguished at long dis- 

 tances. Historically, prima vera occupies a unique 

 place in that it was well known to the lumber 

 trade many years before botanists knew of its ex- 

 istence. The tree was first described by Captain 

 John Donnell Smith of Baltimore, who found it 

 growing in Guatemala in 1890. His name was 

 given it by botanists. Furniture makers have ex- 

 pressed the opinion that it is less durable than true 

 mahogany, but it is not apparent that sufficient 

 tests of the matter have been made to warrant a 

 conclusion. 



Turkish boxwood is used in amount so small in 

 Missouri that it is of interest there only because 

 of its great cost per foot. It is one of the most 

 expensive woods in the" world, and in Missouri the 

 price was a dollar a foot, and it sometimes costs 

 more than that. Ebony comes from a number of 

 foreign countries and is of different shades of black- 

 ness. It is the heartwood of different species of 

 persimmon trees. Some of the best comes from 

 Ceylon, Madagascar and the east coast of Africa. 

 There is historical evidence that ebony was cut for 

 commercial purposes on the Red Sea coast 5,000 

 years ago, and some of the wood cut 4,500 years 

 ago is still in a good state of preservation. Tulip 

 wood is a name applied to several woods which 

 are brightly colored, or variegated. The small 

 amount used in Missouri came from Brazil. The 

 principal objection to it is that the bright colors 

 are liable to fade upon long exposure to the air. 

 Rosewood listed in Missouri is a native of Africa, 

 but there are different species of rosewood from 

 different regions. The satinwood is a native of 

 India, and so is vermilion. 



INDUSTRIES. 



The various woods available to manufacturers In 

 Missouri are listed and discussed on preceding 

 pages, and the wealth of forest resources is large. 

 It remains to be shown what industries avail them- 

 selves of those resources, and to what extent. The 

 following pages will present that information In 

 considerable detail, and it will be pointed out, in 

 many instances, why one wood is more valuable 

 than another for certain purposes. 



Boxes and Crates. 



The manufacture of boxes and crates is the 

 largest of the wood-using industries of Missouri, 

 measured by the amount of material used, but 

 more money is spent for the lumber in the sash, 

 door and general millwork business. Boxmakers 

 generally use a rather cheap class of material. 

 Many buy it in the log and convert it into lumber 

 or veneer themselves, and thus keep cost down. 

 There are wood-using industries in Missouri, how- 

 ever, which buy their raw material at a lower 

 price than boxmakers buy theirs. The cheapest 

 of all is bought by excelsior makers. 



The boxmaking industry includes practically 

 all boxes and crates, except cigar boxes 

 which are considered as belonging to an industry 

 by themselves. The piano box and the large ship- 

 ping case used for dry goods are the limit in one 

 direction, and the pint or pound container is the 

 limit in the otaer. There are all kinds and sizes 

 between. Formerly when lumber was plentiful 

 and much cheaper than it now is, the custom was 

 to make most boxes of lumber from one-half to 

 one inch thick; but as the price of lumber rose 

 from year to year, the boxmaker used thinner lum- 

 ber, in an effort to make a given amount go far- 

 ther. The use of veneer in this industry has in- 

 creased. The kind employed by boxmakers is near- 

 ly always rotary cut. A log three or four feet long 

 is fixed in a machine like a lathe and is turned rap- 

 idly while a powerful knife is held against it, slic- 

 ing off veneer in ribbons as broad as the log is 

 long. It varies in thickness from 5-16 to 1-50 of an 

 inch. Frequently three sheets of veneer are glued 

 together, making three ply, with the grain of the 

 middle sheet running across that of the other two. 

 This is very strong, and is much used by boxmakers 

 in the manufacture of large shipping cases. The 

 corners are reinforced with lumber. A well-made 

 reinforced box of three-ply veneer is not only 

 cheaper than a box made of boards, but it is also 

 stronger, unless the board box is of extra thick 

 lumber. 



Advance in the cost of lumber has caused box- 

 makers to resort to cheaper grades. At one time 

 clear, soft white pine was most frequently the box 

 material in all regions within reach of the white 

 pine country; for it was, when all things were 

 considered, the most satisfactory wood for that 

 purpose. The day of the clear white pine box Is 

 long past. This species is yet much used in many 

 States, but it is not the clear lumber. The box 

 boards are sawed from small, defective logs, from 

 tops, and from sapwood. Wood of that kind was 

 once thrown away at the white pine mills, or was 



