January 1, 1&12.] 



THE LUMBER TRADE JOURNAL 



21 



rings narrow. It is the most abundant and the 

 most widely used, wood in Louisiana. 



Shortleaf Pine. 



This wood was reported second only to longleaf 

 pine in amount used, and it goes for similar pur- 

 poses. It is of more rapid growth than longleaf, 

 consequently the annual rings are usually broader. 

 As the tree approaches maturity the rate of growth 

 is apt to lessen, thus producing rings narrower 

 next the outside of the tree than near the center. 

 The narrow outer rings may resemble those of long- 

 leaf pine, but the proportionally larger amount 

 of sapwood Is nearly always sufficient to distinguish 

 it from longleaf. It has not the weight, strength, 

 or stiffness of longleaf pine. 



Loblolly Pine. 



This tree has broad rings and usually little heart- 

 wood, and for that 'reason would seldom be mis- 

 taken for longleaf pine, though it might be for 

 shortleaf or Cuban. It is stronger and stiffer than 

 shortleaf, but is considerably lighter, and a cubic 

 foot of it, well dried, Is ten pounds lighter than 

 a cubic foot of longleaf pine. It grows rapidly, and 

 persistently pushes into abandoned fields or other 

 vacant ground. In this respect it Is much more 

 vigorous than either longleaf or shortleaf. The 

 two latter show a disposition to contract the areas 

 which they once held, while loblolly is constantly 

 extending its range. It will probably, therefore, 

 become more important in Louisiana than it now 

 is, and it will be well to reckon with it in figuring 

 on a future wood supply for the state's indus- 

 tries. 



Cuban Pine. 



This is the heaviest and stiffest of southern pines, 

 but in strength it is a little under longleaf. Its 

 rings are wide and its sap thick. In this respect 

 as well as in other respects, it so much resembles 

 loblolly that it is frequently mistaken for it. It 

 contains more resin than loblolly or shortleaf, and 

 compares favorably with longleaf. It resembles 

 loblolly In the vigor with which it fights for pos- 

 session of vacant land. In some regions it is 

 spreading over areas once occupied by longleaf 

 pine. It has been suggested that the Cuban pine 

 entered the United States by way of the Florida 

 peninsula and has spread northward and westward. 

 Its range is constantly extending. It is an excel- 

 lent timber tree, and promises much for the fu- 

 ture. 



Spruce Pine. 



This is one of the minor and little known spe- 

 cies of Louisiana, but is a fine wood for doors and 

 interior finish. Only 200,000 feet were reported in 

 the state, and one factory had the whole amount, 

 having procured it in the region of Pearl River 

 in the southeastern part of the state. Its identity 

 was unknown by the factory which was working 

 it, and it was reported as "a cross between short- 

 leaf and cypress." In softness and color it ap- 

 proaches nearer to white pine than any other south- 

 ern wood. It is of interest to note that this is the 

 only instance where this pine has been reported 

 for manufacturing purposes. Some years ago a 

 little of it was used as masts for small boats on 

 the Florida coast. 



Cypress. 



This wood stands third in quantity manufactured 

 in Louisiana, amounting to 16 per cent of all used 

 by wood-working factories. There are few trees 

 in the United tSates that will compare with cypress 

 in extent and diversity of use. Nearly two-thirds 

 of the cypress cut in Louisiana's sawmills is sent 

 outside the state in the rough, and it goes into prac- 

 tically every market in this country, and into 

 many elsewhere. It is one of the timbers destined 

 to disappear, for when the swamps where it is now 

 cut have been cleared, there will be no new growth. 

 There is geologic evidence that it has occupied the 

 swamps during an immense length of time, for 

 logs have been dug from deep excavations, the stra- 

 ta of sediment upon them indicating a period of 

 perhaps 30,000 years since they grew. It is re- 

 markable that some of those logs were "pecky," the 

 same as much of present-day cypress is. This di- 

 sease is caused by a species of fungus (Daedalia 

 vorax), which hollows out little pits in the wood. 

 The cypress is the largest tree of Louisiana. For 

 many years there was exhibited in South Peter 

 street a cypress plank 71 feet long, 42 inches wide 

 and 5 inches thick, with scarcely a blemish or 

 defect visible. It was burned in 1890. An impor- 

 tant use for cypress in early times was for dug- 

 outs, a kind of canoe hewed from a single log. In 

 late years boats have taken their place, but some 

 old ones are still to be seen. One made in 1871 

 was still in service In 1911 on a northern Louisiana 

 river. 



Red Gum. 



Nearly one-half of the red gum cut in Louisiana 

 is further manufactured after it leaves the sawmill. 

 Five states Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Ten- 

 nessee, and Kentucky -cut more of this wood than 

 Louisiana, which produces only five per cent of the 

 total output. This tree is occasionally called "star- 

 leaved gum," "sweet gum," and "sap gum." The 

 last name applies to certain grades of the lumber 

 rather than to the tree itself. The proportion of 

 heartwood and sapwood varies greatly in different 

 trees. Sometimes a large log is nearly all white 

 sapwood; others are largely red or brown heart- 

 wood. Two quite distinct classes of lumber are 

 produced, and each has its particular uses. This 

 wood passes under several names. Furniture mak- 

 ers in England often call it "satin walnut," while 

 makers of furniture and interior finish in this coun- 

 try frequently sell it as "Circassian Walnut." If 

 grain and figure are carefully selected, the finished 

 product so closely resembles Circassian Walnut that 

 it is difficult to distinguish one from the other. 

 Much of the "Circassian Walnut" furniture seen 

 in show windows is red gum. Little staining or 

 "doctoring" of the figures is necessary. Red gum 

 may be stained, however, to imitate other woods, 

 particularly white oak, cherry, and mahogany. It 

 may be said with much truth of some furniture 

 factories not necessarily in Louisiana that "red 

 gum lumber goes in and white oak furniture comes 

 out." It is one of the finest woods in this country. 

 It is more highly appreciated in Europe than at 

 home, for it is more skillfully handled there than 

 here. Some dealers whose opinions are worthy 

 of consideration believe that before many years 

 red gum will equal or excel white oak in price. 



Cottonwood. 



This wood grows rapidly, and it has long been 

 a staple article in Louisiana's lumber trade. Com- 

 plaint is heard that the best grades are becoming 

 scarce. One-fifth of the demand in the state is 

 met by shipments from without. The scarcity of 

 good grades is attributed by some to the large ex- 

 port to Germany and elsewhere of those grades 

 some years ago. This trade is now much smaller. 

 Another drain upon high grade cottonwood has 

 been due to its demand by wagon factories. When 

 yellow poplar a few years ago rose in price so 

 high that its use for wagon beds diminished, cot- 

 tonwood was found to be one of the best substitutes. 

 The tree grows rapidly, and the soil and climate of 

 Louisiana are suited to its best development, and 

 it may be counted upon to fill an important place 

 in the state's future forest policy. 



Tupelo. 



There does not seem to be any generally recog- 

 nized name for the wood in Louisiana. Some call 

 It "bay poplar," others "black gum," or simply 

 "gum," "cotton gum," "tupelo," or some other name. 

 It is a swamp tree, and is usually cut with cypress. 

 The appearance of the tree, if judged by its bark, is 

 like ash; if its leaves are considered, it looks like 

 the true black gum; while in form, but in no other 

 respect, it resembles cypress, as the bases of the 

 trees are frequently much enlarged a character- 

 istic of swamp-grown trees. The logs have thick 

 sapwood. Formerly much complaint was heard 

 that the lumber was difficult to season; but improved 

 methods have lessened the difficulty. 



Black Willow. 



There are many species of willow in this coun- 

 try, but practically all the lumber is cut from black 

 willow, which is the common kind seen nearly every 

 where. It is remarkable that the people of Louisi : 

 ana manufacture into boxes and furniture seven 

 times as much willow as the reported total cut 

 of this wood for the whole United States, as given 

 in the Census of Forest Products in 1909. The 

 discrepancy is in part explained by the custom pre- 

 vailing in Louisiana of marketing willow lumber 

 and products as cottonwood. It is frequently list- 

 ed as "brown cottonwood," and in the Census re- 

 turns, much willow was doubtless listed as cotton- 

 wood. It is strong, tough, cheap and serviceable. 

 The worst thing against it is its color, which is 

 generally quite dark. It is one of the timber trees 

 which will be heard of in the future, for its possi- 

 bilities are great. It grows rapidly, and such is its 

 tolerance of shade that trunks grow crowded to- 

 gether in such close stand that the like is seldom 

 seen with any other timber. An instance is cited, 

 and is apparently well authenticated, of a tract near 

 the Mississippi River in Louisiana, which was grow- 

 ing cane during the Civil War, but was abandoned 

 because of the frequency of overflow; and since 

 that time more than 100,000 feet of willow per acre 

 has been cut from it. The size of willow logs is 

 often surprising. In the early spring, rafts of this 

 wood may be seen tied up along the Mississippi, 

 above Baton Rouge, the logs of which are two, three, 

 and many four feet in diameter. 



Small black willow osiers, one and two years old, 

 are supplied to basket makers in New Orleans. 

 Most of them are cut along the edges of streams 

 and swamps in St. Bernard Parish, east of the Mis- 

 sissippi River. The industry is carried on after 

 the most primitive fashion. The basket makers 

 import cultivated rods from Europe for the visible 

 parts of their wares, but use wild willows for ribs, 

 stays, hoops, and bands. The cutters go by ones 

 and twos into the swamps, their only tool a pocket 

 knife, and cut osiers where they can find them, 

 seldom asking leave and seldom encountering in- 

 terference from owners. Long rods are used for 

 bands and hoops; short, stout ones (usually the 

 butts cut from long ones are pressed into service 

 as ribs and stays for lids, sides, and bottoms. The 

 freshly cut rods are usually carried to some log 

 that rises a few inches out of the swamp water, 

 and the operator sits in the shade and peels them, 

 then lays them in the sun to dry. Sunshine whitens 

 the rods, but a shower of rain, or even a cloudy 

 day, will darken them and lessen their value. The 

 cutters have no way of bleaching them white again. 

 The cutting and peeling of 500 to 700 osiers is a 

 day's work, and they sell for 25 to 75 cents a hun- 

 dred, delivered at the basket factory. The usual 

 size sells for 25 cents. The butts for stays bring 

 10 to 25 cents a hundred. The rods must be cut 

 "in season" or they are 'brittle. There are two sea- 

 sons, one from February to April before the new 

 wood has begun to form under the bark, the other 

 from August to November after the new wood has 

 hardened and grown tough. It was not found prac- 

 ticable to procure statistics of the annual cutting 

 of the wild willow osiers, as the cutters make no 

 reports, and guard their trade secrets with jealous 

 care. The total quantity cut, however, cannot be 

 very large. Some kinds of rough, heavy baskets, 

 for barn, factory, and plantation use, are made 

 wholly of wild osiers. 



White Oak. 



A number of oaks in Louisiana pass as white 

 oak at the sawmill; and, after they leave the saw 

 mill for further manufacture, it is generally im- 

 possible to separate the true white oak lumber 

 from other which passes for it. The difference in 

 the appearance of the woods of several of these oaks 

 is slight, and for all practical purposes it is not 

 necessary to distinguish between any of them. 



Hickory. 



Five or six hickories in Louisiana pass as one 

 in the factory. Between some of them considerable 

 difference exists in the appearance of the growing 

 tree and of the manufactured wood, but most man- 

 ufacturers in reporting the use of hickory did not 

 say whether it was shag, bitternut, water hickory, 

 pignut, or mockernut. All of these are used, but 

 the amount of each could not be ascertained. The 

 state has only fairly commenced to draw upon its 

 own hickory resources, and much goes to northern 

 cities for final manufacture. 



Texan Oak. 



This wood is sometimes called "spotted oak" in 

 Louisiana, but it nearly always is listed as red 

 oak. The true red oak (Quercus rubra) is a more 

 northern wood but there are a number of excel- 

 lent timber trees belonging to the red oak group, 

 and Louisiana is well supplied with them. They 

 are broadly distinguishable from the white oak 

 group on account of their sharp-pointed leaf lobes, 

 while those of the white oaks are rounded. How- 

 ever, some oaks in Louisiana that have unlobed 

 leaves are commonly spoken of as red oak the 

 willow oak for example; and, in practice, it is 

 generally the appearance of the wood and not the 

 shape of the leaves that determines the classifica- 

 tion of oak lumber in the mill yard. If the wood 

 looks white, or bears considerable resemblance to 

 genuine white oak (Quercus alba) it is called white 

 oak; otherwise, it is considered to be red oak. 

 Though the manufacturers in the state used a mil- 

 lion and three quarters feet of Texan oak, they re- 

 ported less than twenty thousand feet that could 

 be identified as northern red oak. The locality 

 whence it comes, and the price, assist in its identi- 

 fication. 



White Ash. 



The word ash in Louisiana means several things; 

 but white ash is most common and it greatly ex- 

 ceeds in quantity used all other woods that pass 

 through the factories under its name. Among the 

 other woods in the list with this one are green 

 ash, hackberry, and sugarberry. The two last 

 named do not belong in the ash family, but their 

 wood looks somewhat like ash and goes along 

 with it. Both are cut and sold in considerable 

 amounts in the state, and go to the shops and 

 factories, yet not one manufacturer in Louisiana 

 reported their use. In nearly all cases it was 



