January 1, 1!H2.] 



THE LUMBER TRADE JOURNAL 



27 



The weight of water in one tall tank would subject 

 the bottom to excessive pressure, and facilitate the 

 springing of leaks. 



Table 12. 



The Manufacture of Cisterns and Tanks in Louisi- 

 ana Compared with Certain Other States. 



Quantity used Average cost No. of 



States. annually per 1000 feet woods 



Feet B. M. at factory. used. 



Illinois 25,445,00 $44.18 17 



* Wisconsin 9,498,000 36.05 13. 



"Massachusetts.. . 6,815,000 14.06 11 



Louisiana 5,745,000 15.25 



"Kentucky 2,605,000 44.81 



Maryland 2,539,000 48.13 6 



'Including windmills. 

 **Including much cooperage. 



SHIP AND BOAT BUILDING. 



ment land, were withdrawn from sale. They con- 

 tained 19,000 acres, and it was estimated that 37,000 

 live oak trees were growing on them. Some effort 

 was made at practical forestry. Acorns were 

 planted in vacant spaces, and in other places the 

 promiscuous undergrowth was cleaned from among 

 the oaks to give the branches more room to spread 

 and form 'better crooks from which ship knees 

 might later be hewed. In 1845 three other live oak 

 islands in Louisiana were added to the reservation, 

 and much oak was cut. Such as was not immedi- 

 ately needed was stored for reserve supply in the 

 future. 



The Civil War brought iron ships, and live oak 

 was no longer a necessity in ship yards. The Louis- 

 iana islands which had been reserved, were neg- 

 lected. Some of the land was cleared by squatters, 

 and in 1895 all the naval timber reserves in Louis- 

 iana, Alabama, and Mississippi were opened to 

 public entry, but some of those in Florida were re- 

 tained. Large quantities of live oak yet remain, but 



Table 13. 



SHIP AND BOAT BUILDING. 



Grown in Louisiana. Grown Outside La. 

 Av. cost Av. cost 



per 1,000 per 1,000 



Quantity feet at Quantity feet at 

 factory. (Ft. B.M.) factory. 



(Ft. B.M.) 



2,604,000 



1,040,000 



400,000 



255,000 



31,000 



26,000 



$22.13 

 22.11 

 26.00 

 44.40 

 26.45 

 30.00 



100,000 $25.00 



122,000 40.65 



1,000 60.00 



5,000 

 2,000 

 2,000 



84.00 



65.00 



135.00 



500 

 500 

 300 



74.00 



60.00 



100.00 



Totals. 



4,589,300 $24.49 $112,380 



4,357,000 $23.84 232,300 $36.23 



Louisiana has 3300 square miles of water. It has 

 a coast line of 1250 miles, and including the coast 

 line of islands, the total shore line is 2250 miles. 

 There are 3771 miles of navigable rivers in the 

 state, including streams which form portions of its 

 boundary. At certain times of the year steamboats 

 reach all but a few of the parishes; and ocean- 

 going vessels have easy access to a number of 

 points in the state. Deep harbors, however, are few 

 in comparison with the long line of coast. The 

 lakes or -bays which indent the coast, or extend far 

 inland, are often shallow. The conditions are such 

 as to invite water communication both between dif- 

 ferent parts of the state, and between Louisiana 

 ports and foreign countries. 



The boat builders of Louisiana sell their product 

 locally and in neighboring regions. A large part of 

 the output is for business rather than for pleasure. 

 Barges and freight vessels are numerous. The 

 sales are not confined to the United States, but 

 reach to Mexico and Cuba. Longleaf pine and white 

 ash enter into general construction and constitute 

 the bulk of the timber used. The ash is employed 

 for braces, 'but a considerable part of the million 

 feet listed is made into oars and is sold both in and 

 outside of the state. Most of the loblolly pine is 

 for barges, the white oak for general work, and the 

 cypress for door and window frames, and other 

 finish. Five states are drawn upon for the white 

 oak Louisiana, Mississippi, West Virginia, Ken- 

 tucky and Indiana. The small quantity of white 

 pine is used for patterns, the maple for flooring, 

 spruce for spars, red cedar for cabinet work, beech 

 for gearwheel teeth, mahogany for staving for 

 steam launches, and lignum vitae for sheaves and 

 bearings. The lignum vitae came from the West 

 Indies, red cedar from Tennessee, white pine from 

 Maine and Canada, spruce from Maine, beech from 

 Mississippi, maple from Michigan and Wisconsin, 

 loblolly pine from Louisiana and Texas, and mahog- 

 any from Mexico. 



The absence of live oak from the list of woods 

 demanded by this industry is noteworthy. Its ab- 

 sence is not due to scarcity of this wood, but to 

 changes in methods of construction. There was a 

 time when Louisiana not only supplied much live 

 oak for shipbuilding at home, but met a large de- 

 mand from abroad. The United States Government, 

 during half a century preceding the Civil War, de- 

 pended upon Louisiana for live oak shipknees for 

 war vessels. These knees were hewed from that 

 part of the trunk where large limbs or roots joined 

 the body of the tree. The Government's search for 

 live oak for shipbuilding began on the coast of 

 Georgia before the close of the eighteenth century. 

 Increased supplies were demanded, and in 1817 

 Louisiana was turned to for assistance. In that 

 year several Louisiana islands, which were govern- 



not one foot of it is reported used by ship builders 

 in Louisiana. Seventy-five years ago it would 

 probably have represented one-half the cost of the 

 wood in every large ship built in that region. 



Both Wisconsin and Maryland use more cypress 

 for boats than is used in Louisiana. This is due to 

 the fact that it is a favorite material for pleasure 

 boats, such as Maryland and Wisconsin build, but 

 in Louisiana they build barges and ships for busi- 

 ness purposes, where strength is needed. They find 

 oak and hard pine best for this, and what cypress is 

 employed appears as finish. In this, as in many 

 other instances, the class of the work is the ruling 

 factor in determining what woods shall be em- 

 ployed. 



Table 14. 



Ship and Boat Building in Louisiana Compared with 

 the Industry in Certain Other States. 



Quantity used Average cost No. of 



States. annually 

 Feet B. M. 



Oregon 14,900,400 



Maryland 6,350,700 



Louisiana 4,589,300 



Massachusetts 3,931,700 



Wisconsin 2,669,000 



Illinois 1,021,000 



FIXTURES. 



per 1000 feet woods 

 at factory. used. 



$32.03 

 34.69 

 24.49 

 50.51 

 43.64 

 50.25 



21 

 22 

 13 

 21 

 16 

 14 



high-class woods, and many of them are manu- 

 factured to order to fit space and to harmonize with 

 the furniture and finish of the office or room where 

 they are placed. Fixtures as here considered in- 

 clude counters, cabinets, shelving, and show cases, 

 and the like. As in the case of furniture, two 

 classes of wood are employed, one as inside ma- 

 terial which Is generally not intended for show, 

 and the other an outside wood, finished for dis- 

 play, and usually selected for its pleasing appear- 

 ance. Louisiana drew woods for this industry from 

 eight states, but one-half of the total quantity was 

 home grown. Two foreign woods are 'represented, 

 Circassian walnut from Turkey, and mahogany from 

 Mexico. A portion of the magnolia was finished 

 in imitation of mahogany and was used as such. 

 White oak was reported from Tennessee, Kentucky, 

 Indiana, Mississippi, and Louisiana; sweet birch 

 from Wisconsin; chestnut from North Carolina, and 

 longleaf pine from Alabama and Louisiana. 



Although it is probable that New Orleans alone 

 uses more fixtures than the whole quantity re- 

 ported manufactured in the state, yet exports go 

 to Mexico, Central America, and South America, and 

 shipments find their way to other states in this 

 country. 



Cypress is employed both as exposed and con- 

 cealed parts of fixtures, and serves equally well 

 in both places; sweet birch is made into show case 

 partitions and into finish; red oak is given place 

 in show case and cabinet fronts; white oak is pre- 

 ferred for office partition; chestnut for panels and 

 coping; magnolia for bar tops; and yellow poplar 

 as drawers for cabinets. 



The waste is small. Mahogany scraps are occa- 

 sionally sold to automobile factories which make 

 inlay of them, or to brush makers who can use 

 very small pieces for backs and handles of certain 

 patterns of brushes. 



No fixture manufacturer bought lumber in the log. 

 It generally came as rough lumber. Some was in 

 the form of veneer, and a little was two and three 

 inches thick, but most of it was undressed lumber 

 one inch thick. Some low grade stuff is demanded 

 for hidden interior work, and for crating; but for 

 the most part the wood is of high grade. 



The average price paid for lumber in this industry 

 was higher than that of any other in the state, and 

 more than three times the average of all. 



Table 16. 



The 



Fixtures Industry in Louisiana Compared 

 with Certain Other States. 



Quantity Average Number 

 Used An- 



States nually feet 



B. M. 



Cost per of woods 

 1000 Feet Used, 

 at Factory 



Illinois 21.068,000 $41.44 31 



Kentucky 6,346,000 38.20 19 



Wisconsin 6,005,000 44.12 



North Carolina 2,364,000 34.52 24 



Maryland 1,658.000 40.00 11 



Massachusetts 1,586,000 67.92 14 



Oregon 1,585,700 42.22 18 



Louisiana 211,000 37.12 10 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



The miscellaneous table is made up of various 

 manufactures which do not belong with those pre- 

 viously tabulated, and cannot be separated into 

 classes, of which each one is large enough for a 

 table. Some woods appear here and not elsewhere 

 among the state's industries, and no one industry 

 lists as many woods. Some of those appearing in 

 this table are used in small quantity. That may 

 or may not imply that but little of the wood is de- 



Table 15. 

 FIXTURES. 



Grown in Louisiana. Grown Outside La. 



Av. cost Av. cost 



per 1,000 per 1,000 



Quantity feet at Quantity feet at 



(Ft. B.M.) factory. (Ft. B.M.) factory. 



79,000 

 6,000 



$23.47 

 31.66 



20,000 22.25 



5,000 

 38,000 

 34,000 



12,000 

 9,000 

 4,000 

 2,000 

 1,000 

 1,000 



$28.00 

 51.32 

 31.18 



53.33 



123.33 



50.00 



30.00 



40.00 



140.00 



Totals. 



211,000 $37.12 



$7,832 



105,000 $23.73 106,000 $46.04 



The quantity of wood demanded in Louisiana by 

 the manufacturers of store and office fixtures is 

 surprisingly small, when .it is considered that the 

 state is the second largest producer of lumber in 

 the whole country. Fixtures are usually made of 



manded in the state. In the case of osage orange, 

 dogwood, persimmon, catalpa, umbrella wood, and 

 mulberry, the demand is probably fairly represented 

 by the figures in the table, while two others, willow 

 oak and water oak, though the amount of each ap- 



