16 PRELIMINARY STUDY OF 



in making cigar boxes. In West Tennessee gum and cottonwood 

 are extensively used for veneer boxes, while considerable elm is 

 shipped to New Albany for manufacture into baskets. Close utili- 

 zation is also the rule in this industry. 



The production of tannic acid centers in the Valley of East Ten- 

 nessee, although the neighboring regions are drawn upon for raw 

 material. Hemlock and chestnut oak bark and chestnut wood are 

 the chief native sources. Oak barkjs worth about $9 a cord deliv- 

 ered on the cars, and hemlock bark about $8. Chestnut wood is 

 bought at from $3 to $4 a cord of 5-foot wood delivered on the cars. 

 This industry is beneficial to conservative forest management, since 

 it affords a market for chestnut timber which is too old and de- 

 fective for lumber and which should be removed for the good of the 

 forest. The bark is also a profitable by-product in the manufacture 

 of chestnut oak and hemlock lumber. 



Vehicle stock of all kinds is manufactured extensively from oak 

 and hickory, especially in Middle and West Tennessee. Spokes 

 constitute the most important product of this class. For heavy 

 wagons, white oak is used, while for light wagons and buggies hick- 

 ory is preferred. Red (willow) oak is also cut in West Tennessee 

 for cane-cart spokes. As a rule, timber from 14 to 22 inches in 

 diameter is preferred for these purposes. The billets from which 

 the spokes are turned are either split in the woods or sawed from 

 bolts at the mill. While the split billets make a better grade of 

 spokes, there is more waste in making them, since fewer cuts are 

 taken from the tree. Even at best there is a great deal of waste in 

 the use of hickory owing to the discrimination against heartwood 

 and bird-peck wood. 



Another special use for hickory is the manufacture of tool han- 

 dles, which constitute an important product in many parts of Mid- 

 dle and West Tennessee. Among other minor products made from 

 hickory are skewers, picker sticks, and weaver frames. 



The production of red cedar for pencil wood, piling, and posts 

 centers in the Central Basin, more particularly in Wilson and Ruth- 

 erford Counties. Other important red-cedar counties are Mar- 

 shall, Giles, Bedford, and, in part, Maury and Fentress. Red-cedar 

 lumber of average quality is worth about $35 a thousand feet at the 

 railroad, while the best grades run as high as $50. The average 

 stumpage value is about $20 for saw logs. Pencil factories are lo- 

 cated at Murfreesboro, Lebanon, and Nashville. The supply of 

 wood suitable for this purpose is so scarce that these factories buy 



