32 BULLETIN 523, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGRICULTTJEE. 



other purposes. It is used for all lands of tables and chairs, espe- 

 cially for bent parts, and for desks, filing cabinets, bookcases, racks of 

 all kinds, chamber suits, bureaus, couch frames, stands, piano stools 

 and benches, china closets (inside work), buffets, porch and lawn 

 seats and swings, and parts of reed furniture. It has the quality of 

 being easily racked apart into thin, very elastic strips one-tenth of an 

 inch or less in thicloiess and an inch or so wide, suitable for splint 

 chair bottoms. 



The price paid for ash lumber used in this industry varies from $10 

 in Alabama to $110 in California, and averages about $27 per 

 1,000 board feet. 



CAR CONSTRUCTION. 



Car construction is a very important use for high-priced upper 

 grades of ash lumber, especially timbers of good thickness and 

 width cut from old-growth ash. Ash is sufficiently strong, stiff, 

 tough, and elastic for car frames; it is handsome for interior finish, 

 being susceptible of a high polish, wearing w^ell, and retaining its 

 shape; and its bending qualities make it desirable for bows for bent 

 wood around windows and doors, also for bent panels. The average 

 price for car construction, delivered at the factories, is about $50 per 

 1,000 board feet. The price of eastern white ash used in car factories 

 in California is $126 per 1,000 board feet. Pennsylvania, Illinois, 

 Missouri, and Ohio are the leading States in the use of ash for car 

 construction. White, green, and black ash are all suitable for this 

 industry. 



AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 



( 



The same qualities which make ash desirable for vehicle construc- 

 tion and for handles make it suitable for agricultural implement 

 parts of all kinds. The States leading in the use of ash for this 

 purpose are Arkansas, Michigan, New York, Indiana, and Penn- 

 sylvania. The price paid ranges mostly from $20 to $60 and aver- 

 ages about $40 per 1,000 board feet. In California $116 was paid 

 for ash used in this industry. Second-growth white and green ash 

 are most used, and the proportion of black ash is very small. • 



BOXES AND CRATES. 



Ash lumber and logs of the lower grades and of inferior quality 

 are used to a moderate extent in the construction of boxes, crates, 

 and baskets, for which purposes ash is desirable wherever it can be 

 purchased at a sufficiently low price. It is excellent for boxes or 

 portions cf boxes requiring strength, such as the bottoms of piano 

 cases. Where there is considerable low-grade ash, it is used for 

 vegetable and fruit crates, especially black ash at some points in the 

 Lake States and green ash in the South. In basketwork ash is 



