UTILIZATION OF ASH. 



33 



used for bent- frame parts and for slats or splints to baskets made 

 by racking apart thin strips between the annual rings. Black ash is 

 the chief ash used in basketwork. The Indians of New England 

 taught the white settlers the art of making splint baskets from black 

 ash. 



The price of ash used for boxes, crates, and baskets ranges mostly 

 from $10 to $25, and averages about $14 per 1,000 board feet. Michi- 

 gan, Illinois, Texas, and Wisconsin are the leading States in the use 

 of ash for this industry. 



SHIPS AND BOATS. 



The chief use of ash in the ship and boat industry is for oars, into 

 which goes over 80 per cent of the total. Practically all long oars 

 and sculls (14 feet and over in length) and a very large proportion 

 of short oars and paddles are made of ash. The United States sup- 

 plies the world with ash boat oars, both in the rough and finished. 

 A combination of qualities makes ash superior to other woods for 

 oars — it is elastic to a high degree, and is tough, strong, and compar- 

 atively light ; it is straight grained an4 easily worked, takes a good 

 polish, wears smooth, and lasts fairly well. Ash for oars is mostly 

 green ash from Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. 

 Ash logs for oars cost, delivered at the factory, from $20 to $40 per 

 1,000 board feetj and about $30 on the average. They must be 

 straight and free from defects, 8 feet and up in length, and 12 inches 

 and up in diameter at the top end. White ash was originally the 

 chief supply for oars until it became too scarce. Black ash is not 

 suitable, as it will water-soak, becoming soft and spongy. 



Ash is used to a small extent in general ship and boat construc- 

 tion for frames for small craft, tillers for canal boats, interior finish, 

 benches, ribs, and keels. 



SPORTING AND ATHLETIC GOODS. 



The qualities of ash that make it an unusually desirable wood for 

 baseball bats, tenni^ racquets, snowshoes, skis, polo sticks, hockey 

 sticks, gymnasium goods, billiard tables, bowling alleys, fishing rods, 

 and playground equipment are its high elasticity, toughness, strength, 

 and comparative lightness. For baseball bats ash is used almost 

 to the exclusion of other woods; it supplies a very large propor- 

 tion of tennis-racquet frames, polo sticks, and hockey sticks. Ash 

 used in this industry is mostly tough second-growth white ash, 

 ranging usually in price from $30 to $50 per 1,000 board feet for 

 lumber delivered at the factory. The stock is often specially sawed 

 with reference to the particular use to which it is to be put, as for 

 baseball bats. In New England, in this industry, ash is often 



