UTILIZATION OF BASSWOOD. 23 



In Table 9 are given average wholesale prices of different grades of 

 basswood lumber per 1,000 board feet f. o. b. mill in Wisconsin and 

 Michigan for the years 1909 to 1916, as reported by sawmills in those 

 States. 



Table 10 gives prices of 4/4 firsts and seconds, of 4/4, 6/4, and 8/4 

 No. 1 common and of 4/4 No. 2 common from 1912 to 1920, in different 

 markets, as published by the Lumberman's Bureau. For comparsion 

 Table 11 gives prices, from the same source, of 4/4 No. 1 common 

 basswood and yellow poplar at Chicago. 



Statistics on production. — Table 12 gives available statistics of the 

 Census on the production of basswood veneer for different years. The 

 quantities of veneer produced and the costs are included, where 

 reported. The consumption of basswood for veneer, by States, is 

 given in Table 13 for the years 1906 to 1909, inclusive, which are the 

 only years for which these data are available. Wisconsin and Michi- 

 gan were the main States producing basswood veneer in 1909; and 

 they are also the main producing States at the present time, because 

 the main timber supply is located in this region. 



Manufacture. — Basswood is converted into veneer almost entirely 

 by the rotary process. Logs for veneering should be at least 10 inches 

 in diameter at the small end and reasonably clear, straight, and round 

 (PL VI) . Hollow logs can be used, however, if the hollow is not too 

 large and there is a thick rim of sound wood. A solid wood plug is 

 driven into the ends of such logs, so that they can be turned in the 

 veneer lathe. The logs are commonly cut into sections about 4 feet 

 long and the usual thicknesses of veneer are from one-fourth to one- 

 sixteenth of an inch. The cost of basswood veneer logs during the 

 summer of 1920 was about $70 or $75 per 1,000 board feet, log scale, 

 in the Lake States, the price depending largely on the quality and 

 location of the timber. Some veneer plants buy woods-run logs and 

 saw the lower grade, unsuitable for veneer manufacture, into lumber, 

 which they are frequently able to utilize at the plant. Woods-run 

 logs cost about $50 a thousand board feet in the summer of 1920. 



Basswood is well liked for the manufacture of veneer because it 

 cuts easily. Basswood logs can be sliced into veneer without boiling. 

 In the spring and early summer the logs peel readily, so that no 

 steaming is required. The veneer cores are usually sawed into lum- 

 ber which some firms convert into cores for cabinet panels or which 

 may be made into small articles such as bottoms and covers of small 

 baskets and boxes. 



Uses. — Basswood veneer is used as plywood where several plies are 

 glued together ; it makes a very high-grade, light-weight panel. It is 



