SHINGLES AND SHAKES 353 



3. Nail-holding power. Shingles must retain nails without loosening. 

 Zinc nails are commonly used in connection with many of our shingles, 

 as they do not rust. 



4. The shingle must not check, warp or twist out of, shape when once 

 placed fiat on the roof. Prevention of leakage is of great importance. 

 Shingles should preferably be straight and even grained. 



To meet the above quaUfications, the western red cedar is an ideal 

 shingle wood in addition to the fact that it is abundantly available. 

 Other trees, such as the northern white cedar and the southern white 

 cedar, make practically the same quaHty of shingles as the western 

 variety of cedar, but they are more incKned to be knotty and narrower in 

 width inasmuch as they are made from much smaller trees. Other 

 species yielding shingles of very high quality are cypress and redwood. 



ANNUAL PRODUCTION 



About 8,000,000,000 to 12,000,000,000 shingles are produced annually 

 in this country. The latter amount has been produced for some time, 

 but for the last few years the production has decreased, due to numerous 

 cities inaugurating fire laws which prohibit the use of shingles in new 

 buildings within city limits. Of the total production, between 70 and 80 

 per cent is made up of western red cedar. These shingles are largely 

 manufactured in the State of Washington, which alone produced 73 per 

 cent of all the shingles made in this country in 191 7. Oregon and 

 northern Idaho also turned out large quantities of shingles and a few 

 western red cedar shingles are also made in western Montana. 



Northern white cedar shingles are made largely in northern Michigan, 

 Maine and in Minnesota. Southern white cedar shingles are produced 

 chiefly in eastern Virginia and North Carolina. 



Next to cedar, cypress is the leading shingle wood, but only sUghtly 

 over 600,000,000 cypress shingles are annually manufactured in this 

 country. Next, in order, are yellow pine, redwood, spruce and chestnut. 

 A few shingles are also made from hemlock, western yellow pine, white 

 pine and a few others, but their total amount is of httle comparative 

 consequence in the shingle markets of this country. 



Western red cedar is practically the only kind that has a national 

 market. The northern white cedar is consumed largely in the Central 

 West and Northeast and southern white cedar in the Southeast and East. 

 Cypress shingles are used throughout the East and southern pine shingles 

 find their principal market in the South. All other shingles are used 



