70 WOODPECKERS IN RELATION TO TREE&. 



or lumber dealer on the cut timber graded out by the manufac- 

 turers' requirements in regard to bird pecks. The writer has been 

 told of a case where 4J cords of hickory timber were rejected from a 

 lot of 7 cords by this inspection. Finally, in spite of all the care 

 exercised by the manufacturer to secure perfect stock, bird pecks 

 unnoticed before appear in the finished product (see PI. XI, fig. 1). 

 In the case of handles at least, this is true of quite a noticeable pro- 

 portion of the output. Mr. H. A. Tatem, president of the Winston 

 Handle Co., Winston-Salem, N. C, writes as follows: 



No matter how good the handle, a bird peck generally puts it way below cost. 

 There are many high-class handles with a very slight peck, but down they go. ... 

 There is no trouble in disposing of them, because they are splendid value for the cost 

 to the consumer. The peck does not injure the handle itself, it is simply defective 

 in appearance. 



While we can not agree with the statement that a bird peck never 

 injures a handle, yet our correspondent goes straight to the root of 

 the trouble not only with bird pecks in hickory but in many other 

 woods. Market values depend on appearance more than on quality. 

 However, in the case of hickory the injury is real enough. The 

 gnarly growth caused by the healing of sapsucker wounds is exceed- 

 ingly objectionable in lumber prized above all things for its straight, 

 clear grain and flexibility. This gnarled condition, as well as the iron 

 streaks which make the quality of the wood fibers uneven, lowers the 

 value of the handles because of the tendency of the grain to rough 

 up or splinter. A member of the Forest Service has stated to the 

 writer that this trouble more than any other would lead him to grade 

 out bird-pecked handles. Uneven quality of the grain is watched for 

 very closely in handles purchased for the Forest Service. 



Mocker nut (Ilicona alba). — Specimens were collected in Fairfax 

 County, Ya., March 21, 1909, from a tree bearing abundant sap- 

 sucker work, including several conspicuous swollen girdles (PI. X, 

 fig. I). It is clear that the sapsucker when attacking this species 

 punctures one or more layers of sapwood. The excavations do not 

 heal perfectly, but persist as small cavities with radiating fissures, all 

 very darkly stained. A cross section through the tree at the level of 

 one of the protruding girdles (PI. X, fig. 3) shows many concentric 

 series of stains, evidence that the ring of punctures had been pecked 

 open year after year, Longitudinal sections show the usual appear- 

 ance of these stains in hickory lumber (PI. X, fig. 2) — namely, very 

 dark iron streaks up to an inch in width, which extend a foot or more 

 both up and down along the grain. The wood shows a distinct 

 tendency to check or split along the course of the stains. 



In a specimen of mocker nut from Cloverdale, Ind., the iron streaks 

 extend through from 10 to 12 annual rings of wood, and checks from 

 the wounds have required the deposition of from 5 to 6 annual rings 



