USES AND SUPPLY OF WOOD. 



19 



Osage orange is a rather important wood in the wagon industry and 

 costs more than twice as much per 1,000 feet as any other. This is 

 due to its hardness, lasting properties, and more than all else, to its 

 small tendency, to shrink and swell in the changes of weather. The 

 comparatively large amount of cottonwood used by vehicle makers 

 is for wagon beds. Yellow poplar was formerly the best available 

 wood for that purpose, but its price is now too high. Next after 

 Osage orange, hickory is the highest-priced vehicle wood in the State. 



Table 13. — Annual consumption of wood for vehicles. 



Kind of wood. 



Quantity. 



Feet b. m. 



Per cent 

 of total. 



Average 

 cost per 

 1,000 feet 

 f. o. b. 

 factory. 



Total cost 

 f. o. b. 



factory. 



Grown in 



Arkansas. 



Grown 

 out of 



Arkansas. 



White oak... 

 Cottonwood. . 

 Shortleaf pine 



Hickory 



Red gum 



Osage orange. 



Elm 



Ash 



Total... 



1,500,000 

 800,000 

 500, 000 

 400, 000 

 200, 000 

 100, 000 

 25,000 

 21,000 



42.30 

 22.56 

 14.10 

 11.28 

 5.64 

 2.82 

 .71 



$35. 00 

 37.00 

 20.00 

 47.00 

 23.00 



125. 00 

 20.00 

 18.00 



$52, 500 

 29,600 

 10,000 

 18, 800 

 4,600 

 12, 500 

 500 

 378 



Per cent. 

 100.00 

 100.00 

 100.00 

 100.00 

 100.00 



Per cent. 



52.00 

 100.00 



,546,000 



100. 00 



.34 



128,878 



96.84 



100.00 

 48.00 



3.16 



COFFINS AND CASKETS. 



Six woods serve as material for coffins and caskets in Arkansas, 

 and the quantity and price of each is shown in Table 14. No foreign 

 wood appears, which is unusual, since in most States mahogany is 

 an important casket material. The average cost of the wobds in 

 this industry is very low, due partly to the large quantity of short- 

 leaf pine used. Much cypress is also used. It is very enduring and 

 has been employed for coffins in the South for more than 200 years. 

 It is said that the hewed coffin in which De Soto was buried 350 

 years ago in the waters of the Mississippi, near the mouth of the 

 Arkansas River, was of cypress. 



Table 14. — Annual consumption of wood for caskets and coffins. 



Kind of wood. 



Quantity. 



Feet b. m. 



Per cent 

 of total. 



Average 

 cost per 

 1,000 feet 

 f.o. b. 

 factory. 



Total 



costf.o.b 



factory. 



Grown 

 in Ar- 

 kansas. 



Grown 

 out of 

 Arkan- 



Shortleaf pine 



Cypress 



Red gum 



White oak . . . 



Walnut 



Cedar 



Total.., 



2,107,000 



820, 000 



105,000 



30, 000 



3,000 



2,000 



68.70 

 26.74 

 3.42 



$14. 11 

 22.18 

 15.95 

 30.00 

 45.00 

 30.00 



$29, 724 



18,190 



1,675 



900 



135 



60 



Per cent. 

 100. 00 

 78.66 

 52.38 

 100. 00 

 100. 00 



Per cent. 



21.34 



47.62 



100. 00 



3,067,000 



16.53 



50,684 



7.40 



