USE OF WOOD. 73 



its usefulness. The tests of the Tenth Census would make its mechanical properties even superior 

 to those of the longleaf. 



The shortleaf pine, comparatively free from resinous matter, softer, capable of good finish, 

 and more easily worked, furnishes a lumber better adapted to the use of the joiner, cabinetmaker, 

 and carpenter than the other two. There being more sapwood in the log-run lumber and greater 

 variation in its growth, more need for grading exists. 



Until within two decades or so this lumber did not find ready market outside of its home, because 

 the sapwood was apt to " blue;" but with the dry kiln these objections have been overcome, and it 

 now finds wide application for lighter framework, weatherboarding (taking paint more readily 

 than the longleaf pine), for flooring, ceiling, wainscoting, window casings, and sash and doors, and 

 for shingles. It is also adapted for building of railroad cars and manufacture of furniture. In 

 'cross-breaking strength it is at least 25 per cent weaker than the longleaf, although occasional 

 sticks are found as strong. In stiffness the difference is not so great on the average, but the best 

 stick so far tested falls 20 per cent below the best longleaf. In shearing strength, however, it 

 seems to equal the latter, showing that, although weaker, its cell elements are as firmly knit 

 together. 



The loblolly pine varies still more greatly in quality than the shortleaf pine, growing as it 

 does under the most varied conditions. Hence opinions as to its value vary widely, and its use- 

 fulness is but imperfectly understood, except x><*rhaps in some parts of its home, like lower 

 Virginia, where most of the houses were built of this pine. Grown slowly on the poorer or wetter 

 soils, at higher elevations and in a more northern climate, it produces more heartwood and better 

 quality, while the rank growth on better soils presents a sappy, light, coarse-grained wood, soft, 

 and quick to decay. In North Carolina, where it occupies the swamp borders, the variety, or 

 rather the "quality," known as "rosemary" or "slash" pine, now nearly exhausted, furnishes a 

 timber from long and large old trees in no way inferior to the shortleaf, which it closely resembles, 

 and approaching eveu the longleaf. 



Strength and durability it does not possess in great measure, but, properly seasoned, it fur- 

 nishes a timber suitable for many purposes. Yet the timber tested from north Alabama seems to 

 equal, if not surpass, in strength and stiffness the shortleaf from the same region. It is perfectly 

 suited for rough work, joists and scantling, studding, and common boards, and about 75 per cent 

 of the material for this purpose used in the markets of Baltimore and Washington comes from this 

 pine, and the bulk is sawed in Caroline County, Ya. Much is also used in Philadelphia. The 

 best grades are selected for flooring, siding, and inside finish, although its liability to shrink, 

 unless thoroughly seasoned, makes the propriety of this use doubtful. As cord wood it reaches 

 also more northern markets (New York), and where a brisk flame with quick heat is desired, as 

 in bakeries, brickyards, and potteries, it is very good. The name under which this lumber goes 

 is Virginia pine, although I have found builders calling it " yellow pine 7? and "North Carolina" 

 pine. Since this pine is of rapid growth, quickly occupying old abandoned fields and making 

 saw logs in fifty years, it promises to become one of the prominent staples of our lumber market. 



In North Carolina only the better quality is cut and sold indiscriminately with the shortleaf 

 as "North Carolina" pine, while in the Gulf States east of the Mississippi but little is cut, and 

 that only on special orders for inferior work (except in north Alabama). In Texas, however, 

 where this pine abounds in perfection, 25 and more per cent of the lumber handled is loblolly, 

 although at Beaumont, the principal point of lumber production, but little of this material was 

 found at the mills. In Arkansas it is called " longleaf pine," and some Northern lumber yards 

 which must have longleaf pine from Arkansas seem to supply themselves with this material. It is 

 tapped for turpentine wherever found in the turpentine orchard, yielding a more fluid resin than 

 the longleaf pine. 



A fuller statement of the quality of the wood of these pines will be found in another part of 

 this report. 



Use of Wood. 



In its use the wood of all four species is applied much alike. The coarse-grained, heavy, 

 resinous forms are especially suited for timbers and dimension stuff; while the fine-grained wood, 

 whatever species it may come from, is used for a great variety of finishing purposes. 



