UTILIZATION OF ASH. 33 
used for bent-frame parts and for slats or splints to baskets made 
by racking apart thin strips between the annual rings. Black ash is 
the chief ash used in basketwork. The Indians of New England 
taught the white settlers the art of making splint baskets from black 
ash. 
The price of ash used for boxes, crates, and baskets ranges mostly 
from $10 to $25, and averages about $14 per 1,000 board feet: Michi- 
gan, Illincis, Texas, and. Wisconsin are the leading States in the use 
of ash for this industry. 
SHIPS AND BOATS. 
The chief use of ash in the ship and boat industry is for cars, into 
which goes over 80 per cent of the total. Practically all long oars 
-and sculls (14 feet and over in length) and a very large proportion 
of short cars and paddles are made of ash. The United States sup- 
plies the world with ash boat oars, both in the rough and finished. 
A combination of qualities makes ash superior to other woods for 
oars—it is elastic to a high degree, and is tough, strong, and compar- | 
atively light; it is straight grained and easily worked, takes a good | 
polish, wears smooth, and lasts fairly weil. Ash for oars is mostly 
green ash from Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. 
Ash logs for oars cost, delivered at the factory, from $20 to $40 per 
1,000 board feet, and about $30 on the average. They must be 
straight and free from defects, 8 feet and up in length, and 12 inches 
and up in diameter at the top end. White ash was originally the 
chief supply for oars until it became too scarce. Black ash is not 
suitable, as 1t will water-soak, becoming soft and spongy. 
Ash is used to a small extent in general ship and boat construc- 
tion for frames for small craft, tillers for canal boats, interior finish, 
benches, ribs, and keels. 
SPORTING AND ATHLETIC GCODS. 
The qualities of ash that make it an unusually desirable wood for 
baseball bats, tennis racquets, snowshoes, skis, polo sticks, hockey 
sticks, gymnasium goods, billard tables, bowling alleys, fishing rods, 
and playground equipment are its high elasticity, toughness, strength, 
and comparative lightness. For baseball bats ash is used almost 
to the exclusion of other woods; 1t supplies a very large propor- 
tion of tennis-racquet frames, polo sticks, and hockey sticks. Ash 
used in this industry is mostly tough second-growth white ash, 
ranging usually in price from $30 to $50 per 1,000 board feet for 
lumber delivered at the factory. The stock is often specially sawed 
with reference to the particular use to which it is to be put, as for 
baseball bats. In New England, in this industry, ash is often 
