UTILIZATION OF DOGWOOD AND PEBSIMMON 
15 
In Table 3 certain properties of dogwood are compared with those 
of hickory, white oak, persimmon, and the well-known eastern white 
pine. These values indicate that both dogwood and persimmon are 
rather difficult to kiln-dry. but that when once properly dried they 
rank high in ability to stay in place. 
Table 3. — Approximate comparison of certain properties of several species of 
wood * 
Species 
1 
Ease in 
kiln- 
drying 
2 
Ability 
to stay 
in place 
3 
Work- 
ability 
4 
Nan- 
holding 
ability 
5 
Ease with 
which 
wood 
can be 
glued 
6 
Dogwood, flowering .. ____ ___ 
IV 
III 
-' III, IV 
IV 
I 
I 
II 
II 
I 
I 
III 
III 
II 
II 
I 
I 
I 
I 
I 
IV 
V 
Hickory, shagbark 
Oak, white 
Persimmon 
Pine, eastern white _. _ _ _ 
IV 
I 
IV 
I 
1 Columns 2 and 4 represent a gradation of properties in the various woods from those which can be dried 
and worked with comparative ease (Class I), to those which present some difficulties in those respects 
(Class IV). 
Column 3 represents a gradation from those woods which possess the greatest ability to stay in place 
under conditions of actual use (I), to those species which do not possess that ability to the same extent (II). 
Column 5 represents a gradation from those which possess the greatest nail-holding power (I) but have 
the greatest tendency to split (which necessitates the use of smaller nails) to those having the least nail- 
holding ability, but which are less likely to split (I\ ) . 
In Column 6, woods in Class I are known to be used commercially in glued construction. Class IV 
includes woods which are known to present real difficulties in gluing, and Class V those species about 
which little is known but which it is believed would present some difficulties in view of their similarity 
to species of known properties. 
These classifications are only approximate. They are not in every case based on the results of technical 
research but in some cases on observation, experience, and estimate. 
2 III refers to the upland type of oak, IV refers to the lowland type of oak. 
SHUTTLE BLOCKS 
MANUFACTURE 
The use of dogwood and persimmon for shuttle blocks, which 
to-day accounts for at least 90 per cent of the dogwood produced 
and 83 per cent of the persimmon, apparently dates dack to 1865, 
when what was probably the first shipment of dogwood and per- 
simmon logs cut in Virginia was sent to England. It is supposed 
but not definitely known that these logs were used for shuttle blocks. 
It has, however, been definitely established that about 1875 dogwood 
and persimmon logs cut in Virginia were made into shuttle blocks 
by a shuttle company in Lowell, Mass. This company cut the logs 
into blocks, seasoned the blocks, and then manufactured the shuttles. 
At present the manufacture of blocks is entirely separate and distinct 
from the manufacture of shuttles. 
Up to 1880 Turkish boxwood was practically the only material 
used for shuttles. About that time, however, the roller-skating craze 
made such heavy demands upon this wood that it was necessary for 
the shuttle-block manufacturers to seek substitutes. The trial of 
dogwood and persimmon by the firm in Lowell was followed up by 
other manufacturers, and since 1880 the consumption of these two 
woods has gradually increased along with the increase in the num- 
ber of looms in the textile industry, both in the United States and 
