Qualities and Uses of the Woods of Ohio 
107 
Household Utensils and Wooden Ware —The lighter, softer and 
cheaper woods are generally used for utensils and wooden ware. Cot¬ 
tonwood, basswood, white pine, buckeye, yellow poplar, black gum, 
and other species are in demand. Buckeye, on account of its uniform 
texture and its creamy color, is in great demand for wooden ware. It 
is also used for artificial arms and legs. Yellow poplar and cucumber 
are much used by the toy manufacturer and novelty maker. Wooden 
wire used for mattings and screens, is made from willow, basswood, 
and cottonwood. Wooden shoe pegs come from birch and hard 
maple; and matches from white pine, cottonwood, spruce, and bass¬ 
wood. Basswood is in demand for fine excelsior. About ten million 
feet board measure of yellow poplar is used in Ohio annually for the 
manufacture of bungs and faucets. 
Mining Industry —This industry consumes vast quantities of 
wood of various kinds. Oak, ash, hickory, yellow pine, and other 
tough strong woods are used for supporting roofs and slopes and 
for the construction of the machinery and appliances incident to 
mining. Thousands of acres are annually stripped of all valuable 
timber trees for this purpose alone. 
Caskets and Coffins —Receptacles for the dead including the 
burial or outer cases are made largely of chestnut and white pine. 
The latter is used for the outer cases and the former for caskets, 
especially those that are covered with cloth. 
These woods are comparatively cheap, light in weight and easy 
to work. The chestnut has the desirable quality of being durable 
underground. It also holds glue remarkably well, which is a de 
mand in cloth covered caskets. 
Other woods that are largely used are yellow poplar, hemlock, 
white and red oak. These woods take a fine polish, stain ,well, and 
are strong and durable. The higher priced caskets are not cloth 
covered, and the woods used are often finished so as to resemble 
mahogany, walnut or cherry. Occasionally these more expensive 
woods are used and are finished naturally, sometimes being elab¬ 
orately carved. 
Wood Pulp and Paper —The use of wood for the manufacture 
of paper has greatly increased during the last 25 years. In 1900 about 
2,000,000 cords of wood were consumed for this purpose. In 1914 
over 4,000,000 cords were used. One cord of wood yields on the 
