Woods of complex and very variable structure, and therefore differing widely in quality, behavior, and consequently in applicability to the arts.

AILANTHUS

Ailanthus (Ailanthus glandulosa). Medium to large-sized tree. Wood pale yellow, hard, fine-grained, and satiny. This species originally came from China, where it is known as the Tree of "Heaven," was introduced into the United States and planted near Philadelphia during the 18th century, and is more ornamental than useful. It is used to some extent in cabinet work. Western Pennsylvania and Long Island, New York.

ASH

Wood heavy, hard, stiff, quite tough, not durable in contact with the soil, straight-grained, rough on the split surfaces and coarse in texture. The wood shrinks moderately, seasons with little injury, stands well, and takes a good polish. In carpentry, ash is used for stairways, panels, etc. It is used in shipbuilding, in the construction of cars, wagons, etc., in the manufacture of all kinds of farm implements, machinery, and especially of all kinds of furniture; for cooperage, baskets, oars, tool handles, hoops, etc., etc. The trees of the several species of ash are rapid growers, of small to medium height with stout trunks. They form no forests, but occur scattered in almost all our broad-leaved forests.

White Ash (Fraxinus Americana). Medium-, sometimes large-sized tree. Heartwood reddish brown, usually mottled; sapwood lighter color, nearly white. Wood heavy, hard, tough, elastic, coarse-grained, compact structure. Annual rings clearly marked by large open pores, not durable in contact with the soil, is straight-grained, and the best material for oars, etc. Used for agricultural implements, tool handles, automobile (rim boards), vehicle bodies and parts, baseball bats, interior finish, cabinet work, etc., etc. Basin of the Ohio, but found from Maine to Minnesota and Texas.

Red Ash (Fraxinus pubescens var. Pennsylvanica). Medium-sized tree, a timber very similar to, but smaller than Fraxinus Americana. Heartwood light brown, sapwood lighter color. Wood heavy, hard, strong, and coarse-grained. Ranges from New Brunswick to Florida, and westward to Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas.

Black Ash (Fraxinus nigra var. sambucifolia) (Hoop Ash, Ground Ash). Medium-sized tree, very common, is more widely distributed than the Fraxinus Americana; the wood is not so hard, but is well suited for hoops and basketwork. Heartwood dark brown, sapwood light brown or white. Wood heavy, rather soft, tough and coarse-grained. Used for barrel hoops, basketwork, cabinetwork and interior of houses. Maine to Minnesota and southward to Alabama.

Blue Ash (Fraxinus quadrangulata). Small to medium-sized tree. Heartwood yellow, streaked with brown, sapwood a lighter color. Wood heavy, hard, and coarse-grained. Not common. Indiana and Illinois; occurs from Michigan to Minnesota and southward to Alabama.

Green Ash (Fraxinus viridis). Small-sized tree. Occurs from New York to the Rocky Mountains, and southward to Florida and Arizona.

Oregon Ash (Fraxinus Oregana). Small to medium-sized tree. Occurs from western Washington to California.

Carolina Ash (Fraxinus Caroliniana). Medium-sized tree. Occurs in the Carolinas and the coast regions southward.

ASPEN (See Poplar)

BASSWOOD

Basswood (Tilia Americana) (Linden, Lime Tree, American Linden, Lin, Bee Tree). Medium- to large-sized tree. Wood light, soft, stiff, but not strong, of fine texture, straight and close-grained, and white to light brown color, but not durable in contact with the soil. The wood shrinks considerably in drying, works well and stands well in interior work. It is used for cooperage, in carpentry, in the manufacture of furniture and woodenware (both turned and carved), for toys, also for panelling of car and carriage bodies, for agricultural implements, automobiles, sides and backs of drawers, cigar boxes, excelsior, refrigerators, trunks, and paper pulp. It is also largely cut for veneer and used as "three-ply" for boxes and chair seats. It is used for sounding boards in pianos and organs. If well seasoned and painted it stands fairly well for outside work. Common in all northern broad-leaved forests. Found throughout the eastern United States, but reaches its greatest size in the Valley of the Ohio, becoming often 130 feet in height, but its usual height is about 70 feet.

White Basswood (Tilia heterophylla) (Whitewood). A small-sized tree. Wood in its quality and uses similar to the preceding, only it is lighter in color. Most abundant in the Alleghany region.

White Basswood (Tilia pubescens) (Downy Linden, Small-leaved Basswood). Small-sized tree. Wood in its quality and uses similar to Tilia Americana. This is a Southern species which makes it way as far north as Long Island. Is found at its best in South Carolina.

BEECH

Beech (Fagus ferruginea) (Red Beech, White Beech). Medium-sized tree, common, sometimes forming forests of pure growth. Wood heavy, hard, stiff, strong, of rather coarse texture, white to light brown color, not durable in contact with the soil, and subject to the inroads of boring insects. Rather close-grained, conspicuous medullary rays, and when quarter-sawn and well smoothed is very beautiful. The wood shrinks and checks considerably in drying, works well and stands well, and takes a fine polish. Beech is comparatively free from objectionable taste, and finds a place in the manufacture of commodities which come in contact with foodstuffs, such as lard tubs, butter boxes and pails, and the beaters of ice cream freezers; for the latter the persistent hardness of the wood when subjected to attrition and abrasion, while wet gives it peculiar fitness. It is an excellent material for churns. Sugar hogsheads are made of beech, partly because it is a tasteless wood and partly because it has great strength. A large class of woodenware, including veneer plates, dishes, boxes, paddles, scoops, spoons, and beaters, which belong to the kitchen and pantry, are made of this species of wood. Beech picnic plates are made by the million, a single machine turning out 75,000 a day. The wood has a long list of miscellaneous uses and enters in a great variety of commodities. In every region where it grows in commercial quantities it is made into boxes, baskets, and crating. Beech baskets are chiefly employed in shipping fruit, berries, and vegetables. In Maine thin veneer of beech is made specially for the Sicily orange and lemon trade. This is shipped in bulk and the boxes are made abroad. Beech is also an important handle wood, although not in the same class with hickory. It is not selected because of toughness and resiliency, as hickory is, and generally goes into plane, handsaw, pail, chisel, and flatiron handles. Recent statistics show that in the production of slack cooperage staves, only two woods, red gum and pine, stood above beech in quantity, while for heading, pine alone exceeded it. It is also used in turnery, for shoe lasts, butcher blocks, ladder rounds, etc. Abroad it is very extensively used by the carpenter, millwright, and wagon maker, in turnery and wood carving. Most abundant in the Ohio and Mississippi basin, but found from Maine to Wisconsin and southward to Florida.

BIRCH

Cherry Birch (Betula lenta) (Black Birch, Sweet Birch, Mahogany Birch, Wintergreen Birch). Medium-sized tree, very common. Wood of beautiful reddish or yellowish brown, and much of it nicely figured, of compact structure, is straight in grain, heavy, hard, strong, takes a fine polish, and considerably used as imitation of mahogany. The wood shrinks considerably in drying, works well and stands well, but is not durable in contact with the soil. The medullary rays in birch are very fine and close and not easily seen. The sweet birch is very handsome, with satiny luster, equalling cherry, and is too costly a wood to be profitably used for ordinary purposes, but there are both high and low grades of birch, the latter consisting chiefly of sapwood and pieces too knotty for first class commodities. This cheap material swells the supply of box lumber, and a little of it is found wherever birch passes through sawmills. The frequent objections against sweet birch as box lumber and crating material are that it is hard to nail and is inclined to split. It is also used for veneer picnic plates and butter dishes, although it is not as popular for this class of commodity as are yellow and paper birch, maple and beech. The best grades are largely used for furniture and cabinet work, and also for interior finish. Maine to Michigan and to Tennessee.

White Birch (Betula populifolia) (Gray Birch, Old Field Birch, Aspen-leaved Birch). Small to medium-sized tree, least common of all the birches. Short-lived, twenty to thirty feet high, grows very rapidly. Heartwood light brown, sapwood lighter color. Wood light, soft, close-grained, not strong, checks badly in drying, decays quickly, not durable in contact with the soil, takes a good polish. Used for spools, shoepegs, wood pulp, and barrel hoops. Fuel, value not high, but burns with bright flame. Ranges from Nova Scotia and lower St. Lawrence River, southward, mostly in the coast region to Delaware, and westward through northern New England and New York to southern shore of Lake Ontario.

Yellow Birch (Betula lutea) (Gray Birch, Silver Birch). Medium- to large-sized tree, very common. Heartwood light reddish brown, sapwood nearly white, close-grained, compact structure, with a satiny luster. Wood heavy, very strong, hard, tough, susceptible of high polish, not durable when exposed. Is similar to Betula lenta, and finds a place in practically all kinds of woodenware. A large percentage of broom handles on the market are made of this species of wood, though nearly every other birch contributes something. It is used for veneer plates and dishes made for pies, butter, lard, and many other commodities. Tubs and pails are sometimes made of yellow birch provided weight is not objectionable. The wood is twice as heavy as some of the pines and cedars. Many small handles for such articles as flatirons, gimlets, augers, screw drivers, chisels, varnish and paint brushes, butcher and carving knives, etc. It is also widely used for shipping boxes, baskets, and crates, and it is one of the stiffest, strongest woods procurable, but on account of its excessive weight it is sometimes discriminated against. It is excellent for veneer boxes, and that is probably one of the most important places it fills. Citrus fruit from northern Africa and the islands and countries of the Mediterranean is often shipped to market in boxes made of yellow birch from veneer cut in New England. The better grades are also used for furniture and cabinet work, and the "burls" found on this species are highly valued for making fancy articles, gavels, etc. It is extensively used for turnery, buttons, spools, bobbins, wheel hubs, etc. Maine to Minnesota and southward to Tennessee.

Red Birch (Betula rubra var. nigra) (River Birch). Small to medium-sized tree, very common. Lighter and less valuable than the preceding. Heartwood light brown, sapwood pale. Wood light, fairly strong and close-grained. Red birch is best developed in the middle South, and usually grows near the banks of rivers. Its bark hangs in tatters, even worse than that of paper birch, but it is darker. In Tennessee the slack coopers have found that red birch makes excellent barrel heads and it is sometimes employed in preference to other woods. In eastern Maryland the manufacturers of peach baskets draw their supplies from this wood, and substitute it for white elm in making the hoops or bands which stiffen the top of the basket, and provide a fastening for the veneer which forms the sides. Red birch bends in a very satisfactory manner, which is an important point. This wood enters pretty generally into the manufacture of woodenware within its range, but statistics do not mention it by name. It is also used in the manufacture of veneer picnic plates, pie plates, butter dishes, washboards, small handles, kitchen and pantry utensils, and ironing boards. New England to Texas and Missouri.

Canoe Birch (Betula paprifera) (White Birch, Paper Birch). Small to medium-sized tree, sometimes forming forests, very common. Heartwood light brown tinged with red, sapwood lighter color. Wood of good quality, but light, fairly hard and strong, tough, close-grained. Sap flows freely in spring and by boiling can be made into syrup. Not as valuable as any of the preceding. Canoe birch is a northern tree, easily identified by its white trunk and its ragged bark. Large numbers of small wooden boxes are made by boring out blocks of this wood, shaping them in lathes, and fitting lids on them. Canoe birch is one of the best woods for this class of commodities, because it can be worked very thin, does not split readily, and is of pleasing color. Such boxes, or two-piece diminutive kegs, are used as containers for articles shipped and Artisan in small bulk, such as tacks, small nails, and brads. Such containers are generally cylindrical and of considerably greater depth than diameter. Many others of nearly similar form are made to contain ink bottles, bottles of perfumery, drugs, liquids, salves, lotions, and powders of many kinds. Many boxes of this pattern are used by manufacturers of pencils and crayons for packing and shipping their wares. Such boxes are made in numerous numbers by automatic machinery. A single machine of the most improved pattern will turn out 1,400 boxes an hour. After the boring and turning are done, they are smoothed by placing them into a tumbling barrel with soapstone. It is also used for one-piece shallow trays or boxes, without lids, and used as card receivers, pin receptacles, butter boxes, fruit platters, and contribution plates in churches. It is also the principal wood used for spools, bobbins, bowls, shoe lasts, pegs, and turnery, and is also much used in the furniture trade. All along the northern boundary of the United States and northward, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

BLACK WALNUT (See Walnut)

BLUE BEECH

Blue Beech (Carpinus Caroliniana) (Hornbeam, Water Beech, Ironwood). Small-sized tree. Heartwood light brown, sapwood nearly white. Wood very hard, heavy, strong, very stiff, of rather fine texture, not durable in contact with the soil, shrinks and checks considerably in drying, but works well and stands well, and takes a fine polish. Used chiefly in turnery, for tool handles, etc. Abroad much used by mill- and wheelwrights. A small tree, largest in the Southwest, but found in nearly all parts of the eastern United States.

BOIS D'ARC (See Osage Orange)

BUCKEYE

Wood light, soft, not strong, often quite tough, of fine, uniform texture and creamy white color. It shrinks considerably in drying, but works well and stands well. Used for woodenware, artificial limbs, paper pulp, and locally also for building construction.

Ohio Buckeye (Æsculus glabra) (Horse Chestnut, Fetid Buckeye). Small-sized tree, scattered, never forming forests. Heartwood white, sapwood pale brown. Wood light, soft, not strong, often quite tough and close-grained. Alleghanies, Pennsylvania to Oklahoma.

Sweet Buckeye (Æsculus octandra var. flava) (Horse Chestnut). Small-sized tree, scattered, never forming forests. Wood in its quality and uses similar to the preceding. Alleghanies, Pennsylvania to Texas.

BUCKTHORNE

Buckthorne (Rhanmus Caroliniana) (Indian Cherry). Small-sized tree. Heartwood light brown, sapwood almost white. Wood light, hard, close-grained. Does not enter the markets to any great extent. Found along the borders of streams in rich bottom lands. Its northern limits is Long Island, where it is only a shrub; it becomes a tree only in southern Arkansas and adjoining regions.

BUTTERNUT

Butternut (Juglans cinerea) (White Walnut, White Mahogany, Walnut). Medium-sized tree, scattered, never forming forests. Wood very similar to black walnut, but light, quite soft, and not strong. Heartwood light gray-brown, darkening with exposure; sapwood nearly white, coarse-grained, compact structure, easily worked, and susceptible to high polish. Has similar grain to black walnut and when stained is a very good imitation. Is much used for inside work, and very durable. Used chiefly for finishing lumber, cabinet work, boat finish and fixtures, and for furniture. Butternut furniture is often Artisan as circassian walnut. Largest and most common in the Ohio basin. Maine to Minnesota and southward to Georgia and Alabama.

CATALPA

The catalpa is a tree which was planted about 25 years ago as a commercial speculation in Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska. Its native habitat was along the rivers Ohio and lower Wabash, and a century ago it gained a reputation for rapid growth and durability, but did not grow in large quantities. As a railway tie, experiments have left no doubt as to its resistance to decay; it stands abrasion as well as the white oak (Quercus alba), and is superior to it in longevity. Catalpa is a tree singularly free from destructive diseases. Wood cut from the living tree is one of the most durable timbers known. In spite of its light porous structure it resists the weathering influences and the attacks of wood-destroying fungi to a remarkable degree. No fungus has yet been found which will grow in the dead timber, and for fence posts this wood has no equal, lasting longer than almost any other species of timber. The wood is rather soft and coarse in texture, the tree is of slow growth, and the brown colored heartwood, even of very young trees, forms nearly three-quarters of their volume. There is only about one-quarter inch of sapwood in a 9-inch tree.

Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa var. bignonioides) (Indian Bean). Medium-sized tree. Heartwood light brown, sapwood nearly white. Wood light, soft, not strong, brittle, very durable in contact with the soil, of coarse texture. Used chiefly for railway ties, telegraph poles, and fence posts, but well suited for a great variety of uses. Lower basin of the Ohio River, locally common. Extensively planted, and therefore promising to become of some importance.

CHERRY

Cherry (Prunus serotina) (Wild Cherry, Black Cherry, Rum Cherry). Wood heavy, hard, strong, of fine texture. Sapwood yellowish white, heartwood reddish to brown. The wood shrinks considerably in drying, works well and stands well, has a fine satin-like luster, and takes a fine polish which somewhat resembles mahogany, and is much esteemed for its beauty. Cherry is chiefly used as a decorative interior finishing lumber, for buildings, cars and boats, also for furniture and in turnery, for musical instruments, walking sticks, last blocks, and woodenware. It is becoming too costly for many purposes for which it is naturally well suited. The lumber-furnishing cherry of the United States, the wild black cherry, is a small to medium-sized tree, scattered through many of the broad-leaved trees of the western slope of the Alleghanies, but found from Michigan to Florida, and west to Texas. Other species of this genus, as well as the hawthornes (Prunus cratoegus) and wild apple (Pyrus), are not commonly offered in the markets. Their wood is of the same character as cherry, often finer, but in smaller dimensions.

Red Cherry (Prunus Pennsylvanica) (Wild Red Cherry, Bird Cherry). Small-sized tree. Heartwood light brown, sapwood pale yellow. Wood light, soft, and close-grained. Uses similiar to the preceding, common throughout the Northern States, reaching its greatest size on the mountains of Tennessee.

CHESTNUT

The chestnut is a long-lived tree, attaining an age of from 400 to 600 years, but trees over 100 years are usually hollow. It grows quickly, and sprouts from a chestnut stump (Coppice Chestnut) often attain a height of 8 feet in the first year. It has a fairly cylindrical stem, and often grows to a height of 100 feet and over. Coppice chestnut, that is, chestnut grown on an old stump, furnishes better timber for working than chestnut grown from the nut, it is heavier, less spongy, straighter in grain, easier to split, and stands exposure longer.

Chestnut (Castanea dentata var. vesca). Medium-sized tree, never forming forests, not common. Heartwood brown color, sapwood lighter shade, coarse-grained. Wood and uses similar to the preceding. Occurs scattered along the St. Lawrence River, and even there is met with only in small quantities.

Chinquapin (Castanea pumila). Medium- to small-sized tree, with wood slightly heavier, but otherwise similiar to the preceding. Most common in Arkansas, but with nearly the same range as Castanea vulgaris.

Chinquapin (Castanea chrysophylla). A medium-sized tree of the western ranges of California and Oregon.

COFFEE TREE

Coffee Tree (Gymnocladus dioicus) (Coffee Nut, Stump Tree). A medium- to large-sized tree, not common. Wood heavy, hard, strong, very stiff, of coarse texture, and durable. Sapwood yellow, heartwood reddish brown, shrinks and checks considerably in drying, works well and stands well, and takes a fine polish. It is used to a limited extent in cabinetwork and interior finish. Pennsylvania to Minnesota and Arkansas.

COTTONWOOD (See Poplar)

CRAB APPLE

Crab Apple (Pyrus coronaria) (Wild Apple, Fragrant Crab). Small-sized tree. Heartwood reddish brown, sapwood yellow. Wood heavy, hard, not strong, close-grained. Used principally for tool handles and small domestic articles. Most abundant in the middle and western states, reaches its greatest size in the valleys of the lower Ohio basin.

CUCUMBER TREE (See Magnolia)

DOGWOOD

Dogwood (Cornus florida) (American Box). Small to medium-sized tree. Attains a height of about 30 feet and about 12 inches in diameter. The heartwood is a red or pinkish color, the sapwood, which is considerable, is a creamy white. The wood has a dull surface and very fine grain. It is valuable for turnery, tool handles, and mallets, and being so free from silex, watchmakers use small splinters of it for cleaning out the pivot holes of watches, and opticians for removing dust from deep-seated lenses. It is also used for butchers' skewers, and shuttle blocks and wheel stock, and is suitable for turnery and inlaid work. Occurs scattered in all the broad-leaved forests of our country; very common.

ELM

Wood heavy, hard, strong, elastic, very tough, moderately durable in contact with the soil, commonly cross-grained, difficult to split and shape, warps and checks considerably in drying, but stands well if properly seasoned. The broad sapwood whitish, heartwood light brown, both with shades of gray and red. On split surfaces rough, texture coarse to fine, capable of high polish. Elm for years has been the principal wood used in slack cooperage for barrel staves, also in the construction of cars, wagons, etc., in boat building, agricultural implements and machinery, in saddlery and harness work, and particularly in the manufacture of all kinds of furniture, where the beautiful figures, especially those of the tangential or bastard section, are just beginning to be appreciated. The elms are medium- to large-sized trees, of fairly rapid growth, with stout trunks; they form no forests of pure growth, but are found scattered in all the broad-leaved woods of our country, sometimes forming a considerable portion of the arborescent growth.

White Elm (Ulmus Americana) (American Elm, Water Elm). Medium- to large-sized tree. Wood in its quality and uses as stated above. Common. Maine to Minnesota, southward to Florida and Texas.

Rock Elm (Ulmus racemosa) (Cork Elm, Hickory Elm, White Elm, Cliff Elm). Medium- to large-sized tree of rapid growth. Heartwood light brown, often tinged with red, sapwood yellowish or greenish white, compact structure, fibres interlaced. Wood heavy, hard, very tough, strong, elastic, difficult to split, takes a fine polish. Used for agricultural implements, automobiles, crating, boxes, cooperage, tool handles, wheel stock, bridge timbers, sills, interior finish, and maul heads. Fairly free from knots and has only a small quantity of sapwood. Michigan, Ohio, from Vermont to Iowa, and southward to Kentucky.

Red Elm (Ulmus fulva var. pubescens) (Slippery Elm, Moose Elm). The red or slippery elm is not as large a tree as the white elm (Ulmus Americana), though it occasionally attains a height of 135 feet and a diameter of 4 feet. It grows tall and straight, and thrives in river valleys. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, tough, elastic, commonly cross-grained, moderately durable in contact with the soil, splits easily when green, works fairly well, and stands well if properly handled. Careful seasoning and handling are essential for the best results. Trees can be utilized for posts when very small. When green the wood rots very quickly in contact with the soil. Poles for posts should be cut in summer and peeled and dried before setting. The wood becomes very tough and pliable when steamed, and is of value for sleigh runners and for ribs of canoes and skiffs. Together with white elm (Ulmus Americana) it is extensively used for barrel staves in slack cooperage and also for furniture. The thick, viscous inner bark, which gives the tree its descriptive name, is quite palatable, slightly nutritious, and has a medicinal value. Found chiefly along water courses. New York to Minnesota, and southward to Florida and Texas.

Cedar Elm (Ulmus crassifolia). Medium- to small-sized tree, locally quite common. Arkansas and Texas.

Winged Elm (Ulmus alata) (Wahoo). Small-sized tree, locally quite common. Heartwood light brown, sapwood yellowish white. Wood heavy, hard, tough, strong, and close-grained. Arkansas, Missouri, and eastern Virginia.