Seasoning of Wood, Joseph Bernard Wagner [best beach reads txt] 📗

United States.

97. Lombardy Poplar (Populus nigra italica). Medium- to large-sized tree. This species is the first ornamental tree introduced into the United States, and originated in Afghanistan. Does not enter into the markets. Widely planted in the United States.

98. Balsam (Populus balsamifera) (Balm of Gilead, Tacmahac). Medium- to large-sized tree. Heartwood light brown, sapwood nearly white. Wood light, soft, not strong, close-grained. Used extensively in the manufacture of paper pulp. Common all along the northern boundary of the United States.

99. Aspen (Populus tremuloides) (Quaking Aspen). Small to medium-sized tree, often forming extensive forests, and covering burned areas. Heartwood light brown, sapwood nearly white. Wood light, soft, close-grained, neither strong nor durable. Chiefly used for woodenware, cooperage, and paper pulp. Maine to Washington and northward, and south in the western mountains to California and New Mexico.

RED GUM (See Gum) SASSAFRAS

100. Sassafras (Sassafras sassafras). Medium-sized tree, largest in the lower Mississippi Valley. Wood light, soft, not strong, brittle, of coarse texture, durable in contact with the soil. The sapwood yellow, the heartwood orange brown. Used to some extent in slack cooperage, for skiff- and boatbuilding, fencing, posts, sills, etc. Occurs from New England to Texas and from Michigan to Florida.

SOUR GUM (See Gum) SOURWOOD

101. Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) (Sorrel-Tree). A slender tree, reaching the maximum height of 60 feet. Heartwood reddish brown, sapwood lighter color. Wood heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, and takes a fine polish. Ranges from Pennsylvania, along the Alleghanies, to Florida and Alabama, westward through Ohio to southern Indiana and southward through Arkansas and Louisiana to the Coast.

SWEET GUM (See Gum) SYCAMORE

102. Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) (Buttonwood, Button-Ball Tree, Plane Tree, Water Beech). A large-sized tree, of rapid growth. One of the largest deciduous trees of the United States, sometimes attaining a height of 100 feet. It produces a timber that is moderately heavy, quite hard, stiff, strong, and tough, usually cross-grained; of coarse texture, difficult to split and work, shrinks moderately, but warps and checks considerably in seasoning, but stands well, and is not considered durable for outside work, or in contact with the soil. It has broad medullary rays, and much of the timber has a beautiful figure. It is used in slack cooperage, and quite extensively for drawers, backs, and bottoms, etc., in furniture work. It is also used for cabinet work, for tobacco boxes, crates, desks, flooring, furniture, ox-yokes, butcher blocks, and also for finishing lumber, where it has too long been underrated. Common and largest in the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys, at home in nearly all parts of the eastern United States.

103. Sycamore (Platanus racemosa). The California species, resembling in its wood the Eastern form. Not used to any great extent.

TULIP TREE

104. Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) (Yellow Poplar, Tulip Wood, White Wood, Canary Wood, Poplar, Blue Poplar, White Poplar, Hickory Poplar). A medium- to large-sized tree, does not form forests, but is quite common, especially in the Ohio basin. Wood usually light, but varies in weight, it is soft, tough, but not strong, of fine texture, and yellowish color. The wood shrinks considerably, but seasons without much injury, and works and stands extremely well. Heartwood light yellow or greenish brown, the sapwood is thin, nearly white, and decays rapidly. The heartwood is fairly durable when exposed to the weather or in contact with the soil. It bends readily when steamed, and takes stain and paint well. The mature forest-grown tree has a long, straight, cylindrical bole, clear of branches for at least two thirds of its length, surmounted by a short, open, irregular crown. When growing in the open, the tree maintains a straight stem, but the crown extends almost to the ground, and is of conical shape. Yellow poplar, or tulip wood, ordinarily grows to a height of from 100 to 125 feet, with a diameter of from 3 to 6 feet, and a clear length of about 70 feet. Trees have been found 190 feet high and ten feet in diameter. Used in cooperage, for siding, for panelling and finishing lumber in houses, car- and shipbuilding, for sideboards, panels of wagons and carriages, for aeroplanes, for automobiles, also in the manufacture of furniture farm implements, machinery, for pump logs, and almost every kind of common woodenware, boxes shelving, drawers, etc., etc. Also in the manufacture of toys, culinary woodenware, and backing for veneer. It is in great demand throughout the vehicle and implement trade, and also makes a fair grade of wood pulp. In fact the tulip tree is one of the most useful of woods throughout the woodworking industry of this country. Occurs from New England to Missouri and southward to Florida.

TUPELO (See Gum) WAAHOO

105. Waahoo (Evonymus atropurpureus). (Burning Bush, Spindle Tree). A small-sized tree. Wood white, tinged with orange; heavy, hard, tough, and close-grained, works well and stands well. Used principally for arrows and spindles. Widely distributed. Usually a shrub six to ten feet high, becoming a tree only in southern Arkansas and Oklahoma.

WALNUT

106. Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) (Walnut). A large, beautiful, and quickly-growing tree, about 60 feet and upwards in height. Wood heavy, hard, strong, of coarse texture, very durable in contact with the soil. The narrow sapwood whitish, the heartwood dark, rich, chocolate brown, sometimes almost black; aged trees of fine quality bring fancy prices. The wood shrinks moderately in seasoning, works well and stands well, and takes a fine polish. It is quite handsome, and has been for a long time the favorite wood for cabinet and furniture making. It is used for gun-stocks, fixtures, interior decoration, veneer, panelling, stair newells, and all classes of work demanding a high priced grade of wood. Black walnut is a large tree with stout trunk, of rapid growth, and was formerly quite abundant throughout the Alleghany region. Occurs from New England to Texas, and from Michigan to Florida. Not common.

WHITE WALNUT (See Butternut) WHITE WOOD (See Tulip and also Basswood) WHITE WILLOW

107. White Willow (Salix alba var. vitellina) (Willow, Yellow Willow, Blue Willow). The wood is very soft, light, flexible, and fairly strong, is fairly durable in contact with the soil, works well and stands well when seasoned. Medium-sized tree, characterized by a short, thick trunk, and a large, rather irregular crown composed of many branches. The size of the tree at maturity varies with the locality. In the region where it occurs naturally, a height of 70 to 80 feet, and a diameter of three to four feet are often attained. When planted in the Middle West, a height of from 50 to 60 feet, and a diameter of one and one-half to two feet are all that may be expected. When closely planted on moist soil, the tree forms a tall, slender stem, well cleared branches. Is widely naturalized in the United States. It is used in cooperage, for woodenware, for cricket and baseball bats, for basket work, etc. Charcoal made from the wood is used in the manufacture of gunpowder. It has been generally used for fence posts on the Northwestern plains, because of scarcity of better material. Well seasoned posts will last from four to seven years. Widely distributed throughout the United States.

108. Black Willow (Salix nigra). Small-sized tree. Heartwood light reddish brown, sapwood nearly white. Wood soft, light, not strong, close-grained, and very flexible. Used in basket making, etc. Ranges from New York to Rocky Mountains and southward to Mexico.

109. Shining Willow (Salix lucida). A small-sized tree. Wood in its quality and uses similiar to the preceding. Ranges from Newfoundland to Rocky Mountains and southward to Pennsylvania and Nebraska.

110. Perch Willow (Salix amygdaloides) (Almond-leaf Willow). Small to medium-sized tree. Heartwood light brown, sapwood lighter color. Wood light, soft, flexible, not strong, close-grained. Uses similiar to the preceding. Follows the water courses and ranges across the continent; less abundant in New England than elsewhere. Common in the West.

111. Long-Leaf Willow (Salix fluviatilis) (Sand Bar Willow). A small-sized tree. Ranges from the Arctic Circle to Northern Mexico.

112. Bebb Willow (Salix bebbiana var. rostrata). A small-sized tree. More abundant in British America than in the United States, where it ranges southward to Pennsylvania and westward to Minnesota.

113. Glaucous Willow (Salix discolor) (Pussy Willow). A small-sized tree. Common along the banks of streams, and ranges from Nova Scotia to Manitoba, and south to Delaware; west to Indiana and northwestern Missouri.

114. Crack Willow (Salix fragilis). A medium to large-sized tree. Wood is very soft, light, very flexible and fairly strong, is fairly durable in contact with the soil, works well and stands well. Used principally for basket making, hoops, etc., and to produce charcoal for gunpowder. Very common, and widely distributed in the United States.

115. Weeping Willow (Salix babylonica). Medium- to large-sized tree. Wood similiar to Salix nigra, but not so valuable. Mostly an ornamental tree. Originally came from China. Widely planted in the United States.

YELLOW WOOD

116. Yellow Wood (Cladrastis lutea) (Virgilia). A small to medium-sized tree. Wood yellow to pale brown, heavy, hard, close-grained and strong. Not used to much extent in manufacturing. Not common. Found principally on the limestone cliffs of Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

SECTION IV GRAIN, COLOR, ODOR, WEIGHT, AND FIGURE IN WOOD DIFFERENT GRAINS OF WOOD

The terms "fine-grained," "coarse-grained," "straight-grained," and "cross-grained" are frequently applied in the trade. In common usage, wood is coarse-grained if its annual rings are wide; fine-grained if they are narrow. In the finer wood industries a fine-grained wood is capable of high polish, while a coarse-grained wood is not, so that in this latter case the distinction depends chiefly on hardness, and in the former on an accidental case of slow or rapid growth. Generally if the direction of the wood fibres is parallel to the axis of the stem or limb in which they occur, the wood is straight-grained; but in many cases the course of the fibres is spiral or twisted around the tree (as shown in Fig. 15), and sometimes commonly in the butts of gum and cypress, the fibres of several layers are oblique in one direction, and those of the next series of layers are oblique in the opposite direction. (As shown in Fig. 16 the wood is cross or twisted grain.) Wavy-grain in a tangential plane as seen on the radial section is illustrated in Fig. 17, which represents an extreme case observed in beech. This same form also occurs on the radial plane, causing the tangential section to appear wavy or in transverse folds.

When wavy grain is fine (i.e., the folds or ridges small but numerous) it gives rise to the "curly" structure frequently seen in maple. Ordinarily, neither wavy, spiral, nor alternate grain is visible on the cross-section; its existence often escapes the eye even on smooth, longitudinal faces in the sawed material, so that the only guide to their discovery lies in splitting the wood in two, in the two normal plains.