The bee., 1883-06-16
STRAW LUMBER.
An Art Gle of Importance and the Uses ts
Which IL May be Put.


tics of the people of this country as a
people, says the Brooklyn Etgte, Is
thtir Indifference to the destruction OF
the forests. Occasionally small
number of persons are found who
show tn ir interest in the subject by
ho ding a forestry congress, and report
facts and figures gath I'd from the
d partments at Washington, but no
general interest is manifested in the
subject and the destruction of timber
proceeds. 1t is seldom, even in the
older States, that any farmer has too
much timber. 1tt no crop pays bet
ter or will pay better in the future. In
the derelopm> Mt of the country heavy
drafts are made on our timber prCduc-
tion, and the consumption is far in ex-
cess of the natural supply. Statisti-
clans tell lis TIA the colnparalvely
trifiing industries Of max ng matches,
hoe pegs. clothes pins and the like re-
quire m lions of cLrdS of wood each
year. Telegraph poles and railroad
ties, to say nothing of houses, demand
thousands of trees in year. and while
1
interest is manifested in repairing the
waste. Tree planting is growing to
be popular pastime in some villages
of the East, but nation of people is
Indifferent, trusting to nature to sup
ply the constant drain that is made
upon it. In country like the West,
whose forests are the admiration of
foreigners, it seems strange circum-
stance that ulsti utes for wood are
being made aid that large factories
exist for the manufacture of such
things. But such is the case. In Fargo
and at other towns i'll the Northwest
there are manufactures where straw
lumber is male, and writer in the
Amer5can architect gives this eXplana-
tion of this ma erial:
"Its tensile strength is greater than
that of walnut or oak, and its weight
about ont-fifth of the former when
dry. 1t is made from any kind of
straw, including hemp and flax fiber
in fact, from any material that w II
make pulp-and a ton of straw will
make 900 feet of boards. The pulp
/
which, CORES ponding to the thickness
Of the lumber desi el, and place to-
gether with peculiar cement, which
is claimed to be wat rproof, and are
then rolled under pressure sufficient
to anal yamate them into solid mass,
which may he worked with a pllne, if
des red. When it is remembered that
it takes 100 years to grow tree to
maturity, suiting it to commercial
purposes-and a tree producing tn rty-
tWO-inch lumber will require twice
that time-while 10000 feet per acre
is a large yield under the mot favor-
a le circumstances, it Will at once be
realized that where 5000 feet can be
taken from an acre of ground for an
indefinite number of years. the process
which enables such result to be ac-
cOmplished and which will yield
real y valuable lumber is one of inn Or
tance. We look for valua' lie results in
the future in the manufacture of
lumber from what is | ractiC ally a
waste material, but VIII ch will be pro-
due d in endless quantities so long as
the United States and Canad an North
w st maintain their character as gra n
producing countries, with the Red
River valley Us the head center"
A wellknown Brooklynite has built
himself house of paper pulp, and in
Germany ch 'mneyS to frame houses
are IN lde of it. Compressed paper is
one of the least inllammable of sub
stances, and it is now cognized as
superior to iron as material for fire
pro f doors. Bathtubs and pots are
made of paper, likewise dinner Flat E
and car wheels, knives and forks also,
and even the ties upon rail Dads are
made in some in tances of paper pulp.
Paper car wheels are composed of paper
rings press together under weight
of six tons and then fastened by means
of bolts and steel tire put on
item. Paper ties for railroads
are construct Of laye.s of paper
or straw hoard, laid one upon
another, cemented and compressed into
molds. As to durability. they will last
twenty-five years and cost less than
wood. The patent office contains
| V
the want air ady beginning to be f 1t
in this country because of a scarcity
of wood but none among the many
that promises to be so usetulaS this in
vention for railway cross tie, invent, d
by Mr.. GOetchius. Be Steads to be
made of paper are patented, cooking
stoves al o and it is sal that the ubi-
quitous Yankee is working on inven-
tiOns to n axe paper shoes and hats,
and that ultimately all our house fur
nish; ngs will be construct d of it in.
stead Of wood, which was once consid-
cred the only available and desirable
mater al
The Architeet saws of the value of
straw lumb and it's aiautation to the
many purE ose5 to which it is being
put:
STRAW lumber is admirably adapted
to many kinds Of finishing work, bar
TelS. table and counter tops, fine doors
and ornamental work; and we are
assured that it can be produced and
sold in competition with the finer
grades of p ne or in competition with
wide walnut, at about one-half the
price of the latter. The straw lumber
may be ripped with the hand saw or
the buzz saw. may be run through t e
sticker for the manu- 'acture of mold
ings. and takes a nail or screw about
as we'll as oak. 1t may be finished
with varni>h Or with paint, and is sus-
ceptible of a high polish"