The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-09-29

Gus temperatures 1t was found when
the cream was ripened to an aciditv
above 40 that it took on bitter flavor.
The same results were noticeable when
the cream was ripened for a long period
at low temperature without much
stirring. Low temperatures eeem to
be favorable to the growth of germs
that impart a bitter favor to the
cream"
COSTLY WOODS IN NEW YORK
Lying in some of the great lumber
yards of New York, and showing their
value only to the experts end the in
itiated ones, are heaps Of rare and cost
ly woods, some from the countries of
the Equator, others cut from American
forests. In one single lumber yard it
ls no uncommon thing to see a stock
that is valued at $50 coo or more. In
one block near the East River front
there is often million dollars worth
piled up in the open air or under the
cover of rough sheds
The veining and nothing of a log
and the veeners that are made from it
fix its value. While all these special
woods of commerce are costly, prices
three ard four times the average are
paid for unusual patterns of rosewood,
mahogany and black walnut
There are several hundred varieties
of fac woods brought each year into
New York, but of these only a few are
k own to commerce to any extent
Mahogany, French burl, rosewood
curly ash, American quartered oak,
figured birch, black walnut, Circassian
walnut and satinwood are the fancy
timber varieties that sell the best, their
prices running from three to ten cents
a foot for veneers These figures give
no adequate conception of values, until
! they are examined carefully. But the
calculation is simple one. 4 veneer
is thin strip cut from a board by a
shaving machine, 80 veneers being
allowed to each board Of an inch thick
ness, the boards of these costly woods
running about two feet in width. AS
a rule these boards are eight to ten feet
long, and thus single veneer of ma
hogany two feet wide and ten in lenth
is worth, by itself, from so cents to a
dollar. A double row of these veneers
piled up five feet high is worth easily
$2, 600.
10 the log, mahogany sells here at 81
to 81 so foot, board measurement. tt
comes from Mexico and Cuba, and,
brought to this city in logs, it is sold in
veneers. These veneers, stacked up in
piles in the sheds, are so brittle that
the only way of shipping them to the
furniture and piano manufacturers is
to pack them in cases. A case usually
holds 500 sheets, or from $500 to $500
worth, and is so heavy that the strength
of from four to six men, with rollers,
is necessary to get it upon a truck. A
case is known in the trade as fitch"
Even unvarnished and unpublished as
these rare woods are in the rough, the
patterns are easily visible, and the de-
signs and veining are very beautiful.
Nearly all these woods are sold in
veneers, for two reasons: First, they
are too costly to use eolidly; and sec-
ond, they all have a tendency to warp.
Next in popularity to mahogany comes
American figured walnut, from Ken
lucky, West Virginia, Tennessee and
the western part of North Carolina.
The finest logs of this timber are to be-
found on the slopes of the Blue Ridge
and Cumberland Mountains. So i'm
portant is it to get woods of fine pat
terms that some leading walnut dealers
inspect the trees themselves before they
are cut down. They employ expert
enced woOdsmen to search over the
whole region where the best walnut
lies for months at g time, and then, the
finest trees having been marked, the
dealers leave the city and go through the
woods on horseback themselves, select
ing the most valuable trees, afterward
buying them from the farmers or the
owners of the land.
These precautions amply repay the
trouble, for the reason that at times
American walnut sells for 20 cents a
foot in veneers, and single log six feet
long has been known to yield as much
as $525.