The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-06-04


 no substitutes will ever be obtained for them, Forest ash, for instance, is firm, but not hard, and It's elastic properties are not great, although it is tough and resilient. Almost the same can be said of the best selected white-wood.
 Our forests of ash, hickory and elm are comparatively small, and they are diminishing every year, although white-wood is still quite plentiful But tho supply of this timber for the car riage trade cannot be measured by the acre. for in one tract of woodland prob ably not more than a dozen trees fit for this trade can be found. Second growth forest ash Is very different from the first or natural growth, and while it is very good where great strength combined with elasticity is required, it cannot be used successfully for the framework of heavy carriage bodies. The second growth ash is harder than the first growth, and is tough, heavy and very elastic. Second growth ash is consequently used only for bracing carriages and where it's form can be re- tained by metal.
 The forester who grows ash for the carriage trade, or the lumberman who harvests it. must necessarily be an ex- pert at his business, and he goes through forests and upland woods to select individual trees as carefully as man would select a horse. Generally the best forest ash trees are not found in the open glades nor in extensive for ests of these trees. They are found in the best condition in woods where other varieties of trees abound, scattered here and there where nature planted them. The most important test that the woodsman makes after he takes in the whole tree with his eyes is the so- called bark test. It is almost impossi- ble to explain this test, for it is some thing that must be learned by experi- ence. By the general appearance of the outside bark, and many little signs underneath 1t, the expert decides whether the tree is still growing, or whether it has reached maturity, and is on the decline The carriage trade requires trees that are thoroughly ma tured, healthy, and vigorous.
 Another test of the growing tree is the terminal leaf. So long as the tree is growing, it will send forth terminal leaves on the shoots at the base and on the branches, but when it has reached full grown maturity these leaves never expand; they fall Just as soon as the new bud has formed. When these buds do not appear, and barren branches push forth, the decaying period of the tree has set in, and the heart of the tree begins to dry, Up to the period of decay the grain of the wood improves. It is sometimes impossible to determine just when the maturity of the tree has been reached, although the bark test, the leaf test, and the appearance of the 'stag horns" on the topmost branches prove pretty infallible signs.
 All the choice timber of the carriage and bicycle trade has to be selected when the trees are growing, for when they are cut up into logs it is impossi- ble to determine the period of growth at the time of cuttings The sap dries out in a month after being cut down, and the trees may have been too young for good carriage timber. In our northern states the experts generally go into the woods in August, but In the Southern states few weeks later. The trees selected are marked by chip ping off the bark at certain places. From November to January they are cut, the markers going into the woods again to identify their marks
 The best manufacturers of bicycles select their timber in the same way. The wood rims of bicycle require just as much strength, residence and tough ness as the spoke and hubs of car riage. The best forest ash probably makes the most satisfactory rims, and se-grained hickorEs properly cured and bent, gives about equally good re- suits. The coarse grained hickory is heavier than the fine grained, but when put to the test the lighter wood sus- tains from ten to fifteen per cent. greater weight without breaking Saving, seasoning and testing the wood for bicycle rims and carriage spokes, hubs and braces are all scien- tifically pursued, but they all fail to se- cure proper timber if in the beginning the trees are not properly selected. Eastwood is used by some carriage manufacturers, and as this suffers less from second growth, forests of it may be planted to supply the trade, although the grain of the second growth is not so desirable as the first growth First growth hickory, on the contrary, has coarse, crooked grain, and is very knot ty, making it unfit for carriage spokes, while the second growth produces fine carriage timber. Good second growth hickory is consequently in great de- mand, and probably plantations of these trees would produce more returns to the grower than any other
 Manufacturers of carriages are a very conservative class of men, and the woods they have used for years are held by them to be the only varieties fit for their work. It is this very con- servatism that has given American wagons such a name. But while it is undoubtedly true that the woods tested by long experience stand at the head. recent experiments have shown that other varieties may answer good pur- pose. For instance, some of the best builders of high-grade carriages use ironwood, lancewood and other varie- ties of hard woods in place of hickory and ash. These woods can be obtained cheaper than either first-class forest ash or second-growth hickory. The tests of woods based upon scientific claims have had more to do in over- turning the idols of the carriage build- CTS than anything else, and the makers of bicycles have been an influential fac- tor in the same direction Without any