The Opelousas courier., 1901-01-19
MAHOGANY AND YENEERS
Revolution In Using Veneers Responsible for
Better Trade.

Better Trade.
The large exports of electrical and
other machinery to South America
have been the means Of fostering an
import trade In mahogany wood that
affects the furniture and cabinet bust
ness in all parts of the country. Most
Of the steamers that return from the
South stop at Nicaragua and the United
| States of Colombia to load up with
mahogany and cedar, two woods that
are in constant demand in this
try. Last year over 100000 feet of
mahogany logs were brought to this
port, and the coming year the imports
will probably run much higher.
Our increased trade with the South
American countries must naturally
stimulate these imports, for the rare
hard woods Of the tropical forests do
not enter into competition with any
native product. Their use is extending
into many new fields and uses never
before dreamed of. The perfection Of
the veneering machinery by which
very thin slices of the wood can be cut
off at half the former prices enables
cabinet and furniture manufacturers
to turn out loads of mahoganized arti-
cles. These furniture articles are what
the trade calls b%uilt-up" furniture.
That is, they have a core of white pine
or other cheap wood, and the surface
is then venered with thin layers of
mahogany.
Before the veneering machinery was
invented all veneers were handsawed,
and they cost considerable; but to-day
Is per cent. of the veneers are cut or
sliced by huge knives. The sawed We
neers are much better than the cut,
and they last longer, but for the
cheaper trade the cut answers all pur-
poses. The slicer, as the v~eneer-cut-
ting machine is called, is a costly ma
chine, but it performs It's work with
log Is put into the powerful grip of the
slicer, and as it moves against a rigid
knife, which is II feet long, the veneer
is cut off as evenly as a shaving is
sliced from a block of wood by a plane.
The whole log is thus sliced up into
veneers one-thirtieth Of an inch thick.
Thus n log may yield several hun
dred veneers. Sawed veneer are more
expensive because not more than ten to
fifteen can be cut from an inch of
wood. The rest of the wood is lost in
sawdust, while In the cut veneers there
is no waste at ALL
The relative cheapness of mahogany
logs is also making revolutions in fur
niture manufacturing. The sailing
vessels and steamers engaged in the
trade are more numerous than ever
before, and each steamer may bring
100000 feet of mahogany logs to New
York, and the sailing vessels from
100000 to 100000 feet. The mahog-
any forests of South America are not
being ruthlessly destroyed, as are
many of our American woods. In
Central America, where the forests are
controlled by Americans, two trees are
planted for every one cut. This wise
policy insures a permanency Of sup
ply that practically makes the wood
inexhaustible. The trees cut for this
mahogany trade average twenty-five
inches in diameter, with some running
as large as forty inches. They vary in
age from twenty-five to seventy-fve
years. In twenty-five years, it is esti-
mated by those controlling the forests,
a mahogany tree will attain a good
commercial age, when 1T can be cut
with profit to those planting it. AS
most Of the logs are used for veneer
ing purposes, their size does not count
as much as it does with many of our
native woods.-New York Times.