The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1922-10-07
TREE CUT IN STAMFORD
USED IN TIMBER TEST
White Ash FelIed by U. s. Forest Serv-
ice Last Year Was 76
Years Old.

A hundred pound hammer, suspend
ed "a inches above crashed down upon
two-.nch square atick. which gave
way and splintered like match.
Breaking this stick marked the com
p!et.on of half a million tests on the
strength of American timbers. at the
u. s. forest products laboratory, Mad.
ison, Wis.
From tree growing in Remington
county. vt, came the stick which has
the d!ltlnotion OF being number 100000
In these tests. Its parent tree was u
7.year old white ash from the town
OF Stamford, and was cut on May l3
under the direction of a government
forester.
Test piece number 100000 which
had Just been finished after 12 years
OF continuous research, repre- ;ents an
unequalled amount OF timber testing
Extensive data has been obtained on
l50 species OF American woods.
The United States, through the
WuIh vi tue idboiatoly, 10 thc oHis
country In the world wh'ch so accur-
ately knows the strength properties
of its various wood s Foreign coun-
tries. conducting like studies upon
their own woods, also find the data
valuable for comparative purposes.
The laboratory, a part of the u S.
forest service. Is interested In helping
all wood.users. From the data which
1t furn'shej. architects, manufactur-
ers. wood builders. and engineers. gain
information which aids them in select
Ing proper wood for work which they
may have.
u guess II will be strong enough"
Is not the way structural timbers are
now used. Engineers know the
strength Of the woods, and so can
use the size and species VIII 'ch best
ft the Job In hand In many cases a
saving Of twenty per cent on the size
of material has been affected When
all wood.users avail themselves Of this
data many millions OF dollars worth OF
valuable timber win be saved annu
ualy.
The timber test described, which
determines the impact force which the
wood VII resist, is only one OF twenty
propeltle for which Ike specimens
may be tested Among others which
may be determined are hardness. tough.
ness, stiffness. shrnkage quail ties,
and 20 on. All blocks tested are OF
the uniform cross section of by 2
inches, and varying from 2la to 80
inches In length. Making blocks of
standard size yes results which are
alike for every species.
D.tailed information T. kept con.
cerr ng every test piece, even the age
and location OF the tree, and the con.
d.tlons under which II grew. Mum.
ber 100000 was taken. from the south
sid, OF the tr-e. about 4 inches from
the center, and IA feet from the
ground. This care In keep NJ records
makes FOR greater accuracy in com.
parsons.
In the impact test hammer drops
from varioui heights upon the speci.
men, which is supported only at the
ends The height which the hammer
must fall before the wood splinters is
recorded. The records of 100000 test
pieces form an accurate check upon
the properties of American woods.
The test results which are available
at the forest products laboratory were
especially valuable during the World
war. They became the background
for the designer Of airplane parts
where strength and lightness are
equally important. The results were
also used by erection engineer ship
builders. and men In other industries
where wood was used In war work.