A FORESTRY FORTUNE OUR WEALTH OF COMMERCIAL WOODS A Popular Account of the Trees of Michigan and Their Uses, by W. J. Beal, Professor of Botany, State Agricultural College. From her location among the great lakes in a temperate climate, Michigan long ages ago was destined to be a great state for growing timber. The people of this century know the results. For many years past, from Maine to Dakota, from the District of Columbia to Kansas, the lumber of white pine has been more universally employed than any other, especially where the lumber was transported. This is because the timber is light, soft, abundant and satisfactory. Its light weight saves cost in transportation; the ease with which It is worked saves labor, from the time the logs are cut in the forest to the time they reach the finished structure. In early days, before railroads were abundant and efficient, in certain localities, whitewood or tulip tree, known In the south as "yellow poplar," took the place of white pine. Until a recent date most of the lumber of white pine and white wood used in the construction of houses and cabinet ware was covered with paint. This was the fashion every- where, perhaps encouraged by the lack of variety in the appearance of these two woods, though in limited quantity they are very pleasant too look upon when well finished and properly covered with oil or varnish. As white pine became less abundant and higher in price, people discovered that there was scarcely any limit to the supply of many other kinds of wood still left, which for most purposes were preferable to pine. It is only a few years since builders and manufacturers fairly realized that lumber of our various broad-leaved trees-mostly hard wood- was very pretty when suitably cut and, finished in oil or varnish or with the addition of some slight staining of light or dark, or red, just a little to vary the appearance and bring out the grain to the best advantage. New Use For the Botanist. Veneers cut around a steamed log, then properly dried and finished are a splendid addition to the lumber cut by ordinary methods. Where the medullary rays of the wood are thick enough, as in the oak and buttonwood, or sycamore, what is known as "quarter sawed" lumber is much employed for unpainted furniture, finishing of the interior of houses, etc. With our large number of fifty-six species of commercial woods still increased by many peculiarities of growth of some of them there is an admirable opportunity, now often improved, to see what can be done in "natural finish." In the markets there is no distinction made between several kinds of oak, two of maple, several of ash, poplar and other trees, but the merchant and manufacturer is quick to discern the beauty of knots, burls, crotches, blistered wood, wavy, curly and bird's eye, of fast growth and slow, brittle and tough, heart wood and sap wood If properly combined for harmony and contrast in an almost endless variety of ways, most charming effects can be produced. Any one who attended the Columbian Exposition must have noticed this in the Michigan furniture and in the specimens of native wood shown in the state forestry exhibit. Think of the splendid veneers and panels from Grand Rapids and the wainscoting and counters surrounding the display of timber. Here no use was made of stains but Berry Brothers' hand labor and varnish left nothing to be desired. The end is not yet for in the future more and more study will be given the subject; manufacturers will learn more and more about different methods of cutting .. seasoning, staining, filling and finishing and make more use of species that are not now found in the markets. They may even resort to the botanist to select for them certain rare or small kinds of trees that usually find their way into the wood pile near the farm house. Our Leading Commercial Woods. The ashes are very useful, pre-eminent among them the white ash, the wood of which is employed for furniture, farm implements, oars, floors, wagon tongues, parts of buggies and sleighs, finishing the interior of houses, railway cars, butter tubs and other purposes. Black ash is very useful in its way and in some respects so nearly resembles the wood last named that novices have been known to buy wagon tongues made of this timber. It is really more valuable, however, to use for other purposes, such as lumber for finishing houses, for furniture and like, barrel hoops, fence rails and hewn timber. Blue ash is of a lighter color, as we judge from the bark of the tree, is much less common, of slow growth and seldom found in the markets. The timber is quite durable for posts and sills where exposed to alternations of moisture and dry air. The timber is rather brittle, but would add variety for furniture and house finishing. The wood of green ash passes for that of white ash, the wood of red ash goes the same way. Balsam is an evergreen found in our northern swamps. The trees yield the Canada balsam of commerce. The wood is soft, and until lately was thought to be nearly worthless, but it is now much employed for making paper. Basswood is a well known tree, a favorite with those who keep bees. The wood is soft, but valuable for boxes of buggies, broom handles, heads of barrels, wooden shoes, for certain parts in furniture. for excelsior and for many other purposes. Birches: The white bark of the canoe or paper birch is well understood, and its uses. The wood is valuable for fire- wood, for turning into a variety of objects, such as spools, useful for shoe pegs, useful for lumber, for veneers, etc. This is not the white birch of the Atlantic coast. Cherry birch is a small tree found in swamps, and the wood is like the last above named. Yellow birch is a much larger tree, and is abundant in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula. The wood makes admirable furniture and takes a slight stain. Butternut is found in much of the Lower Peninsula on low land. The wood is soft, of a brown color, and useful for furniture in great variety, finishing the interior of houses, etc. It is a little muddy in color, but veneers cut around the log are most admirable. Cedar, Cherry and Elms. Red cedar does not exist anywhere in abundance. White cedar or aborvitæ is a favorite ornamental evergreen found in swamps from the center of the Lower Peninsula northward. The timber furnishes nearly all the telegraph poles of the north; some railroad ties, shingles and is useful for tubs, boats and very durable for fence posts. Cherry: The red wood of black cherry is famous for furniture, some of it much resembling mahogany. The timber is durable for posts and sills. Elms: Of these there are three kinds in the state. Probably It is not twenty- five years singe the wood of the water, or American elm, when grown on low land in the forest, was considered absolutely worthless. It worked easily, but the plank warped so that you could scarcely make a barn floor that would be sheep tight. The wood is soft or spongy, and when steamed it is easily cut into thin strips, very nice for cheese boxes, baskets, berry boxes, crates and strips for a great variety of uses. Three or four elm baskets can now be made at a cost not exceeding one made of the old- fashioned splints of black ash or white ash. True, they will out last as long, but they are lighter and a clean one can be had the oftener. New designs have been made for securing the lapped hoops for barrels, so that those of elm are preferred to hoops of black ash for strength and durability. Smaller trees of this same species of elm, especially when grown on dry land, make tough timber, and are known as "grey elm." This is very valuable for hubs of buggies and is employed where rock elm is now much used. There is still a good deal of American elm left in Michigan scattered all over the Lower Peninsula. Although the timber of rock elm is lighter in weight and not so strong much of it is used in the place of hickory. for certain parts of carriages, frames of boxes, whiffletrees, cutters, etc. It answers very well for certain parts of farm implements. The trunk is usually very straight: the young branches abound in corky ridges. It thrives on rich land from Central Michigan northward. Red or slippery elm is not so abundant. The lumber is rather light, easily split, of a reddish brown color. The timber is quite durable for posts and sills. The wood takes a nice finish, and has not received the notice it deserves. Hackberry is perhaps as little known as any tree in the State. It grows along streams; the wood is of a yellowish color and useful for a variety of purposes. It is nearly related to the elms. Hemlock, Hickories and Maples. Hemlock is the handsomest evergreen that grows, when small and grown with plenty of room for ornament. For rail- road ties, scantling. larger timber, tan bark, roof boards, etc., it is very useful. There are more slivers sticking from rough boards of hemlock than from any other timber we grow. This is one reason why mechanics have heretofore objected to using this kind of timber; but a little rise in the price of pine, brings hemlock, into prominence, and now mechanics put on their leather gloves and get along very well with hemlock timber. Hickories: Of these we have the common white-fruited hickory which furnishes most of the nuts in the market; the larger fruited hickory, in which the nuts have thin shells, and are of a yellow color; the bitternut, pig nut and the small fruited hickory. The timber of all these is much alike, and in rapidly. grown sticks is especially valuable for ax helves, handles of hammers, spokes, fills and other parts of carriages, in fact in all places requiring strength and elasticity. "Hickory wood makes . a hot fire," was one of the wise sayings in the old school reader. Young hickories are coming forward in nearly all portions of the State. Maples are well known and popular, especially the sugar maple, which is very abundant still in many northern counties. Black maple is also a sugar maple and is often considered a mere variety of the true sugar tree. It is distinguished from the former not by its blacker bark at all, but by its flowers, fruits and leaves. Birdseye, curly and blistered maples are mostly true sugar maples of peculiar growth. I can hardly enumerate all the uses for this wood, sugar, syrup, shade trees, fire wood, cabinet ware, flooring, shoe pegs, broom handles, shoe lasts, lumber for many general purposes, wagon axles, parts of wheelbarrows, charcoal, cant hooks, wooden tools in variety, bowls, forks. etc. It bears turning nicely. Red maple and silver leaved maples are both indiscriminately called "soft maple." The latter grows much the faster; the wood is whiter and the tree less likely to produce good saw logs for the mill. The timber is softer than that first named, but is very useful for many purposes. The Oak and the Pine. Of oaks we have white, burr, swamp white, chestnut, yellow, red, scarlet, black, pin, scrub, barren, shingle, but in commerce or among woodsmen they are thrown together and known as white oak, red oak and black oak. Of their beauty as trees and their usefulness for timber we can scarcely speak too highly, They furnish tan bark, posts, piles, rail- road ties, timber for bridges, frames for freight cars, ships, plow beams and handles, barrel staves, flooring, ceiling, wagon spokes, Hubs, fine furniture, etc. On account of the prominent, thick and wide medullary rays, the wood is especially pretty when quarter-sawed or when cut into veneers. There is almost no end to the uses of our oaks. Oaks, white and red, are still very abundant in the state. Pines: Of these we grow three. Jack or scrub pine does not scale very high in size or quality: nor does it cut much of a figure in the commercial world, but when you need timber long, straight; elastic, rather heavy and very pretty, call for red or Norway pine. It is first class for ceiling, floors, piles, timber and joists for bridges. The world knows and appreciates Michigan white pine for the markets have been supplied with it for half a century or more. The mechanic who runs the plane and handsaw and drives the nails likes nothing so well as cork pine and have it he will, even at high price. Cork pine is simply an old white pine. Poplars in our state are the aspen, large toothed aspen, downy, balsam and the cottonwoods, five in number. The wood of the first two has, contrary to what might have been predicted twenty years ago, been much sought, of late, for making paper. Of spruces we have the white and black, both good for making paper and for lumber. In former years they supplied the schools with gum, but numerous imitations have driven most of the genuine article from the market. Sycamore in early days was supposed to be good for little excepting coon-trees, the hollow ones for smokehouses or the timber for second class firewood. It warps badly, but for small strips cut with the silver grain it is very pretty and is used for school-room furniture and ceiling mouldings. Black walnut probably is the royal tree of Michigan, alas now too scarce. It has for a century or more been the standard of excellence for furniture. We are economizing now, employing it in veneers and strips, or by using other woods in its place. I have known large, fine trees to be cut for the crotches, which were sawed into veneers, while most of the logs were used for common lumber, with which to floor the garret or make hog pens. White wood has always ranked high as a timber for the saw mill, ever since the state was settled. "Clear stuff" was a favorite for barn boards, frames for large buildings, ships, clapboards, doors, sash, floors, wagon boxes, drawers, boxes. Willows one, two, three or more have attracted much attention for their timber. Before base ball players used such solid and heavy balls, second growth willow made good ball clubs, but now nothing will do but the best white ash. Tamarack from the swamps, tall and straight and stim, makes excellent poles for politicians, on which to float the party flag. A good deal has been used for corduroy roads, rails, rafters, posts, pickets for fences, fire wood, roof boards, etc. Above I have given a popular account of our commercial woods. How long they will last depends upon how carefully the supply is husbanded, the number of severe forest fires, or the amounts rolled into log heaps and burned to get rid of them. Those wanting lumber from our forests can find it for some time to come, and they reed not fear to call for it. This will make our people value their timber more than ever and tend to economy and the preservation of groves of young stuff in out of the way places. There are other kinds of native trees in Michigan. Chestnut! Did I hear a call for chestnut lumber! We advise you to use pine or oak, as we have only a little in three or four counties in the southeastern portion of the state, and do not care to dispose of the whole stock. Names of Trees Native to Michigan. Below is the list. It includes all those which attain a foot or more in diameter, especially when grown farther south. In Michigan we never hear of witch hazel, paw-paw, or dogwood; most of our hawthorns are enumerated as forest trees. With this explanation, we have eighty-nine species of native trees in Michigan. Alder, Smooth. Alder, Speckled. Ash, Black, Ash, Blue. Ash, Green. Ash. American Mountain. Ash, Elder-leaved, Mountain, Ash, Red. Ash, White, Aspen. Aspen, Large-Toothed. Balsam Fir. Basswood. Beech, American, Beech, Blue. Birch, Cherry, Birch, Canoe, Birch. Yellow, Bitternut, Box-Elder, Buckeye. Butternut. Cedar, Red, Cedar, White. Cherry, Black, Cherry, Red. Cherry, Choke, Chestnut. Coffee Tree, Ky., Cottonwood, Crab Apple. Dogwood, Flowering, Dogwood ,Green, Elm, American, Elm. Red. Elm. Rock. Hackberry. Haw, Black. Hawthorn, Cockspur, Hawthorn, Fuzzy, Hawthorn, Punctate. Hawthorn, Scarlet, Hawthorn, Smooth, Hemlock, Hickory, Big Shellbark. Hickory, Pignut. Hickory, Shagbark, Willow Glaucous, Hickory, Small, Fruited, Hickory, Whiteheart, Hoptree, Ironwood. Juneberry, Alder-leaved, Juneberry, Juneberry, Obovate-leaved. Locust, Honey, Maple, Black. Maple. Mountain, Maple, Silver, Maple, Red, Maple, Sugar. Maple, Striped, Mulberry, Red, Oak, Black, Oak, Burr, Oak. Chestnut. Oak, Dwarf Chestnut. Oak, Laurel, Oak, Pin, Oak, Red. Oak, Scarlet. Oak, Swamp-white, Oak, White, Paw Paw. Pepperidge' Pine, Jack. Pine. White, Pine, Red (Norway), Plum. Wild. Poplar. Balsam, Poplar, Downy. Red-bud. Sassafras. Sheep-berry. Spruce, Black, Spruce. White. Sumach, Dwarf, Sumach, Poison, Sumach, Staghorn Sycamore. Tamarack Wahoo. Walnut, Black, Whitewood. Willow, Almond-leaved. Willow, Black, Willow, Glaucous Witch Hazel Those wishing other information regarding the forests of Michigan are referred to articles by the author in "Michigan and its Resources, second edition, 1882," and third edition, 1893, or "State Forestry Commission, 1888." W. J. BEAL.