File:American forestry (1910-1923) (18140861262).jpg

Title: American forestry
Identifier: americanforestry2121915amer (find matches)
Year: 1910-1923 (1910s)
Authors: American Forestry Association
Subjects: Forests and forestry
Publisher: Washington, D. C. : American Forestry Association
Contributing Library: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden
Digitizing Sponsor: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
COMMERCIAL USES OF TULIP OR YELLOW POPLAR 839
Text Appearing After Image:
YELLOW POPLAR USED IX AX ORGAX EACTORV In this industry woods which are least liable to warp are desired and for this reason yellow poplar is highly prized for use in the manufacture of wind chests, bellows and other similar parts. The steadily advancing price is, however, compelling manufacturers to look for a satisfactory substitute. was preferred for this trade, because it left no taint on the enclosed articles. Confectioners continue its use for candy boxes, and it is a substitute for expensive cedar in cigar boxes. It is in demand for pyrography, and toy and novelty makers draw largely upon it for sleds, wagons, blocks, houses, games, and similar things for children, and f(ir such useful articles as broom handles and small kitchen and pantry utensils, and for fruit and berry crates and baskets. Most wagon beds were formerly made of it, and man^• still are, in spite of increased cost. A difference of eight or ten dollars a thousand feet is paid for poplar for that purpose. It does not easily warp or split, and is light, with good painting qualities—just what is wanted for wagon bodies. In laboratory tests of woods for this use, yellow poplar is taken as the basis of comparison for cross-breaking, abrasion, shearing and end-compression. In this line, cottonwood is the i^oplar's closest competitor, not because it is as good, but because it is fairly good and is cheaper. For small panel work, poplar's closest com- petitors are buckeye, gum and basswood. Boat building formerly absorbed much poplar, but less now, because of increased cost. It has long been a favorite material for furniture, though for highest grades it is not in the same class with mahogany, cherry, walnut and maple. Its paint- holding qualities, and the polish which may be given it, liave led to its use in imitation of more costlv woods, and the width of clear stuff which poplar supplies gives it an advantage in furniture making. Billiard table makers use some of the best. The list of articles of furniture and finish into which it enters would include almost every piece in a well-furnished residence, school, otffce, or church, including chairs, mantels, benches, desks, tables, bedsteads, pianos, organs, bookshelves, trunks, molding, paneling, porchwork, turned posts, columns, shelves and many more. In some of these it is the outside exposed material which receives the polish or paint: in others it is the framework over which other woods are laid. It is an excellent backing for veneer, because it retains its shape and holds glue well, and is also an excellent veneer in the highest grade work, such as the interior of palace cars and steamers. Broad, thin panels are bent to the recjuired form. They are sometimes made up of two or tliree layers glued together, and occasionally are 2 feet wide, or more. Bent poplar has been much used for finish in circular rooms. Manufacturers claim that the best grades for fine veneering and finish come from West \'irginia. The sap is thinner and the grain finer than in poplar farther south. The pattern maker bases his preference for poplar upon its easy-working properties, and its rigidity. Cheaper woods have not lessened its use for that pur- pose. The coffin and casket makers, too, are slow to adopt substitutes for it in their trade, and the excelsior maker finds it good material in his line.

Note About Images