Commercial Geography Part 18

The growth of trees thus set is very slow. Isolated pine-trees will reach the size large enough for cutting in about fifty years, but the lumber will be practically worthless because of the knots. On the other hand, pine forests with the trees so thickly set as to make a clear, merchantable lumber require at least a century for maturity.[49] Oak forests require a much greater period.

As a rule, the forest growths of the United States are found in the areas characterized by sandy and gravelly soils. Thus, the glaciated region of the United States and Canada for the greater part is forest-covered. The sand barrens along the Atlantic coast usually are forest areas. The older bottom-lands of most rivers are often forest-covered, especially when their soil is coa.r.s.e and sandy.

There are large areas, however, in both the United States and Europe, that are treeless. In some instances this condition, without doubt, resulted from the fires that annually burnt the gra.s.s. With the cessation of the prairie fires, forest growths have steadily increased.

In other instances these areas are treeless because the seeds of trees have never been planted there. The high plains at the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains are an example. This region is deficient in the moisture required to give young trees the vigorous start that will carry them to maturity. Moreover, the westerly winds and the streams of this region come from localities also deficient in forestry, and there are therefore no seeds to be carried.

As a rule, the distribution of forests is effected by the winds and by moving water. The prevailing westerly winds of the temperate zones have carried many species eastward and have extended the forest areas in that direction. Freshets, floods, and overflows have been even more active in carrying seeds, sprouts, and even trees into new territories. Waves and currents have likewise played a similar part. Wherever the soil of the region into which the species have been carried is moist and nutritious, the forest growth has usually extended.

=The Pine Family.=--The pine family includes the various species of pine, tamarack, spruce, hemlock, fir, juniper, larch, cypress, and cedar. A few members of the family thrive in the warmer parts of the temperate zone, but for the greater part they flourish between the fortieth and sixtieth parallels. Most of the species found in low lat.i.tudes are mountain-trees. They const.i.tute the greater part of the American and Russian forests. The American pine forest is thought to be the largest in the world.

The _white pine_ (_Pinus strobus_) is the most valuable member of the family. Its value is due in part to the fact that the wood is soft, clear, and easily worked, and in part to the accessibility of the forests. Not much inroad has yet been made upon the great Russian forest, owing to the fact that the timber is too far away from seaports and water transportation. Rough lumber becomes too expensive for use when transported by land, but it will stand the expense of s.h.i.+pment by water many miles.

The _Georgia_ or _long-leafed pine_ (_Pinus pal.u.s.tris_) is also commonly called _pitch pine_, _turpentine pine_, and _southern pine_; it grows chiefly along the south Atlantic coast and in the northern counties of Georgia. It is harder than white pine and makes excellent flooring.

The _sugar pine_ (_Pinus lambertiana_) occurs mainly in Oregon and California. The grain is fine and soft and the trees reach a large girth.

The _loblolly pine_ (_Pinus taeda_) has a considerably larger area than the Georgia pine, extending into Indian Territory. The _short-leaf pine_ (_Pinus echinata_) occurs in small areas from New York to the Gulf of Mexico, and across to Missouri; it is the Chattahoochee pine of Florida.

The _pitch pine_ (_Pinus rigida_) occurs in various areas mainly north of the Ohio River and west of the prairies. The lumber cut annually from these pines aggregates about thirty billion feet.

The common _white cedar_ (_Chamaecyparis thyoides_) occurs along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts nearly to the Mississippi. On account of its fine grain it is much used in cabinet work and as a finis.h.i.+ng wood. _Red cedar_, probably a different species, occurs along the Atlantic coast.

It is largely used in the manufacture of lead-pencils, and the forests are wellnigh exhausted.

The _redwoods_ are confined to the California coast, mainly in the coast ranges, near the ocean. Ordinary redwood (_Sequoia sempervirens_) resembles red cedar, is soft, and very fine in grain, and shrinks but little in seasoning. It is a most valuable timber both for common and for ornamental use. It very frequently attains a diameter of five or six feet; the big tree sometimes exceeds sixteen feet in diameter and reaches a height of nearly four hundred feet.

=Other Industrial Woods.=--The oaks, like the pines, form a nearly continuous belt across the northern continents, lying mainly south of the pines; they do not extend much south of the thirtieth parallel. The white oak of the New England plateau and Canada commands a high price on account of its strength; a considerable quant.i.ty is exported.

The "quartering" of the lumber used in ornamental work is produced by sawing the logs, which have been split in quarters, so that the silver-grain shows on the faces of the boards. The bark of the oak is rich in tannic acid and it is much used in tanning leather. _Cork oak_ (_Quercus suber_) grows mainly in Spain and Algeria.

_Black walnut_ (_Juglans nigra_) grows in the river-bottoms of the Mississippi Valley and in Texas. The merchantable supply is not great, and the wood is therefore growing more valuable each year. _Hickory_ is used where great strength is required, and also for various tool-handles. _Maple_ is largely employed in making furniture. _Ash_ is a very common wood for tool-handles.

=Shade-Trees and Ornamental Woods.=--A large number of trees are yearly transplanted, or else grown from seed, to be used as ornamental shade-trees. For this purpose the elm, maple, acacia ("locust"), linden ("lime"), catalpa, ash, horse-chestnut ("buckeye"), poplar, and willow are most common in ordinary temperate lat.i.tudes, both in Europe and America. In warmer lat.i.tudes the Australian eucalyptus ("red gum" and "blue gum"), magnolia, palmetto, laurel, arbutus, and tulip are common.

The local trade in ornamental trees is very heavy; the trade is local for the reason that the transportation of them is very expensive.

=Tropical Woods and Tree Products.=--Many of the tropical woods are in demand on account of their beautiful appearance, and in many species this quality is combined with strength and hardness. _Mahogany_ is obtained from Mexico and the Central American states, and also from the West Indies. The former is cla.s.sed as "Honduras"; the latter is generally known as San Domingo mahogany and commands the highest price.

_Rosewood_ is obtained from Brazil, and is used almost exclusively in piano-cases. Both are cut into thin veneers, to be glued to a less expensive body.

_Ebony_ is the heart of a species of persimmon obtained mainly in Ceylon and the East Indies. Very little of the so-called ebony is genuine, most of the ebony of commerce consisting of fine-grained hardwood, stained black. _Jarrah_, an Australian wood, is now very generally used for street-paving, and for this purpose it has no superior. _Teak_ probably has no equal for strength and durability. It is not touched by the teredo and other marine worms.

_Boxwood_ (_Buxus balearica_) is a high-growing tree, native to India, but growing best in the islands of the Mediterranean. The wood is very hard, of yellowish-brown color, and so fine in grain that it finds a ready market in nearly every part of the world. Probably the larger part is used by engravers. A large amount of the wood is also used in the manufacture of folding-rules, and in inlaying. Constantinople is the princ.i.p.al market, and nearly ten thousand tons of the selected wood are sold yearly.

_Lignum vitae_, or _guaiac wood_ (_Guaiac.u.m officinale_), grows profusely in the West Indies and along the Spanish Main. It is used both in medicine and in the arts. Shavings of the wood steeped in water were once considered a cure-all, hence the name. The wood is very hard, heavy, and is split with the greatest difficulty. It is therefore much employed in making mallet-heads, tool-handles, nine-pin b.a.l.l.s, and pulley-blocks. In tropical countries it is employed for railway ties.

West India ports are the chief markets, and the United States is the chief consumer.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A LOG RAFT, WINONA, WIS.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: HAULING LOGS TO THE RIVER]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Copyright, 1898, Detroit Photographic Co._

THE LUMBER INDUSTRY--A LOGGING STREAM, MENOMINEE, WIS.]

_Logwood_ is the wood of a tree (_Haematoxylon campechianum_) growing in Central America and the West Indies. The best quality comes from Campeche, and it is marketed mainly from Central American ports. It is almost universally used for dyeing the black of woollen and cotton textiles, and logwood blacks are the standard of color-prints.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

In what structures has timber been supplanted by iron and steel?

In what manufactured article has timber supplanted the use of rags?

When a pine forest is cut away, what kinds of timber are apt to come up in place of the pines?

In what manner does the railway draw upon the forests?--the paper-maker?--the farmer?--the tanner?--the beaver?--the teredo, or s.h.i.+p-worm?

From what country or countries do the following come: boxwood, rosewood, sandal-wood, cinchona, bog oak, jarrah?

FOR STUDY AND REFERENCE

Make a list of the forestry growing in the State in which you live; so far as possible, obtain a specimen of each wood, prepared so as to show square, oblique, split, and polished sections; for what purpose, if any, is each used?

Consult "Check-list of Forestry of the United States" (U.S. Department of Agriculture).

CHAPTER XVI

SEA PRODUCTS AND FURS

The world's fish-catch amounts probably to more than one-quarter of a billion dollars in value and employs upward of a million people; in the United States 200,000 are employed. In some localities, such as the oceanic islands, far distant from the grazing lands of the continents, the flesh of fish is about the only fresh meat obtainable. Even on the continents fish is more available and cheaper than beef. The fish-producing areas pay no taxes; they require no cultivation; moreover, they do not require to be purchased. In general, fish supplements beef as an article of food; it is not a subst.i.tute for the latter.

The whale-catch excepted, fish are generally caught in the shallow waters of the continental coasts. The fish, in great schools, resort to such localities at certain seasons, and the seasons in which they school is the fisherman's opportunity. For the greater part, such shallows and banks are sp.a.w.ning-places. Most of the fish, however, are caught off the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North America, these localities being nearest to the great centres of population.

=Whales.=--The whale is sought mainly in cold waters, and at the present time the chief whaling-grounds are in the vicinity of Point Barrow. In the first half of the nineteenth century whale-fis.h.i.+ng was an industry involving hundreds of vessels and a large aggregate capital. The industry centred about New England seaports.

The train-oil obtained from the blubber of the animal was used partly as a lubricant, but mainly for illuminating purposes. For this purpose, however, it has been superseded by coal-oil, gas, and electricity. It is still in demand as a lubricant, but the whale-oil of commerce is quite as apt to come from the blubber of the porpoise or the sea-cow as from the right whale. Whalebone is a h.o.r.n.y substance taken from the animal's jaw, and is worth from three dollars to eight dollars per pound. It is used chiefly in the manufacture of whips. For other purposes, steel, hard rubber, and celluloid have taken its place.

The substance called _spermaceti_ is derived from the sperm-whale, an inhabitant of warm ocean-waters. Spermaceti is identical in its physical properties with paraffine, and the latter is now almost universally its subst.i.tute.

_Ambergris_, thought to be a morbid secretion or disease of the sperm-whale, is found in the body cavity of the animal and also in ma.s.ses floating in the sea. It is used chiefly to give intensity to the odor of perfumes, and the best quality brings as much as five dollars per ounce. Most of the ambergris of commerce is obtained from the neighborhood of the Bahama Islands.

=Cod.=--In the amount of the product the cod-fisheries are the most important. The meat of the fish is not strong in flavor, and it is cured with little expense. So valuable is the annual catch that the banks and shallows which the schools frequent are governed by international treaties.

The cod is a cold-water fish, and the fis.h.i.+ng-grounds are confined to rather high lat.i.tudes. The coast-waters of the Scandinavian peninsula and the sh.o.r.es of the Canadian coast, especially the Banks of Newfoundland, are the chief areas. The fis.h.i.+ng-grounds of the Canadian coast are closed to foreign vessels inside a three-mile limit; beyond the limit they are occupied mainly by Canadian, French, and American fishermen. By the terms of treaties foreign vessels may enter the three-mile limit under restriction to purchase bait and food-supplies, and to cure their fish.

A large part of the cod-catch is exported. Tropical countries buy much of the product. In such countries it is more wholesome than meat; it is cheaper; moreover, the salted cod will keep for an indefinite length of time. A large part of the catch is sold to the Catholic states of Europe and America, where during certain times the eating of the flesh of animals is forbidden. Gloucester, Ma.s.s., London, England, and Trondhjem, Norway, are great markets for salted fish. The oil from the liver of the cod is much used in medicine.