Canadian forest industries 1886-1888 (1888) (20497092296)

Title: Canadian forest industries 1886-1888
Identifier: canadianforest188688donm (find matches)
Year: 1888 (1880s)
Authors:
Subjects: Lumbering; Forests and forestry; Forest products; Wood-pulp industry; Wood-using industries
Publisher: Don Mills, Ont. : Southam Business Publications
Contributing Library: Fisher - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto



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1'UHLISHKD ) SiMl-MOliTHLY. ( The only Newspaper devoted to the Lumber and Timber Industries published in Canada ( KIIJW'KIHTION NOTES FROM THE WORLD OF WOOD. A process has been discovered by which wood may be compressed into various designs, having all the appearance of carving, and with a filler finish. The process consists in paringhardwood shavings as thin as wafe's, which are then placed in a chemical solution. When in a pro- perly pliable condition, the mass is introduced into nioids made fiom steel plates, and pressure is applied, which forces the wood pulp in every line of the mold. Wiien it becomes dry, it is removed from the mold and has exactly the appearance of a wood carving, with the grain of the wood as perfect as though it had never been reduced to a pliant condition. The process is a German invention, and large numbers of differ- ent designs are now being manufactured in the the city of Berlin. The tradition is, if the oak gets iuto leaf be- fore the ash, we may expect a fine and produc- tive year. If the reverse is the case, a cold summer and unproductive autumn are antici- pated. Statistics have been collected on this point extending over 30 years. The oak displayed its foliage several months before the ash in 1818 to 1820, 1882, 1821 to 1827. 1833 to 1837, 1812, 1840, 1854, 1808 and 180'J, all inclu- sive, and the summers of those years were dry and warm, and the harvest abundant. '1 he ash displayed i's foliage full a month before the oak in 1810, 1817. 1821. 1823, 1828 to 1830, 1838, 1810, 1845, 1850 and 1850, and the autumns were unfavorable. The forest trees east of the Rocky Mountains have been divided into four groups, as regards their geographical distribution within the Do- minion : (1 ) A northern group, including the white and black spruces, larch, Bauksian pine, balsam fir, aspen, balsam, poplar, canoe birch, willows and alder. (2.) A central group of aixiut forty species, occupying the belt of country from the white pine line to that of the button wood. (3.) A southern group embracing the button wood, black walnut, the hickories, chestnut tulip tree, prickly ash, sour gum, sassafras and flowering dogwood (4.) A western group, consisting of the ash-leaved maple, burr-oak, Cottonwood and green ash Of a monster oak fi lled in England in 1810 the main trunk, 10 feet long, produced 150 cubic feet; one limb 472 cubic feet, and other linibu nwirectively 355, 235, 150, 113 and lOli cubic feet; six other limbs of inferior size averaged 03 feet each, making a total of 2,415 cubic feet of sound timber. The bark was estimated at six tons. It took (ivc men twenty dayn \/> strip and cut down this tree, and two sawyers were five months without losing a day (Sunday excepted) in converting it into timber 4he main trunk of this tree was 0J feet in dutaefa i. The whole produce of the tree in the market brought about 83,000. A distillery ha* lately been put in operation at Ohfrh^ton, S. C, for manufacturing oil from pine wood. The material is subjected to intense heat in sealed retorts, and one cord of it is said to yield fifteen gallons of turpentine, eighty gallons of piuewood oil,fifty bushels of charcoal, 150 ga'lons of wood vinegar, and a quantity of inflammable gas and vegetable asphaltum. The oil alone is worth about 25 cents a gallon and is used by painters and shipbuilders. There is a small tree growing in a gulch near Tuscarora. Nevada, the foliage of which at certain seasons is said to be so luminous that it can be distinguished a mile away in darkest uight. In its immediate region it emits sufficient light to enable a person to read the finest print. Its luminosity is said to be due to parasites. It is said that one of the properties specially conducive to durability in timber is odoriter- ousness. It is also said that the increase in strength due to seasoning m different woods is as follows :—Elm, 12.3 per cent. ; oak, 20.0 per cent. ; ash, 44.7 per cent. ; beech, 61.9 per cent. The comparative value of different woods in respect to crushing strength and stiffness is thus shown : Oak 40,74, ash 3 571, elm 3,468, beech 3,070. Regarding relative degree of hardness, shell hickory stands the highest, and, calling that 100. white oak is 81, white ash 77. Lieutenant lamer Gossende, of the German navy, and Dr. Kuinmel have explored North- east, Guinea. They report that they reached a spot twehe days' march from the coast and dis- covered that their compass was useless, owing to the presence of a tree which possesses the properties of a highly charged electrical battery. Dr. Kuumiel was knocked down when he touched it. Analysis showed it to consist of almost pure amorphous carbon. It has been nam. d Elsassia electrica. The American Architect says that the j Southern pine seems to be. the natural habitation I in this country of the cimex lectularius, or bed ; bug, which is found in immense numbers under j the bark of old trees of that species. If the wood contains natural clefts, the insects and ' their eggs remain in these after sawing and are often canied in that way in the seams of large timber into buildings It is worth noticing that living trees of yellow pine sometimes keer houses near them infested with the vermin, which stray in all directions from their home. The inventive genius of the Yankee is con- stantly widening the use for lumber. Last year a concern in Maine cut up, in the aggregate 1,200 cords of white birch logs into shanks and counters for boots ami shoes Special machinery is used for the purpose, and the white birch is' displacing leather board to a considerable C\tent. The more extended use ot the hard wocds in shoe making is among the possibilities of the near future. Among the latest invention is that of a match which may be used over again an indefinite number of times. The wood is soaked with a peculiar chemical solution which renders such reusing practicable. The following ;trees~were in ancient times dedicated to heathen gods : The cornel, cherry- tree and laurel to Apollo, cypress to Pluto, myrtle to Venus, oak to Jupiter, olive to Min- erva and Pallas Athene. It is curious to note that the laurel, cypress, myrtle, oak and olive are all funeral plants. The olive with the Greeks was an emblem of chasity. — Exchange. SAW MILL AT CAMBELLFORD. On Tuesday last we spent a few minutes looking at the operations of Rathbun & Co.'s saw mills in this village, and while there learn ed from Mr. Joseph Clairmont, the trustworthy manager, that the average daily product of this manufactory is 800 railway ties and between 10,000 and 11,000 lath, besides a quantity of lumber. There are 25 men now working steadily every minute of the day, as busy as the machinery I beside them, handling the logs which come down the river, and cutting them up into ties, lath and lumber. Ten saws are in constant motion. Two large saws are rapidly revolving on the first floor, at the north end of the building, butting and edging the logs which come up from the water where they are boomed, on what, in the absence of the proper name we will call a carrier The large logs are handled with ease by the dexter- ous workmen, who first saw off the ends and then slide them on a truck which moves back- wards and forwards on a track to and from the edger. This large saw does rapid execution, and the railway ties are cut as quick as thought and removed by men at the other end of the track, who slide them through an opening in the building and deposit them on waggons which are drawn to the cars. The slabs from the logs are then put through a planing machine and converted into lumber, while the small pieces are placed on a carrier and deposited on the second floor where men quickly cut them up into lath. They are as busy as bees, too, turn- ing out 10,000 per day. In front department of the building is a machine for planing and edging lumber, which is fed by Mr. J. D. Amey. Near it is the in- vention of one of the Rathbun company, a guin- uier, for sharpening saws, which is worked by Mr. Ducheman. By the aid of this machine which carries an emery wheel making 1600 revolutions per minute, a large saw is sharpen- ed ready for work in twenty minutes. The shingle machine is not yet in operation but will be shortly. The engine which drives the machinery, with improvement and the care of a tidy engineer, looks like a new one. Near it is a pump and hose ready for use to quench a fire. The railway track has been laid along Ranney street to the mill, and will be ballasted and completed in about ten days. A switch is to be laid in front of the mill, and another at the rear, on which cars will be run and l»aded m the ties come from the saws. Fifteen car loads of ties were taken away on Monday.- Herald. THE BTJISNESS OUTLOOK, The New York Saw Mill UasxXtt says -.—The semi annual report lately issued by the mercan- tile agency of R. G. Dun & Co., shows a material improvement in the business outlook throughout the United States. Notwithstand- ing the strain resulting from labor troubles the record of business failures during the first six months of the present year shows a marked de- crease as compared with the failures of the same period in the preceding year. The liabilities of insolvents for the period referred to in L886 were considerably smaller in amount thau they were in the corresponding period of 1S85. The report calls attention to other encourag- ing features of the times among which are the virtual decisirn of the conflict of labor against capital, and the fact that values of all kinds have apparently reached their lowest iioint. The power of the labor organizations to resist the ordinary laws of trade is not so seriously estimated as it was a few months ago. Confi- dence has been restored and there is a manifest disposition to extend business operations and engage in new enterprise. Good crops are now assured, generally speaking, and the fall season is looked forward to as likely to yield satisfac- tory returns in trade circles. The abundance of money, the result of the growth of the coun- try iu wealth, is one of the characteristics features of the times and is also a most influen- tial factor in the business situation. In confir- mation of the views expressed in this report Messrs. Dun & Co. present statements by their agents with reference to the condition of trade at all the leading business points in the country. As regards the lumber trade, the outlook is in most respects encouraging. The temporary check to building operations caused by the labor troubles, has been succeeded by a marked activity in this trade throughout the east and west. The present consumption of lumber in the building trade is almost equal in amount to that called for at the same period last year, and it is possible that the demand for lumber for railway construstion will soon exceed the mills. In hardwoods the transactions are moderate but the market is firm. Walnut, is in special demand, and holders of good lots are not inclined to make concessions in prices. In sash, doors and bliuds the business being done is not large, but much activity is not to be expected at this season, and it is evident that prices are being fairly sustained. RKrOKTS from Temiseamingue state the tim- ber drives on the Kippewa and Upper Ottawa are successful this season, notwithstanding that fears were entertained at an earlier date con- cerning the insufficiency of the spring floods.