Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1880 [PAGE 102]

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100 and rarely for furniture and inside finish, in this country. It ought to be more used for furniture, as it is very appropriate for offices, libraries and dining rooms, because it is handsome and well adapted to decoration by carving and inlays. Heart-wood is durable, but sap-wood is liable to become "powder-posted," and to dry rot. The best is heavy, with few ducts and thick layers, a straight grain and free from sap. This is the most valuable of all the oaks, and should be more used in building and for furniture. It darkens with age, and becomes very rich in color, perhaps the handsomest of all native woods. The principal difficulty in its use is its difficulty of working. It is dressed or worked by machinery with great difficulty, as the edges of the knives are quickly taken off and they soon begin to gouge into the wood. But this can be in psLrt avoided by a selection of a lighter and more brittle kind, which is strong enough for furniture, and by thoroughly drying it before using. The very best furniture is mostly made by hand, and the increased cost of working is in part made up by the smaller cost of the material. Warps unless fully seasoned. Osage Orange.—Wood rather coarse, deep yellow, hard and heavy, sometimes used for turning, inlays and ornamental work. Palmetto.—Said not to be injured by animals in salt water, and therefore used sometimes for piles of wharves and of other constructions in salt water. Pear.—Eesembles apple in properties, but is light brown in color, liable to dry rot, very stable, excellent, and much used for turning, models, T-squares, triangles and rulers. Most of the German drawing instruments are made of this wood. Eare in America, though it is probably imported sometimes. Imitation ebony is sometimes made by dyeing pear wood. It is excellent for fine carving, though its color is not pleasing. Pine, Norway.—Wood whitish, of medium hardness, heavy; requires long seasoning, and is apt to warp, and hence should not be used for good work. It is sold at the yards mixed with white pine, and is used for the same purposes, though it will never give satisfaction for any important work. It is commonly called "hard pine" by the mechanics, though really a different species. It may be readily known by its weight and its color, whiter than that of white pine, and by the more apparent annual layers. Pine, Southern or Yellow.—Wood yellowish, of medium hardness, very valuable for building purposes, durable and stable. Much used for ships, building, floors, and furniture, etc. It is considerably stronger than white pine, to which it should be preferred, when it can be obtained. It is the best and most useful variety of pine, though not so abundant or as commonly used as white pine. It is much used in the cities along the Atlantic coast for the best buildings. Pine, White.—Wood of a light yellowish-white color, soft, and easily worked, and durable when dry, or under water. This is the principal wood used in the United States for all building purposes. Stable when properly selected, seasoned and worked. The best is from large trees, with thick annual layers, few ducts, and free from resin and shakes. This is yellowish in color, darker than the ordinary quality. This is excellent for drawing boards, and for furniture, etc.