Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 October 1884 — Some Valuable Timbers. [ARTICLE]

Some Valuable Timbers.

The tupelo gum and the willow oak are timbers that are destined to a commercial value never until recently dreamed of. A gentleman residing in Mississippi, who has tested them thoroughly, says the first variety is almost as soft and light as the cork of commerce, and is the whitest timber in the valley. It is extremely light and can not be sjplit, and at the same time it is very tough and tenacious and will bear a,very heavy strain. It will, some day. soon, be used principally for buckets, bowls, pitchers, and trays; also for oxyokes, and for almost all kinds of water vessels. For bread-trays it is the finest in the world. The wood grows among the Dypress trees, and is far more abundant, and floatslike cork. The water or willow oak is second only to the live oak, and is almost as evergreen ; it takes the coldest weather to make it shed its leaves, and it is almost as hard -when seasoned as the live oak, and for the rim and spokes of wheels it has no superior. For ship-building it is almost equal to the live oak. “I have tested the crushing capacity of this wood,” this Mississippian says, “and also the transverse strength, and .it is one-third stronger than any white, poste red or black oak, and only oneeightieth less than live oak. And yet this wood has no market value. Memphis (Tenn.) Appeal.