Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/729

 WOOD 705 before varnishing or oiling it. Staining is often resorted to, and expensive colored woods are imitated in a manner to deceive all but ex- perts. The number of woods esteemed for their odor is few, sandal wood and camphor wood being the principal. The ornamental woods, or fancy woods as they are termed in trade, are often very costly, and are used in the form of thin slices or veneer, glued to a base of common wood. (See VENEKE.) A few years ago a company undertook the manufac- ture of wood hangings, to be used as a substi- tute^ for paper hangings ; the wood was sliced off in a continuous roll, as thin as ordinary wall paper, having been first impregnated with glycerine to prevent it from becoming brittle. One of the principal uses to which wood of nearly all kinds has hitherto been applied by all nations, and still is in many countries, is that of fuel. (See FUEL.) Different kinds of wood vary greatly in their value as fuel. In America the most valuable fire wood for warm- ing apartments, and that used as a standard for comparison, is shell-bark hickory. Sugar maple and beech, named in the order of their value, though very nearly equal, are also very valuable woods for fuel, forming bright solid coals. Among the special uses for which par- ticular woods are peculiarly adapted, there is none more striking than that of boxwood for engravings, for which no substitute approach- ing it in all requisites has been found ; in the qualities of hardness and evenness of texture, allowing of the cutting of lines so delicate that they can only be seen by a strong magnifier, it has no equal. Elm is preferred to all oth- er woods for wagon hubs. The locust, while it makes the most durable of gate and fence posts, is the most valued wood for making the treenails used in ship building ; it is not only used largely in this country, but large quan- tities are annually exported for the purpose. For oars ash is used almost exclusively ; and for gun stocks, walnut. In the articles upon the different trees in this Cyclopaedia the spe- cial uses to which their wood is adapted are mentioned ; and the following list presents the woods in most common use for the purposes named : Building. Ship building: cedar, pine (deals), fir, larch, elm, oak, locust, teak. Wet constructions (as piles, founda- tions, flumes, &c.) : elm, alder, beech, oak, plane tree, white cedar, and palmetto for wharves. House carpentry: pine, oak, whitewood, chestnut, ash, spruce, sycamore. Machinery and miUncork,. Frames: ash, beech, birch, pine, elm, mahogany, oak. Boilers, &c. : box, lignum vite, mahogany, service tree. Teeth of wheels : crab tree, horn- beam, locust, service tree. Foundery patterns: alder, pine, mahogany. Furniture. Common: beech, birch, cedar, cherry, pine, whitewood. Best furniture : Amboyna, black ebony, cherry, mahogany, maple, oak, rosewood, satin wood, sandal wood, chestnut, cedar, tulip wood, walnut, zebra wood, ebony. The better known woods are classified accord- ing to the properties for which they are most valued as follows : Elasticity. Ash, hazel, hickory, lancewood, chestnut (small), snake wood, yew. Elasticity and tougJinest. Beech, elm, lignum vite oak walnut, hornbeam. Even grain (for carving or engraving). Pear, pine, box, Durability. In dry works: cedar, oak, poplar, yellow pine, chestnut. Exposed to weather: larch, locust. Coloring matters. Red : Brazil, braziletto, camwood, log- wood, Nicaragua, red sanders, sapan wood. Green: green ebony. Yellow: fustic, Zante. Scent. Camphor wood, cedar, rosewood, sandal wood satin wood, sassafras. For the resistance to strain of different woods, see STEENGTH OF MATEBIALS. See "Timber and Timber Trees," by Thomas Laslett, timber inspector to the admiralty of Great Britain (London, 1875). WOOD, the name of five counties in the United States. I. A N. W. county of "West Virginia, separated from Ohio by the Ohio river, and drained by the Little Kanawha; area, about 400 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 11,046, of whom 713 were colored. The surface is hilly and the soil fertile. Iron ore and bitu- minous coal are found. It is intersected by the Parkersburg branch of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. The chief productions in 1870 were 68,190 bushels of wheat, 6,929 of rye, 327,506 of Indian corn, 80,839 of oats, 138,239 of potatoes, 215,576 Ibs. of butter, 24,830 of wool, 21,890 of tobacco, and 6,678 tons of hay. There were 2,745 horses, 2,763 milch cows, 3,410 other cattle, 10,419 sheep, and 6,206 swine; 1 manufactory of boots and shoes, 1 of cars, 22 of cooperage, 3 of furniture, 2 of stoves, &c., 8 of rectified coal oil, 1 flour mill, 1 planing mill, and 5 saw mills. Capital, Par- kersburg. II. A N. E. county of Texas, bound- ed S. W. by the Sabine river ; area, 840 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 6,894, of whom 1,247 were colored. The surface is undulating or level, and diversified by prairie and woodland, and the soil is very fertile. The chief productions in 1870 were 1,295 bushels of wheat, 201,547 of Indian corn, 33,033 of sweet potatoes, 11,- 922 Ibs. of butter, and '3,919 bales of cotton. There were 2,226 horses, 3,396 milch cows, 8,693 other cattle, 2,576 sheep, 20,155 swine, and 12 saw mills. Capital, Quitman. III. A N. "W. county of Ohio, bounded N. "W. by the Maumee river, and drained by the Portage and its branches; area, 690 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 24,596. The surface is level, in some places swampy, and the soil is very fertile. A heavy growth of timber covers a large portion of the county. It is intersected by the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern and the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton railroads. The chief productions in 1870 were 256,545 bushels of wheat, 309,272 of Indian corn, 232,364 of oats, 131,600 of potatoes, 662,808 Ibs. of but- ter, 126,064 of wool, and 28,579 tons of hay. There were 6,982 horses, 7,000 milch cows, 8,448 other cattle, 33,035 sheep, and 15,749 swine ; 7 manufactories of carriages and wag- ons, 5 of wooden ware, 6 flour mills, and 33 sawmills. Capital, Bowling Green. IV. A cen- tral county of Wisconsin, drained by the Wis- consin and Yellow rivers and their branches;