Larch Distinctive Among Associated Species For Strength and Beauty

lighter softwoods but in the same general range with other structural species. Dried from a green state to 12-15 per cent moisture content, it has a volumetric shrinkage of 6.6 Per cent.

Larch has exceptional nail holding power. Safe withdrawal resistance of perpendicularly driven eight-penny nails in seasoned stock is 27 pounds per lineal inch. Blunt-pointed nails are recommended to overcome a slight tendqncy toward splitting.

For painted surfaces, a good prime coat such as aluminum paint or white lead in oil is recommended. When larch ib used in contact with the soil, preservatives should be used.

The properties of larch fit it ideally to structural uses in the construction field. From residential framing to bridging, railroad ties and mine timbers, it has a tong record of proven performance. Joists, studding, sheathing, rafters, ridgepoles, subflooring and decking require the exceptional strength of larch. It is widely used for roof trusses, bridge and wharf plank, factory flooring, grandstands, concrete forms, and many railroad purposes including rolling stock.

I-arch, companion piece to Douglas fir as a Western pine region structural u'ood, is a unique forest species.

It is a conifer, like other softwoods of commercial importance, but it's not an evergreen. Each fall, its short, flexible, brilliant green needles turn a bright yellow, then drop to the ground just as do the colorful leaves of hardwood trees. Through the winter, it is frequently taken by visitors for dead, but in the spring the I-arch tree again bursts forth in its bright green dress-one of the most spectacular of all the conifers. And the vivid yellow-red-brown color of the bark heightens the appearance.

The trees are large, frequently growing to heights of. 2OO feet and diameters of five feet. They grow intenningled with Douglas fir, White fir, Ponderosa pine, Idaho white pine, Engelmann spruce and Lodgepole pine in the Inland Empire area of the Western pine region-in eastern Washington, northeastern Oregon, northern Idaho and western Montana.

Average annual production is more than 200 million board feet and standing sawtimber inventory is estimated at 26 billion board feet. Many mills of limited larch and Douglas fir production combine the trvo into a common product known as fir and larch.

Like the tree, the wood is distinctive in appearance, too. Heartwood is dlrk russet or reddish brown. Sapwood, generally not more than three-quarters of an inch thick and largely slabbed off in sawing is straw-colored.

The wood has an extremely fine and uniform grain, averaging 2l to 27 rings per inch. It is rough-fibered and fine textured, working well and machining to exceptional smoothness. Flat grained stock presents a beautifully figured face. Heavier than most softwoods, it weighs 36 pounds per cubic foot at 12 per cent moisture content. Specific gravity is .48.

As a heaw wood. larch will shrink and swell more than most

In vertical grain stock, larch is extremely resistant to abrasion, scuffing and denting. Its unusual coloring adds to its value as residential, club and store flooring.

About the farm, where strength and durability are usually primary requirements, larch is used for barn construction, feeders, cribbing, flooring, gates and fences, granaries, sheds, watering troughs and many other miscellaneous purPoses.

But larch also finds many finish Purposes. As knotty or clear-vertical-grain paneling and woodwork it is used extensivety in hunting lodges, residences and cabins throughout the west. It is fabricated into lawn furniture, built-ins, swings, ironing boards, window sash and frames and a multitude of other articles bv woodwork concerns.

Hammond Yard Managers Vi3it Mill and Logging Operationr

A group of managers from the retail yards in Northern California of the Hammond Lumber Company left November 13 to spend three days visiting the company's sawmills at Samoa and Eureka, the logging operation, the cookhouse at Big l-agoon, and the retail yards in Eureka and Arcata. With the n-rajority this was their first trip to the logging and saw' mill operation.

Those in the group were: R. C. Allen, assistant to Forest Peil, who is in charge of all Northern California retail yards; J. E. Edwards, R. L. Ustick, C. C. Follett, J. M. Nicholas, B. L. Peart, Robert Remy, L. J. Robinson, J. E. Pearce, Vern Arneson, W. H. Bond