Lumbering was one of the earliest industries to be started in America. In fact, there is a legend that Leif Ericson, who was supposed to have visited North America about the year 1000, brought back a cargo of timber from the new world! We do know that one of the first products shipped to England from the Jamestown colony was timber from the Virginia forests.

There are many trees used for building and other purposes. The leading softwood trees include pine, Douglas fir, hemlock, spruce, white fir, cypress, and redwood. Hardwood timber or lumber used for furniture making, flooring, and certain other special purposes comes from such trees as oak, gum, maple, poplar, and walnut.

After a tree is cut down, handsaws or power saws are used to cut the trunk into logs. Then the logs are hauled to a sawmill, or, where there is water transportation, they are floated to the mill.

When a log first enters a large mill, it may be cut into two or more lengths. The log is then rolled onto a carriage, which is mounted on wheels and runs on a track. While the log is held fast, the carriage moves toward one end of the track. This brings the log into contact with a saw which cuts off a slice from one end to the other. This is continued until the log is cut into several slices, each of a desired thickness.

The rough boards are then trimmed, planed smooth, and sorted. Now they must be dried before they can be used as lumber. This is because the weight of a newly cut board is almost two-thirds water! If it were used at once, it would dry out later, and it would war and shrink as it dried.

Some lumber is dried by being piled in the open air, which may take from one month to more than a year. But this way of drying still leaves a water content of from 15 to 20 percent. Another method of drying uses heated rooms called kilns. Here a load of lumber can be dried in two days to two weeks, and its water content is reduced to a very small percentage. For floors and furniture, it is important to have a lower water content, though for most construction purposes, 15 percent is considered all right.

By the way, of the lumber that is used in the United States, 18 percent is used as fuel!