Timber and lumber one inch or more in thickness are sold by the square foot, meaning one foot square by one inch thick, or containing one hundred and forty-four cubic inches. Boards less than one inch in thickness, and veneers, are sold by the square foot, face measure. Lumber which is finished at the mills for special purposes may be sold by the running foot, or length in feet, as moldings; or by the piece, as fence-boards, studs, and many kinds cut to standard sizes. A few are sold in quantity, as fence-pickets, laths, or a bundle of shingles, intended to cover a certain area. Many of the more expensive and fancy woods, such as lignum-vitae and boxwood, are sold by the pound.

Values of wood vary with supply and demand as well as with quality and appearance. Durability and a figured grain are especially sought for. Fashion also, in dictating the material as well as the style, determines the demand for the hard woods, particularly those used for furniture and the interior wood-work of houses. Thus we find a succession of favorites, each of which, after serving a few years of preferment, has been set aside to make room for the next. Beginning with mahogany and rose-wood, we note black walnut, ash, ebony and its imitations, and again mahogany, as having been the choice, until at the present day, oak, neglected for many years, is the leading wood.

Kinds Of Wood

In this list are given the woods commonly used by carpenters and joiners, together with their chief characteristics.