Building the Osage Bow Osage Orange Profiles..... This is an Osage Orange tree. Here in the Midwest this tree has multiple uses.It is best suited for the making of fence posts that once in the ground they are good for many decades.It also has another use which is that Osage Orange is an excellent wood to make Osage Bows from.The next ten pages will cover the Osage Orange Bow and Osage Orange History. http://www.osageorange.com/index.html (1 of 5) [8/31/2004 8:11:42 PM] Building the Osage Bow James with this year's Buck harvested with one of his Osage Bows.This Bow was a Selfbow at 45 pounds draw weight. www.bowstaves.com www.osagestaves.com From several points of view the Osage Orange is a tree of extraordinary interest.The historian will tell you that long before the settlement of America by the whites,the Indians used the wood for war-clubs and bows, a custom that gave rise to one of its common names "Bow- Wood"and that its other common name is due to the fact that it was introduced into cultivation among the earliest settlers in St.Louis by specimens procured from the Osage Indians.Also during the developement of the great prairie region beyond the Mississippi the species served an important purpose as a hedge plant,thousands of farmers utilizing it for fencing their fields.The new growth hedge was interwoven to make a tight fence. Although the introduction of barbed wire greatly reduced the importance of these hedge fences.These remaining Hedge Rows now are an excellent source for Hedge Posts. http://www.osageorange.com/index.html (2 of 5) [8/31/2004 8:11:42 PM] Building the Osage Bow Osage Orange is of interest from root to fruit.The bark of the roots is of a bright orange color and furnishes a yellow dye;the ridged and scaly bark of the trunk furnishes tannin for making leather;the branches have attractive leaves with thorns at their bases;the pollen-bearing and seed-bearing flowers are borne upon seperate trees. These round heads mature into one of the strangest fruits known to science:the so-called "Hedgeapple" is a greenish compound fruit made up of a large number of seed-bearing fruits grown together on their edges. The Osage Orange can be propagated very easily and makes good hedges and also a bushy tree that when loaded with fruit attracts much attention.The wood is also relatively immune from insect and fungis attack. The Osage Orange has been recorded to heights of over 60 feet and trunk diameters of 4 to 7 feet. Texas,Oklahoma,and Arkansas are its sites of original growth........... Please E Mail or call 319 835 5892 319 835 0916 http://www.osageorange.com/index.html (3 of 5) [8/31/2004 8:11:42 PM] Building the Osage Bow Here is a nice Osage Orange log for the 12/28/02 year.This log weighs about 250 pounds,12 feet long and 12 inches in diameter.These are hard to find....We will have several like these this year.... We at Osage Orange support all the brave men and women in the Armed Services.Without these people the freedoms we enjoy here in the USA simply would not be.Their sacrifices for us are unparalleled. http://www.osageorange.com/index.html (4 of 5) [8/31/2004 8:11:42 PM] Building the Osage Bow I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God,indivisible,with liberty and justice for all. FastCounter by bCentral INDEX Building the Osage Bow | Osage Orange Profiles | Osage Orange Staves and Billets | Osage Bows that are for Sale | Osage Orange History | More Osage Bow Pictures | Roughing out The Osage Bow | Bow Staves | Osage Orange and Bugs | James Easter Bowyer | Des Moines River | Osage Staves 2002 | Osage Walking Sticks | Draw Knives | Osage Orange Notes | Archery Books This site Osageorange © is Copyrighted and maintained by JME Industrial Services L.L.C.,2603 148Th Ave.Donnellson,Iowa 52625. [email protected] This page last modified on Tuesday March 16, 2004 http://www.osageorange.com/index.html (5 of 5) [8/31/2004 8:11:42 PM] Osage Orange Profiles Building Staves and the Osage.. Billets An Osage Orange Corner post of about 8 inches in diameter that has been in the ground for over 20 years. Thorns on an Osage Orange We also call the Osage Orange a "Hedge" tree.These are Hedge limb.Ouch! apples.Deer and squirrel eat on these.They get about 6 to 8 inches in diameter. http://www.osageorange.com/Osage_Orange_P.html (1 of 8) [8/31/2004 8:12:01 PM] Osage Orange Profiles options Mr.Hedgeapple Red Wiggins does this fine hand work with all kinds of wood.I liked the Osage Orange so here are pictures of his work.These make great gifts.I carry mine everyday and get many who ask about it.Red lives in Lynchburg,Tennessee ( Jack Daniels Country).Please click on the picture and away you go to Red's web site. Hedge Apple MARCH 2000 There was once estimated to be over 250,000 miles of Osage Orange hedge rows such as this.Many are long gone as they are easy places to cut the Osage for fence posts and the farmer no longer needs them to contain his livestock. http://www.osageorange.com/Osage_Orange_P.html (2 of 8) [8/31/2004 8:12:01 PM] Osage Orange Profiles Osage Orange seed was once priced at 50 dollars a bushel in 1850 as settlers moved west.This is SE Iowa hedge. No other wood played such an important part in the early movement west of the settlers as the Osage Orange.It provided the necessary means to divide land and contain livestock.As it grew the branches were intertwined to make the hedge almost impenetrable by animals as well as man.The thorns were also very good help for this as was the quick growth. Al Herrin publishes the White Bear Newsletter.James has subscribed to this for sometime.It has bits of information that blend very well with the Longbow Hunter. His "Cherokee Bows and Arrows" should be read by every person who wants to make their own bow.This book can ordered from his link here.This book will interest you enough to read it twice or more. click here The Hedgeapple... http://www.osageorange.com/Osage_Orange_P.html (3 of 8) [8/31/2004 8:12:01 PM] Osage Orange Profiles You can cut the hedgeapple up very nicely with a common fine tooth Hacksaw as shown.Pick them or buy them in October and November and they will be full of the milk that insects really don't like.Place the wedges on something and then place them around where you want the little creatures to leave.The Milk is sticky and will feel like alum on you skin but it washes off quickly. http://www.osageorange.com/Osage_Orange_P.html (4 of 8) [8/31/2004 8:12:01 PM] Osage Orange Profiles http://www.osageorange.com/Osage_Orange_P.html (5 of 8) [8/31/2004 8:12:01 PM] Osage Orange Profiles http://www.osageorange.com/Osage_Orange_P.html (6 of 8) [8/31/2004 8:12:01 PM] Osage Orange Profiles "Planting the Osage" by Robert McMuririe comes from a little booklet put together by James Conrad called "A brief History of the Bois d'Arc Tree". A place called Commerce, Texac takes the Osage Orange Tree serious and has a Bois d'Arc Bash every year that is all about the history of the this tree.Their web site is listed at osageorange. Growing Bois d'Arc Fences By Robert C. McMurtrie Raising Plants. - The seed can generally be purchased of any seedsman. I soaked the seeds in water for forty-eight hours before planting. When treated thus they sprouted almost as freely as could be desired. Those not soaked came up sparsely and very badly. The ground was prepared as for ordinary garden seeds. The seed was placed in rows, about one foot apart and about one inch deep. I kept the plants carefully weeded from their first appearance till the autumn. The result has been that plants raised one spring are fit for setting out as hedges the next spring. Preparing ground for the Hedge. - In the autumn the line of the ground on which the hedge is to stand is dug as a trench, about eighteen inches wide and one foot deep. The earth is laid on the side of the trench and the bottom broken with a pick. In that condition I left it during the winter for the frost to do its work. Cultivating or Tilling. - In the spring when the ground is warm enough to cause the plants to show the first symptoms of life, by pushing, I put a quantity of the best barnyard manure in the trench or ditch, and on that placed the loose earth left lying at the side during the winter. In this ground the plants were placed. If in two row, eighteen inches apart; if in one row, nine inches apart. The latter, I am inclined to think from experience, is the best for every purpose. The plants thus set out were kept carefully weeded and cultivated all summer. They sprouted slowly and very irregularly. But these were plants purchased. Those I grew were much quicker and more uniform.