issih ga .
aE

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BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE

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THE GIFT OF

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1691

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Tia

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http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924002967200

TIMBER

UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME

Each 1s. 6d. net

PITMAN’S
COMMON COMMODITIES
OF COMMERCE

TEA. . By A. IpBETSON
COFFEE By B. B. KEABLE
COTTON By R. J. PEAKE
SUGAR. By G. Marringau, C.B.

OIL . . By C. A. MitcHeE t, B.A.,
F.C.

RUBBER By C. Brave and H. P.
Stevens, M.A., Ph.D.,
F.LC.

IRON AND

STEEL By C. Hoop

SILK . By LuTHER Hooper

WOOL . By J. A. HunTER

TOBACCO By A. E. TANNER

COAL . By F. H. Witson

LINEN . By ALFRED S. Moore

LEATHER By K. J. Apcocx

CLAYS AND CLAY
PRODUCTS By A. B. SEARLE

Other Volumes in Preparation

Photo by Darius Ninsey, Seattle, Wash.
A GIANT PINE, CALIFORNIA

PITMAN’S COMMON COMMODITIES OF
COMMERCE

TIMBER

FROM THE FOREST TO ITS USE
IN COMMERCE

BY

WILLIAM BULLOCK

LonpDon
Str Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltp., 1 AMEN CoRNER, E.C
Batu, NEw York AND MELBOURNE

PRINTED BY SiR Isaac PITMAN
& Sons, Lrp., Lonpon, Batu,
New York AND MELBOURNE

PREFACE

At the desire of the publishers I have attempted, in
the following pages, to write some account of the timbers
which enter so largely:into the composition of many
objects in our everyday life.

The literature relating to the subject is not extensive,
and, with one or two exceptions, the books that have
been published have been written more with a view to
disseminate botanical or other scientific information
than to give a practical knowledge of the woods in every-
day use. As this book is for popular consumption, I
have, therefore, endeavoured to make it as free from
technical and scientific terms as possible, and have also,
partly from the limits of the pages, strictly confined my
remarks to the timbers which are at the present time
dealt with in ordinary commerce, and of which I can
speak with a practical knowledge gained in a rather
lengthy experience in handling, buying and selling.

For some interesting statistics in reference to a few
of the woods, I have to tender my thanks to the Editor
of The Timber Trades’ Journal, and I must also express
my obligations for further records which were obtained
from the well-known firm of London Wood-brokers,
Churchill & Sim.

WILLIAM BULLOCK.

STOKE NEWINGTON,
Lonpon, N.

CHAP.

Il.

Iv.

XIIl.

XIV.

XV.

CONTENTS

PREFACE . 3 F ‘

INTRODUCTION 7 . . ie .

NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF TIMBER AS
CONNECTED WITH GREAT BRITAIN

THE CONIFEROUS TREES OF COMMERCE.
EUROPEAN AND OTHER EASTERN SPECIES
IN USE AT THE PRESENT TIME

THE CONIFEROUS TIMBERS OF CANADA AND
OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE WESTERN
HEMISPHERE

THE HARDWOOD OR BROAD-LEAF SECTION
OF TREES . E .

THE MAHOGANIES OF COMMERCE . .

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE DIFFERENT VARIE-
TIES OF MAHOGANY . : .

THE MAHOGANY PRODUCTS OF THE WEST
COAST OF AFRICA

THE EUROPEAN VARIETIES OF HARDWOODS
COMMONLY IN USE . . ‘

HARDWOOD TIMBERS FROM ASIATIC SOURCES

THE HARDWOOD TIMBERS OF JAPAN AND
THE AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES . .

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE HARDWOOD TIMBERS
OF CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES
THAT ARE SUPPLIED TO BRITISH MARKETS

THE HARDWOOD TIMBERS OF CENTRAL AND
SOUTH AMERICA : . .

SOME NOTES ON THE EXTRACTION OF
TIMBER IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES .

THE OUTLOOK FOR FUTURE SUPPLIES .

vii

PAGE

19

31

44
52

58
64

74
87

97

106
114

122
137

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

A GIANT PINE, CALIFORNIA ! : Frontispiece
A DUTCH WIND SAWMILIL . : : : . di
DEAL YARDS, RIGA. ; : : : . 21
FIR TIMBER FROM NORTHERN FORESTS : ~ 2
TRANSPORTING TIMBER IN AUSTRALIA : . 29
SHINGLE BOLTS ON A CALIFORNIAN RIVER. 35
A RUSSIAN WAINSCOT OAK LOG ; . . 47
FIGURED HONDURAS MAHOGANY . F é . 55
MAHOGANY LOGS FOR SHIPMENT, SEKONDI . 69
THINNING HORNBEAM WOODS, EPPING FOREST . 83
JARRAH : ; . 99
SILKY OAK : : ; ; . 101
HONEYSUCKLE . ; : : : . 103
BLACK BEAN : : : F é . 104
TIMBER-HOISTING, CALIFORNIA. ; . 127

INITIAL OPERATIONS ON A BUTTRESSED MAHOGANY
TREE. : ‘ : . 185

ix

TIMBER

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Few products of nature are of more manifold utility
than timber and few have such powers of adapta-
bility ; whether our outlook may be in the midst of
cities, in the centre of agricultural districts or amid
primitive civilization, we see on all sides convincing
proof of its general use and necessity. It is with us
in some form or another from the cradle all through life
to the end of one’s existence, and the most casual
observer cannot fail to recognise its ever present and near
relation to all the numerous commodities of everyday
life.

It is therefore natural that a product with which we
are all, to a more or less extent, so familiar should
form an interesting subject to dilate upon, condensing
information which has been gained by long and close
connection with the material, in order to afford readers,
who have perhaps had their interest centred in other
channels, some knowledge of the many varieties of
woods that exist, their varied qualities, their uses
and the part they have played in the progress of the
world.

The greater part of the globe at one time or another
was covered with timber forests. The conditions
were favourable for reproduction and the result was
vigorous regeneration by the creative power of the

1

2 TIMBER

soil and climate. Gradually man and _ civilization
advanced and reckless attrition of these forests took
place, by fires to clear the land for agricultural pur-
poses, by unnecessary extravagance in supplying
domestic requirements and other ways. This prodigal
waste was rampant wherever civilization progressed,
and gradually such tracts of country became denuded.
This extinction of the forests which had protected the
land led, especially in tropical countries, to radical
alterations in the water supplies, to changes in the
climate, to great erosion of land and, finally, to a
transformation in the sylvan character of the country.

The position at the present time is that many coun-
tries are more or less devoid of timber, others by careful
afforestation have kept up a moderate supply, while
in several more, mostly undeveloped or which are in
course of development by civilization, the reckless
waste and non-provision for the future, as carried on
in bygone times, is still more or less prevalent.

Statistics of the forest areas of many parts of the
world at the present time can only be vaguely
estimated. Those relating to Europe may however be
taken as approximately correct, and Sir William
Schlick estimated that in 1901 over 758,000,000 acres
of land in Europe were more or less afforested, the
figures giving a proportion of 31 per cent. of the total
area, and to the population 2 acres per head. The
full figures in regard to the different countries in Europe
are interesting and from the above author’s Manual
of Forestry the following details are quoted—

Russia has 516,000,000 acres afforested * per cent. of the total
Sweden 5a 48, 000, 000 ,, Pe ai ss 5

A.-Hungary ,, 46, 410, 000 ,, i 30 ” ” ”
France “ 23'530,000 a sy 18 id i" ss
Spain * 20;960;000 7 A MES ch Ag us
Germany » 34,490,000 _,, “9 26 a ei ‘

Norway » 17,000,000 _,, i 21 ee te a

INTRODUCTION 3

Italy has 10,110,000 acres afforested 14 per cent. of the total
Turkey » 6,180,000 _,, ” ey ”
G. Britain ,, 3,030,000 ,, 5 4 * i 5
Switzerland ,, 2,100,000 _,, ~ 20 45 ws i
Greece . 2,030,000 ,, 3 16 i ne -
Portugal ” 777,000 ,, ” 3 on %
Belgium ” 250,000 _,, ” Fos ”
Holland 570,000 ,, Mi a es is
Denmark __,, 600,000 _,, » 6 oo» ”
Bulgaria and

Herzegovina,, 10,650,000 _,, a 45 ‘5 A a
Bosnia wi 6,790,000 ,, Y 53 na « .
Servia ” 2,390,000 _,, 2 20 a fe 4
Roumania ,, 5,030,000 _,, 0 17 a a

As to other countries in the Eastern hemisphere,
the Siberian portions of Russian territory are known to
be well afforested; Japan and Manchuria have also
considerable resources, but little is known in regard to
China. About a twelfth of the total area of India is
under woodland, and estimates of the area on which
marketable timber is growing in Australia give a total
of over 1,000,000 acres. Little is known in a positive
way in regard to the timber resources of the great
Continent of Africa, but extensive forests certainly
exist in the central portion and along the Northern
districts, principally in Algiers, where about 5,000,000
acres of forests are known to be under French control.

In the Western hemisphere Canada has large
resources, but with the steady and rapid development
of the country enormous inroads are being made on
her supply, and unfortunately with no corresponding
replacement on a commensurate scale. British
Columbia is also a heavily-wooded country; but, for-
tunately perhaps, has not been exploited to the same
extent, the long voyage round Cape Horn, which was
necessary to bring the timber to European markets,
retarding its shipment ; doubtless, on the opening of the
Panama Canal, a rapid development in the exploitation
of wood from this country will soon be made.

4 TIMBER

The United States form a typical example of the
rapid exhaustion of the woods of a country under the
advance of civilization and in conjunction with
insufficient care in husbanding supplies and neglect
of re-afforestation. The country on its first discovery
was practically covered with virgin forests of large
extent, but, by fire, reckless waste, commercial greed
in marketing all and every sort of timber that could be
cut down, and an almost total neglect of replanting,
is within sight of a practical exhaustion of its timber
supplies. Already it has begun its transition from an
exporting country to an importing one, large supplies
from Canada and other places being needed to fill its
consumers’ demand. It is prophesied that twenty
years hence no native timber of any kind will be
available for export.

Turning from the United States to the various
central American Republics we find that most of these
States are well timbered and only partly developed.
Some, or most, of the West India Islands are depleted
or in course of becoming exhausted, no provision so
far as is known having been taken to regenerate.
Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador have large resources
which have been little exploited. French Guiana is also
rich in timber, a similar position being held by British
Guiana, although in this latter possession, where there
have been signs of failing supplies, conservation has
been introduced to a small extent.

The great and comparatively unknown country of
Brazil is richly afforested with tropical woods, which
are all but unknown, while other extensive countries
in Southern America—Peru, Bolivia and the Argentine—
are understood to be but sparsely wooded.

It may thus be seen that a more or less rapid exploita-
tion of the timber resources of the world is in progress,

INTRODUCTION 5

and that, with extending civilization and increased
demands for timber, the consumption is yearly becom-
ing greater. As this demand increases, so the supply
becomes less and consequently, year by year, prices,
taken all round, show an advance. Speaking gen-
erally there is practically little conservation taking
place on a commensurate scale, and the prospects are
clear as to the future—namely, an ever-growing demand,
lessened supplies, and ever-advancing rates.

CHAPTER II

NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF TIMBER AS CONNECTED
WITH GREAT BRITAIN

A BRIEF and retrospective sketch of the history of
timber, especially in reference to its uses and the impor-
tant part it has played in the development of Great
Britain, may perhaps be of interest and form a fitting
introduction to the several chapters which it is intended
to devote to a few of the principal woods which are in
regular use.

It is on record that, at the time of the Conquest in
1066, England must have been of a densely afforested
character, the Domesday Book of 1085 showing that
in the five counties of Derbyshire, Kent, Sussex, Surrey
and Yorkshire alone, no fewer than 1,033 woods
and forests existed. The scattered but rapidly
disappearing remnants of these forests at the present
time are some little testimony to the past wooded
character of the land. To mention only a few in the
Midland and Southern Counties, we have Sherwood
forest in Nottinghamshire, Charnwood in Leicester-
shire, a small and scattered portion of Shakespeare’s
great forest of Arden in Warwickshire, Whittlebury and
Salcey in Northamptonshire, Needwood in Stafford-
shire, Ashdown in Sussex, Waltham or Epping forest
in Essex, and the New Forest in Hampshire. Besides
these may be added the several Chases and Warrens,
such as Cannock, Malvern, Hatfield and Loxley in
Yorkshire, and others which, formerly well-timbered
lands, are now but partially wooded.

Supplies of oak, ash, wych elm, willow, yew and
other trees must have been abundant in these forests,

6

NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF TIMBER, ETC. 7

the first mentioned wood doubtless largely predom-
inating. With the rapidly increasing needs of a growing
community these timber resources were freely and
‘rapidly drawn upon up to the sixteenth century.
Material for the construction of bridges was needed
and for the making of galleys and, later, for the ships
by which communication with oversea countries was
obtained: much was also consumed for domestic
uses, for the building of dwellings, for fuel and
many other purposes. With a growing population
there also arose a greater need for agricultural acreage,
and a consequent clearance and grubbing up of much
wooded land took place; moreover a large supply was
needed for smelting, as the increasing use of iron began
to arise.

England’s naval supremacy, which at this time began
to be asserted, not only was due to the inborn fighting
qualities of her seamen, but was assisted by the
capabilities of her shipbuilders and by the virtues of
her native-grown oak. So far-famed were its qualities,
that it is most authentically recorded that one of the
instructions given to the Duke of Medina Sidonia,
who commanded the great Spanish Armada fleet in
1588, was that he should, if he effected a landing in
England, destroy the Forest of Dean area, oak from
this locality being, it was understood, largely used in
the building of English ships.

The increased use of this wood for shipbuilding and
other purposes and the first felt difficulty of obtaining
supplies was experienced about this time, and a great
outcry arose in regard to the prodigal waste that was
rampant respecting its use. It was prophesied that its
extermination would bring about the ultimate downfall
of the English nation, and, as early as 1531, an Act to
arrest the depletion was put into force ; another of more

2—(14604)

8 TIMBER

important character, which was designed to enforce
restrictions respecting the felling of trees and to prevent
the conversion of afforested lands into agricultural
acreage, being placed upon the Statue Book ten years
later. Another enactment in 1558 was also passed,
regulating and limiting the size in which wood could be
utilized for smelting purposes, and in 1592 a further
Act was instituted.

Under the rapid development of the country by the
introduction of steam power and its application to
the means of transit by land and water, the native
supplies of timber became wholly inadequate ; increased
demands arose and, to fill these, timber from other
European sources began to find its way into the country.

It is recorded by some authorities that, as early as
the sixteenth century, fir timber, in partially squared
condition or balks as they were called, was brought
from the Baltic, probably from Dantzig or other
Prussian ports, and used on the East coast for masts,
spars and other purposes. It was not however until
later that supplies increased, when, together with this
fir,—red or yellow deal as it is called in our days—oak
from the same ports began to relieve the difficulties of
consumers in finding sufficient native-grown wood.
The imports, both of the above mentioned fir timber
and of the oak, grew largely, and then, it is under-
stood, through the enterprise of Dutch merchants,
additional supplies of Norwegian and Swedish fir began
to arrive. Later, oak and other woods from the
acquired Colonial Possessions in America were first
brought over.

A new era in the history of the trade thus arrived :
no longer was the community dependent on native
woods, and, with the rapid development of the country,
growing calls were forthcoming for the important

NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF TIMBER, ETC. 9

material. From the outset all this foreign wood shipped
to English ports was subject to a Government duty.
These taxes were largely differential, the imposts having
been greatly in favour of the Colonial products.

They were, however, between 1842 and 1851, gradu-
ally brought into unison, -and in the latter mentioned
year were made equal by the substitution of an all-
round rate of 7s. 6d. and 10s. per load of 50 cubic ft.
according to description. In 1860 they were again
reduced to Is. per load of hewn timber and 2s. 6d. per load
of sawn and, finally, in 1866 they were altogether repealed.

As above noted, all this wood when first imported was
in the nature of hewn balks, round tree trunks roughly
squared by means of the adze, and to convert these into
suitable dimensions for the convenience of consumers pit
sawyers were employed. These, a sturdy race of men
fitted for such arduous labour, had at this time and up
to fifty or sixty years ago, a halcyon existence, and it
was no doubt, in some measure, due to their continually
growing independence, irregularity and neglect of the
abundant work that was available, that the applica-
tion of machinery for the conversion and manipulation
of wood was brought about. Even to this day this
now primitive method of converting timber may be
occasionally met with in remote country districts where
mechanical power is not available.

As is generally known, two men were employed at this
method of sawing, and in connection with them
allusion may be made to the old and popular expression
“top sawyer,” meaning one in the first rank or at the
head, this referring to the man standing‘on the top of
the log, who was in authority and guided the saw to
the chalked line impressed on the top of. the log.

The introduction of machinery into the country
for the conversion of timber was followed by its use

10 TIMBER

in many exporting countries, and gradually the receipt
of wood in balks as before described was changed
and timber sawn into what is popularly known as
deals took its place. These methods of exporting the
material grew especially in Sweden, Norway and
Russia with the result that, at the present time, con-
sumers receive timber cut into almost every size to
suit their requirements, flooring-boards ready to lay
down, match-lining ready to put up, and mouldings
ready to plant on the work.

The importation of timber, and more especially that
of the coniferous species suitable for building
construction, grew by leaps and bounds, Swedish,
Norwegian, Russian, Canadian and other afforested
regions in all parts of the globe were laid under contri-
bution, and its final growth up to the present day may
be best brought to the reader’s notice by the inclusion
of the Board of Trade returns for the year 1914, just
concluded.

STATISTICS OF THE IMPORT OF WOOD INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM
Durine 1914, as IssuED BY THE BOARD OF TRADE

Sawn and Planed. Loads. Value.
Russia , , ‘ . 1,707,030 £5,004,932
Sweden. : 4 . 1,326,753 4,175,630
Norway . P ; 262,068 1,022,016
United States . F ‘ 377,084 1,539,560
Canada. ‘ : . 847,380 2,812,608
Other Countries : F 104,820 396,801

Sleepers Pe s 215,543 656,000

4,840,678 15,607,547

Hewn and Pit-props . 3,128,648 6,528, 148
Staves, Mahogany . 4 463,320 3,201,256
Grand Total . . 8,432,646 £25,336,951

In the above short résumé of the history of timber,

By perinission of the ‘' Timber Trades Journal.”

A DUTCH WIND SAWMILL

12 TIMBER

together with a slight account of the trade as carried
on in Great Britain, while the remarks have been
general, a more particular application has been directed
to the coniferous section, or what is known as soft woods,
and it may perhaps be convenient, in this preliminary
chapter, to give a brief sketch of the history of two or
three of the principal woods which hold an outstanding
position in another section of the timber trade, namely,
the hardwood branch. These, used in the manufac-
ture of furniture, in boat and shipbuilding, in railway
wagon and carriage construction, and in innumerable
other industries, form. an important part in timber
commerce. The expansion in the import and con-
sumption was perhaps not so rapid at first as in that
of the coniferous woods, but during the last thirty or
forty years, with fresh sources from which supplies
are continually arriving, the import has been an
increasingly progressive one and consumption has
extended as the wealth and prosperity of the country
have increased.

In reference to oak, which has perhaps held up to the
present time the most important position compared
with other timbers which are classed as hardwoods,
the early history of the native-grown species, its ex-
tensive use in early days, and, notwithstanding the
efforts of the State, its gradual depletion have previously
been noted. The first sources from which was obtained
other wood to augment our failing supply were some
districts in the Baltic, Dantzig being probably the
first port to send wood. Later, exports were received
from Stettin and Memel, and at a near period Russian
shipments from Riga and also from Odessa in the
Black Sea began to find their way to the markets.
Towards 1861 American oak was first shipped to
England, that from Maryland and supplies shipped

NUTES ON THE HISTORY OF TIMBER, ETC. 13

from Baltimore being the first timber of this variety
introduced.

For shipbuilding purposes iron had, however, now
become established, and in this direction less oak was
needed and little growth for a short time took place in
the receipt of the above exports from the West.

The finer woods from Memel, Riga and Odessa were
however largely used for furniture and building fit-
ments, and that from Prussian ports for railway and
‘rolling-stock purposes. About 1884 the United States
began further to supply these markets, the timber they
forwarded at this time being practically all in a con-
verted form, usually known as lumber. For the first ten
years or so there was a steadily increasing import of this
manufactured wood, and later still further expansion
took place, the supply during the last fourteen or fifteen
years having formed a by no means small proportion
of the entire import of this wood. The Slavonian
forests of Austria~Hungary have also been laid under
contribution, a small share of this fine wood having
been continuously shipped to English ports during the
last twenty years. A further source of supply has been
opened up since the war between Japan and Russia, the
first-named country having sent large shipments
of logs and converted timber which have found
considerable favour.

Mahogany, with which fine and popular wood all
are familiar, is understood to have been first introduced
into the country about the commencement of the
eighteenth century, but it was evidently known among
the West Indian Islands as a valuable wood as early
as the sixteenth century, Sir Walter Raleigh having
commented upon it as a valuable shipbuilding wood.
It is generally supposed that the first arrivals came
from the Spanish Islands of St. Domingo or Cuba, and

14 TIMBER

even to this day mahogany of good quality of any
origin is often described by the uninitiated as Spanish
mahogany, although shipments from the first-mentioned
Island practically ceased many years ago. The wood on
its introduction was doubtless in great favour and sup-
plies from St. Domingo in considerable amounts
regularly followed. Other districts in the West Indies
and Central America in which varieties of the wood
grew took up the export, and very soon this tropical
product was being shipped from Mexico, Honduras and
Cuba. Later, other countries in the same zone assisted
in augmenting the supply until, at the present time,
almost every district in Central America and adjacent
countries helps, with wood of varying description, to
fill the ever increasing demand which exists in very
many countries.

A marked epoch in the history of this wood, as these
Central American supplies began to show slight signs
of exhaustion, was the discovery that, in the tropical
regions on the West Coast of Africa, lying somewhat
in the same parallels of latitude, huge forests more
or less timbered with species of mahogany and other
trees were available for supplementing the world’s
demands. These enormous belts of forest land, lying
roughly speaking at a distance of about forty miles from
the coast, and extending in a more or less parallel direc-
tion to the sea-board, stretch approximately from the
French Guinea possessions to within the country beyond
the Congo, embracing in this extent Liberia, the French
possessions on the Gold Coast, Nigeria, the Cameroons,
the French Congo adjoining, and the Portuguese posses-
sions South of the Congo. Various species of timber
from these forests found their way to the markets in
a desultory manner during the latter part of the nine-
teenth century, but no accurate statistics are available

NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF TIMBER, ETC. 15

as to the quantity or description: there was probably
however little if any mahogany among them, and it was
not until about 1891 that any serious exploitation of
the mahogany supplies of these districts was made.
At first this mahogany was received in Great Britain
with reserve, and for some time considerable prejudice
hampered its sale when in competition with estab-
lished Central American varieties. It rapidly grew in
favour however and, assisted by a strong demand which
sprang up for the wood in the United States, the import
and volume of business which followed grew consider-
ably. How the export expanded, as compared with the
amount of wood brought in from the older sources in
Central America, can best be brought before the reader
by the subjoined tables, which give not only statis-
tics in regard to the United Kingdom, but figures
relating to its import to other European countries.
Teak, another important hardwood that has held,
and still holds, an almost unassailable position for
various purposes may also be referred to. This invalu-
able timber, whose native habitat is East India, Siam
and adjacent countries, came into general use, so far
as records show, about the middle of the last century.
Obtainable in long lengths and of fine dimensions and
being found moreover to possess the virtue of rendering
iron, when in contact, immune from rust, Teak rapidly
found favour among ship and boat builders and was
often found to be valuable for railway work. It stands
in a class by itself in Lloyd’s list of shipbuilding woods
and has well sustained its reputation throughout its
career, no wood having yet been found to supplant it
in its use for special purposes. Owing to difficulties
of extraction and the care with which it is conserved
by the Indian Forest Department in Burma and other
parts of India, the supply has rarely exceeded the

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Ss “T7eUTA “uoH
ueolypy |
EI16l YVAA AHL ONIUNG AdOAnNyY OLNI s9OJT ANVOOHVI AO LUOdWN]

NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF TIMBER, ETC. 17

demand and it has, especially during later years, greatly
appreciated in price, the value of the wood at the
present time being far in advance of that of mahogany
Most of the supplies are obtained from Burma, but
equally fine wood is shipped from Siam and small
supplies of an inferior description are also exported
from Java. More particular notes of the various descrip
tions and qualities of these varieties are given in a later
chapter which deals with the supply of this and other
woods from India and other Asiatic countries. Sub-
joined, however, are some statistics which give some idea
of the import which has taken place during the last
five years.

STATISTICS OF THE IMPORT OF TEAK FROM VARIOUS
Ports Into Lonpon DuRING THE Last FIVE YEARS

Moulmein Rangoon Bankok Java Total
Year loads loads loads loads loads
1914, . 7 3,585 1,792 506 5,959
1913. . 339 5,671 1,111 593 7,714
1912, . 56 3,460 987 894 5,397
1911. . 268 4,203 3,217 2,012 9,700 «
1910. . 397 3,190 1,486 1,832 6,905

In the foregoing brief outline of the history of timber
a more particular narration of facts and events in
regard to its connection with England has perhaps been
observed. The history might have been given greater
scope and enlarged more fully upon the forests and
timber resources of other parts of the world, their size,
methods of exportation and other interesting matter,
but the limits of this small book preclude such an
exhaustive survey, and the history has consequently
been limited to the salient facts which relate more
especially to the British Isles.

Following the preceding introductory review, the
remaining part of the book has been separated into two
divisions, one dealing with the coniferous or needle-
leaf variety of trees, which are commonly known by

18 TIMBER

the timber trade as “soft woods,” the other giving
some account of the broad-leaf description, most of
which, in a general sort of way, are classed by the same
authorities as ‘‘ hardwoods.”

In attempting to give some particulars of the woods
in these two divisions, it would be impossible and at the
same time unneedful to include every known or partly
known wood. Large numbers are only recognised by
native or falsely misleading names, many are unidenti-
fied and their value, if any, partially or altogether
unknown. No mention of these has been made and
attention was confined to a moderate list, which it is
believed, however, comprises all, or practically all, the
timbers which can be met with at the present day in
use among consumers.

CHAPTER III

THE CONIFEROUS TREES OF COMMERCE. EUROPEAN
AND OTHER EASTERN SPECIES IN USE AT THE
PRESENT TIME

UNDER the name of Conifers or Cone-bearing trees
are included the firs, pines, larches and cedars. The
number of varieties of the various species is large, and
the forests in which they grow, while considerably
more extensive in the Northern hemisphere than in
the Southern, are well distributed throughout the
entire world, their area being probably greater than
that covered by the broad-leaf section. They occupied
a most prominent position in the area of forests in

prehistoric times, as from fossil remains we learn
’ that, besides the many species known to us at the
present time, many additional members of the same
family existed.

This wood is more generally used than any other,
being the material most adapted for building purposes
and use in almost every other branch of industry where
wood is required. Records of its use in bygone times
are plentiful: one instance as an example may be men-
tioned, the mummy cases in the Egyptian room, which
attracts so many visitors at the British Museum,
being constructed of one species of this family,—the
cedar of Lebanon.

Great Britain is by far the largest importer of these
coniferous woods ; and to gain some idea of the magni-
tude of this trade one has only to turn to the statis-
tics of the Board of Trade which are here included. It
is shown in these that Russia, Norway, Sweden, and
other Northern Countries are the chief sources from

19

20 TIMBER

which the supplies are drawn, but others in the Western
hemisphere also contribute to the total—Canada, the
Southern States of America, British Columbia and
other countr:es.

Considerable confusion has grown up and become
established in very many countries in the nomen-
clature of this species of wood. They are all of the
pine family, but names have been loosely applied, and
for those not intimately associated with the buying,
selling and use, much confusion is engendered. The
popular conception in England is, however, to call
most of them by the general name of deal, although
even there alternative names for the same wood are com-
mon, the wood, of the same description as the Scotch
pine or fir, so largely imported from Northern Europe,
being defined as yellow deal in the Southern parts of
the Kingdom and red deal on the East Coast, in the
Midlands and further North. As this is decidedly the
most important of the coniferous woods, the opening
notes on the various varieties may well be commenced
with this timber.

Northern Pine.—Shipped as redwood from Russian,
Swedish and Norwegian ports, while similar timber
from Prussia is defined as Baltic redwood. It is the
ordinary red or yellow deal of commerce, so much in
use in the building trades and common everywhere in
Europe. An allusion was made to this wood in the
brief introductory retrospect, its history in Great
Britain being traced from its first import from
Prussian ports as spars and masts, the growth of the
import from these Baltic ports and the deve:opment
of fresh sources of supplies from Norway, Sweden and
Russia.

Principally with this coniferous variety of wood
the countries of Northern Europe are, as _ has

VoOlu ‘SGUVA Tvad

ec [OUANG [ SIpVLTE soquny ,, Jy fo uorssnussd Ag

22 TIMBER

been noted, largely and densely afforested; and,
although the consumption during the nineteenth
century was exceedingly heavy, Norway and Sweden
are the only two which show signs of exhaustion.
Russia has however supplied increasing quantities, and
the boundless expanse of this country, densely wooded
and in many cases with virgin forests that still await
the woodman’s axe, warrants the be ief that no shortage
of this description of timber will occur for many years
to come. There are, however, authorities who warn
us that a limit of time for the producing capacities of
this great country can be approximately fixed, and
that the supply, while at present abundant, is by
no means so large as is generally supposed. A drain
on these timber resources, additional to those made by
the United Kingdom, comes from France, Holland,.
Belgium, Germany and other European countries,
and also from many British Colonies—Australia, Cape
Colony and others. The botanical name of the tree
from which this commonly known wood is obtained
is Pinus Sylvesiris ; and it is, as stated, identical with
the Scotch fir. Grown however in dense forests it
is straighter and cleaner in growth than those usually
found in Scotland, the trees, grown in such close prox-
imity, attaining a height of between 100 and 150 ft.,
frequently without a single branch from the base up
to about 80 ft. or more.

The amount exported in the log or balks, as it first
came to Great Britain, is at the present time exceed-
ingly small—trivial—in comparison with that shipped in
a converted state. Planks, deals, battens and boards,
ranging from 4 in. thick and from 11 in. wide down
to small sizes such as }in.x 1} in. or similar dimen-
sions suitable for slating and other purposes, are exported
in enormous quantities from the various ports, besides

THE CONIFEROUS TREES OF COMMERCE, ETC. 23

much fully-dressed material, principally from Sweden,
consisting of floor-boards, and match-lining ready for
the carpenter’s use, and mouldings of every description
for the use of the joiner.

The timber is of yellow or yellowish-red colour ; that
with a more pronounced reddish tinge being grown,
it is generally understood, on high land, and being of
more resinous nature is more favoured for outdoor
work where durability is an object.

In exposed, outside situations, the timber is durable
when free from sap, and lasts fairly well when in contact
with the earth. It is one of the strongest of the
coniferous family and the principal timber used for roof
timbers, joists, window-frames, doors and _ general
joinery. Most of the best timber is shipped from
Archangel and other ports in the White Sea, but deals
and timber of almost equally good description are also
supplied from Petrograd and some of the Swedish and
Norwegian ports.

The wood, after chemical treatment, is also largely
used in Great Britain for railway-sleepers, and large
shipments for this purpose come, principally, from
Baltic and Russian ports.

A large export of short lengths of the timber for
pit props is also made, these goods being mostly directed
to the North-East Coast of England to supply the
wants of collieries in the Durham and Midland areas.
A great export of deal and other short ends takes place,
this wood being principally used for the making of small
packing-cases and for firewood. . Sweden also ships
much timber in the form of poles, which are used for
telegraph purposes and for builders’ scaffolding.

White Pine.—This, another European member of
the coniferous family, is commonly known as white
deal or Baltic whitewood. It is one of the hardiest

3—(14604)"

24 TIMBER

conifers, and exists at a height of about 3,000 ft. above
sea-level; the best specimens, however, attain their
greatest size in the valleys. It is found in the same
regions and shipped from the same ports in much about
the sarne manner as the Northern Pine, excepting that
the qualities exported are extremely limited in
comparison with those of the latter species.

It is one of the loftiest of European trees, often
growing to a height of between 80 and 100 ft.;
it is however not so quick growing as the Scotch fir.
Unlike this last-named variety, it has a development of
its branches low down towards the base of the stem,
assuming in its growth a somewhat pyramidal form.

The wood is of white or yellowish-white colour,
tough and elastic in fibre, but not so strong as red
deal. It works fairly well, having in good qualities a
satiny lustre after the process of planing, and, although
much of the timber has the defect of having number-
less small live knots in its growth, it forms an excellent
material for inside joinery, for which it is principally
used. It holds however a greatly inferior positon
and is much less valuable than red deal owing to its
want of durability when exposed to the weather. The
best qualities are found in the shipments from Petro-
grad and Archangel, those from Riga and other Baltic
ports being of somewhat coarse fibre. Besides its use
in the building trade for inside purposes, it is in favour
with the cabinet maker for kitchen tabie-tops, and to
some extent for other purposes, owing to the great
appreciation of late years in the price of Quebec pine.
The poorer qualities are largely used in the packing-
case trade, and there is a large export to Great Britain
of floor-boards and match-lining which are principally
used for cheap house-building. Great quantities are
also used in the manufacture of paper pulp, the export

VOIN LV SITTIN AHL YOA AACVAN ‘SLSHUYOA NUAHLUON WOU YAAWIL AIA

eunof sevva[ 49querys ,, ayy fo uorssnussd Ag

26 TIMBER

of which from the various countries, but principally
from Sweden, shows an ever increasing volume. The
thinnihgs of the woods are also exported and used for
scaffold poles, pit-props and other purposes.
Larch.—This is another species of the coniferous
family, widely distributed in Northe n Europe and also
freely grown in Great Britain. A moderate amount of
timber of this species is imported thither, principally
from Russian ports, from whence the finest qualities —
are shipped, further supplies arriving from the Baltic.
Being grown in most districts of Great Britain the
timber is wel known. It is of a very resinous nature
and one of the most durable of the fir or pine family,
the better qualities even holding their own in com-
petition with oak, where used in contact with the earth.
The wood is of reddish-brown colour, clean and free
from knots, but more difficult to work than red deal.
Owing to its tough and durable qualities it is used for
floors, stairs and other purposes where wear and tear
is heavy, for boat-building, posts and rails, rustic work,
small scaffold poles, and largely for pit-prop purposes.
Many other varieties of coniferous timbers that are
grown in European countries might be mentioned,
but they hold a relatively minor position in comparison
with those given. One variety, however, may be alluded
to, as a large amount of the wood of this species is
imported into Great Britain in the shape of pit-props.
This is the Cluster Pine, of which large and scientifically
cultivated forests exist in the Landes and Gironde
districts of France. The wood is used to some extent
in carpentry work but is not of very much account,
the chief value of the trees being the use which is made
of them by the extraction of resin, from which the tur-
pentine of commerce is obtained. A fairly large
industry is carried on in the above districts, and the

THE CONIFEROUS TREES OF COMMERCE, ETC. 27

trees after exhaustion and also the thinnings of the
forests are largely exported, principally from Bordeaux
for pit-props. The chief supplies for the coalfields
of South Wales are drawn from this source.

From Eastern countries, many of which are practi-
cally untapped as regards coniferous timbers, there is
but a small import of soft wood. Doubtless there are
ample supplies, but while there are the European and
Asiatic forests of Russia and the present resources of
Canada, British Columbia and other countries com-
paratively near at hand to draw upon, the question of
obtaining material from such distant regions as those
in the East is hardly considered.

One failure of supply which is apparently in sight,—
namely, the diversion of much of the pine wood of
Canada to the nearer United States,—has been seized
upon by the shippers as an opportune occasion to export
the supplies of the forests of Eastern Siberia. Ship-
ments of excellent pine, of capital specification and well
converted, have reached the markets from the distant
port of Vladivostock, and the wood, although perhaps
not so mellow as the Canadian, is steadily growing in
favour with consumers.

Although this is not in the Eastern hemisphere, a
few New Zealand coniferous woods may, perhaps, be
included in this chapter, since some of them are in fair
use in Great Britain.

Kauri Pine. —Although meeting with a poo: reception
when introduced into England from New Zealand,
about 1888, this wood has been steadily growing in
the estimation of users ever since, and there is, at the
present time, a regular and constant consumption.

The tree from which the wood is obtained is, perhaps,

-the most important in the Islands, as, besides the useful
timber, a gum which is exuded from the tree, and which

28 TIMBER

is largely exported for the manufacture of varnishes,
is produced and forms an important article of commerce.

The colony was doubtless heavily timbered with
these great trees in its early days but, unfortunately,
forest fires, many probably started with a view to
clearing the land for settlement, and ruthless waste in
other directions, have so depleted the country that,
with a great demand springing up for this wood from
Great Britain and the neighbouring sister colony of
Australia, a visible exhaustion of the supplies is in
sight. .

The tree grows to admirable proportions, many
butts in the shipment that first arrived—a_ sail-
ing cargo of round logs—having been up to about
7 ft. in diameter. These, as noted, were unsquared
logs, but all consignments since received have been
in the form of converted planks or boards, exceedingly
well sawn and of good specifications.

The wood is of whitish-brown colour, fine, smooth
and silky in texture, and is notable for its even-wearing
properties and—for a pine—its general durability.
It is practically free from defects and highly esteemed
as a material for many purposes, but particularly for
the deck planks and fittings of yachts and other boats.

New Zealand Pine.—This, another wood of New
Zealand growth, was introduced to the notice of con-
sumers in the United Kingdom somewhere about
1900—1912. The tree is known as Kahikatea in the
colony, grows to good proportions, and supplies a
useful wood.

It is yellowish-white, in colour, of soft but firm and
even texture, splits very readily, and if not properly
cut and seasoned is liable to warp, twist and become
discoloured; it is moreover not at all durable for
outside purposes.

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30 TIMBER

Shipped in well-converted planks and boards, similar
to the manner of Kauri, it is, when well seasoned,
free from all defects and has found a fair number of
consumers. It is largely used in the colonies for
packing-case making, and the wood may be seen in use
if the boxes, in which New Zealand butter reaches the
British market, are examined.

Rimu.—Known in the colonies of New Zealand
as ‘Red Pine.” This is another wood which holds
an important position in the Islands. Very little has
however, been exported, and it is not sufficiently
known to have become an established article of Com-
merce. The timber can be obtained in long lengths
and up to 24 in. or more in width, is deep red
in colour, and occasionally has a certain amount of
figure. It is of fine straight grain and would probably
work in a satisfactory manner. For building purposes,
joinery and cabinet work, it is in general use throughout
New Zealand.

Totara.—Next to Kauri this coniferous wood shares
with Rimu the most prominent position as a general
utility wood among the native timbers of the Islands.

Similar to Rimu, it is of deep red colour, clean and
straight in the grain, durable both for outside and inside
purposes. It is procurable in long lengths and wide
widths, and is used in the colony for general building
purposes, joinery and cabinet-making, bridge con-
struction, paving and other work. There has been
practically no export to the United Kingdom.

CHAPTER IV

THE CONIFEROUS TIMBERS OF CANADA AND OTHER
COUNTRIES IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

Weymouth Pine.—A well-known and popular timber
which is known as yellow or Quebec pine, has been
exported from Canada since about the year 1705. It
is one of the most important trees grown in Canada,
and large areas of that country are covered with its
growth. The nearer forests have, however, been greatly
depleted by the large export trade that has been so
‘long in existence, and the cost of exploiting the forests
further afield has considerably enhanced the value of
the wood during the last ten years. It was also formerly
plentiful within certain latitudes of the northern part
‘-of the United States, but that supply has rapidly
reached an end by the demand of local and near con-
sumers. Ornamental specimens of this tree may be
seen in many districts in the British Isles, and growing
to fine proportions both in height and girth of trunk
it is one of the most attractive conifers that is grown.
The timber, when first brought into Great Britain at
the beginning of the eighteenth century, was introduced
in the shape of hewn logs and found much appreciation.
It was used extensively for deck planking and interior
fitments mostly among shipbuilders. The import of
logs in this form has continued up to the present
time, but to nothing like the extent as formerly, and,
known as waney board pine, they are still used to some
extent for similar purposes. The bulk of the trade
however, after the introduction of machinery, developed
in the same way as mentioned in the remarks concern-
ing the changes in the imports from Northern Europe.

31

32 TIMBER

Converted timber, mostly cut to 3” by 11” and over
were exported, and a very extensive trade, principally
with Great Britain, grew and expanded.

Up to about 1889 most of these sawn goods were
floated down the rivers of Canada to the port of ship-
ment in huge rafts, and it was customary to grade
those planks or deals that had been immersed at the
bottom of the pile as “‘ floated goods,” those at the top
as “bright,” a difference of 10s. per standard showing
the estimate of their values. This system lapsed as
other and better means became available to convert
the logs nearer port of shipment. At an early period all
these converted goods were graded into firsts, seconds,
and thirds; later, when near forest supplies began to
show signs of failure, fourth quality were added ; and later
still an intentional lowering of all grades by shippers was
made. A period arrived, about 1890, when the exhaus-
tion of this timber in the northern part of America
obliged the consumers in that country to have recourse
to Canadian goods, and gradually these nearer markets
attracted the Dominion wood. Imports to Britain then
began to get scarce, a great appreciation in prices took
place and consumption was greatly curtailed. Values
have been on the up-grade for the last ten or fifteen
years, being at the present time something like 50 per
cent. in advance of prices current about the year 1900.

The wood is of yellowish-white colour, turning some-
what brown with age and exposure under natural
conditions. It is of soft but firm and even grain,
fairly free from knots, works exceedingly well and will
not, when free from heat, buckle or twist. It is not at
all durable for outside work, neither is it a strong wood,
but for interior joinery fitments, ground work for
veneering on, coach panels or similar work, it is a favour-
ite wood. It was formerly, when more moderate in

THE CONIFEROUS TIMBERS OF CANADA, ETC. 33

price, a staple wood for the pianoforte trade, and its
non-casting character, mellowness and general reli-
ability have always made it the ideal wood for the making
of patterns.

Red Pine.—This is known as Norway Pine in Canada,
and Yellow Pine in Nova Scotia, and is a conifer growing
up to about 80 ft. in height and about 2 ft. in diameter.
The wood is of reddish colour, generally clean in growth,
and possesses good working qualities. It is durable
and will stand well in outside positions, being, in most
respects, similar to European red deal. Imported
into England about the year 1756, in the shape of
logs suitable for mast and spar purposes, it was much
in favour for many years, but owing to the competition
of European woods gradually lapsed in use. It is now,
and has been for a long time, shipped in the form of
planks and deals. Most of these imports arrive in the
Thames, the wood having a limited sale otherwise than
in the Metropolis and the southern parts of the Kingdom.

Spruce.—This is another cone-bearing tree from
which is obtained timber bearing some resemblance to
the white wood imported from Northern Europe, and
of which some account has been given. It is abundant
in the Canadian forests, and is exported in considerable
_ quantities to very many markets.

In the Dominion and also in the States the timber is
largely used for building purposes, but in England
its use is principally confined to the packing-case trade,
although in the Midlands and North-East a good pro-
portion of the imports are used by builders for joists,
rafters and other constructive parts of house-building.

The wood is an excellent material for floor-boards,
and much used in the Midlands for that purpose where
a strong rough floor is a necessity, as for instance in
factories. A fair amount is used by the pianoforte

34 TIMBER

trade, “ bracings” being always constructed of this
wood. It is generally imported in 3’ by 9”, 3' by
11” and smaller sizes, that shipped to the London
market being generally in 12 ft. and 13 ft. lengths. The
wood is white in colour, tough and strong, does not work
very kindly, but planes well and leaves a clear satiny - .
surface. It is durable both for outside and inside work,
but is rather inclined to twist, and in the inferior qualities
has, occasionally, many dead knots. The deals or
planks exported are usually graded, those arriving for
the London market being generally divided into four
classes.

Columbian Pine.—Alternative names for this timber,
as with many others, are common. It is known as
Oregon Pine, Yellow Pine of Puget Sound, Douglas
Fir, yellow or red fir in the United States, red fir or
red pine in Canada. It is the chief tree of British
Columbia, and from the heavily afforested valleys and
hillsides of this far-away territory the largest exports
are made from Vancouver and other Pacific ports. It
is, however, also found in Canada and growing on the
slopes of the Rocky Mountains in California, reaching
its most perfect development in the coast regions of
Washington, Oregon and British Columbia.

The tree is said to attain a height of between 200 ft.
and 300 ft., with a diameter upto 8 ft. The wood is
of strong nature, durable, somewhat coarse in texture,
and difficult to work. With a tree of such fine growth,
timber of excellent specifications can be converted,
and the wood as a constructive material has a great
future in view. It is held in high esteem for bridge
building and similar work, for which it offers the com-
bination of lightness, stiffness and strength, besides
furnishing pieces of exceptional length. Squared
planks or logs 24 in. in diameter and up to 100 ft. long

Darius Kinsey, Seattle, Wash.

Photo by

SHINGLE BOLTS ON A CALIFORNIAN RIVER

36 TIMBER

are procurable, and it is said can be obtained up to
200 ft. in length. The consumption has shown consider-
able increase in England, even with the heavy freight
charges incidental to its having to be shipped right
round the South of America, but with a lessened cost in
prospect, when the Panama Canal is completed, it may
be predicted that increased sources of consumption will
speedily follow.

Sequoia.—Only two living species of this coniferous
tree are now supposed to be existent; fossil remains,
however, disclose that over forty additional species
have at earlier periods been common in various parts
of the world. Both the surviving members of the
family are found in California, and particulars of their
growth are so full of interest that a rather extended
account may perhaps be given.

Dealing with the one commonly known as Red-
wood, which is the variety in commercial use, it is
understood that its growth is restricted to a belt of
coast-land bordering the Pacific, some 450 miles in
length and about twenty miles in breadth. The trees
reach their most perfect development in Humboldt
County, where virgin forests, which may be traversed
for over twenty miles, are monopolized by these great
trees.

Said to be very fast growing for the first thirty or
forty years, they add perhaps 2 ft. per year to their
height during this period, while in their early age,
between four and ten years, they possibly grow 2 ft. 6 in.
per year. They attain, at mature age, a height of
100 to 340 ft.

The tree sometimes reproduces itself from seed, but
more usually, and when growing in thick forests, by the
growth of stump sprouts, this being the only coniferous
tree which has this habit, Huge lateral roots spread

THE CONIFEROUS TIMBERS OF CANADA, ETC. 37

near the surface, and from these a second generation
rises up. In some instances these have been cut and
then another encircling generation has come into
existence. One of these circles is about 50 ft. in
diameter and contains forty-five trees, the growth of
which ranges from 2 ft. to 6 ft. in girth: these are the
third succession, and in the centre stands the parent
trunk. This shaded enclosure affords sufficient sitting
accommodation for a congregation of about 250 persons.
and here Divine Service has been held.

Some idea of the amount of timber in these giants
of the forest may be gained by the perusal of a book
issued by the Red-wood Manufacturers Association.
In this they mention that in some forest areas in the
Humboldt districts 2,500,000 ft. board measure to the
acre may be found, while from one tree only 480,000 ft.,
not including waste, has been obtained.

‘The wood extracted from these trees is soft in tex-
ture, very straight in the grain, and has easy working
qualities. It is undoubtedly most durable, posts
buried in the earth having been known to last thirty
or more years, but its great and serious defect is its
brittle nature and want of strength.

It has always been shipped to Great Britain in the
shape of well-manufactured planks of extremely good
dimensions, has been well tried for many purposes
but has not obtained any very large patronage owing
to the defect of its lack of strength.

Big Tree.—This further species is rarely exported,
and no shipment, so far as is known, has reached the
English markets.

It grows to a height of 150 ft. to 325 ft., and from
80 ft. to 225 ft. is reached before branches occur: in
girth it attains a diameter of from 5 ft. to 30 ft. measured
6 ft. from the ground.

38 TIMBER

Restricted to definite localities called groves it
grows at an extreme altitude of 7,500 ft. in regions
where the average rainfall is 45 in. to 60 in. per annum,
and where the snow lies from 2 ft. to 10 ft. deep during
three to six months in the year.

As has been remarked, timber of this species has
never been exported, the wood, besides being even
more brittle than red-wood, is less readily worked.

A few notes relating to some of these Big Tree Groves,
which are a great attraction to visitors to California and
which, probably, rank high among the many wonderful
sights to be seen in the United States, may perhaps be
interesting.

In the Calaveras County, the grove bearing this
name contains 101 trees, besides several fallen ones.
Thirty trees in this collection, from actual measure-
ment, range from 9 ft. to 19 ft. 6in. in diameter at 6 ft.
from the ground, and rise to a height of 237 ft. to 325 ft.
One of the fallen trunks has been hollowed out by fire,
and so huge is the tree that a mounted horseman can
ride through this aperture.

The Tuolumne Grove is situated at an altitude of
5,800 ft. There are thirty trees in this stand, and an
opening has been cut through one, under which the
Yosemite stage-coach passes.

A third group—Mariposa Grove—contains the largest
tree that is known; it measures 93 ft. 7 in. in circum-
ference at the ground and 64 ft. 3 in. at 11 ft. above.

The estimate of the ages of some of these giants of
the forest shows that many seasons have passed over
their heads. A count of the rays has demonstrated
that the adult trees have a growth of between 400 and
1,500 years, but one patriarch has been discovered
whose annual rings show that 4,000 birthdays must be
credited to him.

THE CONIFEROUS TIMBERS OF CANADA, ETC. 39

The excellent cross-section of one of these trees
which, exhibited at the Natural History Museum at
South Kensington, is so well known to frequenters,
impresses one vividly with the idea of the age of these
mighty trees. It shows that the tree from which it
was obtained was cut down in 1892, its age at that
time being 1,335 years. Notes on historical matters
are made on this cross-section at the various periods
of the tree’s growth, and it may be observed that it
came into existence about the commencement of the
“Middle Ages, was in the prime of life at the time of the
accession of Alfred the Great, and continued through
all the events and progress of civilization almost up
to the end of the reign of Queen Victoria, when the
woodman’s axe brought the giant to an untimely end.

Sugar Pine.—An important Californian timber which
is put to many uses, is obtained from a tree bearing
this name. It is chiefly employed in the Western
States however, comparatively little finding its way
thence into other countries. It is most abundant on
the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, growing at an
altitude of from 2,000 ft. to 7,000 ft. The trees attain
to a height of between 80 ft. and 250 ft., with a girth of
2 ft. to 8 ft., and it is said that no other pine is so valu-
able for its wood or will show such a yield per acre. The
demands on the forests for home consumption have
been great; and the wood has steadily appreciated in
value. It is light, soft, close-grained, and fairly strong,
works easily and is fragrant insmell. Like Weymouth
and other pine the wood, when converted, sweats and
stains if packed together when green. It is said to
have been discovered by D. Douglas, a noted botanical
explorer, who named the species Pinus Lambertiana
after his friend Lambert, a founder of the Linnean
Society.

4—(14604)

40 TIMBER

Port Orford Cedar.—This is another important tree
of Western American origin; its acreage however is
somewhat limited. It attains to aheight of from 125 ft.
to 150 ft., and a diameter near the ground of 4 ft. to
12 ft. The wood is straight and close grained, soft,
elastic, durable, and of a yellowish-white colour. It
is used for flooring and similar work, and is held in
much esteem by Californian consumers. Very little
has been exported as yet to England. It was intro-
duced into Europe in 1854, and is known, botanically,
as Cupressus Lawsoniana, there being now, it is
stated, not less than sixty-eight garden species under
cultivation.

Pencil or Red Cedar.—This is a species of Juniper
tree, widely distributed in the United States, but
growing more freely in the southern parts, especially
in Florida. It is also met with in Canada but only in
limited quantities. The tree is of moderate growth,
and yields the wood which has such an extensive use
among pencil manufacturers. For this purpose it is
unequalled, being of fine, straight, silky grain, easily
worked and fairly strong, and no efficient substitute has
as yet been found in any part of the world to supplant it
in its use for pencil-making. Enormous inroads have
been made on the supplies to meet the ever-growing
demands for the above purpose, and the exhaustion
of the wood is understood to be well within sight. It
arrives in small, short logs, which, indicating the diffi-
culty of procuring supplies, show yearly a deterioration
in quality.

Pitch Pine.—A well-known timber that has been
largely used in Great Britain during the last eighty or
100 years has next to be noted.

Known in the United States as Long Leaf Pine, the
above-named timber is, perhaps, the most important

THE CONIFEROUS TIMBERS OF CANADA, ETC. 41

‘n the Southern States of America. Formerly, unsur-
passed forests existed, a belt of country stretching some
150 miles parallel with the coast of the Southern parts
of North America. Ruthless destruction has, however,
laid waste much of this primitive forest, the damage
not being due to the need for timber supplies, but to
the exploitation of the turpentine industry. A large
part of the turpentine of commerce is obtained from
the resin extracted from the trees of these forests
British imports alone of this commodity amount in
value to something like one million pounds sterling per
annum. The trees are highly resinous, but under the
severe tapping they are subjected to are quickly
exhausted and fall to the woodman’s axe; and at such
a pace are clearances made that it is predicted that a
total extinction of these vast forests is within measur-
able distance. The timber is principally shipped from
ports in the Gulf of Mexico, Galveston, Mobile, Pensa-
cola or New Orleans, and arrives in the shape of hewn
and sawn-sided logs—mostly the latter, besides planks
and boards.

It is largely used for any constructional work requir-
ing strength, and for any purpose where a timber
adaptable for use under entirely wet conditions, or
alternating wet anddry, isrequired. It is not, however,
a good material for entirely dry situations, becoming
brittle in time. Having a handsome appearance when
varnished it was commonly in use in former years for
furniture, the fitments of offices and other joiner’s work,
but it was not an ideal wood for the purpose, being
subject to shrinkage and expansion with alternations of
the atmosphere. Formerly squared logs of 14 in. or more,
and ranging up to 80 ft. or more in length, were common,
but the specifications have largely declined of late
years, and logs of even 60 ft. in length are not common.

42 TIMBER

The wood is in moderate use for flooring purposes in
England, and in the States is used, with other timber
of the same species, for street-paving purposes. The
principal use, however, in European countries at the
present time is for piles, beams, bridges, and other
heavy constructional work.

Loblolly Pine.—This is a timber in many respects
identical with the foregoing. It grows freely in the
Southern States, forests being plentiful in Virginia,
South Carolina and Texas. It is obtainable in better
dimensions, but not in such long lengths as Pitch Pine,
and is inferior in many respects, having much more
sap-wood and being of a soft and coarse texture. Simi-
lar in general appearance and of less value, it is often
substituted for Pitch Pine and also for the Short-Leaf
Pine of Missouri and Arkansas, which is a!'so known
under the name of Carolina Pine. No shipments of
the wood are made to Great Britain, but it is largely used
in the Southern States for sleepers, bridges and piles,
after chemical treatment.

Carolina or Short-Leaf Pine——Another timber of
similar resinous nature, common in the Southern
States of America, where it grows to a height of 80 ft.
It is not the equal of Pitch Pine in strength, and is not
so resinous, but in other respects it will bear com-
parison. Shipments were made to England some
years ago in an attempt to establish a market, and it
sold fairly well for a time, a moderate consumption
taking place in the timber or converted board; which
were sent. The demand however subsided, and it is
now but seldom seen in the English markets.

Cypress.—A further timber from the Southern
States of America, for which attempts have been made
to secure a regular and established demand in Great
Britain. The tree is allied to the red-woods of

THE CONIFEROUS TIMBERS OF CANADA, ETC. 43

California and, together with those forests, occupied in
former ages most of the hills and valleys which extended
far north. Submerged forests of these trees have been
found in the swamps of rivers running into the Gulf
of Mexico, and specimen logs, with an estimated age of
10,000 years, have been discovered in the New Orleans
Drainage Canal, 18 ft. below the present sea-level of
the Gulf. It is essentially a swamp tree at the present
time and grows, more or less, in water. In many
respects it 1s similar to the red-wood of the West
Coast, having however considerably more strength
than that Californian wood.

Its chief qualities are its clean growth, durability, and
the absence of any chemical in the wood that will
impart odour or colour. Having these latter qualities,
it is a good material for tanks, vats, etc., for which it
is largely used in the States. The timber is shipped to
market in well-converted planks and boards, but has
not made very rapid progress as yet in the estimation
of British consumers.

An abundant quantity of other con‘ferous species,
of more or less value, which grow in Canada, the United
States, Mexico, and other countries in the Western
hemisphere, might be mentioned, but the limits of these
pages preclude such a list, and attention has, therefore,
been confined to those only which are imported and
commercially dealt with in the English markets.

CHAPTER V

THE HARDWOOD OR BROAD-LEAF SECTION OF
TREES

Amonc this extensive and widely-dispersed species
of timber, the varieties of oak and mahogany are so
numerous and important, that separate chapters are
devoted to particulars regarding them, the observations
on other woods being grouped under the heads of the
several countries from which they are obtained.

In this present chapter the first-named timber, as
one that is always regarded as typical of England
and its breed of men, and which has played a not un-
important part in the foundation of her supremacy of
the seas, will be. considered.

Referring at the outset to English-grown wood,
three species are said to exist. The divisions however
are more botanical in their definitions than in any
divergence in the quality of the timber. The wood
certainly varies, but such differences depend more on
soil, locality and other influences, than on any inherent
distinctions in the variety.

The oak is indigenous to Great Britain and Northern
latitudes, extending in fact as far north as 55 degrees.
It is also found as far south as tropical Africa. In
England it is so well known that it needs no long descrip-
tion. It grows preferably in rich, well-drained loam,
and, probably, Sussex, Gloucester, and some parts
of the Midland Counties produce the finest timber.
As a hedgerow tree it develops many branches, and the
timber, wanting in the length of the butt, grows very
tough and knotty, and is difficult to work. It is, how-
ever, useful for many purposes, especially where sweeps

44

HARDWOOD OR BROAD-LEAF SECTION OF TREES 45

and bends are required, as for boat-knees and other
purposes. The finest timber is developed when the trees
are coppice-grown—straight, long, and clear trunks
being the most advantageous form for general use.
Unrivalled as are its qualities for durability and
strength, and indispensable as it was in times past, it
has not, during the last century, been so necessary
to consumers owing to importations from other coun-
tries. These have partly taken its place, some for
their better working qualities, others for their superior
dimensions, but for durability and strength the British
grown wood has not been equalled, either when wholly
submerged in water or subjected to the alternations of
wet and dry. Its use of late years has been principally
confined to boat or barge-building, wheelwrights’ use
and, in a much less degree than formerly, for railway-
wagon work. It is rarely used at the present day by
the cabinet-maker, Russian, Austrian and American
varieties, owing to their better working qualities,
having quite superseded this native material.

What is known as brown oak is, however, a choice
wood for the cabinet trade. The cause of this colour-
ation is usually ascribed to the incipient decay of the
trees, and the greater the age of such timber the richer
the colour; there are, however, differences of opinion as
to the cause of this production. The brown colour
is frequently found in young, straight-grown, maiden
trees. In many cases trees get pollarded, and in course
of years develop burrs and excrescences from which the
finest wood is generally obtained. These brown oak
trees are not common, and owing to their value are much
sought after. One instance, however, where the wood
had evidently not been valued, came under the writer’s
notice some years ago: a good portion of a fair-sized
park on the borders of Staffordshire and Derbyshire,

46 TIMBER

having been fenced with cleft oak, remarkably rich
in colour and figure and which would probably have
been worth in the tree from five to six shillings per
foot cube. These trees are mostly found in the Southern
and more often in the Midland Counties, but are rare
in the North,.and only one instance of their having been
found in Scotland appears to be known. Whether
this beautiful wood is indigenous to Great Britain or
not is an interesting question, but so far as is known
it has never been found in other countries.

It is generally sawn into veneers, and high prices are
obtainable when they are of good description,—the
wood making remarkably handsome furniture. A
fashion for its use obtained in the United States some
twenty years ago, and some fairly large shipments
left England for New York.

Stettin-Dantzig Oak.—Oak timber from _ these
Prussian ports was the first that arrived in England
to augment the failing supply of her native wood.
Principally extracted from Polish forests this timber
was formerly largely shipped in the form of planks
and partly hewn logs. At the present time the small
amount imported is practically all of the latter manu-
facture. The wood, although not equal in strength
or toughness, and deficient in durability as compared
with that grown in England, was largely used for naval
purposes at the outset and continued in demand for
shipbuilding up to about 1865, when iron began to take
its place. Large amounts of the wood were however
still shipped, its economical use in comparison with
native wood for the building of railway rolling-stock
being fully appreciated, until wood of the American
variety began to supplant it for this purpose. The
wood is somewhat yellow in colour, straight-grained,
and has easier working qualities than the English, and

mod nae pea wy A i

By permission of ‘the “Timber Trades Journal.”

A RUSSIAN WAINSCOT OAK LOG

48 TIMBER

the few shipments that arrive in the markets at the
present time are principally used for boat-building,
wagon construction, and builders’ purposes.

From Memel, another Prussian port, and from Riga and
Libau, further oak of Russian and other extraction is
shipped. Practically all this timber is exported in the
shape of billets or wainscot logs, as they are termed.
They are prepared by the squaring of two opposite
sides of the fallen trunk, the tree being afterwards
split through these squared sides right down the centre
or heart. Ultimately these logs, when shipped and on
reaching the consumers’ hands, are converted into
planks and boards, the wood constituting what is
known as wainscot oak. A certain proportion of the
boards and planks which are sawn from these billets
are more or less covered with the silver grain or figure,
which is so much esteemed. A greater quantity of
this figured wood is, however, obtained by the American
system of conversion, of which an account is given
in the pages devoted to particulars of that variety of
wood.

These importations from Russian ports are of gener-
ally uniform colour, clean, and contain fine figure when
properly sawn, and the wood is practically all used by
builders for bank, office, and other superior work, as
well as by the cabinet trade for the manufacture of the
better-class type of fitments, dining-room and library
furniture.

The finest wood is of Riga shipment, although formerly
the best came from Memel. Of late years, however,
Libau has taken the lead in the matter of amount
shipped, but the general quality has been decidedly
inferior. Shipments are also made from the Russian
port of Odessa, in the Black Sea, and much fine wood
has been received from this port.

HARDWOOD OR BROAD-LEAF SECTION OF TREES 49

An important trade from these sources is also done
in staves for the making of barrels. These are obtained
from some of the finest and straightest tree trunks,
being cleft or split and afterwards hewn and cut into
the various lengths and sizes fitted for the making of
barrels of all descriptions. This business is extensive,
and a large amount of the finest wood is so consumed.

Austrian Oak.—From the Slavonian and Crotian
forests, oak of similarly excellent description to the
foregoing is obtained and exported from the Adriatic
ports of Fiume and Trieste. It is shipped in the shape
of billets, in converted planks and boards, in the form
of cleft staves and other ways, the chief markets being
France, England and Belgium. It is held in great
esteem in England for all purposes where high class
oak is necessary, and by many is considered to be a
superior wood to the Russian. The export, however,
is not so extensive in amount as that of the northern
wood, the supply showing some signs of exhaustion.

American White and Red Oak.—Very little of the latter
mentioned variety is received in Great Britain, the wood
being considered coarse, lacking in strength, and by the
cabinet-makers as incapable of being ‘‘ fumed.” The
first-named description was originally exported in logs,
but this method was gradually superseded by the
innovation of converting the same before shipment,
and for the last thirty years this system has been
generally common, the trade having been a progressively
expansive one.

The wood, while not so strong or so durable as English-
grown oak, is generally clean and straight and possesses
good working qualities, although, owing to the method
of quick seasoning which is the rule in the country
of its origin it is fendered hard and flinty to the
workman’s tools. It is largely used for railway-wagon

50 TIMBER

work, for joiners’ requirements, and for sills, floor-
boards, and other builders’ uses: the cabinet-makers
are also free consumers, generally using the cheapest
grades for the manufacture of the poorer classes of
furniture.

As a rule, the boards and planks are fairly well
sawn, and the manufacturers excel in their methods of
‘extracting what is known as quartered and plain wood
from the logs. To explain these terms it must be under-
stood thet all the silver grain or figure of oak lies on what
Botanists call the medullary rays. These are rays
emanating from the heart or centre of the log and
diverging to the outside. They are to be observed in
every tree, noticeably strong in the oak, beech, and
other trees, but more or less indistinct in others. In
sawing an oak tree, all boards or planks so cut that
their face falls on these convergent rays, are figured,
those sawn contra to these rays being devoid of figure
on the face but having it on their edges.

African Oak.—Formerly large shipments of this
wood were made from Sierra Leone to Great Britain.
The wood was held in high esteem by the naval author-
ities, but was probably superseded by the gradual
introduction of Teak. It is a hard, dense, weighty
wood, brown in colour, and notable for its strength
and durability, and is rated second-class in Lloyd’s
list of shipbuilding timbers. So far as is known there
has been no shipment to the London market for many
years past.

' Japanese Oak.—With this wood, the latest descrip-
tion introduced to the markets of the United Kingdom,
the remarks on the various varieties of oak commonly
in use in England will be concluded. The Japanese,
it is well understood, have been conservators of their
well-wooded lands for innumerable years, and at the

HARDWOOD OR BROAD-LEAF SECTION OF TREES 51

close of the great war which the country had with
Russia, began to exploit some of their forest lands.
Fair-sized shipments of their oak were made to very
many countries, and gradually their enterprise has
resulted in the wood gaining a footing in the markets.
The timber is shipped in every way that can further
its establishment—in logs, in hewn and sawn timber,
for railway sleepers, staves for the cooper’s use,
converted planks and boards, plain and quarter-
sawn for the cabinet and builders’ trade. The wood
is of uniform good colour, mild and adapted for good
work and is, when sent in a manufactured condition,
well sawn. It is, however, not quartered in so efficient
a way as the American wood, is not particularly well
flowered or figured, and on the .whole lacks the
distinctive character of Russian and Austrian wood.

CHAPTER VI
THE MAHOGANIES OF COMMERCE

As Teak among hardwoods stands in a class by itself
as representing the ideal wood for durability and
strength, so mahogany holds the premier position in
the same varieties of wood as a material for ornamental
purposes. There are woods that are rarer, some few
that are perhaps more beautiful, but none in the popu-
lar estimation which, for general all-round qualities,
can compare with this wood. Its popularity has not
been confined to recent years, for it was known and in
good repute under the name of Cedra or Cedrella to
the Spaniards when they first occupied the West Indian
Islands and the coast of America. It continued under
the above name for a number of years, being men-
tioned as an excellent wood for canoe or shipbuilding
by Captain Dampier in 1681. Finding its way to
England, probably from St. Domingo or some other
West Indian Island, it became known as mahogany,
being mentioned in 1730 under that name as an excel-
lent wood for furniture. In 1750 Thomas Chippendale,
with his beautiful but at times outrageous designs for
furniture, put the seal upon its popularity and, with
slight relapses, due to the ebb and flow of fashion, it
has continued in favour until the present time. The
consumption, in Great Britain and other countries, has
shown an ever increasing expansion, and, while supplies
have given out in some of the older districts, fresh
areas have been found, not only in the Western hemis-
phere but in the Eastern, and the volume of trade
which year by year takes place is extensive,

52

THE MAHOGANIES OF COMMERCE 53

The number of varieties of this wood which are
classed in commerce under the name of mahogany is
considerable. From the old Puerto Plata wood from
the Island of St. Domingo to the Gaboon wood brought
from the French Congo on the West Coast of Africa,
there is an extensive range which those in close
familiarity can generally distinguish by their external
appearance, by noting their texture, growth, colour, and
other points of variation. Scientific experts, however,
appear dubious as to any connection. Mr. Herbert
Stone, an authority on the microscopical identification
of timbers, in his interesting book entitled The Timbers
of Commerce and their Identification, expresses his
opinion as follows: ‘‘ The various species of mahogany
and so-called cedar are so confusing that I confess to
the inability to make any precise statements either
as regards their structure or origin. I know of no
convincing proof that any of the American kinds met
with on the English market are the wood of Swietenia
Mahogont, nor that those shipped from Africa are the
wood of Khaya Senegalensis. These two genera are
very nearly allied to Cedrela and Melia, and it is difficult
to separate any of the four from the rest by the char-
acters of the wood. After giving the most careful
attention to every detail I lean to the view that most,
if not all, of the mahogany met with are Cedrelas.”’

All the mahoganies noted later are recognised in
commerce as mahogany, although doubts as to one or
two are at times expressed. Before commencing
a few observations on the different varieties, a few re-
marks on the interesting subject of figure and figured
logs may be given. One of the attractions of this fine
wood for the manufacture of furniture and other uses
is the beautiful figure which is occasionally to be met
with in the logs; one may be what is termed “roey,”

54 TIMBER

another may contain ‘‘ broken roe,” another may be
‘“‘ mottled” or marked with what is known as.“ fiddle-
back wood,” a further log may be “ ocean-waved,”
and yet another may be “ plum-figured.” Much
skilful observation, gained by long experience, is at
times necessary to detect signs of this figure in uncut
logs, and considerable speculation is indulged in by those
who wish to secure logs that show signs of figure.

These figured logs after being opened are, if found
sufficiently fine, generally sawn into veneer for the use
of the cabinet and other trades, about twelve veneers
generally being cut from an inch thickness of wood,
if sawn by the veneer saw, while about forty or more
may be produced if peeled off by the knife. High
prices are always obtained when these figured logs are
offered for sale, and it may prove interesting to note
several which are perhaps records for a few of the
different varieties.

From facts given in the Timber Trades’ Journal
of various dates, we find that the record price for a
figured log was that obtained for one of St. Domingo
wood, sold at public auction at Liverpool in the year 1876,
This log made 30s. per ft. in the inch. Another log,
this of Cuban wood, sold in London in 1912, takes second
place, the log realising at public auction a sum of
22s. 6d. per ft. Yet another from the Island of Cuba,
sold in the sale-room in the following year, realised
22s. per ft.

It is also on record that a log, probably from a
Tobasco district, was purchased in the early days of
the mahogany trade for 21s. per ft., the total cost of
the log having been about £1,000. It was cut into
veneers of five to the inch, and sold to Messrs. Broad-
wood, the celebrated pianoforte makers, a sample of
the wood existing at the present time in the Museum

‘puanof sovvd yt 49quuy ,

ANVOOHVN NV

OIMAV

qaunola

ayy fo uorssausog Ag

(1460a)

5

56 TIMBER

at Kew Gardens. There is an instance of an African
log which, selling at Liverpool in 1903 at 12s. per ft.,
brought to the fortunate shipper a sum of £1,046 5s. ;
also in the same year, and in the same market, four
logs realised 9s. 1d., 9s. 6d., 9s. 5d., and 9s. 6d., per ft.
respectively. These latter prices for African wood
were, however, eclipsed in 1913, when three logs—all
parts of the same trunk—made 13s, 3d., 11s. 7d. and
3s. 6d. per ft. respectively, the total sum obtained for
this West African monarch of the woods having been
£4,010 12s.

The mahogany arrives from the various ports of
shipment mostly in squared logs, in cargoes, or in
parcels. Practically all these are directed to London
or Liverpool, the latter port receiving the bulk of the
West African shipments, the former the greater pro-
portion of the other varieties. With few exceptions
all the wood is passed into consumption through
the medium of public auctions, brokers at the two
ports holding on an average about five sales per month
during the year. Very large quantities change hands
at these sales, buyers from all parts of the kingdom
and also from the Continent being present. These
mahogany sales have been carried on for many years
past, and interesting recollections of the auctions and
how they sold the goods are told by some few old mem-
bers of the mahogany trade. In London they were
generally held, up to about fifty years ago, at Garra-
way’s Coffee House in the City and, not a great many
years before this period, at the same place, the goods
were announced for sale and sold “by light of candle.”
A pin was inserted in a candle just below the lighted
wick, and the buyer whose bid was made as the pin
fell out claimed the lot. This primitive custom of
selling goods is still in existence, for, at occasionally

THE MAHOGANIES OF COMMERCE 57

held English timber sales that take place in out of the
way districts in Cornwall, this old-fashioned method is
still observed. It is needless to say that catalogues
were not large, probably between 100 and 150 lots.
At present-day auctions, and in these times of hustle,
close upon, and sometimes over 1,000 are frequent,
and a disposal of 200 lots per hour is usual.

CHAPTER VII

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE DIFFERENT VARIETIES
OF MAHOGANY

St. Domingo.—Wood from this Island was probably
the first mahogany to reach Great Britain. Shipments
were fairly frequent up to about thirty or forty years
ago, but]since"that time the Island has shown signs of
exhaustion in regard to the supply, and only small
parcels, mostly of inférior and crooked logs, have been
shipped.

The wood is of distinctive character, and may be
readily identified in the log by its rich and very dark
colour, by its texture and, generally, by the peculiar
adzing shown in the manufacture of the logs. It is
highly esteemed for most work, but the sizes and make
of the logs now sent render them, as a rule, only fit for
chair-frames and other similar purposes.

Cuba.—This Island, like the last mentioned, a former
possession of Spain, has always been noted for the fine
mahogany which it produces. It has been a heavily
afforested one, in which mahogany has been largely
predominant, but with heavy demands on the wood
for use in Great Britain, in America, and on the Con-
tinent, and in conjunction with the clearances of forest
areas for sugar and tobacco planting, there are signs
that, although shipments of late years have been
fairly plentiful, this source of supply cannot be looked
upon as one of long duration. The wood is highly
esteemed, and is generally considered the ideal one for
the manufacture of furniture, being of hard texture,
fine ‘colour, and with a finished surface which takes a

58

THE DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF MAHOGANY 59

remarkably fine polish. Frequently figured, it always
has an attractive and individual character, either when
used for cabinet-making, in joinery and fitment work,
or for any other purpose. As remarked, symptoms of
a gradual exhaustion of the wood are not wanting,
one sign being the increased amount of small and
crooked wood which is shipped to the various markets,
the only use for which is chair-making. In most of
the cargoes this class of wood forms a large proportion,
logs of 12 in. to 16 in. in width being, in any quantity,
conspicuously absent. Most of the wood at the present
time is shipped from Santa Cruz, but a proportion
also arrives from Jucaro, and, occasionally, parcels
are received from Santiago and Manzanillo. Mention
may also be made of the cedar which is abundant in
the Island. America takes perhaps the largest share
of this export, but Continental countries are also large
consumers ; no quantity of any importance is directed
to Great Britain. This wood is practically all used
for cigar box-making.

Mexican.—From this Central American Republic,
mahogany, varying in description according to the
districts from which it is extracted, is exported in fairly
large quantities. Wood from the Tobasco district was
one of the first mahoganies recognised in commerce,
and in later times plentiful shipments from the
Minatitlan and Tecolutla portions of the State were
shipped. Most of the supplies from the first-mentioned
place have of late years been directed to French and
other Continental markets, the quantities arriving in
great Britain being quite negligible. Little also of
the further descriptions is now sent to English markets,
the plentiful supplies formerly received having been dis-
continued some twenty-five years. Practically all
the wood extracted from this Minatitlan and adjacent

60 TIMBER

districts at the present time finds its way to the nearer
and more convenient markets of the United States.

The Tobasco wood has always been held in high
estimation, especially by French consumers. The logs
exported are generally of good dimensions, sometimes
exceeding 36 in. square, well manufactured, and more or
less straight : the wood is firm in texture and of good,
rich colour, and is fitted for most purposes where length,
strength, and the further noted qualities are needed.
The quality of the shipments of late years has not
however been so good as formerly, a softer, more porous
wood having taken the place of the crisp, firm, and
harder wood which came earlier.

The Minatitlan and Tecolutla wood, common in the
English market twenty-five or thirty years ago, was
not comparable with the Tobasco in texture and firmness
of grain, but was otherwise satisfactory. This wood,
however, is now mostly directed to American markets.

A certain proportion of Cedar logs are generally
comprised in the shipments of mahogany that arrive.
For this wood there is a general good demand, such
logs as are long, straight, and of even grain being
much sought after for boat-building purposes, inferior
logs selling for cigar box and other work.

Honduras.—The fine wood from this British posses-
sion was known, it is believed, as early as the year
1724. It was not until about the middle of the last
century, however, that shipments of importance were
regularly directed to the United Kingdom. Since then
they have largely increased, and during the last fifty
years have been one of the leading descriptions used
by consumers.

This mahogany is practically all shipped to the Lon-
don market, and for all-round qualities, whether for the
cabinet trade, for builders’ use, for the cutting of panels

THE DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF MAHOGANY 61

for railway or coach-builders, or for the obtaining of
lengths for boat-builders and naval work, there are few
other descriptions that are in any way equal. The
logs are well manufactured at port of shipment, ranging
up to long lengths and of large diameters; the char-
acteristics of the wood are a good colour, a firm but not
excessively hard texture, and an abundance of variety
in its growth that fits it for most purposes.

It was formerly, and is occasionally at the present
time, known as Bay-wood in Liverpool and the north
of England, and was treated some forty or more years
ago as a sort of inferior mahogany as compared with
Tobasco and St. Domingo, which were then more popular.
The name probably had its origin from the fact that
the wood was, and still is, exported from the Bay of
Belize. ;

From the adjoining Republic of Honduras, mahogany
was formerly shipped in large quantities, especially
from the Truxillo district. Not so satisfactory in all-
round qualities as that from British Honduras, it yet
had good features and was much esteemed, when
supplies were regularly shipped, for its large dimensions,
its good colour, and straight, mild growth. None
from this district, and comparatively little from any
other, has supplemented the English mahogany supplies
for many years past.

Guatemalan.—The mahogany obtained from this
central American State has many outstanding qualities
which place it almost on an equality with that from
British Honduras. It is even better in colour than
that wood, has a similar close, firm texture, and is avail-
able in good dimensions. It is not, however, so generally
sound in condition, and is usually exported in lengths
which, suitable for American consumers, are insufficient
for the English markets. No regular supplies are

62 TIMBER

received there, the limited amount that is consigned
coming forward in parcels at irregular intervals.

Nicaragua.—Another variety which has certain
outstanding features to distinguish it from others, even
in adjoining States, has its location in this Republican
country. An American firm, with concessions from the
Government of the State, formerly operated in certain
districts on the East Coast, and fairly large shipments
of logs in the round and also of converted timber were
shipped to the British markets. This concession has
now, however, been annulled, and very little wood
either from ports on the east or the west side reaches
England.

The timber is obtainable in large dimensions,
and the wood, besides being of good colour and of
firm texture, is notable for its straight and even grain.
It is, however, very brittle, and the wood, generally,
has not the individuality about it that Honduras,
Guatemalan, and other varieties possess.

Costa Rica.—A much appreciated mahogany is ex-
ported in limited amounts from this country, the wood
being fairly hard and of good texture and colour. The
timber is always shipped in a manufactured form, the
squared logs which arrive in European markets being of
moderate widths, rather short lengths, and generally in
fairly sound condition. Shipments are made in moderate-
sized parcels, but the supply on the whole is not large.
Cedar of somewhat similar make and description is
also forwarded, but in still less quantities than the
mahogany.

Panama.—An excellent mahogany is derived from
this now famous isthmus. Intermittent shipments
have been sent to Great Britain for many years, but no
systematic exploitation of the mahogany or other
woods of the country has yet taken place. The

THE DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF MAHOGANY 63

mahogany is of very straight, even growth, firm and
close in texture, and of uniform good colour. It has
always been appreciated, but no system of manufacture,
such as that practised in the case of the wood from
Honduras, has apparently yet been applied, and the
logs, mostly of good dimensions, that have been exported
have been almost invariably in unsound and split con-
dition. Mahogany-like woods from the same districts,
one called Espave the other Santa Maria, and said to
be abundant, have been introduced to British markets,
but with indifferent results.

Columbia.—A mahogany from this South American
State is also known in the English markets. Two
varieties are recognised, one from Cispata, the other
from Santa Marta. The timber is extracted in large
dimensions, the Cispata wood being generally exported
in well-squared logs. The first-named variety is very
straight-grained but somewhat soft in texture, deficient
in colour, and rather liable to become stainy if not
quickly converted. That from the latter district is
of equally good dimensions, but somewhat coarse in
texture and, both in this feature and in its dark colour,
is very much akin to the Crabwood of British Guiana
and other Central American districts. Cedar is also
exported from this State, the wood, however, not being
comparable with other Central American descriptions.

CHAPTER VIII

THE MAHOGANY PRODUCTS OF THE WEST COAST
OF AFRICA

A LENGTHY chapter on the truly astonishing develop-
ment in the consumption of the mahoganies of Western
Africa could be written, but the limits of these pages
must necessarily confine remarks to a few salient
features in reference to the many varieties with which
this wonderful coast enriches the markets of the world.

Little more than twenty-five years have passed
since several varieties of these mahoganies were first
introduced ; for some years they were received with
anything but favour. Gradually, however, they estab-
lished themselves, and a steady and progressive import
took place. The statistics appended will show how
rapid the increase has been, and what an extensive
trade has developed in so short a space of time—the
period being well within the memory of most. The
expansion in the demand has not, however, been
entirely due to an increased use of the wood in the
United Kingdom—although that has been large—but
to the steady appreciation which has developed in the
demand from the United States. A large proportion
of the wood landed and sold in Liverpool and London,
estimated to amount to an average of 70 per cent.,
is bought for reshipment to the States: most of the
figured logs, and a great proportion of those of the
best grade, are so re-exported.

The bulk of the total import is landed in Liver-
pool, a direct line of steamers—the Elder Dempster
Line—bringing over practically allthe wood. A portion

64

MAHOGANY PRODUCTS OF WEST AFRICA 65

is transhipped to the London market, whose supply is
further augmented by other transhipments from Con-
tinental ports. Practically all the wood landed in
Liverpool and in London likewise is sold by the brokers
at public sales; and to show the extent of these auctions
it may be mentioned that in Liverpool it frequently
occurs that in two sales, generally held in the same
week, considerably over 2,000,000 ft. of this African
wood is disposed of.

Coming from huge districts which practically stretch
from the mouth of the River Gambia to the outlet
of the River Congo, an approximate extent of coast-
line measuring between 4,000 and 5,000 miles, it is
not surprising that very great variety is found in the
woods which are exported from the different districts,
and which are marketed as mahogany.

Statistics showing the growth of the import of African
mahogany during the last twenty-four years—

IMPORTATION OF West AFRICAN MAHOGANY LANDED IN
LIVERPOOL DURING THE LAST TWENTY-FOUR YEARS

Year Tons Year Tons
1891 3,207 1903 53,450
2 5,808 4 43,686
3 10,290 5 42,654
4 12,214 6 51,432
5 9,159 7 61,503
6 13,820 8 68,063
7 14,877 9 36,194
8 20,636 1910 46,823
9 33,469 1 47,448
1900 41,453 2 60,873
1 30,377 3 83,062
2 25,765 4 177,377

The above figures relate to wood received at the Port
of Liverpool only, and do not include the large amount
that is transhipped to London via this and various
Continental ports, neither do they include shipments

66 TIMBER

made to Glasgow and elsewhere in the United
Kingdom.

Speaking of the wood generally, it has not the high
qualities which characterise the Central American
descriptions. Very few of the varieties have the firm,
close texture -of the older mahoganies, the grain being
longer, the wood much more porous. This latter
defect militates against a high polish being obtained,
and for high-class cabinet work it is, therefore, not in
favour. It has, however, many qualities which make
it popular, supplies are invariably plentiful, it can be
obtained in splendid dimensions, both in regard to
lengths and diameters, most of the wood is readily
worked, and some of the grades are marketed at a very
low price : in addition, a good proportion of the wood is
more or less well figured. This latter wood is always
in demand, especially for the American markets, and
some account of the high prices sometimes realised
has been given in a previous chapter.

As before remarked, the approximate limits of the
country from which these mahoganies are extracted
extends as far north as the River Gambia, but, although
the wood is known to exist in this locality, no great
exploitation has taken place any further than the
French Ivory Coast possession. Most of the principal
varieties are drawn from this colony, from ports on the
Gold Coast and in Southern Nigeria, and others from
shipping points in the French Congo. Following these
few introductory remarks, some attempt at describing
the varied characteristics of the several varieties may
now be made.

Assinee Wood.—From a port bearing this name on
the French Ivory Coast, this wood is largely exported
It is shipped in excellent dimensions and is practically
all sold in the Liverpool market. The colour of the |

MAHOGANY PRODUCTS OF WEST AFRICA 67

wood is good and the texture satisfactory, but it is
not generally in favour otherwise than for the fine
figured wood, which, more than in any other variety, is
found in this timber.

Most of the African mahogany, it may be mentioned,
is liable to be affected by what are known as thunder
shakes or wind brakes, a cross-fracture of the timber
which it is often difficult, and at times impossible, to
detect from the exterior of the log. The Assinee logs
are peculiarly liable to this fatal fault, a defect that
renders a log practically worthless when opened.

Grand Bassam.—This variety, also from the same
coast, not only has of late years been the most abundant,
but has occupied a leading position in the estimation
of buyers. Generally shipped in well-made logs of
good dimensions—many being over 48 in. in diameter—
the wood is of firm texture, good, bright colour, and has
excellent working qualities which are appreciated
when the material is used for good-class joinery work.

Sassandra.—A limited amount of the wood from
this district, also in the French Colony, is shipped from
the port of the same name. Notwithstanding the
comparative nearness of this district to the area in
which Grand Bassam and other varieties are obtained,
the wood of this Sassandra variety is totally dissimilar,
being fairly hard in texture and of brownish-red colour.
The logs sent have been generally of good dimensions
and the wood has been received with favour.

From Grand Lahou, shipments of wood of somewhat
similar description to that of Assinee are made in fairly
large quantities, and further supplies are also forth-
coming from Half Assinee, Pontadoon, and other places
in the same Colony.

Axim.—From this port on the Gold Coast large
supplies of mahogany are exported, perhaps equal in

68 TIMBER

amount to the exports from Grand Bassam. The
chief proportion is directed to Liverpool and London,
smaller quantities to the Continent and to the United
States. The wood is of good colour and, generally, of
a mild and straight-grained texture. Upon the whole,
the make of the logs is not so good as is that of other
varieties, and a large proportion of defective logs
have been shipped of late years that has not added
to the reputation of the wood. This, however, is
probably a temporary fault, incidental to bad floating
seasons.

Sekondi.—A neighbouring port to the last men-
tioned. Large supplies are shipped from this centre,
the wood being somewhat similar but rather softer
than the Axim wood, and perhaps more porous. It
is, however, better manufactured, is shipped in logs
of large dimensions, and has a good sale.

Lagos. —Shipped from Southern Nigeria, this
mahogany, as formerly exported, was held in general
estimation as the finest in all-round qualities of any of
the West Coast varieties. In the plentiful shipments
that arrived some years ago the logs were very unevenly
and badly squared, but the wood was of excellent
description and compared somewhat favourably with
several central American varieties. During the last
ten years or so shipments have fallen away and the logs,
although rather better in manufacture than formerly,
have not been equal in quality to those first exported.
It is a distinctly favourite variety among consumers
in Great Britain and also in America.

Benin.—From the same Nigerian Coast this wood is
exported, the variety being perhaps in as great favour
with consumers as the foregoing. It is exported in
exceedingly well-squared logs, principally of large
dimensions, and the wood is of straight, firm texture

IGNOMAS ‘LNANdIHS YOX AACVAN SNOT ANVOOHVIN
( JVUANOL SopvaAT Acqua ,, ay? fo uorssiuasd Ag

70 TIMBER

and of good colour, this rather inclining to a brownish
or purplish red. It always finds ready buyers when
offered on the market.

Sapele.—This variety, mostly shipped from the
same port as the last mentioned, is not, to any extent,
in favour in the English markets, neither is it
appreciated in the United. States. It is, however, in
demand on the Continent, most of the supply being
shipped to Hamburg and elsewhere. The wood is of a
cedar-like character, even having somewhat of a cédar
smell; this is one of the varieties arriving from the
Coast of Africa on which doubts are often heard as to
its classification as a mahogany—or even as acedar. It
is hard in texture, rather more brown than red in colour,
and has often a straight, stripy roe, which the German
consumers favour for cross-banding veneer work in
their piano case and cabinet-making. The logs exported
range up to very large dimensions and are well squared,
but are subject to bad ring-shakes.

Gaboon.—A distinct variety bearing this name is
shipped from the French Congo, principally from the
port of Libreville. It is of fairly soft and rather. coarse
texture, light in weight, light in colour—somewhat
inclining to brown; has sometimes a strong, coarse,
roey figure and, occasionally, one resembling figured
birch. It works well as a rule but is sometimes exceed-
ingly strong, and the wood is found at times, owing to
its spongy or corky nature, quite to defy the tools of
the workman and even the cutters of amachine. This is
another so-called mahogany on which doubts are cast
as to its identification, and the progression in the growth
of its use during the last ten or fifteen years has been
most interesting.

The German consumer was first in realising its use,
finding in the wood a cheap and efficient substitute

MAHOGANY PRODUCTS OF WEST AFRICA 71

for the Cuba and other cedar which had been used
for cigar box-making, those central American woods
having become not only less abundant but more expen-
sive. It was also found suitable as a substitute for
other purposes, and a large trade developed, the wood
being known on the Continent under its French name
of Okumé.

Trial shipments were made to the English markets,
but for some considerable time, although offered at
low rates, it failed to obtain a footing. Its opportunity
came when a shortage occurred in the receipts of other
descriptions of mahogany with a consequent rise in
values. Consumers then turned to this low-priced
Gaboon wood, and a rapid ‘increase in the demand
ensued, and how this increase has expanded in
British markets may be seen from the few statistics
appended in relation to this timber. It is a useful wood,
but this expansion in the demand cannot be put down
to any great qualities which it possesses, but rather
to the low rates at which it can be placed upon the
market. A large proportion is taken by the cabinet
trades, but other industries also consume great
quantities; notably the ply-wood trade.

STATISTICS SHOWING THE GROWTH OF THE IMPORT OF GABOON
MAHOGANY INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM

1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914
Tons Tons Tons Tons Tons Tons

London 441 2,991 5,187 4,791 9,184 8,348
Liverpool 1,818 5,182 4,205 6,946 3,974 2,266
Glasgow 4,529 2,240 5,306 6,214 5,424 1,370
Other ports 70 228

6,788 10,413 14,768 18,179 18,582 11,984

Cape Lopez.—Another variety from ports in the
-French Congo Territory remains to be noticed. It is of
generally good description, varying in quality, however,

6—(14604)

72 TIMBER

as might be expected, from a wood that is obtained
from different localities in so large a district. The
best is of good colour, mild, and straight in texture and
of fine grain—almost the equal of good Panama wood.
The great defect, however, of the logs that are shipped is
the worm-holes that are occasionally to be met with,
these not being the incursions of small worms on the
outside of the logs but borings of sea—probably the
teredo worm—which works right through the log.
Possibly, better means will soon be found by shippers
to prevent this damage, which is doubtless caused by
the logs remaining too long on the sea-board. They
are exported in fairly well manufactured condition,
although somewhat short in length, and the wood holds
a favourable position in the estimation of buyers,
its use being general in the cabinet and building trades
and in other industries where mahogany is used.

African Walnut.—Shipped among the mahogany
from most of the districts a wood is found which is
sold under this name. It is of varied shades of light-
brown and has, perhaps in consequence of its colour,
become known as walnut. Putting on one side this
colour, it certainly bears every outward characteristic
of a mahogany, and this assumption has received con-
firmation, Professor Boulger, in an appendix to a later
edition of his book, remarking, after an examination
of samples of this wood exhibited at a Tropical Produce
Exhibition, held in Liverpool in 1907 that: ‘A Benin
variety, with the native name of Apobo Enwina, was a
species of Trichilia (natural order Meliacae) and, there-
fore, in reality a mahogany, but sold under the name of
African Walnut.” He describes the sample as of brown
to dark-brown colour, having numerous dark veins but
no figure.

Another Southern Nigerian sample, however, of

MAHOGANY PRODUCTS OF WEST AFRICA 73

dark-brown colour and rather coarse grain, and with the
native name of Owowe attached, he botanically iden-
tifies as Albizzia sp. (natural order Leguminosae),
describing it as similar to East India Walnut. Whether
the first-named wood is a mahogany or not, it is
impossible—after the wood is stained a mahogany
colour and polished—for the keenest expert to dis-
tinguish it from an ordinary piece of African mahogany.

CHAPTER IX

THE EUROPEAN VARIETIES OF HARDWOOD TIMBER
COMMONLY IN USE

Walnut.—Three or four European varieties of this
broad-leaf, or hardwood timber, are known in English
and other markets, namely, that grown in England,
and three more exported from France, Italy, and the
Black Sea.

The timber is produced from a tree which is said to
be indigenous to Southern Europe, and was introduced
into England at an unknown date, being formerly
much more plentiful than at the present time. It is
supposed to be deficient in the power to reproduce
itself from seed in Northern latitudes and, probably,
this is one cause for the decrease in the supply. At
the present time it is to be seen growing much more
freely in the Southern and Midland portions of the
Kingdom than in the Northern.

It attains to a lofty height, reaching, probably, 70 ft.
or over, is of handsome growth with wide-spreading
branches, and, in mature specimens, reaches a diameter
at the butt of 36 in. or more. These large boles or
butts are more esteemed than those of lesser growth,
the wood gaining by age not only a closer texture but
also more heart-wood with good colour and dark stripy
markings. Such wood is usually found in the butt
and principally at the base, even the rooty portions
often containing fine figured pieces. This walnut
was, formerly, largely used for gun-stocks, but at the
present day, owing principally to its scarcity, is only
used for high-class sporting rifles. When more plen-
tiful, it was largely used by the cabinet trade, most

74

THE EUROPEAN VARIETIES OF HARDWOOD 75

of the furniture at the end of the seventeenth and
commencement of the eighteenth century, before the
mahogany period set in, being made of this wood.
There is an active demand in present times for the
timber, and it realises good prices, but it is scarce, and
little beyond isolated specimens come into the market.
French Walnut.—This wood is of similar character
to the English, but, while generally well-coloured, has not
perhaps so much stripy figure as the English-grown,
at any rate that is the case in the wood exported, which
consists of planks mostly cut from the upper part
of the trunk.
Italian.—This perhaps shares, with the wood obtained
from Circassia, the highest appreciation of consumers.
A fashion prevailed about thirty-five years ago for this
wood, great quantities being in demand for chair-frames
and other work in the cabinet trades, and to fill this
demand large exports of planks from Genoa and other
Italian ports were received. They were mostly of
narrow widths and contained'much sap, but found a
ready market, the wood being sold by weight. The
fashion abated after some years, and the use of the wood
was supplanted by American walnut and other woods.
Occasionally, parcels of better-class planks have since
arrived at intervals, such timber ‘selling readily, when
of prime quality, at good prices. The wood is of fine
character, and when of stripy description makes a hand-
some material for high-class furniture ; it has, however,
some liability to the attack of small worms, under
which the wood slowly crumbles away.
Circassian.—-Another fine wood is shipped from
Batoum and other ports in the Black Sea, the wood
being frequently known as Black Sea Walnut. It is
extracted from the hillsides of the Circassian Moun-
tains, and is shipped in hewn logs some 6 ft. to 10 ft. long,

76 TIMBER

which are cut down close to the root to obtain the finest
wood. These logs are sold in the English market by
weight, and a good proportion are cut into veneers for
use in the pianoforte trade. There is also a large
re-export trade transacted with buyers in America,
the wood being, at the moment, in favour in that
country. The burr walnut, that was so much in
fashion about forty years ago, was also obtained from
Circassian sources. French merchants were largely inter-
ested in this trade, and, in addition to parcels of burrs
that came direct to these markets, others were shipped
to Marseilles, from whence they were sent to Paris,
sawn into veneers, and mostly sold to English buyers.
Very high prices have been realised at times, and little
wood otherwise was used by the pianoforte trade for
veneering cases, a good proportion also being consumed
by the cabinet trades. The wocd in this burr form is
quite out of date at the present day and is rarely seen.

Elm.—Several varieties of this tree are common to
most European countries; two only will be mentioned,
however, these, of native but indigenous growth,
being known as Common Elm and Wych Elm. The
first-named is too well known to need a lengthy des-
cription. Grown in hedgerows or in avenues, it is
common in the Southern Counties of England, but is,
perhaps, seen in more perfection in districts in Northamp-
tonshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, where its
picturesque growth attains to a height of 70 or more
feet, with a girth of 7 or 8 ft. In its growth, the trunk
has a habit of forming pockets where a branch has been
lopped or broken off, this cavity afterwards becoming
surrounded by fresh growth of the wood. Curious
discoveries are sometimes made when the trees are
felled and opened, stores of acorns deposited by squirrels,
stones, or other things, and perfect bird’s-nests with

THE EUROPEAN VARIETIES OF HARDWOOD 77

the remains of eggs being sometimes found. This
‘latter curiosity has been seen by the writer embedded
in a hole with an encasement of about two inches of
wood grown after the nest was deposited.

The wood obtained from these trees is of light-brown
colour, much twisted in the grain, fairly hard, tough
and porous. There is usually a good margin of clearly
defined sap-wood which, however, is as durable as the
heart-wood. It is difficult to split, and is exceedingly
durable when placed in a constantly damp position,
and equally so if kept in a perfectly dry one, but will
not stand an alternate treatment. As an instance of
its durability, an example is afforded by the conduits
formerly employed by the now defunct New River Co.
These are often found buried in the London Streets,
simply trunks of timber bored from end to end, and
spigotted one end into another. These are brought
to light practically in as sound condition as when
they were placed there, perhaps a hundred years ago.
The wood, however, notwithstanding this virtue of
durability, has not a great many users, it being inclined
to twist and warp and, as remarked, is difficult to
work. It is largely used for packing-case ends, for
the bottoms and sides of wheelbarrows, for ships’
blocks owing to its smooth wear, and especially for
the making of coffins.

Wych Elm.—This is a variety that is supposed to
be indigenous to Great Britain. It is rarely seen in the
Southern Counties, but further North and in Scotland
it is common, being in fact sometimes known as Scotch
Elm. It rarely, but occasionally, grows to the height
of common Elm, and has a rather pendulous and more
graceful habit in the disposition of its branches. The
wood is of lighter and more uniform brown colour
than the common variety, and is also much straighter

78 TIMBER

and less contorted in the grain than the better known
kind. It has good working qualities and, in addition
to its durability, has considerable longitudinal strength
and much elasticity after steaming. The wood lends
itself to bent work, and is esteemed by wheelwrights for
hubs, felloes, and other work.

It has in many respects some resemblance to the
Rock Elm of the Western States and Canada, on which
remarks will be made in a further chapter dealing with
the woods of the Western hemisphere.

Lime.—-A well-known tree, that is common in all
parts of Europe. Formerly the favourite for planting
in the London streets and parks, the Lime has of late
years been supplanted by the Eastern Plane. The
tree produces a soft, yellowish-white wood which,
lacking durability, is of no great value. It is, however,
although soft in texture, very close-grained and, there-
fore, esteemed as a material on which leather may be
cut, being in considerable use for this purpose by
saddlers and other leather-workers. For use in the
manufacture of pianoforte actions it is also in demand,
principally for the foundations on which the ivory
or celluloid facings are attached for the keys. It has
besides always enjoyed a reputation as an efficient
material for wood-carving, the work of Grinling Gibbons,
in St. Paul’s Cathedral and elsewhere, having been
executed in this wood.

Ash.—This is a very widely distributed tree, being
common to most parts of Europe and other Continents.
Grown, more or less, in most parts of Great Britain, the
tree produces perhaps an even more valuable wood at
the present time than the oak. No variety from
other countries can compare with it when well grown,
either in toughness, strength, or other qualities, and
it is regrettable that more endeavours are not made to

THE EUROPEAN VARIETIES OF HARDWOOD 79

- supplement the supply by judicious planting. The
tree is well known, the best localities for its growth
being moist valleys, where, planted in coppices as it
should be grown, it develops straight, clean trunks,
which are so much sought after. That grown in
isolated positions, in hedgerows, produces timber of far
less value. The wood is of greyish-white colour, close
in grain, tough and elastic. It has considerable, but
not clearly defined, sap-wood, which, however, is
quite as usable as the heart-wood. There is a
tendency to turn black in the centre when old, this
feature being perhaps an indication of approaching
decay. The tree has the habit of sprouting from the
stools or roots after being cut down, and this second
growth in some American varieties is supposed to be
superior to the first. In certain districts of England
the method is used for obtaining a supply of young
shoots which may be used for crate, stick, and other
purposes.

The uses for the wood are manifold ; chiefly, however,
it is employed in the construction of coaches, carts,
motor-car bodies and other vehicles, and for general
wheelwrights’ use. It is also largely used in the manu-
facture of requisites for sports, for tool handles, for
butchers’ blocks and an infinite number of other purposes.
The supply of British-grown timber is never equal to
the demand, and has to be supplemented by wood from
other sources, a large import arriving from America
in the shape of unmanufactured butts and converted
planks and boards, a fair amount from Russia, some
little from the Hungarian forests, and from Japan.

Plane.—Known as the Eastern Plane, this tree was
introduced into England. In the Southern Counties it
grows freely, but is practically unknown in the Mid-
lands and further North. It is a handsome tree when

80 TIMBER

allowed free development, and is well known in London
where it appears to thrive on the soot-laden atmos-
phere. The wood is of little value; it is smooth in
grain, light-brown in colour, but not durable. When
cut on the medullary rays it shows a pretty beech-like
figure to which the Americans, when exporting their
variety of Western Plane, attach the fancy name of Lace-
wood. Shipments of this Western Plane were made
from the United States some years ago to Great Britain,
in the shape of converted boards. Being a rather
attractive wood it was tried by the cabinet trade, but,
owing to its liability to twist and warp and its bad
working qualities, had but a short season of success.

Poplar.—Three species of this tree are fairly plenti-
ful in Great Britain and other European countries—the
Black, Lombardy, and Aspen. They produce a grey-
white, soft, but tenacious wood, which, durable enough
when kept dry, is not, however, held in any great esteem.
Its chief uses are for cart-bottoms and similar purposes,.
where its non-splitting qualities are appreciated. Ship-
ments of an American species have been occasionally
received in the markets of the United Kingdom under
the name of Cotton-wood, but with little encouragement ;
Germany, however, it is understood, consumes fairly
large quantities.

Beech.—Said to be a native of Europe, but is not
only abundant in this Continent but plentiful in Asia
and Africa. It is of free growth in the United Kingdom,
particularly favouring the chalk districts of Bucking-
hamshire, where the beech-woods are famous. It is
one of the most attractive trees of the woodlands, with
its lofty growth, sweeping branches, and _ beautiful
spring and autumn-tinted foliage. The beech produces
a whitish-brown wood, with a tinge of pink which
appears after it is sawn. It has a silky grain, cleaves

THE EUROPEAN VARIETIES OF HARDWOOD 81

well, works satisfactorily, and has a pretty but small
figure when the wood is quartered. It is durable
under water or when kept dry, but not under varied
conditions. Its uses are many, the first and foremost
being for the manufacture of common chairs, and also
for parts of the frames of better-class work. Being
a hard, close-grained wood, it is largely used for turnery
purposes, and is the material employed for what are
known as wrest planks in the making of pianos. It is
also largely used for the making of plane blocks and
the handles of tools, besides an infinite number of other
purposes which it is unnecessary to mention. The
native supply is about equal to the demand, but imported
wood from Germany, in the shape of sawn planks, is
received in small parcels from time to time.
Alder.—A small-low-growing tree, common through-
out Europe. It is generally found in low-lying, swampy
places, seldom exceeding 40 ft. in height and of small
diameter. The wood is of whitish-brown colour,
changing to a redder shade on exposure to the air. It has
a very fine and even grain, and is exceedingly durable
wheri employed in water, but will not stand in alternate
positions. It is not greatly used and is of com-
paratively little value, the chief uses being the making
of clog soles, brush backs, and for turnery purposes.
Hornbeam.—This tree is supposed to be indigenous
to Great Britain. Like the foregoing, it is one that
does not attain to a great size, and is moreover not
abundant. The wood is yellowish-white in colour, fairly
heavy, extremely hard and close grained, and exception-
ally strong when subjected to vertical pressure. It is
an admirable material for turnery purposes and the
making of wooden screws. It is largely used by engineers
for cog-wheels, and a fair amount is consumed for the
making of parts in pianoforte actions, as well as by

82 TIMBER

boot-tree manufacturers. The small native supply
is generally sufficient, but it is occasionally augmented
by small parcels of French wood, which are shipped in
the form of planks.

Sycamore.—This is a species of Maple which is
found in most parts of Europe, being fairly common in
Great Britain. The tree, which generally grows isolated,
attains to a moderate size and is not so abundant as
might be desired. The wood is generally of fine white
colour, especially that obtained from young trees, that
from those of older growth being often of a brown
tinge in the middle. It has a fine, close, and even
texture and, occasionally, a handsome mottled figure,
this latter wood being much used by makers of violin
and other musical instruments. It is an admirable
wood for the turner, and is much used for rollers of
calico printing and wringing machines, also for bobbins
and many other similar purposes. The supply of sizable
timber is never in excess of the demand, and good
prices have to be paid for the wood.

Willow.—From the osier and lower forms, many
varieties of willow are abundant. Few, however, have
any great commercial value, their growth being perhaps
more useful for the retention of river banks than for their
timber. The wood is somewhat similar to that of the
Poplars, being soft, light in weight, and not splitting
or splintering readily. It was formerly employed in
the making of buffers of railway trucks, and is some-
times used for cart bottoms, but is chiefly esteemed
for the cutting of shoots from the pollarded trees for
making crates, hurdles, baskets, and other similar work.
For the manufacture of cricket bats it is renowned, one
species, the Huntingdon willow, being preferred for
this purpose and realising high prices when of good
growth.

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« JOUANUf SIpvay 49qQuiry ,, ay7 {0 worssiimsad Ag

84 TIMBER

Many osiers are cut down from beds in low-lying
river districts; the supply of these, however, not being
sufficient to fill the demand, imports from Holland
in large quantities take place

Horse Chestnut.—This is a tree producing timber of
no commercial value. It grows to fine dimensions,
with dense foliage, and is notable for its handsome
appearance, the avenues of these trees in Bushey
Park, which form such an attraction when in bloom in
the spring, being an example of their natural beauty.
The wood is white in colour, soft, close and even in
the grain, but twists and warps badly, and is altogether
deficient in durable qualities.

Sweet or Spanish Chestnut.—This is found in abund-
ance in Southern Europe, but is thinly scattered
throughout England. It attains to very large
dimensions, and is a stately and beautiful object when
growing. The wood, however, is not in any great use.
It is brown in colour, moderately heavy and hard, and
has a straight, even and porous grain. It has a decided
oak-like figure when cut on the medullary rays, and is
sometimes used as a substitute for that wood. Very
durable when submerged in water, it is consequently
used for sluices, flood-gates, and similar work, It will
not, however, stand in alternate wet and dry situations.

Olive Wood.—A tree that is well known in Mediter-
ranean regions, and which grows to a medium size.
It produces timber, from its contorted and twisted
trunk, which is of no great use except for the making
of fancy-turned articles and small pieces of cabinet
ware. The wood obtained is of yellowish-brown
colour, close-grained, and hard in texture. It has,
usually, a fine stripy figure in its twisted growth,
and its handsome appearance renders it fit for the
above-named purpose.

THE EUROPEAN VARIETIES OF HARDWOOD 85

Box Wood.—This is obtained from a tree of shrubby
growth which is indigenous to a portion of Europe and
parts of Asia. It is a slow growing, low, and bush-like
tree that is occasionally to be met with in England,
the timber produced being small and of comparatively
little value: it may be frequently seen in an extremely
low form, in many cottage and other gardens, where it
is grown and trimmed for borders. In parts of Turkey
and Persia, however, it grows more freely and attains
a larger size, and it is from these localities, shipped
from ports in the Black Sea, that we obtain the most
appreciated qualities.

The wood is exported in small billets or sticks, gener-
ally about 2 to 3 ft. in length, and from about 1} in. to
6 in. in diameter, most of the parcels being chiefly
shipped to Liverpool, from whence it is distributed.

Light yellow in colour, it is extremely hard and
close-grained, having a dry weight of something like
533 Ibs. to the cubic foot. It works and turns well,
and has a silky lustre when finished from the tool.

Formerly, the chief demand for this timber emanated
from the wood-engraving trade, the material having
been used for the cutting of blocks for illustrative
purposes since the fifteenth century. No other wood
could be found with the same close, fine texture, so
well adapted for the purpose, and high prices were for
many years obtained. Of late years, however, the
camera and other processes of obtaining illustra-
tions have superseded this older method, and the con-
sumption for this purpose has declined. The wood
has still many miscellaneous uses, being largely em-
ployed in the manufacture of rules of all kinds, for
turnery work of all descriptions, for the making of tools
and tool handles, inlaying and other work.

A further variety which is, however, not held in

86 TIMBER

such high esteem, is shipped from Central America and
Brazil. This wood is imported in Straight, round
logs, up to about 10 in. or more in diameter, is of greyish-
yellow colour, perfectly straight in the grain, but has
not the dense and horny character of the European
varieties. Two other species are also exported from
South Africa—Knysna and East London—both, like
the above West Indian variety, being inferior to the
Turkey or Persian wood.

Many additional woods are in use, such as Holly,
Yew, Pear, and a few others, but so limited is their use
that, except for this slight allusion, it is unnecessary
to add further remarks.

CHAPTER X

HARDWOOD TIMBERS FROM ASIATIC SOURCES :
INDIA—SIAM AND OTHER COUNTRIES

THE great East Indian Empire is richly afforested
with fine timbers of almost innumerable varieties,
about which exhaustive information is available in
the publications of the Indian Forest Department.
Most of the forests are under the control of this Depart-
ment, the woods being exploited under their direction,
schemes for systematic reproduction being formulated
under their authority, and in addition they issue abun-
dant information as above stated, covering the whole
subject. There is apparently a great native consump-
tion of these Indian woods, for out of an approximate
total of 5,000 woody species which are said to exist in
the country, and of which rather more than half are
timber trees, not more than about a dozen are regularly
supplied to the outside markets, and only one, namely,
Teak, is shipped in any considerable quantity.

Satin Wood.—The introduction of this fine wood
probably took place for the first time about thirty or
thirty-five years ago, when logs and more often planks,
sawn into boards, were brought to the English market.
Most of the wood was finely figured, and was readily sold,
notwithstanding the difficulties of cutting these boards
into veneers. Gradually, with the establishment of a
regular demand, nothing but timber in the round was
shipped. It now arrives in this natural condition,
the logs mostly ranging from 10 to 20 ft. in length,
and with a diameter of about 16 in. to 24 in. The
wood is of yellow or yellowish-brown colour, very hard,
dense, and with a bright lustre. Many of the logs are

87
7—(1460A)"

88 TIMBER

finely figured with an attractive mottle, and high prices
are secured for these, 5s. and 6s. per foot of 1 ft. by
12 in. not being uncommon.

The wood is largely used for brush backs, but much
of the finest is bought for conversion into veneer for
cabinet-makers’ use. It is a difficult wood to work,
however, not taking glue readily, and requiring very
skilled workmanship, and is thus only seen in furniture
of good grade for which a sufficient price can be realised
to repay the cost of manufacture. It will not compare
in colour with the fine satin woods of the West Indian
Islands and has not, moreover, such bold and striking
figure as some of those woods possess, but it is, never-
theless, when finely figured, a most attractive and
beautiful wood. It is interesting to note its uses in
India, compared with those elsewhere, among the
many cited being building work, bridge construction,
wharf piles, felloes, and is durable as a material for
railway sleepers, but too valuable.

Rosewood.—Generally known as East Indian Rose-
wood, and sometimes in India as Bombay Blackwood.
It grows in fair quantities in Central and Southern
India and other parts, reaching its greatest size through-
out the Western Ghats. It is rather plentifully exported
to Great Britain, where it arrives in round logs ranging
up to a diameter of about 36 in. or more. The wood
is of dark reddish purple, with black marks, and has a
hard but rather coarse and open texture. It is a
handsome wood and valuable, being employed in
limited quantities for cutting into veneers for the
use of pianoforte makers and others: the greater
proportion, however, is re-exported, a good demand
being found for the wood on the Continent.

Padouk or Andaman Redwood.—This is a remarkably
handsome wood which is obtained from the Andaman

HARDWOOD TIMBERS FROM ASIATIC SOURCES 89

Islands. A further species is found in Burma, but this
is of inferior character. The wood was first put upon
the market about twenty-five or thirty years ago, but,
although intermittent shipments have from time to time
been made, it has never obtained a very permanent
footing. A good proportion, practically all, of the
parcels received of late years in England have been
transhipped to the United States, where there is an
occasional demand.

Shipped in squared logs of large dimensions, the wood
is of most striking appearance, being. of a rich deep
red colour, streaked with black, which, however, fades
on exposure. It is hard, durable, seasons well, and
takes a good polish, but is somewhat cross-grained and
difficult to work. It is apparently used in a variety of
ways in India, for the frame-work of ploughs, for carv-
ing, for the making of sticks, for railway sleepers, and
in the construction of casks.

East Indian Walnut.—A large deciduous tree common
in the Himalayas from Bhutan westwards, extending
into Afghanistan. The wood produced is dark brown
and fairly uniform in colour, hard and silky in texture,
seasons and polishes well, and is understood to be fairly
durable. Unlike other walnut woods, no great con-
sumption is found for the wood in the European markets,
but occasional shipments are made. Well-figured logs
have also been shipped and have sold readily. It is
said that fine burrs are to be obtained from these trees ;
none however, so far as is known, have been seen in
the English Markets.

Red Cedar, Moulmein Cedar (Toon).—Variously
named, another large deciduous tree common in most
parts of India has to benoticed. The wood is of bright
red colour, is soft, open, and even-grained, is easily
worked, but rather brittle. Largely used in India,

90 TIMBER

has not obtained much favour clscwhere, although
shipped in well-squared logs of large dimensioris. Has
no cedar scent, and its too bright colour is perhaps | an
obstacle to its use for cigar box-making.

Gurjun.—The produce of a large tree, from which
logs of excellent sizes are obtained ; in the Andamans,
squares of 24 in. diameter and with a length of 60 ft.
can, it is understood, be extracted. The wood is of
reddish-brown colour, soft to moderately hard in
texture, rough, and not of particularly durable character.
It is used in India for general ship and boat-building
purposes, and is an inferior material for house-building.
It was introduced into London as a likely wood for
street-paving, its oily nature being urged as a merit
for this purpose.

Macassar, Ceylon, and Andaman Marble Wood.—
Among the varieties of ebony which are found in India
the two first named are regularly exported, and samples
of the latter have also been shipped. The Macassar
is extracted in moderately long billets of good average
size, occasionally ranging up to 24 in. or more in diameter.

The wood of these varieties is of generally hard, close
-and fine texture, and of a very heavy nature. Contrary
-to the popular conception of the colour of this wood as
jet black, it is usually varied, the Macassar being of
mingled shades of brown and black; the Ceylon, rich
dark purple with black streaks; the Andaman Marble
or Zebra wood being very finely striped with alternate
but irregular streaks of grey and black. The two first
described varieties have a moderate consumption, being
principally used for the manufacture of walking sticks,
for turnery purposes, and the making of fancy articles
of cabinet ware. The Andaman Island wood has
scarcely been tried, but is by far the most handsome
in appearance of the three descriptions.

HARDWOOD TIMBERS FROM ASIATIC SOURCES 91

Teak.—This valuable wood not only ranks as the
most important among the many varieties of fine woods
that are grown in India and Siam, but stands, in the
estimation of consumers, in a premier position in regard
to its use as a material for constructional purposes.
It is so classed at Lloyd’s, being placed in the list of
shipbuilding timbers in a position alone, and above oak
and every other wood.

It was a timber held in high estimation in India in
the days of the old East India Company, and its good
qualities were gradually brought to the notice of the
naval authorities in England, by whom it was first
used about a century ago. By degrees its qualifications
as a wood for construction began to be appreciated in
other directions, and upon the growth of the railway
system and, later, of tramway means of locomotion, in
this and other countries, it was found to be a material
of admirable description for the construction of the
vehicles used. It also found favour among architects,
and large quantities, in the aggregate, are at the present
time consumed by the building industries. The con-
sumption has also greatly expanded since its introduc-
tion in Asiatic markets nearer to its source of extraction,
the bulk of the output of India being shipped to’ other
centres in the same country, and to markets in China

-and Japan.

The wood shipped from India is practically all obtained
from forests in Burma, and from the ports of Moulmein
supplies were first distributed. Later, Rangoon in
the same State came to the front and eclipsed, in the
amount of timber she exported, the older port. After-
wards supplies of the same description of wood were
exported from the neighbouring kingdom of Siam, and,
although at first the wood was held in less esteem than
the older varieties, gradually established itself in favour,

92 TIMBER

and large and regular shipments from the port of
Bangkok followed.

In India the tree from which this fine timber is ob-
tained is found growing in mixed forests in Central
and South India and Bombay, but even in far larger
quantities in the forests of Burma. As before mentioned,
most of the afforested areas in India are under State
control, and in the case of Teak rigorous measures
are taken, not only in regard to the number and girth
of the trees which are to be felled, but also in the perhaps
more important question of replanting and establishing
a continuity of supplies.

Such trees, for which State authority has been ob-
tained for felling, are first girdled, a ring of the sap
right down to the heart-wood being removed from near
the base of the trunk. This, effectually performed,
arrests the flow of sap and puts an end to the life of the
tree. The trunk is then left standing for two years,
the wood in that period partially drying, and so being
reduced in weight that it will float on the rivers to
destinations where it is manufactured into logs for
export.

The traction of the great trunks from the forests
to the rivers in proximity is a task of great magnitude.
Frequently they have to be hauled long distances over
rough and practically unmade roads through jungle
and forest, the work being both arduous and expensive.
Elephants are largely employed in this heavy work,
and the sagacity and enormous strength of these animals
largely alleviate the difficulties of the task.

On the rivers, swollen by season’s rains, the trunks
of these trees after being sufficiently reduced in weight
to float—which they would not do when green—are
brought down to mills adjacent to ports of shipment.
Arrived here they are, by means of modern machinery,

HARDWOOD TIMBERS FROM ASIATIC SOURCES 93

converted into logs, planks, boards and scantlings to
suit the needs of consumers in the various markets for
which the wood is destined.

Here again the elephant, the animal with the
smallest brain, in comparison to its size, of all existing
beasts, is brought into use, his uncanny intelligence
and his great strength making him indispensable.
Some facts from these localities in regard to the
latter qualities possessed by the animal are interesting.

As regards strength, the elephants are reported as
being able to lift on their tusks, with comparative ease,
a log weighing half a ton, and to drag, when sufficient
hold is obtained, a trunk weighing 3 tons. But to.
realise their power, of which they appear to be proud,
one has, it is said, to see them at work in the jungles
and creeks when launching the trees into the rivers.
Here, sometimes, when elephant and log are buried in
soft mud, the animal has tasks which bring out his
capabilities, and his qualities are seen to their best
advantage. It is related that some years ago a tug of
war was tried at Moulmein between an animal belonging
to the Forest Department and Sepoys attached to a
Madras regiment: it took, it is recorded, 130 men to
hold the elephant.

With a mahout, or keeper, on his back he practically
does all the heavy labour at the mills, picking up
great logs with his trunk, conveying them to the
machinery, and piling them afterwards as intelligently
and effectually as a pile-stacker in a London dock.
They are most regular and methodical in their habits,
and in one respect similar to human labourers, it
being said that, when the bell proclaiming the time for
leaving work is heard, no temptation. whatever will
induce them to continue, even if they are in the course
of piling a log.

94 TIMBER

Teak is of fairly heavy weight, a cubic foot of seasoned
wood having a reputed weight of 45 Ibs. It is of uniform
golden-brown colour, very occasionally in the Burmese
varieties, having black streaks on its surface, and is
still more rarely found with some little figure. Now
and again it has also a greenish tinge when cut, this
colour, however, disappearing on exposure to the
air. The grain of the wood is open and slightly coarse,
and, when planed or worked, a most unpleasant smell
is emitted, which, however, like the green colour
above mentioned, disappears with exposure. There
- is a gritty substance in the pores of the wood which
blunts any edged tools, but, upon the whole, it has
admirable working qualities. Its strength and durabil-
ity is unequalled, especially in regard to the latter
quality, even in the moist heat of the tropics the wood
being practically imperishable. Its great and peculiar
virtue, however, and that which first brought it into
notice, in addition to its many other good qualities,
is its possession of some oil or substance in its constitu-
tion that prevents the rusting and corrosion of iron
when that metal is placed in contact with it, and, for
this quality alone, it is highly esteemed in naval circles
all over the world, no wood having yet been found
that possesses similar features.

The timber can be obtained in excellent dimensions,
both in regard to lengths and sizes. Formerly, all the
wood received in England was in the form of squared
timber, but, within the last thirty or forty years, much
besides has been sent in the form of planks, boards,
scantlings and other conversions. Almost since the
naval authorities put their seal on its qualities, the
finest logs in length, diameter and quality, have been
reserved by shippers for export, the selection being
known as “ Europe quality.”

HARDWOOD TIMBERS FROM ASIATIC SOURCES 95

As. before observed, while a great. proportion of the
supply is utilized for shipbuilders’ work, the consumption
for other purposes has grown considerably and, not-
withstanding the efforts of the Indian Forest Depart-
ment, the supply from these well-guarded and systemat-
ically arranged forests has rarely exceeded the demand,
and the wood has shown, more particularly of late
years, an almost continuous appreciation in value.
Prices have reached such a point during the last few
years, especially for the higher grades of the wood, that
its uses have been somewhat restricted where it has not
been an absolute necessity. Many substitutes have
been of late tried, but, although several with excellent
qualities have been put upon the market, none have
approached Teak in its all-round good qualities,
particularly in reference to its adaptation for use with
iron.

Two or three varieties of wood are at the present time
being offered as substitutes: In or Eng wood, a pro-
duct of Burma; Yang, another species of Eng, exported
from Siam; and Krabark, a wood shipped from the
latter country, but at present unidentified. These,
all useful woods, are being slowly established, and, to a
small extent, take the place of Teak in its minor uses.

Serayah.—An unidentified wood imported in the
form of planks from Borneo and the Malay Peninsula.
It is of uniform reddish colour, open grained, and
strong, and, though inclined to twist and warp, is fairly
workable; it does not, however, take a finish, being
coarse and occasionally of woolly texture.

Amboyna—A scarce and valuable fancy wood
obtained from one of the Molucca Islands bearing that
name. The wood is received in the form of a burr,
this woody excrescence being produced from an uniden-
tified tree, which is presumed to be of coniferous growth.

96 TIMBER

These burrs are but rarely met with, and contain
beautifully mottled wood, brown in colour. The burrs
are cut into veneer and used for fancy cabinet work
and for inlaying.

Thuya.—A very similar wood to the preceding and
hardly distinguishable. This is also the burr of a con-
iferous tree which is found in Algiers and Morocco.
It has a fragrant odour, is finely mottled, and is used
in a similar way and for the same purposes as Amboyna.

CHAPTER XI

THE HARDWOOD TIMBERS OF JAPAN AND THE
AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES

Many varieties of timber, principally of the hardwood
division, and mostly fitted for heavy constructional
work, are grown in the Australasian Colonies. Most of
them belong to the Eucalyptus family, the Continent
being richer in this genus than in any other. They
are chiefly strong, heavy and durable woods, fitted for
the above-mentioned work, and of them about six
or more varieties are exported in more or less quantities
to the English and other markets. Some few descriptive
notes may be given in regard to these, and also to a
few further woods which, suitable for more decorative
work, are occasionally shipped to Great Britain.

Jarrah.—This timber and Karri are perhaps the most
important that are grown in Western Australia. The
tiee from which it is obtained grows to a height of
90 to 120 ft., the trunks often showing a length of 50
to 60 ft. to the first branch, and being from 3 to 5 it.
in diameter. The wood is of deep red colour, hard and
dense in texture, its weight, when fresh, being about
70 lbs. to the cubic foot, and, when seasoned, about
10 Ibs. less. It is largely used in England for street-
paving purposes, and in Australia, Cape Colony and
other countries, for piles, jetties, bridge building and
railway sleepers. It is exported, cut to fine dimensions,
and is pre-eminent, not only for strength and durability
but as being impervious to sea-worms.

Karri.—One of the largest timber trees of Australia,

97

98 TIMBER

which frequently attains to a height of 200 or more
feet ; its straight symmetrical bole towers upright and
overtops all other eucalypts in its vicinity. The
wood is, in its main characteristics, similar to the
Jarrah, but is understood to be less durable, although,
in some respects as a paving material, it is superior.

Ironbark.—This further species of the Eucalyptus
family is another timber which holds an important
position among the timbers of Australia. There are four
varieties, three of them being of especial value, fitted as
they are for bridge work, beams, railway sleepers and
other similar work. The trees attain a height of 100
to 150 ft., with a diameter of 2 to 5 ft., and the timber,
hard, tough and extremely difficult to work, is no less
than 73 Ibs. to the cubic foot in weight. The wood
from these varieties differs in colour, the three most
in favour varying from white to grey, the further one
being of a reddish colour.

Blackbutt.—A tree growing from 50 to 150 ft. in
height, and with a diameter of 2 to 4 ft., is also one of
the most valuable and esteemed of the Eucalyptus
family, being adapted for similar purposes to the
Ironbark. The wood varies somewhat in colour, but
is generally of a greyish brown. Most difficult to work
either with saw or plane.

Blue Gum.—-Another similar wood of durable charac-
ter, produced from a fine, shapely tree, whose symmetrical
growth attains a considerable height. It is largely
used for similar constructional work as the foregoing.

Tallow Wood.—Is so called because of its greasy
nature. It is a wood that, after Blackbutt, ranks next
in general excellence. It is strong and durable, and,
having good working qualities, is in favour for building
purposes, It is of pale brown colour, difficult to split,
and is reported in Australia as being an admirable wood

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100 TIMBER

for street-paving purposes; very little of this wood
has, however, been exported to English markets.

Red, or Forest, Mahogany.—Is a handsome timber
which is loosely called a mahogany, the timber being
really of the same Eucalyptus family as the Australian
woods already noted. A fair quantity of this timber,
generally in a converted form, reaches the London
market. The wood is of deep. brownish-red colour,
’ hard, dense and heavy in weight, has fair working
qualities, but the grain is occasionally rather twisted.

Silky Oak.—No true oak is found in the Colonies,
but to this timber (Grevillia Robusta) the above fancy
name is applied. It is a handsome wood of light colour,
with a fine oak-like grain, and with blotched oak-like
figure. It’is largely used by the cabinet trade in the
Colonies, and has been introduced into Great Britain,
although with no very encouraging results.

Black Bean.—Has some resemblance to very dark
walnut, and is a fine-grained wood that takes a high
polish. Occasionally it shows fine figure, and is much
used in the making of Colonial furniture, but it is said
to absorb glue unreadily owing to its greasy nature.
This wood, like the preceding, has had an introduction
at sundry times to the English markets.

Myall.—Is an intensely hard, heavy and dark-coloured
wood with a scent of violets. The tree does not attain
to any large size, seldom exceeding 30 or 40 ft. in height,
with a diameter of 12 in. to 18 in. It is much used for
turning purposes, and was at one time, and is now to a
limited extent, used for the making of tobacco pipes.
Has been used by the Ordnance Department for the
manufacture of spokes for gun ee and is a wood
of the Acacia species.

Red Cedar.—This is identical with the Toon of East
India and other Asiatic countries, of which a short

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102 TIMBER

description has been given in the chapter devoted to
Indian woods. It is reported-as being plentiful in the
Colonies, and is largely used for various purposes. It
has not, however, when tried in the United Kingdom,
found much favour in competition with old-established
varieties from Central America.

From further Asiatic countries other varieties of hard-
woods, in more or less limited ‘quantities, are shipped to
Great Britain. Japan, in addition to the supplies of
oak, an account of which has been given in a previous
chapter, sends :to the English and other markets con;
signments of ash. This timber is shipped in squared
logs, somewhat short in average lengths, but of good
diameter, and the wood, although not comparable with
English or American for toughness and strength, has
found some favour. It is lighter’ in weight than the
English wood, of straight, clean grain, and possesses
good working qualities. It is perhaps more fitted for
furniture ‘making than for the uses to which ash timber
is generally put, and, should a recurrence of a fashion
for this wood, as a material for furniture, again occur,
would probably be in great demand.

‘From Borneo several woods are exported, the principal
being a cedar, which, under the name of Borneo Cedar,
has a moderate sale in the English markets. In addition,
camphor wood is shipped, and one or two ‘further
varieties.

From the Dutch possessions of Java a regular export
of Teak wood takes place. This variety, under the name
of Java Teak, is a regular article of commerce both in
the English and Continental markets. It is not com-
parable, however, with the timbers of Burma and Siam,
and realises very inferior prices compared with those
made for the superior kinds. It is generally exported in
short logs and flitches, mostly of hewn manufacture.

Agent-General for New South Wales.

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THE HARDWOOD TIMBERS OF JAPAN, ETC. 105

The arboreal wealth of the Philippine Islands is, under
the restless activity of American exporters, being
rapidly developed. A large number of species—about
2,500 it is said—have been discovered, and many, of
more or less value, have been marketed in the States.
One or two woods in a converted form have reached the
English markets of late. They somewhat resemble
a coarse mahogany, but are perhaps more similar to
the crab-wood of British Guiana. As yet no definite
result in regard to their appreciation by consumers
has been attained.

CHAPTER XII

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE HARDWOOD TIMBERS OF CANADA
AND THE UNITED STATES EXPORTED TO
GREAT BRITAIN

THE coniferous timbers of these two Western Countries
have already been dealt with in a former chapter, and
it now remains to allude to the abundant wealth of the
further hardwood section, confining the remarks to such
varieties as are commonly met with in present-day.
commerce of the United Kingdom.

While the supplies of the broad-leaf timbers received
from Canada are negligible in quantity, compared with
the large shipments of soft woods, those shipped from
the United States are abundant in comparison with
the lesser quantity of coniferous woods exported.

Ash.—In the United States alone there are said to be
no less than sixteen species of this wood, more or less
valuable, and in the Canadian Dominions there are also
many more. Only two, however, of this number are
exported. Large supplies of what is known as American
white ash are received in Great Britain from the States
and used by consumers to supplement a deficiency in
the supply of the native-grown wood. The timbe
is similar in quality, but has not the toughness o
the all-round good- qualities of English wood. It
is imported in straight-grown round butts of moderate
girth, and also in converted planks and boards, and is
largely used for motor-body and wheelwrights’ work,
requisites for sports, such as hockey-sticks, tennis
rackets and other articles. The tree, when cut down,

106

HARDWOOD TIMBERS OF CANADA, ETC. 107

has the habit of re-growth from the stool, and thiS
second-growth wood is esteemed by some consumers aS
superior to the first.

From the Dominion of Canada a species of rather
different: character and known there as Black Ash, and
in the United Kingdom as Quebec White Ash, was for-
merly largely shipped in squared logs, ranging from about
12 in. to 24 in. in diameter. There was a good demand
at the time, as the wood was fashionable as a material
for the cabinet-maker, being principally used in the
manufacture of bedroom furniture. It was generally
of clean growth, white in colour, and had, in good
qualities when fresh felled, a silky grain which was
greatly appreciated when used for the above purpose.
The wood, however, did not retain its white appearance
for any length of time after use, becoming brown with
age, and gradually the fashion, after being dominant fcr
a good few years, died away. The wood is lighter in
weight than most species of ash, and is also less
strong and tough. It possesses excellent working
qualities, but except for the above purpose has been
little used. Shipments at the present time are
practically stopped.

Hickory.—There are said to be about a dozen species
of this wood, mostly growing in a range of territory
extending from the St. Lawrence to Mexico. The trees
produce a generally strong, tough and elastic wood,
which is largely used in the States. One species only,
the Shag Bark Hickory—perhaps the most valuable—
is shipped to Great Britain. The wood is of coarse, open
grain, brown in colour, strong, fairly heavy and very
elastic. It is used for the same purposes as ash, and
is the wood generally employed for the handles of
golf-sticks and, occasionally, for fishing-rods and similar
purposes. It is generally exported in the form of round

108 TIMBER

logs, but sometimes in converted planks, and the
second growth, as with the ash, is more appreciated
by some consumers than the first.

Walnut, Black or American.—The value of this fine
wood was recognised as early as the seventeenth century,
when large tracts of land were afforested with the trees.
It has since then been recklessly exploited, and total
extinction would be now well in sight but for slight
schemes of re-planting which are taking place. The
tree is of handsome growth, and attains to a height of
100 to 150 ft., with a diameter in well-grown specimens
of 4 ft. and over. The wood produced is of more or less
dark brown colour, even and uniform in texture, and
has exceedingly good working and polishing qualities.
Formerly, the wood was shipped in moderately squared
logs, but during the last thirty years a continuous
development in the export of square-edged, converted
planks and boards has taken place. It was at one time
extremely favoured for the making of bedroom suites,
dining-room and library furniture, the fashion having
been retained for many years, but, with a marked
deterioration in quality and continual rise in value,
its place was taken for these purposes by mahogany,
oak and other woods. Besides its use in the cabinet
trade it was also employed by builders for shop and
office fittings, and for many other purposes.

The tree was also fairly abundant in certain parts of
Canada, and regular supplies of an even better wood
than the American at one time reached Great Britain,
under the name of Quebec Walnut. It was superior
in texture and colour, having a somewhat darker
purplish tinge as compared with the American. It com-
manded a higher price, but the supply was apparently
not large, and very little has been seen during the last
ten years or more. ,

HARDWOOD TIMBERS OF CANADA, ETC. 109

Whitewood.—Generally known in the States as Poplar,
and in the United Kingdom as Whitewood or Canary
Whitewood, the timber is really the produce of a Tulip
tree, one of the most handsome and valuable that grow
in the United States. It is, or rather was—for the supply
shows unmistakable signs of exhaustion—plentiful in
most of the Eastern States, growing to a height of 150
to 190 ft., with a clear bole, in exceptional specimens,
of 80 ft., free of branches.

The wood was first shipped to British markets about
thirty-five years ago in the shape of squared logs of
extremely large dimensions, and quickly found apprecia-
tion, the trade developing, as in the case of most Ameri-
can woods, into the export of the material in a converted
form, much of the supply being, moreover, dressed or
planed on both sides. The wood is in most cases, and
when of the best quality, of clear bright yellow colour,
but varies, being sometimes of a brown shade and often
of a greyish white. It is a clean, straight-grained wood,
moderately hard, and works, stains, and polishes exceed-
ingly well. It is not, however, durable, decaying rapidly
when exposed or in a damp position, but is an admirable
wood for indoor use, and popular with cabinet and
pianoforte-makers, joiners and others who desire a
cheap, easily worked wood that does not warp or twist,
and that can be obtained in good dimensions.

Satin Walnut.—Known in the States as Red Gum,
Sweet Gum, and Busted, but marketed in Britain
under the name of Satin Walnut. This tree has its
habitat in a somewhat similar area of country to that
of the Tulip tree, but extends further into Texas,
along the Gulf of Orleans. It is also, like that tree, of
somewhat similar ornamental appearance and of equal
size.

The wood is of fine, close and even texture,

110 : TIMBER

greyish-brown in colour with darker stripy streaks. It
warps and twists badly, and is most susceptible to decay
when in damp places. It has, however, been tried for
street-paving purposes, but with poor results, and is used
for the cheapest class of furniture making, but is not
popular, the low price at which it is placed on the market
being its only attraction. The timber has much sap-
wood; this also is marketed, being known under the
name of Hazel Pine.

Bass Wood.—This is identical with the Lime or
Linden tree of England. Small parcels of this American
and Canadian-grown timber, in converted boards and
planks, are occasionally shipped to Great Britain. The
consumption, however, is trivial, the principal users
being the pianoforte action-makers.

Tupelo.—This timber is procured from a tree which
passes in America under the name of Cotton Gum or
Tupelo Gum, and is grown in swampy and occasionally
water-logged districts in the Southern States. The
wood is of greyish-white colour, close grained, clean
and somewhat heavier than Whitewood. It is fairly
workable, but is not durable in damp positions, and is
inclined to twist and warp. A few shipments of con-
verted boards are occasionally imported to the United
Kingdom, but, although a low-priced wood, the
consumption is extremely limited.

Maple.—This is known in the States and Canada as
Sugar Maple, Hard or Rock Maple, and also when figured
as Bird’s-eye Maple. The tree is largely grown in
Canada and also, to a much less extent, in the United
States, and produces an important and useful timber. It
attains a height of about 100 ft., its trunk developing a
diameter of 3 to 5 ft. The wood is of yellowish or greyish-
brown colour, is extremely hard and close grained in tex-
ture, and heavy in weight. It works well and finishes

HARDWOOD TIMBERS OF CANADA, ETC. 111

with a satiny surface. A moderate quantity is imported
into Great Britain principally in converted planks and
in the form of floor-boards, ready dressed and prepared
for laying down. The chief use of the wood is for this
flooring purpose, and most of the skating-rinks which
sprang into existence a year or two ago were covered
with this fine hard wood. A fair amount is also used for
turnery purposes, and some little of the wood in the
making of printers’ joinery. The timber is sometimes
of figured character, so well known as Bird’s-eye Maple.
This is supposed to be some freak in the development of
individual trees, probably arising, it is surmised, from
the suppression of dormant buds. Large quantities of
the wood were formerly used in the shape of veneer,
for picture-mouldings and other decorative work, but
beyond a few logs occasionally shipped comparatively
little is used at the present time.

Cotton Wood, or Carolina Poplar.—This tree, the
largest representative of the genus, is more or less well
distributed over the Eastern States of America. It
is stately in appearance, surpassing in many cases 100 ft.
in height, and producing a light, soft, willow-like wood
that can be extracted in large dimensions. Occasional
parcels of the wood have been tried in the English
markets, but no great use has been found for it. On
the Continent, however, principally in Germany, it
is in some favour.

Persimmon.—The Ebony of America. In its growth,
this tree attains a height of 40 or 50 ft., but specimens in
favoured localities in Indiana and Illinois reach greater
heights, and grow to a diameter of from 2 to 3 ft. The
wood is heavy, dense, and close-grained, the heart-wood
of old specimens showing a dark, almost black colour.
Most of the wood exported, however, is sap-wood of a
greyish-brown colour, The limited amount that is

112 TIMBER

exported, principally received in the Liverpool
market, is used for shuttle-making, turnery, and
other purposes.

Rock Elm.—A valuable tree, which in some respects
is akin to Scottish and English Wych Elm, is principally
found in Canada and the Northern parts of the United
States. Growing to a height of 80 to 100 ft., with a
trunk of 3 to 4 ft. in diameter, it inhabits the upland
portions of the country, preferring rocky ridges and
slopes. The wood is heavy, very fine and close in tex-
ture, and of a light-brown colour. It works well, and
is greatly appreciated for its strength, toughness and
flexibility. Like most Elms, it is not liable to split,
and is exceedingly durable when in wet situations.
Principally exported in squared logs, it is largely used
by boat and ship builders, and also for the construction
of bent-work for wheelwrights.

Orham.—This is an unidentified species of Elm which
is exported in small quantities, and principally used
for coffin construction and wheelwright purposes.

Birch.—Seventeen varieties of this wood are said to
have their habitation in Canada and the United States.
Practically only one, however, is exported, being
principally shipped from Quebec and other Canadian
ports. The tree from which this timber is produced
reaches a height of 70 or 80 ft., and has a trunk
diameter of from 2 to 5 ft.; the best specimens are
obtained from well-drained, upland localities. The
wood is of light brown or light reddish-brown colour ;
is hard, fine and close in texture, heavy and strong.
It is not durable in damp situations, and, although work-
ing well on the whole, is occasionally very cross-grained.
A large import has taken place for many years to
Great Britain, principally in the form of squared logs,
and also of late years in the shape of converted planks

HARDWOOD TIMBERS OF CANADA, ETC. 113

and boards. It has many uses; formerly it was fashion-
able for the manufacture of the cheaper classes of
furniture, but the consumption at the present time is
-principally for turnery purposes, chair-frame making
coach-building, and many further minor uses.

CHAPTER XIII

THE HARDWOOD TIMBERS OF CENTRAL AND
SOUTH AMERICA

A RICH wealth of valuable woods is to be found in
the above regions. Large areas, notably Brazil and
some of the Northern parts of South America, are
practically unexploited in this respect, and, although
a fair number of specimens are well known, many
more still remain that are awaiting recognition. Over
400 species in Brazil alone are said to be known at
the present time, most of them, however, being un-
identified. Previous mention has been made in a
separate chapter of the mahoganies with which the
districts of Central America are so richly afforested,
and it now only remains to make some few observations
on the further species of timber which are obtained
from these tropical districts, and also from the further
areas of South America.

Satin Woods.—From most of the West Indian Islands
this beautiful wood is obtained in more or less quantities
and in varying qualities ; the finest, however, is shipped
from St. Domingo and Puerto Rico. The wood is of
a clear, bright yellow colour, dense, hard and heavy,
and at times is beautifully figured. It has for many
years past been held in high estimation as a material
for cabinet-making, and some of the much sought-
after pieces of furniture of the latter part of the
eighteenth century were partly, or wholly, veneered
with wood which doubtless had its origin in the Island
of St. Domingo. A fair supply is still shipped from this
Island in squared logs up to about 15 or 16 in. square,

114

HARDWOOD TIMBERS OF CENTRAL AMERICA 115

but figured specimens are scarce among the number.
Such logs always command high prices, especially when
of finely figured quality, and there is a record of one
making 2ls. per foot in public sale in London some
few years ago. The figured logs are still used by the
cabinet trades, but to less extent than formerly, the
bulk of the total imported into the United Kingdom
at the present day passing into the hands of brush-
makers, for the making of the backs of expensive
hair-brushes. The wood found in the adjacent Island
of Puerto Rico is held perhaps in greater estimation
than the St. Domingo wood, being of a brighter and
richer colour. Unfortunately, however, this supply
has become practically exhausted, and very little
besides roots and rough stumps of trees is shipped at
the present time. Even these are in demand, notwith-
standing the large amount of waste that occurs in their
conversion. Pieces have been known to sell at £110
per ton, the usual price, however, being about an average
of £10 to £30 per ton.

Lignum Vitae.—This is a wood which is common to
several of the West Indian Islands, the tree from which
it is obtained growing perhaps more freely in St. Domingo
and Cuba than in the other islands. It is the
heaviest wood in existence, its dry weight being approxi-
mately 80 Ibs. to the cubic foot ; even a piece of its thin
covering of bark will sink when immersed in water.
Its great weight indicates its extremely dense character,
it being perhaps one of the hardest woods existing.
In colour it is of a dark brown, streaked with black,
the sap-wood, of equal value to the heart-wood, being
yellow and of very narrow proportions. The wood is
of close texture, and is largely impregnated with a
sticky resinous or gummy substance. It is exported
in short lengths and of generally small dimensions,

116 TIMBER

rarely exceeding 10 in.; occasionally larger pieces
are shipped, but they are almost invariably subject
to cup shakes which spoil their value. The wood is
principally used for ship-blocks, also to some extent for
rollers, for the making of bowls, and for turnery and
other miscellaneous purposes.

Quassia.—This wood is the product of a tree which
has a fairly wide distribution in the West Indian Islands,
Brazil, and other parts of South America. Itis a rather
soft and stringy-grained wood of light yellowish colour,
and, beyond the extremely bitter taste which it possesses,
has no other feature to distinguish it. Small parcels
of rough unmanufactured pieces of this wood are, from
time to time exported, the consumption being mostly
for medicinal purposes and for the making of extracts
for spraying hops and other horticultural produce.

Lance Wocd.—From Cuba, Jamaica, and other Central
American districts, but principally from the first men-
tioned Island, supplies of this wood are obtained. It
is a heavy, dense, close-textured wood of yellowish
‘colour, its chief characteristic being its extreme elasticity
and toughness. It is rarely seen of large size, and,
shipped in what are known as spars—lengths of
about 12 to 16 ft., and about 6 in. to 8 in. in
diameter—finds its chief users among benders of
timber for shafts of vehicles and other purposes in coach
and wheelwright work. It was formerly rather exten-
sively used for fishing-rod making, but has now been
altogether superseded by green-heart for that purpose.

Degame.-—A quite distinct variety of the same wood
as the above. It is similar in most respects to the
foregoing, shipped from the same sources, exported in
the same fashion, but in rather larger spars, and is used
for identical purposes.

HARDWOOD TIMBERS OF CENTRAL AMERICA 117

Blue Mahoe.—This timber has a fairly wide distribution
in the West Indian Islands and in adjacent countries.
The wood is of greyish-brown colour and, otherwise
than for colour, might be compared in weight, strength
and flexibility with English Ash. A few logs in squared
form are occasionally met with, principally exported
from Cuba, but the consumption is quite negligible.

Washiba.—This is another timber of the same tough
and elastic character as the foregoing, and is obtained
from Guiana and other sources in South America. It
is reported as obtainable in long lengths and of large
dimensions, but is somewhat scarce. No great amount
has been shipped at any time. The wood is of reddish-
brown colour, hard, heavy, strong, and very flexible.

Tulip Wood.—A beautiful fancy wood of small
growth which is obtained from the forests of Brazil,
is known under this name. The wood is fairly heavy,
hard and close textured ; its striped appearance bears
some resemblance to a pink and yellow-striped tulip,
hence its name. It is not at all common, the small
amount exported being principally used for the making
of bandings in marquetry work and for fancy turnery
purposes.

Partridge Wood.—This is another fancy wood ob-
tained from the same source as the Tulip wood. It is
extremely heavy, hard and dense, of a very dark-brown
colour with darker markings, and is used for similar
purposes as the above. In appearance it is somewhat
similar to Cocus wood, of which an account follows,
and is often mistaken for that wood.

Cocus Wood.—Also known as West Indian, Brown,
Jamaica Ebony, and by other names. This wood is
well distributed in America and the West Indies. It
is an even heavier wood than the foregoing, ranging
from 77 to 87 Ibs. per cubic foot; compares with
Ebony in hardness, and is of a rich, dark-brown colour.

118 TIMBER

It is exported in small pieces of about 6 ft. to 8 ft. long,
and from 3 in. to 6 in. in diameter, which have exterior
sap-wood of about 2 of an inch in thickness, and is used
for the manufacture. of flutes and other musical
instruments, small cabinet work, and turnery purposes.

Purple-heart.—This is a Demerara fancy wood occa-
sionally met with, and is obtained from a tree which
grows to large dimensions, both in height and girth.
The wood is hard, heavy and strong, and its appreciation
is due to its colour, which, brown when first cut, after-
wards turns to a decided purple. This rarity of
colour renders it an acquisition to marquetry cutters
and to the cabinet-makers.

Sabicu.—A Cuban wood which is in favour for its
strength and durability among naval shipbuilders,
ranking high in Lloyd’s list. It was formerly largely
used in Government work, but is now little required,
the use of iron, and alterations in methods of construction,
having rendered its use a thing of the past. The wood is
of rather dark-brown colour and is fairly hard and heavy,
and, exported in squared logs of similar size and make
to mahogany, is sometimes used in place of that wood.
It is also often finely figured like mahogany, having,
but for its brown colour, a very similar appearance.

Crabwood.—Another hardwood which is principally
supplied from British Guiana, but which is obtainable
in other adjacent countries. This is a moderately hard
wood, somewhat coarse in the grain, and of reddish-
brown colour. It is extracted in large squares and of
long lengths, but the export of late years has been
principally in the form of converted planks and boards.
It is shipped as a probable substitute for the cheaper
kinds of mahogany, but, although selling fairly well
when the regular descriptions are scarce or their price
high, is not appreciated to any great extent.

HARDWOOD TIMBERS OF CENTRAL AMERICA 119

Green-heart.—This wood is a native of British Guiana
and species are found in adjacent parts of South
America and in the West Indian Islands. It is an
invaluable wood for many purposes, and ranks as
first-class in Lloyd’s list of shipbuilding timbers. It
has a recorded dry weight of 64 to 75 Ibs. to the
cubic foot, and is of a brown colour, with an occasional
greyish-green cast. It is extremely strong—one of
the strongest in existence—and is unequalled in its
flexibility. |The chief virtue, however, which it possesses
is its resistance to the teredo worm when used for piles
and other work in sea-water, being unsurpassed in this
particular by any other wood. It is exported principally
in the form of moderately squared logs, which range
up to extreme lengths, and is largely used for the above-
mentioned sea-coast work, and also in the building of
bridges and for other constructional purposes where
durability and strength are needful. A minor use is
the manufacture of fishing-rods, the flexibility of the
wood making it an ideal material for the making of
fly-rods.

Mora.—Another fine wood from British Guiana,
which is produced from one of the most valuable and
also one of the largest trees which exist in that possession.
It has been at times largely used in ship construction,
being rated like Green-heart as first-class. Unlike
that wood, however, it will not resist the teredo worm.
It is obtainable in large dimensions and the wood,
dark, reddish-brown in colour, is heavy, hard, strong
and most durable. It is said to have poor working
qualities, and is only fit for heavy constructional
purposes. Very little has been used since iron took
its permanent place for the building of ships.

Snakewood.—A_ choice tropical wood principally
obtained from British Guiana. This is one of the most

9—(14604)

120 TIMBER

appreciated woods for stick-making that are known.
The wood is of fine, close grain, and of rich brown
colour, mottled in a curious way with black rings.
Extremely high prices have been paid for this wood
at times, and owing to its scarcity it commands high
rates at the present, when, perhaps, not so much in
fashion.

Rosewoods.—Besides the East Indian variety of this
wood, which is mentioned in a former chapter, two
further species are extracted from Brazil and Honduras
respectively, and shipped to European markets. Others,
besides, are found in various districts of Central America,
but are only rarely seen. The Brazilian variety is the
finest and the one which was chiefly employed when this
wood was fashionable for the manufacture of furniture
some forty or fifty years ago. It is usually shipped
in rough pieces, more often in the form of a trunk,
roughly cleared of sap and split down the centre. The
wood is very hard, heavy, close-grained, and of a rich
and very dark purplish brown ; the best is that shipped
from Rio de Janeiro, being finely marked with black
or very dark-brown stripes. Further wood of a similarly
good character is also exported from Bahia. The
Honduras wood is principally exported from British
Honduras in short, round billets of about 10 in.
to 15 in. in diameter.. This wood is almost as dense as
the Brazilian variety, and is of nut-brown colour, streaked
with black stripes. Both woods are much less used
than formerly, there being very little demand for them
from the cabinet trades, as the wood for that purpose
is quite out of fashion ; it is also little used for piano case-
making at the present time, but some amount, in the
shape of veneer, is still consumed.

Log Wocd.—An important dye-wood which is ex-
tracted from most Central American districts, the

HARDWOOD TIMBERS OF CENTRAL AMERICA 121

principal source of the supplies however, are British
Honduras and ports on the Eastern Coast of Mexico.
It is shipped in irregular and ugly-shaped pieces
of root and branches, from which are obtained
red and black dyes. In alcohol it gives a beautiful
greenish-yellow colour which turns to an intense crimson
on the addition of potash. A solution in water gives a
port-wine colour, and it is a matter for conjecture as
to whether there is any connection between this and
the ‘‘ wine from the wood” which the wine merchant
recommends ; if so, the fact is never acknowledged. It
is said to be used extensively in the making of ink as
well as for many other dyeing purposes.
Fustic.—Another dye-wood which is exported from
Central America and Brazil. This wood is of fairly
hard description, having a fine, satiny texture, and
being of yellow or yellowish-green colour. Occasionally,
logs of small size are to be seen, but generally the wood
is shipped in small pieces of irregular and rooty growth.
The timber is used in Great Britain solely as a dye-wood.

CHAPTER XIV

SOME NOTES ON THE EXTRACTION OF TIMBER IN
VARIOUS COUNTRIES

THERE are few perhaps that realise, on looking around
on the different varieties of wood that surround us, the
amount of labour that has been expended on the
production or the vicissitudes through which these
timbers have passed in the long journey from their
native forests to their present location. They probably
have no conception of the far away forests, sometimes
hundreds of miles from the confines of civilisation,
from whence the timber is obtained, nor of the arduous
tasks of felling and transporting it by various means to.
shipping points ; they know little about how the latter
work is effected, sometimes under conditions of almost
Arctic severity, and at other times in tropical latitudes,
where from dense-tangled jungles, practically impene-
trable even to sunlight, the stifling and moisture-laden
heat is almost unbearable to any but native labour.
From the simple and primitive means of extracting
the trifling amount of timber which is obtained from
English woodlands to the methods in vogue in America,
Canada and other countries, there is an extensive range,
and a brief account of one or two may be of interest.
In most countries the natural and first-used means
of transporting the timber from the forests to more
convenient places for conversion and shipment is by
the utilization of the waterways. Areas of forest land
contiguous to the main streams are first exploited,
and, as these become exhausted, further and further
afield do the timbermen have to travel, until tributary

122

NOTES ON THE EXTRACTION OF TIMBER 123

streams, sub-tributary and waterways of all kinds are
brought into use, water having to be impounded in many
of the latter to provide sufficient current when needful
at certain seasons.

In the vast Dominions of Canada, which have yet
to be covered with a network of railways, this natural
and economical method of bringing the timber nearer
to the coast is universal, and the subject of the arduous
tasks of the lumbermen in felling the timber in the
woods in the depths of winter, the manipulation of
the drives in the snow-flooded streams in the Spring,
and the life led by these lumbermen, have formed
material for much picturesque writing by various
authors.

The camps are formed in the late autumn months,
some fifty or sixty men, mostly French Canadians,
being included according to the area of the “stand”
which is to be operated upon. Shacks are erected,
and stores of all kinds needful for the men’s subsistence
during the ensuing months are provided. Through
the depths of the winter, far away at most times
from civilisation, with snow lying around to the
depth of six or more feet, and with the thermometer
registering ten, twenty, or even thirty degrees below
zero, the work of felling the trees in the silent woods
is carried on. The trunks, after being felled and
branded with a hammer-mark to identify their ownership
when they arrive later at the mills, are then skidded
down the hill-sides or drawn by horses over the frozen
snow to the banks of the waterways, where they are
piled in dumps in readiness for the awakening of Spring.

After completing their arduous spell of winter’s work
the nen, who are not notorious for their peaceable habits
or the steadiness of their lives, are paid off and return
to civilization in the populated centres of Ottawa,

124 TIMBER

Montreal and other districts. Like the common habit—
or formerly common habit it may be written—of seamen
to dissipate their well-earned wages on returning from
a voyage, these lumbermen by reckless dissipation,
or what is popularly known among them as “ Blowing
it on,” quickly rid themselves of their plentiful stores of
hard-earned money.

In the early months of the year, or at a period when
the grip of winter shows signs of relaxing, another
gang, whose business is to see to the floating and driving
of the logs, is formed and proceeds to the woods Of
all the operations connected with lumbering, from the
first cutting of the timber to its arrival at the mills,
no part is so full of anxiety to the extractors as this.
The flooded streams have to be utilized while they are
in this condition, or there is a certainty of logs being
hung up, with a consequent loss of timber, loss in
expenditure on labour, and a shortage of supplies to
keep the mills at constant work.

The huge piles, or dumps, on the river banks are broken
up, a tool called a pelvie being largely used for this purpose.
The Canadian dollar bill has on its face an illustration
of lumbermen at work, the men having this tool in use.
Frequently, at the commencement of the driving season,
the huge dumps are so firmly frozen together that
human efforts are unavailing, and recourse is made
to the use of small charges of dynamite to break them
up. This done, they are tumbled into the ice-filled
streams and started on their voyage towards the sea.

As previously mentioned, some of these tributary
waterways or creeks that are connected with main
rivers or lakes do not hold sufficient water to secure a
passage for the logs, even in flood time, and dams are
constructed to hold up the water. At these spots
gangs of men are usually located, guiding and steering

NOTES ON THE EXTRACTION OF TIMBER 125

the logs as they collect down the sluices and slides into
the rapids below, so that no obstacle shall cause a jam.
The work, especially in breaking up any jams that
occasionally occur, is most arduous and risky, carried
out as it is in strong-flowing streams at an icy tempera-
ture. To see these men at work, jumping on and
manipulating ice-covered logs in turbulent rapids and
strong streams, is a sight worth going a long way ‘to
see. It is an exhibition which shows a high development
of nerve, skill, agility, and daring ; the risks are great,
however, and many accidents occur that occasionally
lead to fatal results.

The winter-piled dumps are gradually cleared, and a
general sweep up of the watercourse takes place after
the great mass of the logs has gone down. Stray logs,
hung up in bends and creeks, are diverted into their
proper onward course, and by the commencement of
summer the work is so far completed.

The labour of felling the lumber in the winter, and
the further handling of the logs in the icy Spring waters,
is trying enough, but is preferable, if we can believe
the stories of many who have had experience, to the
work which is completed in the early months of the
Summer, when the thermometer is said to rise even
to 150 degrees above zero. The fly season then
commences. According to the above authorities no
mortal can adequately picture the systematic and
methodical way in which these insects torment and
make miserable the life of man. There are black-flies,
sand-flies, deer-flies, and mosquitoes, and they work,
day and night, with monotonous perseverance in their
onslaughts. They appear to have some system in their
assaults, the different species working in regular day
and night-shifts, not in forcible frontal attacks, but in
stealthy guerilla assaults which leave their victims

126 TIMBER

covered with a mass of clotted blood marks. The
mosquito is described as rather harmless and gentle
in disposition in comparison with the sand-fly, whose
bite is represented as similar to the thrust of a red-hot
needle—clothes, blankets and rugs being non-impervious
to this insect’s attack.

From the tributary streams the winter-felled logs
find their way on the currents to main rivers, where,
under the guidance of the drivers, they are taken down
towards the mouths where mills are situated. Here the
driving gang are paid off, and the men, who may be
described as picturesque in the abstract, commence to
“blow their wages’ in a similar manner to those first
employed.

Many of the most important mills are established at
Ottawa, this town being undoubtedly the metropolis
of the Canadian timber trade. From the great water-
shed of the Ottawa river vast quantities of pine and
spruce are annually brought down to these mills, where
they are sorted for the different owners, converted into
planks, deals, boards and other sizes by modern
machinery, principally worked by the power of the fine
falls which exist on the river, and are then transferred
on the St. Lawrence to Quebec for shipment to the
different markets of the world. As showing the extent
of the trade, it may be mentioned that the output from
the mills at Ottawa and the neighbouring town of
Hull on the other side of the river, is estimated at about
300,000,000 ft. of timber per annum.

The network of railways that intersect the United
States, after a longer period of development, makes the
method of extracting timber in that country somewhat
different from that which obtains in the neighbouring
Dominion of Canada. The active hustling enterprise
of the Americans is seen on all sides, even in this industry.

ONILSIOH-YAEWIL
“ys 44 ‘9179S ‘Kasury snrtavg é Aq op0yg

128 TIMBER

Up-to-date machinery is taken to the woods, if the
stands are sufficiently extensive, and logging is here
carried on under altogether advanced conditions.
Roadways are made, metals are laid down for trucks and
locomotives, and aerial wire transporters are largely used.
Generally, the logs are converted into lumber, dressed,
dried and prepared for market on the spot, the goods
being transported to the nearest railway for conveyance
to home markets or to the coast for shipment to other
countries. ‘

In some districts of the country, however, where
railway systems have not so fully developed, other
methods of extraction are employed, and an interesting
one that works a district on the Western slopes of the
Rocky Mountains in California is worth noting.

The timber from a large district on the steep sides
of these mountains is brought down to mills near to
points of exportation by means of what is known as a
shute. The work of constructing this shute, or flume
as it is sometimes called, is said to be a fine example of
engineering skill, traversing, as it does, hill-sides, ravines,
valleys, streams and other obstacles in its course, which,

including side-branches, is 125 miles in length, and is... -

still being continually extended. It is built of wood
in the form of a trough which, starting at the top of
the mountain, is carried in various directions convenient
_ to the timber which has to be transported. The trough,
or gutter, is laid at a varied gradient, and the logs are
placed inside, water being turned in from a reservoir
at the head of the shute. On this current the timber
is transferred at a velocity which varies with the gradient,
at. some places rushing along at 20 miles per hour.
At various stations, chiefly where side-tracks join the
main flume, men are stationed to prevent jams and to
keep the course free of obstacles. To show the extent

NOTES ON THE EXTRACTION OF TIMBER 129

of this undertaking, and the amount of timber that is
brought down, it may be stated that the actual cost of
erecting this shute was over £1,000 per mile, and the
company who work the concern handle an output of
something like 575 million cubic feet of wood annually.

It may be here. noted that the original idea of the
water-shutes that were at one time popular in America
as a pastime and, subsequently, in other countries, was
taken from this method of transporting timber.

After the few remarks as to how the Canadian forests
are exploited, and the methods in force for transporting
the timbers to the mills, there is little to add in regard
to the system by which the vast quantities of coniferous
timbers that are obtained from the forests of Russia
and other Northern European countries are prepared
and shipped to markets. The methods are practically
identical ; both railways and roadways are inadequate,
especially in Russia, and, as in Canada, the waterways
are largely used. On the currents of the rivers the logs
are transported to the mills, which are placed at ready
points in the Baltic, Gulf of Bothnia and the White Sea.
These mills are equipped with up-to-date machinery
suitable for converting the timber into dimensions
required by different markets. Most of the ports in
these regions are, however, ice-bound during certain
months of the year and, consequently, exports are only
made during the open-water season.

Various other interesting means of producing timber
from its native source, in relatively small quantities
for native consumption, obtain in various parts of
Europe. In some districts of Austria and Germany,
where the configuration of the land admits, slides with
more or less steep gradients are common. These slides,
or sledges, are either drawn by horse-power or worked
by men, and are constructed of two horizontal pieces

130 TIMBER

of wood turned up at the front and shod with iron
throughout their length, cross-pieces connecting the two
shafts. On this frame the logs are placed crossways,
and with an efficient brake to control the speed the man
in front can bring down, it is said, a load of 55 to 70
cubic feet, the gradients of the track being from 1 in
14 to 1 in 4, Short lengths of timber, suitable for pit-
props and other work, are generally transported by
this manual labour, but longer lengths are moved by
horse-power on more gradual slopes.

A high development in the use of the waterways has
taken place in these latitudes, principally extending
from the Black Forest eastward to the Bavarian Alps
in Austria. Extensive schemes for rendering the small
tributaries adaptable for floating the logs have been
undertaken, so that it may be possible for the timber
to pass down these mountain streams to the broader
rivers. Here they are formed into huge rafts, some of
those to be seen on the Rhine being frequently 600 ft.
in length, and with a breadth of 100 to 150 ft. Steered
with long sweeps, similar to those in use on the Thames
lighters, or by rudders when they are towed on slow-
moving currents, these rafts convey the timber in an
economical way to many markets along the course of
the rivers. Huts erected on the logs accommodate
the small crew, the raft being also used for the transport
of bulky and raw produce of all descriptions. In the
Hungarian portion of the Austrian Empire very
modern means of exploiting the forests are used, most
of the coniferous wood shipped from Galatz having been
transported from the mountainous forest slopes before
conversion, by cable lines, funicular railways and other
up-to-date means of transportation.

The subject of the extraction of hardwoods from
tropical countries is perhaps as interesting as that

NOTES ON THE EXTRACTION OF TIMBER 131

relating to the production of coniferous woods from
more temperate latitudes. In these countries approach-
ing the Equator, Mahogany and Teak are the principal
woods obtained, and of the latter mentioned some
observations have been made in the chapter devoted to
Asiatic woods.

Most of the countries from which Mahogany is
obtained are in no very advanced stage of development,
and there is, therefore, a lack of means of transport,
Consequently, in the absence of roads and railways,
waterways have to be utilized, rivers, full with seasonal
rains, and much native labour, being necessary to exploit
the forests.

In Central American districts where Mahoganyis found,
somewhat primitive means are employed for its extrac-
tion. A few, however, are being exploited under the
restless energy of American firms, but, generally, they
are worked under similar conditions to those that have
been in use from the first. Practically all the labour is
done by natives, chiefly by negroes, who, in addition to
the task of getting the timber from forest to stream,
are also employed in squaring the logs for market.
In many districts of Central America, but especially in
British Honduras and Mexico, they have attained a
high degree of efficiency in this latter work, straightening
and squaring huge tree-trunks into most shapely and
well-made squares, the work being simply performed
with axe and adze. The floating of the logs to the
mouths of the rivers during the wet season in June or
July depends upon the amount of rain that falls, and,
should there be a deficiency, many logs are sometimes
held up in the by-ways of the river, there to await better
conditions during the following season’s rains. . As in these
moist; humid, tropical countries, decomposition is rapid,
the effect is sometimes shown on the wood, at times

132 TIMBER

in regard to its appearance, at others, by the attacks of
small worms ; with a consequent depreciation in its value.

Interesting as this work is in the Central American
districts, it is perhaps more so in regard to the extraction
of this wood from the dark and comparatively little
known forests of the West Coast of Africa. There is a
mysterious glamour about these forest regions which
attracts interest, for little is known about them
owing to their vast extent, the wonderful wealth of
woods they contain, and the short period of time since a
dark space marked their locality in our atlases.

Those who come in contact with the wood from these
regions, whether in the log as it has been shipped; ina
converted form as it reaches the consumer ; or as furniture
in the office or household, have little conception of the
amount of labour entailed nor the many vicissitudes
through which the wood has passed since it grew in
lordly pride as a monarch perhaps among other huge
trees in some dense, dark, and little trodden forest.
‘Very often the tree from which a log has been produced
has grown hundreds of miles from the coast, perhaps
two or three miles from a waterway, and as the transport
has to be performed entirely by human labour, and the
logs weigh up to about 5 tons, it may be imagined the
amount of-toil and endurance which has to be expended
in this steaming tropical climate before the log reaches
the first stage of its journey to the various markets
of the world.

Europeans of English and French nationality, and
also one American firm, are principally interested in
the outget of this wood, and have their agencies at many
places which serve as ports along this great extent of
territory. All the labour in the forests, however, is
done by native ‘‘ boys” with, in many cases, white
superintendents over them.

NOTES ON THE EXTRACTION OF TIMBER 133

In the British possessions in Southern Nigeria, most of
the forests are fortunately under the jurisdiction of a
Government Forest Department, and on a concession
being obtained for cutting the wood in a certain area
the lessee binds himself to certain conditions—the size
of the trees to be felled, and the replanting of others
to take their place being important provisions. This
licence being granted, the trees have to be located,
and as Mahogany does not grow in stances or clumps,
but scattered to an extent of sometimes a quarter of a
mile apart, this difficulty in a dense, almost impenetra-
ble, jungle, is met with at the onset ; moreover, in accor-
dance with the Government regulations, no trees must
be felled that do not reach a circumference of 12 ft.
at 10 ft. from the ground, any offence against this
condition being punishable with a fine. The trees
located on the area are marked, and after a government
supervisor. has inspected and a felling charge has been
paid—a part of which goes to the paramount chief of
the locality—a further permit to fell these special trees
is granted. These mighty trees, often towering to a
height of 200 or more feet, and occasionally with a girth
of 36 ft., have usually at the base, to support their
growth, natural buttress-like projections which extend
-from 6 to 12 ft. upwards. A rough stage is erected
by the natives over this supporting growth, and then
commences the labour of felling the tree. It is entirely
done by axe work, as many “ boys”’ as can be got to
work on both sides of the trunk being employed. If
the tree is an upright one in its growth, the chopping
continues until only a few inches of the wood is left in
the centre of the tree, when one last blow or a gust of
wind upsets its equilibrium, and with a crash that
makes the earth tremble for a distance of 200 or 300 feet,
and which brings down other trees of less substantial

134 TIMBER

growth, the monarch of the woods is laid low. The
trunk is then measured into suitable lengths, mostly
from 12 to 24 ft., and in most instances logs are also
obtained from the branches of the tree, it not being an
unusual occurrence to get ten out of one tree, although
four is about the average number. The sections of
the tree are then squared, with one end tapered or
shaped to facilitate hauling; and after numbers and
marks have been painted on each log, and a Government
pass-mark likewise imposed, the logs are ready for
transport to the rivers. Roads are cut through the bush
to the nearest creeks or waterways, and on this path
small round trunks of trees to act as rollers are placed.
A wire rope is passed round the log, and to this is attached
a further length having, at intervals of about 3 ft. apart,
pegs of wood inserted. With a hold on these the gang
of perhaps 80 or 100 men commence with a
sing-song chant their task. of hauling these logs, with
an average weight of perhaps 3 tons, to the water-
courses. Here, if they are in creeks where there is
little water, they have to await the rainy season, and
on the flooded currents they find their way into the
larger streams and, ultimately, to the coast. _

Very few of the so-called ports along the West Coast
have good loading facilities, owing to the nature of the
seaboard, and the logs are therefore, in many cases,
towed out to the boats that lie off the coast, being lifted
by the special and powerful appliances these vessels
possess, straight out of the water into the holds. A
further stage in the history of the logs follows. They
are transported by these vessels to a port—probably
Liverpool—where they are first yarded, then included
in a catalogue with many others, and afterwards sold
by public auction. They may possibly be purchased
for re-transportation over the Atlantic to American

“ Timber Trades Journal.”

By permission of the
INITIAL OPERATIONS ON A BUTTRESSED MAHOGANY TREE

1o—(1460A)

136 TIMBER

consumers, or they may be bought for home requirements,
the merchant who has purchased re-selling them to
yard-keepers, who convert them, and, after keeping
them many months for seasoning purposes, eventually
sell them to manufacturers, by whom they are used in
making the many articles that are to be seen around us.

CHAPTER XV
THE OUTLOOK FOR FUTURE SUPPLIES OF TIMBER

WirtH the advent of iron, particularly in its adoption
for shipbuilding, in its use for girders and framings for
buildings, and for innumerable other purposes, it was
long ago foretold that timber would not be necessary
to the same extent in future, and the foreboding was
again freely expressed, but in a somewhat less positive
manner, on the introduction of re-inforced concrete
as a constructive material. Notwithstanding all these
prophecies, however, timber has emerged triumphantly ;
it has withstood all competition, and, although the
demand has fallen away, or lapsed entirely in some direc-
tions, other channels for its uses have been discovered,
and the volume of consumption has grown year by year
in magnitude, in all countries where civilization has
progressed.

As showing this growth in the demand it is estimated,
on good authority, that, in England and the United
States alone, the consumption has doubled during the
last half century.

The question therefore arises how this ever-increasing
demand can be supplied. A timber famine has been
talked about in a casual way for years past, but little
heed is paid to the matter, the subject being a sort
of perennial one that springs up from time to time
when a shortage occurs. Varieties at intervals fail
to meet the demand, and gradually cease to arrive on
the markets, but others are found to take their place,
and in time become established; and although there
are fluctuations in the imports, due to labour disturb-
ances, weather conditions, and other extraneous

137

138 TIMBER

circumstances, no pronounced lack of ‘timber has as
yet occurred.

The pressure of this demand is, however, increasing
and becoming more widespread year by year. Export-
ing countries have relapsed, or are on their way to
become importing countries, and there is, consequently,
a continuously increasing drain, with no corresponding
augmentation in the estimated supplies.

The position in regard to Europe, as shown from
statistics that cover an average of five years, and which
are given on the authority of Sir William Schlich, is
that only five countries on the Continent exported
timber namely—

Tons
Roumania . i ‘i F 60,000
Norway F ‘i . 1,040,000
Austria-Hungary ‘ . 3,670,009
Sweden. ‘ P a . 4,460,000
Russia and Finland . . 5,900,000
While thirteen others imported—
Great Britain . r 9,290,000
Germany 4,600,000
France . 1,230,000
Belgium : 1,020,000
Denmark i 470,000
Italy 5 * 420,000
Spain , 210,000
Holland . 180,000
Switzerland é 170,000
Portugal ; : 60,000
Bulgaria z 50,000
Greece ‘ £ ‘ 35,000
Servia i g . 15,000

These figures giving a net import into Europe of
2,620,000 tons.

Other countries in all parts of the world-are also
more or less importers, a few having a total absence of
native supplies; others, while exporting some varieties,
import others in greater quantities—principally timbers

OUTLOOK FOR FUTURE SUPPLIES OF TIMBER 139

of coniferous growth for building purposes; among
those who entirely import are—

Tons
Egypt ‘ ; 200,000
Cape of Good Hope : : . 150,000
Natal ‘ ; : 50,000
Mauritius 5 : : p 20,000
China ‘ . : . 50,000

While among those that export some varieties, but
import others in larger quantities, are—

Tons
South America . ‘ 3 ti 330,000
Australia ‘ i . r 160,000
‘Ceylon . < , : : 10,000
Japan ‘ ¢ ‘ é 5,000

The following countries export entirely, or their
exports are in large excess of their imports—

Tons
West Indies, Mexico, Honduras, etc. 13,000
West Coast of Africa, P ‘ 28,000
India F é ‘ a 55,000
United States . 1,020,000
Canada and Newfoundland . 2,144,000

It may be gathered from these few statistics that
there is a constant drain upon timber resources in
progress in all parts of the world.

Areas of forest lands in close proximity to ports of
shipment have long since been exhausted, and further
and still further afield the exploiter has to go to obtain
his supplies, the cost of extracting these growing with
the extended radius. Values have consequently been
on the up-grade for many years past, data showing that
in the United Kingdom, in the period between 1550-1750,
the cost of timber quadrupled, and has since shown a
continuous and progressive advance. In the whole of
Europe statistics reveal that between 1894-1902 values
appreciated no less than 20 per cent., and that in Russia,

140 TIMBER

notwithstanding her vast native supplies, a proportionate
rise took place. Sweden and Norway, also with supplies
at their doors, experienced similar conditions, an
appreciation of 15 to 20 per cent. having taken place
during thirty-five years in the value of their native
woods.

The effects of the great onslaughts that have been
made on the virgin forests of the world, without any
serious attempt at re-afforestation, are gradually being
felt; and, as the conditions of ‘an increased demand and
a perceptibly diminishing supply continue, the outlook
is certainly not one that can be regarded as satisfactory.

Another result of the clearance of forest areas which
is in progress all over the world is the marked influence
effected on natural conditions. As is well known, the
woods mitigate extremes of temperature ; have a marked
effect in regulating the water supply—more especially
by insuring the sustained feeding of springs and thus
rendering the flow of waters in rivers more continuous,
and in tending to reduce the danger of violent floods ;
they assist, by the action of the roots and stems of the
trees, in preventing landslips, the erosion of hill-sides,
and arrest the progress of shifting sands ; they, moreover,
act as wind-breaks for the protection of agricultural
areas and other necessary uses which are more perhaps
to be noticed in tropical regions. Many countries
‘that have been more or less cleared of woodlands have
become sterile and arid wastes as a result of altered
natural conditions.

Some of the West Indian Islands have slightly felt
the result of denuding their forest lands, an instance
of which may be mentioned. The State authorities
that were in power some years ago in the Island of
Jamaica were of the opinion that conservation of their
abundant forests was unnecessary, as timber could be

OUTLOOK FOR FUTURE SUPPLIES OF TIMBER 141

imported at very cheap rates from the United States.
They found, however, after the woodlands of the Island
had been practically exhausted, that some of the
conditions above stated began to prevail. Their water
supply began to be interfered with, there was no storage
for the copious season’s rain, rivers at times became
torrents, with agricultural lands in the valleys sub-
merged, while at others the river beds contained but a
mere trickle of water.

Feeble attempts have been made in various countries
to make some provision for the future in regard to
timber supplies, but the efforts generally have been
trivial and altogether incommensurate with thé ravages
that are being made on existing supplies.

Comparatively little has been done in the way of
afforestation in Europe: Germany leads the way with
a scientific and well-organised system that provides her
consumers with a good proportion of their needs:
France, too, has a systematic cultivation of forest lands,
and the excellent results which she has attained in the
planting of large areas of sand dunes and waste spaces
in the Landes is an object lesson in economic providence.
These formerly arid wastes are thickly planted with
the Cluster or Maritime Pine, which, besides finding
employment for many people, provide resin, from which
most of the turpentine used in France is extracted ;
the trees, moreover, when exhausted by tapping, are
felled, and with the thinnings and loppings are shipped
to South Wales, where they provide a large proportion of
the props used in the mines of that great coal centre.
With the exception of these two above-mentioned
countries, there is practically no other in Europe that
conserves on any extensive or efficient scale.

In the East, the great Empire of India has, under the
able management of an Indian Forestry Department,

142 TIMBER

established a most efficient control over the present
forest resources of that country, the systematic felling
and control of the timber, and the organization of re-
planting with a view to a continuity of future supplies
being an example of State management which might
well be followed in other countries.

Japan has an excellent and old-established system
of State regulation of-her forests, but few other countries
in the East have taken the question in hand.

Slight attempts have been made from time to time in
the various divisions of Australia to arrest the depletion
of woodlands, but on no scale of importance, and in
New Zealand there has been little movement in that
direction.

On the African Continent, France consefves much
forest land in Algiers and Morocco, the area being reported
as something like 5,000,000 acres, and controls, it is
understood, the timber in her possessions on the Ivory
Coast and in the Congo Territory.

On the same West Coast the Southern Nigerian
possessions have been placed under the control of an
experienced Forest Conservator, with the object of
securing reports on the forest resources of the country ;
and to prevent excessive exploitation with a view to
continuous supplies. Doubtless the valuable mahogany
and other timbers of this locality will now be secure
from reckless cutting, and replanting will systematically
replace the timber that is exported.

In the great districts of the southern parts of Africa—
Cape Colony, the. Transvaal, Natal and other divisions,
there is a lack of timber, especially of that suitable for
general building purposes. Very large quantities might
be grown for the use of the community and for the
benefit of agricultural areas, but little interest apparently
is ever taken in such a question.

OUTLOOK FOR FUTURE SUPPLIES OF TIMBER 143

Turning to the Western hemisphere, attempts are
being made in British Guiana to preserve some of
the valuable woods of that country, and probabiy the
timbers of the French possession in, the same locality
are efficiently looked after. Nothing, however, is heard
of any attempt being made to control the outputs of
other States and possessions in Central America, beyond
some little regulation in regard to the cutting of |
Mahogany in British Honduras.

The treatment of the forest wealth of the United States
is one long example of prodigal waste. Practically
covered with virgin forests at the onset, the country
has, by reckless exploitation and the cutting of every
stick that was marketable, been rapidly brought to a
position where her remaining resources can be fairly
well gauged. No serious attempts at preserving her
forest wealth have been made, present commercial gain
being her first consideration ; and already she has to im-
port from other sources continually increasing supplies
to meet her native demands.

The Canadian Dominions, with a boundless expanse
of forest land, also appear improvident of their wealth.
No great amount of replanting or conservation is made,
and already districts near to ports of shipment are
denuded. The shipment of over £10,000,000 worth
of timber annually, which is said to be the value of the
Canadian export, cannot be extracted without having
a pronounced effect, and already, great as are her
resources, there are warning voices heard. Moreover,
another cause of the exhaustion of these forests is to be
taken into account, the forest fires that so frequently
occur being held responsible for an enormous waste
of timber, the value, perhaps largely exaggerated,
being reported as equal to the amount of the annual
export.

144 TIMBER

The geographical position of England so facilitates
the import of timber from all parts of the globe, that
no serious dearth of wood has ever been experienced,
although a steady,and continuous rise in the values of
the imported material has occurred. Consequently, in
common with other countries, England has in the first
place prodigally dissipated her native forests and, later,
neglected to replace the same, with the result that she
is, as the statistics show, the largest importer of timber
in the world; the annual value of which reaches to about
£30,000,000 sterling per annum. Practically all her
wants are supplied by the shipments that reach the
ports, it being estimated that from the afforested land
in the United Kingdom—4 per cent. of the entire area—
a lower percentage than that of any other European
country with the exception of Portugal—only the
insignificant amount of £500,000 worth of timber is
drawn.

The Kingdom, possessing only the above-mentioned
and trifling amount of afforested land, has an estimated
area of waste and uncultivated soil, principally mountain
and heath land, which amounts to 15,000,000 acres,
the greater part of which, it is stated on the best of
authority, is ideal land for the growth of many varieties
of timber trees. Nothing is done however. The demand
for timber exists, and will continue to increase ; supplies
from other countries are steadily declining ; there is
land unused ; there is labour that should be employed
in such pursuits, yet neither by private enterprise,
by continued effort, nor by any serious attention from
the State is anything done to evolve some system of the
regeneration of native-grown timber. It is a weak spot
in the national economy, and one which the State
might well take radical measures to improve.

That timber of certain sorts can be grown has been

OUTLOOK FOR FUTURE SUPPLIES OF TIMBER 145

abundantly proved; the native-grown Ash is incom-
parable for the purposes for which it is used, there is
an ever-crying need for Sycamore, for Oak, as also for
such coniferous woods as Larch, Spruce and other descrip-
tions which grow freely. None of these, however, are
grown in any quantity or in a systematic way.

The question of this being done on a profitable basis
is often raised, and the results in other countries abun-
dantly prove that a direct return can be made if carried
out upon an organized and business-like plan. From
statistics of State Forestry carried out in Saxony, it
appears that on an area of 430,000 acres an expenditure
of £330,000 was made, and from an income of £781,000,
a net profit of £451,000 or 21s. per acre was realised.
The rental was maintained each year, as was the capital,
less timber being cut annually than was produced.

No statistics are available in reference to the reclaimed
sand dunes of the Landes in the South-West of France,
to which reference has been made before, but the results
must be most satisfactory, the growth of the pines in
these formerly waste spaces finding employment for
much labour, supplying the country with a spirit which
is indispensable in many industries, and practically
filling the demand for pit-props in the Welsh mining
areas.

INDEX

AFFORESTED Areas in the
World, 2, 3, 4, 5

Alder, 81

Amboyna, 95, 96

Areas in England formerly
afforested, 6

Ash timber, American,
107

——,, British, 78, 79

, Canadian, 107

Australian timbers—

—— Blackbutt, 98

— Blue Gum, 98

—— Black Bean, 100

Ironbark, 98

—— Jarrah, 97

—— Karri, 97, 98
—— Mahogany, 100

‘—— Myall, 100

—— Red Cedar, 100, 102
—— Silky Oak, 100 ;
—— Tallow Wood, 98, 100

106,

Bass wood, 110
Beech, 80

Birch, 112, 113
Black Bean, 100
Blackbutt, 98

Blue Gum, 98
Borneo Woods, 102
Box, 85, 86

CAROLINA Pine, 42

Cedar—

, Red, 89, 100, 102
——, Moulmein, 89, 90

—, Toon, 89, 90

—.,, Honduras, 60

—. Tobasco, 60

, Cuba, 59

Chestnut, Horse and Sweet, 84
Cluster Pine, 26, 27, 140, 145

Cocus Wood, 117, 118
Columbian Pine, 34, 35
Confusion in nomenclature, 20
Cotton Wood, 110, 111
Crabwood, 118

Cypress, 42, 43

DEats, 20

Degame Lancewood, 116

Depletion of English forest-
lands, 7

Duties on timber, 9

Expony, Ceylon, 90

——, Macassar, 90

—, Marble, 90

Eng, 95

Extraction of Timber in
Canada, 123, 124, 125, 126

Central America,

131
—— —— Russia, 129
————. West Africa,
133, 134, 136
on the Continent,

132,

"129, 130
in the United States,
126, 127

FIGURED Mahogany, 53, 54, 56

Fir timber, its introduction
into England, 8, 9

Former methods of converting
timber, 8

Fustic, 122

Future supplies of timber—

—— Denudation of forests,
137, 138, 139, 140

— Increase of demand, 137,
141, 142, 143, 144

Lack of re-afforestation,

145

147

148

GREENHEART, 119
Gurjun, 90

. Harp and soft wood divisions,
17, 18

Hickory, 107, 108

Holly, 86

Hornbean, 81, 82

IDENTIFICATION of Mahogany,

Import of timber into the
United Kingdom, 10

Indian Empire, its timbers, 87

Introduction of machinery
into England for the con-
version of timber, 9, 10

Ironbark, 98
JAPANESE Ash, 102
Oak, 50, 51
— Forestry, 142
KAHIKATEA, 28
Karri, 97, 98
Kauri Pine, 27, 28
Krabark, 95
Lance Wood, 116
Larch, 26
Lignum Vitae, 115
Lime, 78

Loblolly Pine, 42
Log Wood, 120, 121

MAHOE Blue, 117
Mahogany, its history, 13, 14
, its introduction, 52

——, The Identification of
varieties, 53
——,, Statistics relating to

Enropean import, 16
——, Statistics relating to the
growth of the African
import, 65
, Figure, 53, 54, 56
—, Public sales, 56, 57
——., Assinee, 66, 67

INDEX

Mahogany, Australian, 100
, Axim, 67, 68

——, Benin, 68, 70
——, Cape Lopez, 71, 72
—,, Costa Rica, 62
——,, Columbian, 63
——, Cuba, 58, 59

——., Gaboon, 70, 71
——., Grand Bassam, 67
——, Guatemalan, 61, 62
——, Honduras, 60, 61
——,, Lagos, 68

— ., Mexican, 59, 60
——,, Nicaraguan, 62
——, Panama, 62, 63
——, Sapele, 70

—— , Sassandra, 67
——, Sekondi, 68

——,, St. Domingo, 58

, Walnut, 72, 73
Maple, 110, 111

Mora, 119

Myall, 100

NEw ZEALAND Pine, 28, 30
Northern Pine, 20, 22, 23, 24,
25

Oak, History in reference to

its use in England, 12, 13
, African, 50
——., American, 12, 13, 49
——, Austrian, 13, 49
—, Brown, 45, 46
——,, English, 7, 44, 45
——.,, Dantzig, 46, 48
——., Russian, 12, 48
——, Stettin, 46, 48
——,, Silky, 100

, Japanese, 13, 50, 51

Olive Wood, 84
Orham, 112

Papouk, 88, 89
Partridge Wood, 117
Pear, 86

Persimmon, 111, 112
Philippine Woods, 105

INDEX

Pine, its uses and qualities,
23, 24, 26

, Carolina, 42

——, Cluster, 26, 27, 141

, Columbian, 34, 36

——, Cypress, 42, 43

——, Kauri, 27, 28

——, Loblolly, 42

——., New Zealand, 28, 30

——., Northern, 20, 22, 23, 24,
26

—, Pitch, 40, 41, 42
——, Quebec, 31, 32, 33
——., Red, 30, 33

——, Sugar, 39

——, Weymouth, 31, 32, 33
, Yellow, 31, 32, 33
Plane, Eastern, 79, 80

, Western, 80
Poplar, Black, 80

, Lombardy, 80
——, Aspen, 80

, American, 109
Port Orford Cedar, 40

Quassia, 116

Rep Pine, 30, 33
Wood, Russian
Baltic, 20, 22, 23
Gum, 109, 110
Rimu, 30

Rock Elm, 112
Rosewood, East Indian, 88
, Brazilian, 120

—, Honduras, 120

and

SaBicu, 118

Satin Wood, East Indian,
87, 88

——, Puerto Rico, 114, 115

, St. Domingo, 114, 115

Scotch Fir, 20, 22

Sequoia, 36, 37, 38, 39

Seravah, 95

Silky Oak, 100

149

Snakewood, 119, 120

Spruce, 30, 31

Statistics, Imports into U.K.,
10

of Mahogany into
Europe, 16
of Teak into Lon-

don, 17
of African Mahog-

any, 65
World’s Imports and

Exports, 138, 139

of Forest areas, 2, 3
Sugar Pine, 39

Sycamore, 82

TAaLLow Wood, 98, 100

Teak, its history, 15, 17

, Indian and Siamese, 91,
92, 93, 94, 95

——, Java, 102

, Statistics, 17

Thuya, 96

Timber imports into United
Kingdom, 10

Tulip Wood, 117

Tupelo, 110

Watnut, African, 72, 73

, American, 108

—— ——,, Satin, 109, 110
——, English, 74, 75

——, Circassian, 75, 76
— , East Indian, 89
——,, French, 75

— , Italian, 75

——, Quebec, 108
Washiba, 117

Weymouth Pine, 31, 32, 33
Whitewood, American, 109
, European, 23, 24, 26
White Pine, 23, 24, 26
Willow, 82, 84

Yane, 95
Yew, 86

Printed by Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Lid., Bath, England
Q—(1460a)