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f NOTES : 
THE UTILIZATION OF FORESTS, 


A COURSE OF LECTURES DELIVERED 


AT THE 


IMPERIAL FOREST SCHOOL, DEHRA BUN, INDIA, 


BY 


Ek. E. FERNANDEZ, 


DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND PROFESSOR OF FORESTRY AT THAT INSTITUTION. 


if ILLUSTRATIONS. 


ROORKEE: 


| PRINTED AT THE THOMASON CIVIL ENGINEERING COLLEGE PRESS. | 


v4 —_ 


—— ee 


H. M. ROBEY, SUPERINTENDENT. 


NOTES 


ON 


THE UTILIZATION OF FORESTS, 


BEING 


A COURSE OF LECTURES DELIVERED 


AT THE 


IMPERIAL FOREST SCHOOL, DEHRA DUN, INDIA, 


BY 


E, E. FERNANDEZ, 


DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND PROFESSOR OF FORESTRY AT THAT INSTITUTION. 


74 ILLUSTRATIONS. 


ROORKEE: 
PRINTED AT THE THOMASON CIVIL ENGINEERING COLLEGE PRESS. 


——. 


- 1891. 


ROORKEE: 
H M, ROBEY, SUPERINTENDENT, 


THOMASON COLLEGE PRESS, 


PREFACE. 


THE majority of our Students come to us with very imper- 
fectly developed minds, and a totally insufficient know- 
ledge of the English language. They are thus quite 
incapable of following with profit and taking down accurate 
notes of currently delivered lectures. This would be no 
great disadvantage if text-books of all the subjects taught 
were available; but as no such text-books existed, at least 
for the Forestry subjects, when the School began its work, 
the Instructors were constrained to adopt the extremely 
slow and painful method of dictating all the notes they 
wished to be taken down. The preparation of the neces- 
sary text-books was, and is still, therefure, an urgent want. 
At the risk of being considered presumptuous, the author 
has already published his class notes in several subjects, 
convinced that it was useless waiting for that happy day 
when he would enjoy the long and continuous leisure which 
the writing of an educational work demands. He claims 
once more the indulgence of the Indian Forest world in 
publishing the following pages, which contain, with no 
more revision than it was possible to give them as they 
were passing through the Press, his Notes on Forest Uti- 
lization dictated to the Senior Class of 1890-91. To secure 
for himself more time for revision, they were first printed 
by instalments in the “ Indian Forester.” Besides meeting 
the requirements of the Forest School, the publication of 
these Notes may, the Author earnestly hopes, serve another 
not less important purpose, viz., that of offering, as it were, 
so many pegs on which to hang corrections and additional 
information which at present exists only scattered in the 
brains of foresters and others dispersed all over the empire. 


iv PREFACE. 


Much help of this kind has already been most generously 
accorded by Messrs. C. W. Hope, A. E. Lowrie, and several 
other gentlemen. With the aid of such contributions from 
the wide experience of every one interested in Forestry it 
will be possible ultimately to prepare a complete Manual 
on the Utilization of our Indian Forests. 

A work of this kind can of course never be an entirely 
originalone. Inthe present instance, Karl Gayer’s classic 
Forstbenutzung has furnished the general plan of the book, 
and also no inconsiderable portion of the subject-matter, 
and much valuable aid has been derived from several of 
Spons’ encyclopedic publications, from Boppe’s admir- 
able Technologie Forestiére, from Brandis’ unrivalled Forest 
Flora of North-West and Central India, from Gamble’s 
compendious Manual of Indian Timbers, from various 
published official papers, and last, though not least, from 
that treasury of forest lore, the pages of the Indian 
Forester. 


KE. E. FERNANDEZ. 
Forest ScHoot, Denra Dun, 
lst March, 1891. 


TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


PART 1. 


FELLING, COLLECTION, CONVERSION, AND 


Section I. 


”? 


» 


Vil. 


POSAL OF WOOD. 


CHAPTER I. 


TECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF WOODS. 


of the tree, = - c x 
II. Weight, - ~ - = 


III. Hardness, - - - 


IV. Flexibility and Elasticity, - - 
V. Aptitude for fission, - - 
VI. Strength, - a . = 


Relative form and size of the main parts 


Loss and gain of moisture and consequent 


contraction and expansion. Seasoning, 
warping, and tendency to crack and split, 


VIII. Durability, & a 


IX. Combustibility and jdidiing Power, - 
X. Defects and Unsoundness, - 


Article 1. Defects— 


1. Shakes—Heart-shake, Radial-shake, Cup-shake, 

2. Knottiness and exaggerated waviness of fibres, 

3. Twisted fibre, - - 7 2 

4, Rindgalls, - - - - - 

5. Covered sections of pruned branches, - 

6. Occluded broken branch, - - - 

7. Interior bark, - - - - 
Article 2. Unsoundness, - - - 


CHAPTER Il. 


Ta PRINCIPAL USES OF WOOD. 


Suction I, Timber, Introductory Remarks,  - 


DIS- 


PAGE. 


3-7 

7-12 
12-14 
15-16 
16-18 
18-19 


19-23 
23-27 
27-30 


30-34 
35 
35-36 
36 
37 
37-38 
38-39 
39-43 


44-45 


vi TABLE OF CONTENTS, 


PAGE. 
Article 1. Timber used in aaa eae 
1. Superstructures of buildings, = 45-46 
2. 7 », bridges and piers agi of ‘iter 
similar erections, - - - - 46 
Article 2, Timber used on or in the ground— 
1. Piles, - - - - - 46-47 
2. For strengthening roadways and banks of streams, 47 
3. Railway sleepers, - - - - 47-50 
4. ‘Palisades and fencing, - - - - 50 
5. Pitwood, - - - - - 50 
Article 8. Timber used in contact with water, - 50 
» 4 Timber used in or with machinery, - 50-51 
» 5. Timber used in boat and ship-building, - 51-52 
» 6. Timber used for joinery and cabinet-making, 52-53 
»  «¢. Wood used in carriage and wagon-making, 53-56 
» 8. Cooper’s wood, - - - 56-59 
» 9. Split wood for “otha purposes, - - 
1. Shingles, - - - - - 59 
2. Rudders and oars, - - - - 59 
3. Trenails and pegs, - - - - 59 
4. Drums, sieve-frames, and band-boxes, - - 60 
5. Veneers and thin sheets of wood for various purposes, 60-61 
6. Wood for matches and match-bores, - - 61 
7. Wood used for certain musical instruments, - 61 
8. Wood for lead-pencils, - - - - 62 
Article 10. Wood for various articles wrought with 
adze and chisel, - 7 < 62 
» 11. Wood for turning and moulding, - 62 
», 12. Wood for engraving and carving, - 62 
» 13. Wood for packing cases, = = 62-63 


» 14. Wood foragricultural and garden purposes, 63-64 
» 15. Timber for various miscellaneous purposes, 64-65 


» 16. Wood for basket and mat-making, - 65 
» 17. Wood used for the manufacture of pack- 

ing material, - - a ~ 65 

» 18. Textile wood-fibre, - - 7 65-66 

19. Wood pulp, - - - - 66-68 


SzorroN II. Firewood— 
Article 1. Wood burnt for ae and lighting pur- 


poses, - 68-69 
» 2. Wood burnt for the prodnota of éombastion, 69 


TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER III. 
FELLING AND CONVERSION. 


Section I. Organization of Labour, - 

» LI. Agency by which work is to be éattied 

out, - - - - 
»  LII. Tools employed in felling and conversion 
enumerated, - - 7 < 

Article 1. Bill-hooks, - - - 
» 2 Axes—Generalities, - - - 

1. The felling ame, - - - - 
2. The trimming aze, - - - ~ 


3. Splitting axes, - - - - 
4. Grubbing axes, - - - - 
Article 3. The Saw—Generalities ; action of the saw ; 
shape of the teeth ; set of the teeth ; the 
blade ; the more common forms of saw ; 
how to select a saw ; how to measure up 
sawing work, - - - 
Wedges, - - - 
Tools for directing the fall of bes, 
Tools for uprooting trees and stumps,  - 
‘3 Tools for moving logs for conversion, 
SECTION IV. Season for felling and conversion in the 


Aap 


forest, - - = s 
Article 1. Season for felling, - = . 
», 2 Season for conversion, - - - 
Section V. Felling—Generalities, - - 
Article 1. ‘Felling above ground, - ~ - 
1. Felling with chopping tools alone, - ~ 
2. Felling with the saw alone, - - - 
3. Felling with saw and axe combined, - 
Article 2. Felling by the roots, - - - 
3. Grubbing out stumps, - - 
Szction VI. Conversion—Generalities, - - 
Article 1. Rough conversion, - - - 
2. Further conversion of timber with the saw, 
Suor10N VII. Clearing the coupe, = - - - 
» VIII. Seasoning and stacking in the forest— 
Generalities,  - - - 


Article 1. Seasoning and stacking of large unsawn 
' timber, - - - . 


Vii 


PAGE. 
10-73 


13-74 


74-75 
15 
75-76 
76-79 
79-80 
80 
81 


81-91 
91-92 
92-93 
93-95 

95 


96 
96-97 
97 
97-100 
100 
100-102 
102 

102 
103-104 
104 

104 
105-109 
109-113 
113-114 


114-115 


115 


viil TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

Article 2. Seasoning and stacking of sawn material, 115-116 
» 98. Seasoning and stacking of poles and posts, 116 

» 4 Stacking of firewood, - - 117-118 


CHAPTER IV. 
DIsPOsAL AND SALE OF WOOD IN THE FOREST. 


Section JI. The License or Permit System, - - 119-121 
» I. The Kham Tahsil System,  - - 121-123 
» III. The Lease System, - - - 123-124 
» IV. Sale of a small number of selected trees at 

a time, - - 124 
»  V. Wholesale disposal of ‘is ibe of a coupe 
standing, - - - 124-128 
» VI. Wholesale disposal of the fees on the coupe 
after they have been felled, - 128-129 
» VII. The Forest Depdt System, - - 129-130 
CHAPTER V. 


Management of Wood Depdts and Timber-yards, 131-134 


PART IT. 


COLLECTION, PREPARATION, AND DISPOSAL OF 
MINOR PRODUCE. 


GENERALITIES, - - zs : 


- 135 
CHAPTER I. 
UTILIZATION OF HERBACEOUS VEGETATION. 

Section I. Pasturage, - - - 186-141 
5 II. Hay and cut green fodder: - - 141-144 

» III. Grass preserves— 
Article 1. Unirrigated natural grass preserves, - 145 
» 2% Irrigated grass preserves, - - 145-146 
Szction IV. Ensilage, - 7 - ° ~ 146-148 
35 V. Litter, = = = a 148 


» VI. Bibre, < a . 


148-149 


TABLE OF CONTENTS, ix 


PAGE. 

Sxction VII. Material for thatching and mat-making, - 150 

»» WIII. Other uses of herbaceous vegetation, - 150 
CHAPTER II. 

UTILIZATION OF THE FLOWERS AND FRUITS OF TREES 

AND SHRUBS, - - - - - 151-152 

CHAPTER III. 
UTILIZATION OF THE BARK OF TREES AND SHRUBS. 

Section I. Fortanning, - - - - 153-158 

5 II. For dyeing, - - - 158 

ss Ill. For fibre, - - - - 158-159 

45 IV. Other uses of the bark, - - 159 


CHAPTER IV. 


UTILIZALION OF THE LEAVES OF TREES AND SHRUBS. 


Section I. For fodder, - - - - 160-162 
55 II. For manure, - 162-164 
45 III. For litter, - - - 165-166 
‘3 IV. For thatching, - - 166-167 
is V. Fortanning, - - - 167 
cs VI. Some other uses of leaves, - - 167-168 


CHAPTER V. 


UTILIZATION OF MINOR PRODUCE OBTAINED FROM FELLED WOOD 
AND THE INTERIOR OF STEMS. 


Section I. Dyes and other extracts, - - 169-170 

6 II. Oils and other products of distillation, 170-171 

i III. Starch, - - - - - 171-172 
CHAPTER VI. 


UTILIZATION OF MINOR PRODUCE FROM ROOTS, - 173 


x TABLE OF CONTENTS, 


PAGE. 
CHAPTER VII. 
Excpep PRODUCTS. 
Section I. Sugary sap, - - - - 174-175 
$5 II. Gums, Resins and Varnishes—Generali- 
ties, - - - - 175-176 
Article 1. Collection of spontaneous exudations, - 176-177 
» 2 Collection from wounds made in the bark, 177-178 
» 8. Collection from wounds in the wood, - 178-183 
Szotion III. Caoutchouc and its allies, - - 183-185 
CHAPTER |. VIII. 
UTILIZATION OF ANIMAL PRODUCTS. 
Szotron I. Lac and Lac-dye, - - - 186-188 
3 II. Silk, - - - - 188-189 
- III. Honey, Wax, and Manna, - - 190 
iy IV. Hides, Horns, Bones, and Ivory, - 190-191 
%5 V. Hunting and fishing, - - - 191-195 
CHAPTER IX. 
Minerals, - - - - 196-197 
PART TIT 
Minor Forest Inpusrrizs. 
CHAPTER I. 
CHARCOAL-Maxina. 
GENERALITIES, - - - - - - 198-200 
Ssction I. Carbonization in retorts and close ovens, 200-203 
» II. Carbonization in ordinary kilns, - 
Article 1. The paraboloidal over-ground kiln—Gene- 
ralities, - - - - 203-204 
1. Size of kiln, - - = = 204 


2. Emplacement of kiln, - = 2 - 204-205 


TABLE OF OONTENTS. 


Building up of the kiln, = - - 
Covering the kiln, - ~ - 
Firing the kiln, - - - - 
The process of carbonization, - - 
Conduct of the carbonizing operations, 
Opening of the kiln, - - - 
Asticts 2. The paraboloidal pit-kiln,  - 
» 98 The hill-kiln, - - - 
» 4 The prismatic kiln, - - - 
Szcrion III. Carbonization in open pits, - 
» IV. Yield of charcoal, - - - 
5s VY. Testing of charcoal, - - 


ee I Ce 


CHAPTER I}. 


PREPARATION OF CuTcH aND Karta, - - 


CHAPTER III. 


DISTILLATION oF SANDAL-WOOD OIL, - - 


CHAPTER IV. 


MANUFACTURE OF THE VARIOUS PRODUCTS DERIVED FROM 


TURPENTINES, - - - = = 


CHAPTER V. 


xi 


PAGE. 
205-207 
207-208 

209 
210 
210-214 
214-215 
215-217 
217-218 
218-219 
219 
219-222 
222 


223-225 


226 


227-231 


IMPREGNATION OF TIMBER WITH ANTISEPTIC SUBSTANCES. 


Section I. The various antiseptic substances used, 
45 II. The methods of impregnation, 
Article 1. The Hydrostatic Method, a “ 
2. The Pneumatic Method, - - 
8. The Immersion Method, - = 
4, Painting the surface of the wood, 


- 232-233 


233-236 
- 236-237 


237 
237 


NOTES ON THE UTILIZATION OF FORESTS. 


DEFINITION AND DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT. 


In Forest Utilization, which is a composite art founded on the 
facts of special experience and the principles of general science, 
we study the most advantageous methods of collection, conversion 
and disposal of forest produce, consistent with the strictest rules of 
forest culture, the most complete satisfaction of our wants, and 
the securing of the highest possible profits. 

The subject naturally divides itself into three main parts :— 

I.—Felling, collection, conversion, transport™ and disposal of 
wood; 

II.—Collection, preparation and disposal of minor produce; and 


III.—Minor forest industries. 


* The subject of transport has very properly been transferred to the Course of 
Forest Engineering, and will be dealt with in the Special Manual on that Course. 
B 


PART I. 


FELLING, COLLECTION, CONVERSION, AND 
DISPOSAL OF WOOD. 


To be able to utilise a wood crop, we must first of all understand 
the technical properties of woods and the requirements of the 
various industries using wood as a raw product, such as carpentry, 
joinery, &c. Possessed of this knowledge, we must know how to 
fell, collect, convert and dispose of the wood. We thus have the 
following divisions of the subject of this Part :— 

I.—The technical properties of wood. 
II.—Wood-using industries. 

I{I.—Felling and conversion. 

IV.—Disposal and sale of wood in the forest. 

V.—Management of wood depéts and timber yards. 


CHAPTER I.—TECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF WOODS. 


The growth and structure of wood have been already studied in 
detail in the class of vegetable morphology and physiology. There 
is, therefore, no need to repeat old facts here, even to the slight 
extent that concerns the present subject. This amount of previous 
knowledge being assumed, those properties of woods will now be 
studied on which their utility and the manner of their employ- 
ment depends. These properties are— 

I.—Relative form and size of the main parts of a tree— 
stems, branches and roots ; 
Il.—Weight ; 
III.—Hardness ; 
IV.—Flexibility and elasticity ; 
V.—Aptitude for fission ; 

ViI.—Strength ; 

VII.—Loss and gain of moisture and consequent contraction 
and expansion ; seasoning, warping and tendency to 
split and crack. 

VIII.—Durability ; 

IX.—Combustibility and heating power ; and 

X.—Defeets and unsoundness. 


RELATIVE FORM AND SIZE OF MAIN TREE PARTS, 8 


Szction L—RELATIVE FORM AND SIZE OF THE MAIN PARTS 
OF THE TREE. 


The main causes of differences in these attributes are— 

(i). Species.—In the firs and deodar the stem extends right up 
to the highest point of the tree, and the branches have 
a comparatively slight development, especially in the 
case of firs, which possess branchlets rather than 
branches. Pines and some broad-leaved species, such 
as teak, simal, resemble firs and deodar up to a certain 
age ; then a true crown, including little or no part of 
the stem, is formed. All other broad-leaved species (by 
far-the largest majority of them) develop a distinct 
crown in middle age, many even earlier, especially 
when growing isolated. 

(ii). Density and relative height of surrounding leaf-canopy.— 
It is a universal rule that the denser and taller the 
leaf-canopy is in which a tree has grown, the larger is 
the proportion of stem in the tree ; and the smaller, in 
the same measure, the proportion of branch wood, and 
some times also the mass of wood in the roots. These 
results are most marked in the case of broad-leaved 
species. Some large broad-leaved species, such as the 
mango, if grown isolated, branch only a few feet from 
the ground, and the old trees thus consist of a thick 
short stem dividing into massive, more or less horizon- 
tal boughs. Such trees are often, if not generally, 
shade-enduring. There are several shade-avoiding 
species, which develop a conspicuously long stem even 
in complete isolation, eg., Hardwickia binata, teak, 
Dalbergia Sissu, Adina cordifolia, §e. 

(iii). Age.—In a canopied crop the toppings at first consider- 
ably exceed the quantity of material in the timber 
portion of the stem. In middle age the proportion 
of this latter is already very large, and goes on increas- 
ing, so that when the trees are large enough to be ex- 
ploitable the branch wood may constitute only from 8 
to 10 per cent. of the entire felled material. It is 
obvious that the quantity of wood in the roots goes on 
steadily increasing with age. 

(iv). Soil and locality —It is a fact proved by universal expe- 
rience that the proportion of wood in the stem increases 
with the favourable character of the soil and locality, 


4 TECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD. 


whereas the reverse is usually the case in respect of the 
root portion of the tree. 

General.—It is thus evident that owing to the numerous and 
extremely variable factors which influence the relative develop- 
ment of the roots, stem and branches, it is impossible to arrive 
at any constant figures, even for trees in one and the same crop. 
This is especially true in India, where the same tree has often so 
wide a horizontal as well as vertical distribution. Nevertheless, 
it would be interesting to start experimental measurements 
throughout the Empire in order to obtain average figures for our 
principal species according to well-defined forest regions. A few 
figures taken from experiments made in Germany will be instruc- 
tive. The following were obtained by Pfeil and Theodor Hartig 
in canopied high forest :— 


Sr ee | eee Remarks. 
lo “lo lo 

Spruce, .. 80-85 8-10 15-25 

Silver fir, .. 80-85 8-10 15-30 

Scotch pine, 72-75 8-15 15-20 

Aspen, ee 75-80 5-10 5-10 \ Both “species with 
Birch, oe 75-80 5-10 5-12 open foliage, 2 
Beech, o 60-65 10-20 20-25 | Crown dense and 
Oak, oe 60 15-25 20-25 spreading. 


In stored coppice, Lauprecht obtained the following percentages 
for the branch-wood yielded by the stores:— 


50-60 60-100 Over 100 

years old. years old. years old, 
Aspen, aes 40 40 25-29 
Birch, oe 35-40 35-44 34-40 
Beech, ++ 69-60 51 28-40 
Oak, oe 58 42 18-25 


Since the bole is usually the most important element of produc- 
tion in a forest, its shape and other attributes are obviously matters 
of the first importance. We shall, therefore, here specially study 
these attributes. For the stem of a tree to possess its maximum 
utility, it should be of the largest dimensions attainable, and it 
should be straight, free from branches, and as cylindrical as pos- 
sible. 

(a). Dimensions.—The height which a given species can attain 
depends principally on the suitability of the soil and locality,tand 
most of all on the depth of the soil and the amount of moisture 
in it. A sufficient density of the leaf-canopy during the stage of 


RELATIVE FORM AND SIZE OF MAIN TREE PARTS, 5 


rapid elongation is also an important factor. For one and. the 
same age, the diameter will, besides being influenced by the soil 
and the locality, be proportionate to the amount of lateral-grow- 
ing room afforded to the crown and the roots when the stage of 
rapid lateral expansion has set in. This generally precedes by a 
certain interval the close of the stage of rapid elongation. Hence 
as regards both dimensions we shall obtain the best results by keep- 
ing the leaf-canopy as close as practicable up to the middle age of 
the crop, when the upward growth has begun to relax, and there- 
after by opening it out in proportion to the requirements of the 
trees. 

(6). Straightness.—The stem may form (i) a continuous line, 
or (ii) be contorted or present several angles. In the first case it 
may be straight or curved. If curved, it will be straight in one 
plane. Such are the crooks and knees of ships, felloes of wheels, 
&c. Some trees, such as deodar, the firs, Bombaa malabaricum, 
&e., form a perfectly straight bole, whether they grow isolated or 
in the midst of a leaf-canopy ; but the rest, which include pines 
and nearly all broad-leaved species, will grow up straight, only 
in fully canopied forests, and will even then fall behind deodar and 
the firs. The soil and the locality, especially depth of soil and the 
amount of moisture in it, are not without influence on the straight 
growth of the stem. 

(c). Freedom from branches.— When the lower branches become 
sufficiently overshadowed by the development of the crown above, 
they gradually sicken, and die and fall off before they can attain 
any size, and leave behind knots or permanent scars in the wood of 
the trunk at their point of attachment. This process is of course 
accelerated by the presence of a surrounding leaf-canopy, which 
should, if the fullest advanatge is to be derived from it, be con- 
tinued during the entire period of upward growth, ie., from the 
thicket stage to the close of the high pole stage. Thenceforward 
the opening out of the leaf-canopy, unless it is carried to the point 
of more or less complete isolation, has no harmful effect on the 
bole. If the trees are isolated, epicorms may of course appear 
and render knotty the rings of wood formed thereafter. The 
strength and abundance of the epicorms will be in direct propor- 
tion to the unfavourable nature of the soil and locality for the 
growth of the species concerned and the unhealthiness or want of 
vigour of the crown, and in inverse proportion to the age of the 
trees. 

Some species form a more or less long bole even in complete 
isolation, and are never branched low down even at an early age, 


6 TECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD. 


as Hardwickia binata; while others, at the extreme end of the scale, 
like deodar in certain localities and when completely exposed on 
every slide, remain branched right down to the ground during their 
whole life-time. 

(d). A cylindrical shape.—lt is obvious that the general useful- 
ness of the stem is in direct proportion to its approach to a cylin- 
drical form. The combined length and upper diameter of a log 
offer a much safer criterion of value than the mere cubical con- 
tents, or the combined length and mean diameter. 

Some trees have eccentric or fluted growth. What the causes 
are, have not yet been fully ascertained. It is certain that the 
species to which the tree belongs, and the degree of isolation in 
which it has grown, have a great dealtodo with it. The presence 
of a few large boughs produces an undue width of the concentric 
rings of wood along the vertical line leading down from each, 
whereas a tree that has a continuous stem extending up to its 
summit, and only small but numerous branches distributed all 
round is placed in the best conditions possible to develop a cylin- 
drical bole. 

A conical shape is favoured by growth out in the open. The 
crown coming down half way, if not lower, the inferior portion of 
the trunk is thoroughly well nourished, and the concentric layers 
of wood formed there are at least as thick as they are higher up ; 
the consequence being the maintenance, and, owing to the growth 
of the main roots, even the more decided formation, of a conical 
outline. On the other hand, when a tree has been growing con- 
tinuously in the midst of a leaf-canopy, the crown is high above 
the ground, and therefore the inferior portion of the bole is less 
well nourished than the portion above, the consequence being that 
the concentric layers of wood are thicker above than below, and 
the shape of the bole, from being originally conical, becomes more 
cylindrical every year. 

The extent to which the shape of the bole departs from the true 
cylinder is usually, and with very great convenience, expressed by 
a factor, which, used as a co-efficient with the solid contents of a 
cylinder having the same circumference as the girth of the tree 
at breast-height, gives the true contents of the bole. This co-effi- 
cient, which may be termed the form co-efficient or factor, is 
obviously the ratio between the true contents and the contents of 
the ideal cylinder in question. In practice it is obtained by measur- 
ing a sufficient number of type trees taken from a given class of 
forest, and representing a given species and a given age or size class. 
The mean of these measurements is used and the mean co-efficient 


WEIGHT, q 


calculated from it serves to give at once pretty accurately the 
quantity of timber in any number of trees of that species and age 
or size class, if we know their several girths at breast-height and 
the respective lengths of their boles. 


Section IJ.—Weieur. 


Weight as a quality of wood affecting its employment is usually 
of only slight importance. Generally speaking, it need be con- 
sidered only in the case of superstructures when extra strong 
supports would he very expensive, and in that of portable articles. 
But although of itself weight does not always possess much intrinsic 
importance, it nevertheless merits careful consideration, in that 
many other qualities of the first moment, such as hardness, dura- 
bility, combustibility and heating power, swelling and shrinking 
with varying quantities of moisture, &c., are intimately connected 
with it. 

The substance proper of all woods is slightly heavier than 
water, and its weight does not differ much for the different species. 
As a rule, it is heavier in -conifers than in broad-leaved trees, 
amongst which the hardest and absolutely heaviest stand more 
frequently the lowest. It is heavier in young than in old trees. 

The main cause of difference in the absolute weight of woods is 
their anatomical structure. The experiments of Theodor Hartig 
have established for the European woods the following percentages 
for the space occupied respectively by the solid wood-substance 
and the water and air contained in the tissues :— 


Wood 
substance. Water, Air. 
The hard woods, oe 441 24-7 31:2 


The soft woods, including conifers,,.. 27:0 33°5-31-7 39°5-40°4 


For our hardest Indian woods, such as Hardwickia binata, iron 
wood, ebony, &e., we may safely assume at least 50 per cent. as 
the proportionate space occupied by the solid substance of the wood ‘ 
the amount of air-space diminishing in almost equal measure. 

The denser tissue of the exterior zone of a concentric ring is 
obviously heavier than the more or less porous tissue of the inte- 
rior zone. From this it follows (a), that in conifers, in which class 
of trees, as an almost invariable rule, the width of the outer zone 
remains practically constant, while increase in rapidity of growth 
bears entirely on the inner zone, the weight of the wood is gener- 
ally inversely proportional to rapidity of growth; (6), that in 
broad-leaved species, in which the largest and most numerous 


8 TECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD. 


pores are found in the inner zone, the weight of the wood is, on 
the contrary, directly proportional to rapidity of growth, since 
this last bears entirely on the outer zone; and (c), that in all other 
woods the rate of growth has no influence on the weight of the 
wood produced in one and the same soil and locality. These rules 
have, however, to be accepted with some slight reservations, to be 
presently explained. 

What has been said in the preceding paragraph is of course true 
only when the anatomical structure of the specimens of wood com- 
pared is in every other respect the same. But large differences in 
weight may be caused by different thicknesses and degrees of solidi- 
ty of the cell-wall, or in consequence of an abnormally slight or great 
development of the inner or outer zones. So that a narrow-ringed 
piece of conifer wood or a broad-ringed piece of oak or teak may 
nevertheless be lighter respectively than a broader-ringed piece of 
the same species of conifer or a narrower ringed piece of oak or 
teak. But it is in the case of woods in which the pores are uni- 
formly distributed that the thickness and solidity of the cell-walls 
exercise the most considerable influence on their absolute weight. 

But the relative widths of the interior and exterior zones, the 
absolute width of the entire concentric ring itself, and the thick- 
ness and solidity of the cell-walls andfulness of the cells, are them- 
selves merely effects of which the nature and suitability of the soil 
and locality, and the degree of closeness of the surrounding leaf- 
canopy, are the causes. These causes are often so powerful, that 
they may reverse altogether conclusions based on the width of the 
concentric rings, especially in the case of specimens of wood in 
which the rings are unusually broad or unusually narrow. In 
the case of each species, heavy (and also really good) wood is, as a 
rule, produced in a soil of the proper mineral composition and 
containing the necessary quantity of moisture, provided that 
the requisite amount of warmth and light never fails. Where 
these conditions are wanting, or do not work harmoniously toge- 
ther for the species in question, especially if light is insufficient, 
the wood tends to become loose-tissued and light. The great in- 
fluence of light in determining the weight of the wood is unques- 
tioned in respect of solitary and canopy-grown trees. In respect 
of wood coming from different regions, where the power of the 
sun’s rays is different during the season of vegetation, that influence 
is proved by the following figures, which have been calculated 
from data taken from Gamble’s Manual of Indian Timbers—data 
which, if not scientifically accurate, are nevertheless sufficiently 
so for our purpose :— 


WEIGHT, 9 


Sun less powerful. | Sun more powerful. 


Average |Number of| Average |Number of 

weight of | experi- | weight of] experi- . 

cubic foot | ments. | cubic foot.) ments. 
Bombazx malabaricum, oss 223 6 31'5 2 
Teak, ... ase tes 38°4 131 43°7 |} 43 
Pinus longifolia, ... we 38'3 3 44 3 
Pinus excelsa, en wee 29°1 6 32'3 3 
Sissu, lige sel 466 102 486 13 
Terminalia tomentosa, on 55'5 i 61°4 12 
Sal, see aay vee 57°3 209 616 27 


As said before, the soil affects the weight of wood by the amount 
of moisture it contains, and by its mineral composition. Excess’ 
of moisture for any species in question tends to make the wood 
spongy. “Where it prevails, added high temperature and bright 
illumination merely increase the width of the concentric rings, 
without at all increasing the weight of the wood. In the case of 
conifers growing in wet places, the wood may be extremely light 
in spite of narrow rings. The effect of the mineral composition . 
of the soil on the nourishment of woody tissue is too well known . 
to berepeated here. Hven an abundance of moisture and free 
enjoyment of light may fail to produce dense wood in a soil that 
is poor in the mineral food of plants. 

The general conclusion to be drawn from the three immediately 
preceding paragraphs is that the rule establishing a direct connec- 
tion between the weight of a piece of wood and the width of the 
concentric rings composing it, may often be misleading, if these 
rings are unusually wide or unusually narrow, but generally holds 
good in all other cases. 

The density of wood is influenced in a large measure also by the 
age of the tree. As said before, the wood substance formed by a 
young tree is heavier than what is produced by the same tree at a 
more advanced age, the difference sometimes exceeding 60 per 
cent. But it is also an established fact that all trees as a rule form 
heaviest wood in an absolute sense when young. Thus it is that 
in young trees there is usually no appreciable difference in weight 
between the heartwood and the adjacent sapwood ; whereas the 
difference between the weight of this sapwood and that of heart- 
wood formed in later years may be really appreciable. The word 
“may” is used advisedly, because, although in most species the 
heartwood is notably heavier than the sapwood, this assertion can- 
not be generalised into a rule, since the mere circumstance of a 

0 


10 TECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD. 


difference in the width of the concentric rings, while it may ac~ 
centuate the original greater weight of the heartwood, may also 
turn the scale in favour of the sapwood. ; 

In all the foregoing remarks the quantity of water in the wood 
has been left out of account. In practice we distinguish three 
states of the wood after it has been felled—(1) when it has been 
fresh-felled, (2) when it has undergone some degree of seasoning 
before it is removed from the forest (we may use the term forest- 
seasoned in this case), and (3) when it has been completely seasoned, 
that is to say, has lost all the water it can part with under shelter 
in a dry atmosphere. Fresh-felled wood may for all practical 
purposes be assumed to contain 45 per cent. of water, while in 
completely seasoned wood the quantity of moisture varies from 15 
to 20 per cent. The proportion of moisture in forest-seasoned 
wood is, of course, a very variable quantity. 

According to Theodor Hartig’s experiments the quantity of 
water in any wood depends on the species to which it belongs. As 
arule, the conifers contain the largest quantity, and the hardest 
woods the least. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule. Thus 
alder, birch and poplar, all very soft woods, are amongst those 
which contain Jeast water ; while oak, sal and some other hard woods 
contain it in abundance. In the case of woods that are naturally 
impregnated with resins and oils, the difference between the green 
and seasoned weights is inversely proportional to the quantity of 
those substances in the wood. The more recently formed wood 
in a healthy growing tree contains more water than the older por- 
tions, and hence the sapwood and the wood in the crown are more 
full of moisture than the heartwood and the wood of the trunk re- 
spectively. Hartig’s experiments, already referred to, apparently 
establish the remarkable fact that the quantity of moisture im the 
soil has no influence whatsoever on the amount of moisture in the 
wood of trees grown thereon; at any rate, there is no interdepen- 
dence between them. Contrary to the general belief hitherto pre- 
vailing, every one of the European trees, which, like alder, oak and 
poplar, delight in wet and even watery soils, are conspicuous by 
the small quantity of inoisture in their wood. Further research is, 
however, still necessary before any final conclusions can be drawn. 

The wood of trees is more full of moisture during the season of 
rest than during the season of vegetation. Hence the green 
weight of wood depends also on the time of the year at which it 
is felled. But as the wood contains most reserve matter while the 
trees are resting, even the dry weight of wood is dependent on the 
season in which it is cut. 


WEIGHT. 11 


It is obvious, as said before, that resin and oils impregnating 
wood increase its dry weight. For this reason, in resiniferous 
trees the wood in the interior of the stem is heavier than the out- 
side layers ; and in conifers, the narrow-ringed wood of the branches, 
and in pines and deodar, also the resin-gorged wood of the roots, 
is heavier than the wood in other portions of the tree. In conifers 
the outer zone of each ring is richest in resin, and hence the 
broader-ringed a piece of conifer wood is, the smaller will, as a 
rule, be the proportion of resin in it, and consequently the less its 
weight. But besides resin and oils, wood may contain inorganic 
salts, such as calcium carbonate, potash, magnesia, &c., silex, and 
other substances, which add their own weight to that of the origi- 
nal substance of the wood. Long immersion in water, and 
especially floating, dissolves out these various substances and makes 
the wood very appreciably lighter. 

In one and the same tree the weight of the wood is, asa rule, 
more or less different, according as it is taken from the roots, or 
from the lower or upper part of the stem, or from the centre of 
the stem, or from near the bark or from the branches. In the stem 
this difference is in a great measure due to a difference in the 
width of the concentric layers of wood and in the relative width of 
the inner and outer zones of those layers in its different portions. 
The wood of the branches is generally heavier than that of the stem, 
but in the case of small twigs there is, according to Nérdlinger, very 
little difference even from species to species in the green weight of 
the wood, the figure for all species taken together ranging from 57 
to 66 Ibs. per solid cubic foot. The wood of the roots is the lightest 
of all. But from this general rule must be excepted (i) that of the 
crown of the roots, which is frequently remarkably heavy, and (ii) 
that of conifers producing resin in abundance, the wood of the roots 
of which sometimes weighs as much as 65 tbs. per cubic foot. 
According to Nérdlinger the weight of the wood is, in all species, 
proportionate to the thickness of the roots from which it is taken. 

Knotty growth, in whatever part of a tree it occurs, increases 
the weight of the wood. The new growth of wood surrounding 
or covering healthy wounds is also heavy. 

For convenience sake we may establish six classes or degrees as 
follows in respect of weight :— 


I. Extremely heavy.— Average weight of cubic foot = 70 lbs. and 
upwards. 
Hardwickia binata, ebony, Pterocarpus santalinus, Mesua ferrea. 
II. Very heavy.—Average weight of cubic foot = over 60 and up 
to 70 lbs. 


12 TECH SIOAL PROPKRTIES OF WoOD. 


Sal, sundri, iron-wood, khair, sandal-wood, Terminalia tomentosa. 
HIT. Heavy.—Average weight of cubic foot = over 50 and up to 
60 lbs. 

Sissu, black-wood, satin-wood, babul, box, Pterocarpus Marsupium 
and indicus (Padouk). 

IV. Moderately heavy.— Average weight of cubic foot = over 40 and 
up to 50 lbs. 

Schima Wallichii, mango, Hopea odorata, Anthocephalus Cadam- 
ba, walnut, haldu, teak, mahogany, Lagerstrémia Flos-Regine, 
jack. 

V. Light.—Average weight of cubic foot = over 30 and up to 40 lbs. 

Michelia Champaca and excelsa, toon, Gmelina arborea, Pinus 
longifolia and excelsa, deodar, poplar, willows. 

VI. Very light.— Average weight of cubic foot = 380 ibs. and under. 

Sbnal, Sterculias, Ailantus excelsa. 


Section IJ].—Harpness. 


In respect of any wood we may say that its hardness is the re-~ 
sistance it offers to penetration by another body. 

It is evident that this resistance is an entirely relative term, 
and will be different not only according to the shape and nature of 
the penetrating body (whether it is a point or edge, or a blunt pro- 
jection, and so on), and the manner in which it is forced against 
the wood (whether by impact or by mere constant pressure, &c.), 
but also according to the direction in which, with reference to the 
grain of the wood, the penetrating body is moved. The direction 
may be (i), parallel to the fibres, or (ii), at right angles to them, or 
(iii), oblique to them. In the first case the penetrating body may 
be applied along, or at right angles to, the medullary plates. In 
all three cases the resistance will be different according as the body 
is forced into the wood on a longitudinal or on a transverse section. 

Whatever the direction in which penetration is attempted into 
the wood, the resistance will depend on five several circumstances 
as follows :— 

(a). The structure of the weod.—In the first place, hardness will 
depend on the coherence with each other of the component elements 
of the wood ; and for the same degree of cohesion, the closer to- 
gether the fibres are, that is to say, thedenser, or, in other words, 
the heavier the wood is, the harder will it be. Lastly, anastomosis 
and a wavy course of the fibres increase hardness, while shortness 
of the fibres diminishes it. 

(b). Toughness of the fibres—Tough fibres yield under pres- 
sure without breaking; they merely undergo a certain amount 


HARDNESS. 43 


of displacement, which only brings the fibres closer together and 
increases the hardness of the wood at that point. Porous woods 
offer most room for this displacement of the fibres, and, other cir- 
cumstances being the same, possess the greatest degree of resistance. 
‘The hardness due to toughness of the fibres manifests itself most 
in a direction transverse to that in which they run. 

(¢). The quantity of moisture present—Dry wood is harder 
than green wood, firstly, because moisture softens the tissues, and 
next, because green wood, being swollen up with moisture, occu- 
pies for the same amount of solid matter, more space than dry 
wood. The superior hardness in the dry state is more conspicu~ 
ous, the heavier the wood is. Dry Hardwickia binata and ebony 
are as hard as horn. In the case of very light tough woods, such 
as willows, poplar, semal, &., since the degree of toughness is in 
proportion to the amount of contained moisture, the influence of 
moisture on hardness becomes inconsiderable. The heartwood, 
owing to the smaller quantity of water it contains, is always harder 
than the sapwood, even when their respective weights are not very 
different ; and for the same reason the older parts of a tree, pro- 
vided of course they are still sound, are heavier than those which 
are younger. ‘ 

(d). The quantity of resin and oil present.—Oil makes the 
fibres tougher and fills up the interstices. In resinous woods, 
however, hardness is in inverse proportion to the quantity of es- 
sential oil present, since the oil keeps the resin in a soft condition. 
Wood in which the resin is quite dry, as in stumps of deodar and 
pine trees felled sometime ago, is almost as hard as horn. 

(e). The tool with which penetration is attempted.—The resist- 
ance will be different according as we use a gimlet, or a file, or 
a plane, or a saw, or a chisel, or sand paper, &c. Thus old posts, 
exposed during years to every weather influence, of Hardwickia 
binata, khair and other woods that do not decay from exposure, 
will defy all efforts to drive nails and bore holes into them, but 
will nevertheless be easily cut up with a saw. We as foresters 
need consider only the resistance offered to the axe and saw. 

In respect to the axe the greatest resistance to be overcome is 
across the fibres, the least parallel to the fibres, especially in the 

direction of the medullary plates and along the concentric rings of 
growth, when these are well-marked. The resistance to be over- 
come parallel to the fibres is connected with aptitude for fission, 
and will, therefore, not be considered here. From what has gone 
before, it will have been seen that the resistance offered to an axe 
driven across the fibres, whether perpendicularly or obliquely, 


14 TROHNIOAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD. 


depends on the closeness of texture of the wood, the toughness 
length and tendency to twist or anastomose of the fibres, and the 
quantity of moisture present. It will hence be understood why 
light wood with tough fibres requires a heavier axe than heavy 
wood with short fibres. The axe not only cuts but also presses, 
and tough loose fibres give before the passage of the axe, being 
merely pushed forward. In every case the resistance offered to the 
axe is greatest at right angles to the fibres, and diminishes in 
proportion to the obliqueness of the stroke. 

The resistance offered to the saw does not resemble at all that 
offered to the axe. Contrary to what happens in the case of the 
axe, for most species, especially those which are light and tough, 
the resistance is greatest in the direction of the fibres, since the 
saw has no splitting action, but takes off a string of fibres, shred by 
shred, whether cutting along the fibre or across it. The teeth of a 
saw work principally by tearing, very little, sometimes, as in wood of 
loose texture, not at all, by a shaving or cutting action. Hence 
the tougher and longer the fibres are, and the looser the structure 
of the wood, the more difficult is the work of the saw, for the teeth 
then no longer break up or divide the individual fibres, but tear 
them asunder from one another, owing to which circumstance the 
sides of the cut become rough and uneven, a large quantity of 
coarse sawdust is produced, and the saw has to overcome a very 
great amount of friction. In the case of wood of compact texture 
and possessing short and closely-cohering fibres, the fibres are 
more easily broken or otherwise divided, the sides of the cut are 
smoother and the sawdust finer and less abundant. It is thus a 
general rule that amongst broad-leaved species the heavier and 
denser kinds are the easiest to saw. Resin and other glutinous 
secretions clog the teeth of the saw, and increase very considerably 
the friction. Nevertheless, the conifers, although also loose tis- 
sued, are easy to saw because of their extremely regular structure. 
As a rule, green wood is easier to saw than dry wood, since, as we 
have seen above, moisture renders wood softer, although the fibres 
themselves become less brittle. The only exceptions to this rule 
are woods with very loose texture and long tough fibres, which are 
rendered all the tougher and stronger by tke moisture. 

According to Gayer, if we denote the resistance offered by re- 
cently-felled beech to cross-cutting with the saw by unity, the corre- 
sponding resistances offered by other species are—spruce = 0:60 
Scotch pine == 0°67, silver fir = 0°76, larch = 0:93, oak pa 
aspen = 109, alder = 1:10, birch = 1-35, willow = 1:37, lime 
or linden = 1°77. s 


FLEXIBILITY AND ELANSTIOITY. 15 


Section IV.—Fexisiuiry ann Exasticrry. 


We understand by flexibility the capability of being bent out 
of shape without any kind of rupture of the component wood 
elements. HHlasticity in addition to flexibility implies a return, 
more or less complete, to the original shape, that is to say, the 
resumption of their original relative positions by the elements. 
Thus mere flexibility and elasticity, although closely inter-connected 
up to a certain point, are different properties. Both agree in re- 
quiring the fibres to be more or less extensible and to play upon 
one another ; and for this reason they both require the fibres to be 
long and straight and parallel, and the wood to be homogeneous. 
In the case of woods with distinct concentric rings, both properties 
are heightened by narrowness of the rings, which form thin plates 
capable of moving one upon another like the leaves of a book. 

FLexisitiry.—Mere flexibility without elasticity is favoured by 
a wet condition of the fibres, the walls of which are then soft enough 
to stretch and change shape easily. Hence steaming under a high 
pressure, or which nearly comes to the same thing, exposure in a 
green state to a temperature sufficient to form steam, gives wood 
its maximum of flexibility. As a rule, light woods are more 
flexible than heavy woods, because their looser structure gives more 
room for the play of the fibres upon one another, and enable them 
to become soaked with moisture more easily and completely. Hence 
the wood of the roots is more flexible than that of the stem, which 
itself is, with few exceptions, more flexible than that of the branches. 
For the same reason, and also because it contains more moisture, 
sapwood is more flexible than heartwood, and the outer concentric 
rings than those further in the interior. The wood of trees grown in 
wet soils is often more pliable than the wood of trees grown on 
dry soils. For one and the same species young stool-shoots are 
more flexible than seedlings of the same size. The wood of clim- 
bers is the most flexible of all, being very straight and long-fibred 
and of loose texture. 

Flexible wood is used for band boxes, drums, frames for sieves, 
hoops, wicker work, matting (bamboos and canes), wattling, withies, 
beutwood furniture, &c. Wood that has been made flexible arti- 
ficially, loses all its flexibility and becomes very brittle, once it is 
dry. 

Se ae ne diminishes elasticity, only dry (but not 
too dry) or moderately green wood being elastic. Jor one and 
the same species weight always increases elasticity. Hence well- 
nourished wood is more elastic than wood of loose texture, the 


16 TEOHNICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD. 


wood of the stem than the more porous wood of the roots, slow- 
grown conifer wood than faster-grown specimens, and so on. 
Elasticity is increased by slow seasoning ; hence killing a tree by 
girdling is injurious to elasticity. 

The following scale of elasticity may be adopted :— 
Extremely elastic—bamboos, canes. 
Very elastic—Grewias, sundri, Anogeissus latifolia. 
Elastic—Diospyros spp., sissu. 
Pretty elastic—teak, mango, tun. 
Slightly elastic—deodar, Hardwickia binata, semal. 
Very slightly elastic—Boswellia serrata, silver fir. 


oR 9 bo 


Section V.—APTITUDE FOR FISSION. 


All woods are more or less fissile, ie, capable of being split 
down their whole length when a wedge is forcibly driven along 
between the fibres. The ease or difficulty with which a piece of 
wood can thus be split depends on five several circumstances as 
follows :— 

I. The structure of the wood.—The straighter and longer and 
more parallel the fibres are, the more easily will the wood split, e.g., 
“pamboos, canes, conifers, teak, &c. Hence for one and the same 
species the faster-grown the specimen, the more easily will it split. 
All breaks of continuity of the fibres, such as knots, branches, 
and wound scars, increase the difficulty of splitting ; in other 
words, canopy-grown trees with long, clean boles and a bigh re- 
stricted crown furnish the best wood for fission, and trees with 
low spreading crowns the worst. Wood from the branches and 
roots, being more knotty and crooked and twisted, is more difficult 
to split than the wood of the stem; and the most difficult of all to 
split is the wood in the region of the root-collum, from which all 
the main lateral roots of the tree take their rise. The medullary 
rays, by their thickness, length and depth, influence very con- 
spicuously the aptitude of wood for fission, as all woods split most 
easily in the direction of the rays. Owing to the presence of large 
rays, woods, which like the oaks, would otherwise be extremely 
difficult to split, are among those most easily fissile. Great number, 
by forcing the fibres to extend evenly and straight, makes up for 
smallness and even minuteness of the rays, as in the case of the 
conifers. The degree of coherence between the fibres and the 
medullary plates also influences the fissility of a wood. The coher- 
ence between the concentric rings of wood is very much greater 
than that between the fibres and medullary plates. In old in- 


APTITUDE FOR FIssI0ON, 17 


dividuals of spruce and of some others of our species the concentric 
rings, however, separate easily, 

II. Fleaibility and elasticity —It is obvious that elasticity in- 
creases aptitude for fission, since as the wedge is driven forward, 
the split extends by the force of the mere leverage exercised on. the 
sides by the wedge, the cutting edge of which does no work at all 
once it has helped to introduce the tool into the wood. On the 
other hand, when mere flexibility exists, there can be no such lever- 
age, and the entire work of parting the fibres has to be done 
throughout by the edge of the wedge. Mere flexibility helps 
fission only in so far that without it the wood on each side of the 
wedge would break off short. 

IIL. Contained moisture—As a rule, green wood can be split 
more easily than dry wood. Hence sapwood is easier to split than 
heartwood, and wood felled during great activity of the sap at the 
beginning of the season of vegetation than wood felled at any other 
season. This greater facility is due to the slighter degree of 
coherence between the fibres in a green state and to the greater 
flexibility, up to a certain limit, of the wood. We say up to acer- 
tain limit advisedly, for if this limit is exceeded, as in the case of 
extremely flexible woods, the difficulty of fission is increased (this 
clearly proves what has been said in the immediately preceding 
paragraph). 

IV. Frost.—It is obvious that frost makes the fibres brittle, 

V. Resin and oils.—Resin, by diminishing elasticity, renders 
fission difficult, while fixed oils generally facilitate it. 

VI. The circumstances under which the tree has grown up.— 
Growth in the midst of a proper leaf-canopy and with a sufficient 
supply of moisture increases aptitude for fission by producing a 
uniform tissue composed of straight, long and parallel fibres not too 
“closely connected together owing to a high degree of lignification. 
Since the same conditions favour diametral increment, wood with 
wide concentric rings is usually more easily fissile than wood 
with narrow rings. And generally speaking we may say that the 
wood of all vigorous individuals is easier to split than that of weak 
ones. Hence the well-known fact that young stool-shoots are 
much more easily split than seedlings of the same size. The wood 
of trees grown in hot, dry climates, as it is always so highly lig- 
nified, is more difficult to split than that of trees from temperate 
localities. 

The ease or difficulty with which a wood can be split is a cir- 
cumstance possessing considerable importance, since a great many 
industries depend on this quality of wood, especially the trade in 

D 


18 TEOHNIOAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD. 


firewood. In what degree the wood of any individual of a given 
species is fissile can be easily recognised on the standing tree itself, 
which, to split well, ought to have a long, clean, straight, full and 
symmetrical bole, and a not too thick bark containing wide, long 
and straight cracks that have a tendency to extend upwards. The 
soil and locality also furnish indications. In the case of a felled 
tree, besides having the points already enumerated, we can also 
examine a small ribbon of the wood taken off witha plane. A 
crack, however small, through the centre on the transverse section 
is a certain proof of easy fissility. Woodmen have often to put up 
with the disagreeable experience of seeing a tree split up and 
fall before it is sufficiently cut through. Species whose indivi- 
duals play this unpleasant trick are always easy to split. 

As a beginning, and subject to numerous additions and correc- 
tions, we may establish the following classes for India according to 
aptitude for fission :— 

Extremely fissile—bamboos, canes. 

Easily fissile—teak, Anogeissus latifolia, deodar, tun, the firs. 
Pretty fissile—mango, Pterocarpus Marsupium. 

Difficult to split—sal, babul, Terminalia tomentosa. 

Very difficult to split— Terminalia belerica, Boswellia serrata. 


gum ge bo 


Section VI.—STRENGTH. 


By the term strength is understood the degree of resistance 
which a given kind of wood offers—(i), to being broken across the 
grain (transverse strength), or (ii), to crushing, or (iii), to being 
torn asunder by a shearing force, or (iv), to being twisted. In 
discussing the strength of woods the mathematical side of the 
question will not be touched upon, belonging, as it does, to the 
subject of practical mechanics. 

I. Transverse strength.—For our purpose the resistance which 
wood offers against a transverse strain stands in the first place, 
for it is principally this resistance which has to be considered in 
all timber for roofing, scaffolding, floors, carriage building, ladders, 
&c. Ina general way it may be said that the heavier the wood, 
the greater the transverse strength. But this general rule, al- 
though nearly always true for specimens of one and the same spe- 
cies, is subject to modification according to the structure of the 
wood and the cohesiveness of the fibres. Length and straightness of 
fibre and uniformity of texture contribute to transverse strength. 
Moreover, whatever increases elasticity and flexibility, increases also 
transverse strength. Great abundance of resin, especially in a dry 
condition, is a cause of weakness. In one and the same tree, pro- 


STRENGTH—SHASONING. 19 


vided of course that every part is sound, the transverse strength 
of the wood increases from inside outwards, and from below up- 
wards, this increased strength being due mainly to greater uniform- 
ity of structure and length of fibre. The results of recent re- 
searches would show that wood felled during vegetative repose is, 
owing doubtless to the presence of reserve matter which increases 
the cohesiveness of the elements, stronger than wood felled during 
vegetative activity, especially at the first burst of such activity. 
Wood seasoned gradually is stronger than wood seasoned too 
quickly; hence killing a tree by girdling diminishes the strength 
of the wood. Combining the facts given in the two immediately 
preceding sentences, we have the inference that for India the 
rainy season, and then the cold weather, are the best time, irrespec- 
tive of all other considerations, for the felling of timber trees. 

Il. Resistance to crushing.—This resistance is required in a 
high degree in wood for piles, posts and other uprights, wheel- 
spokes, &c. It is always in direct proportion to transverse strength 
and elasticity, since in nearly every case uprights that are over- 
loaded finish up by bending and then breaking across the fibre. 
A consideration of resistance to crushing strains is of little prac- 
tical utility, for on account of other reasons the dimensions of pieces 
of timber used as uprights are far in excess of the limits necessary 
for resistance to mere crushing. . 

III. Resistance to shearing.—This resistance is of importance 
only for woods used for a few special purposes, such as sunken 
piles, tent-pegs, chisel handles, &. It is always greatest in the 
direction of the fibres. For one and the same species, it will be 
in direct proportion to the weight of the wood. For different 
species it will depend on the cohesion of the fibres and on the ex- 
tent to which they are anastomosed. The Terminalias, and babul, 
khair and similar woods offer powerful resistance to shearing 
strains. 

IV. Resistance to torsion.—This kind of strength is of even 
still less importance than the two preceding, as it is required for 
very few purposes (axles and axle-trees), and even then the dimen- 
sions of the pieces of timber used are, owing to other and entirely 
independent considerations, much in excess of what are absolutely 
necessary for overcoming torsion alone. 


Szction VII.—Loss AND GAIN OF MOISTURE AND CONSEQUENT 
CONTRACTION AND EXPANSION. SEASONING, WARPING, AND 
TENDENCY TO CRACK AND SPLIT. 


Seasoning.—Lefore a piece of wood can be used it must be air- 


20 TEOHNIOAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD. 


dried or seasoned, that is to say, it must have lost all the moisture 
it can part with under free exposure to air in the ordinary state. 
The quantity of moisture in fresh-cut wood depends on the season 
of felling, the portion of the tree from which it is derived, and the 
species to which it belongs. 

The rapidity and completeness with which any piece of wood 
becomes seasoned depends on its structure, on the extent of sur- 
face it exposes to the air in proportion to its volume, on whether 
it is heart or sap wood, on whether it is barked or not, on the 
quantity of moisture it originally contains, and very largely on 
the condition of the air, especially as regards its humidity and 
movement. Porous woods season more quickly and more com- 
pletely than woods with a close grain. The wood of all species 
parts with its moisture most quickly from a transverse section, and 
least so from a longitudinal section made at right angles to the 
medullary rays. Sapwood dries quicker than heartwood, and 
fresh cut wood sooner than wood that has been kept sometime 
and prevented from seasoning, moreover, wood loses its moisture 
most rapidly just after it has been cut, the rapidity diminishing in 
geometrical proportion with lapse of time. Wood that has been 
previously dried and then soaked in water dries more quickly 
and completely than wood that has been put into water green, 
and generally the original moisture of the wood is evaporated from 
it less slowly than the water it may take up after the tree has been 
felled ; hence wood that has been floated or kept in water some 
time, or, which comes to the same thing, that has been constantly 
washed by heavy showers of rain, seasons more quickly and com- 
pletely than wood allowed to season only under exposure to air. 
In a damp or cold atmosphere, seasoning is slower than ina dry 
or warm one, and very much slower in a close confined place than 
in one in which there is a free and active circulation of air. 
Steaming hastens seasoning, whereas impregnation with different 
solid substances retards it. The most completely seasoned wood 
always contains from 15 to 20 per cent. of moisture, while wood 
seasoned only in the forest contains up to 25 and even more per 
cent. Some woods may become completely seasoned in a single 
year, while others, such as sal, may take more than 10 years. For 
trades such as that of the joiner and cabinet-maker, turner and 
cooper, wood has to be kept for two, three and even more years 
before it can be used. 

Absorption of moisture—The very same circumstances which 
favour rapidity and completeness of seasoning, also favour the 
rapidity with which a wood absorbs moisture, whether from the 


SEASONING, SHRINKING AND EXPANSION, WARPING. 21 


air or from any liquid in contact with it. Hence the extremely 
important fact that the longer and more slowly a wood has been 
seasoned, the more slowly does it absorb moisture. Hence also 
the fact that oak cask staves cut in December, when seasoning is 
slowest, allow only half a litre of wine to pass through in one year 
and become evaporated, whereas similar staves cut from trees felled 
in January allow a loss of eight litres in the same time. 

Change of volume of wood through loss or gain of moisture.—As 
wood seasons it shrinks. Qnce seasoned, it swells or shrinks with 
the varying quantity of moisture in its environment. The extent 
to which this constant change of volume takes place depends on 
the kind of wood and the accompanying circumstances. Thus— 

(a). It is greater, the larger the quantity of moisture con- 
tained in the wood is: the wood of young parts, the sapwood, the 
wood of the roots and of the crown shrink more than heartwood 
and the older wood of the trunk. 

(6). It is slightest in the direction of the fibres, so slight 
indeed, that for all practical purposes it may be entirely left out of 
account. It is much greater in the direction of the medullary 
rays, in which it may reach 5 per cent. of the original dimension 
of the wood. But it is greatest parallel to the concentric rings, 
or which comes to the same thing, in a direction tangential to the 
circumference, in which direction it may reach the high figure of 
10 per cent. (Pinus longifolia). Hence the best planks to use are 
those sawn as nearly as possible parallel to a radius. 

(c). Itis in direct proportion to the warmth and dryness of 
the environment. Hence the necessity of using only thoroughly 
seasoned wood for the furniture of dwelling rooms. 

(d). For one and the same species it is greatest in close-grained 
heavy wood. On the other hand, when the species are different, 
this rule does not always hold good, for there are numerous excep- 
tions. It would be very important to ascertain by careful experi- 
ments the amount of shrinkage and expansion of all our principal 
woods under different conditions of the atmosphere. 

(e). Seasoned wood immersed in water swells up at once rapidly, 
and in from 1 to 14 months acquires the same or nearly the same 
volume as it occupied before it was cut. After this there is no, or 
hardly any, further increase of volume, but the wood continues to 
absorb more water for the next one to three years, when every pore, 
even those which contained a large proportion of air in the green 
wood, will be found gorged with water and unable to take in more. 

Warping.—If as the volume of a piece of wood changes with 
loss or absorption of moisture, the shrinkage or expansiun is 


22 TECHNICAL PROPENTIES OF WOOD. 


uniform throughout its mass, the change of volume is not accom- 
panied by any change of form. But if some parts shrink or expand 
more or less than others, a change of form necessarily occurs, or, in 
technical language, the wood warps. It hence follows that the 
extent to which a wood is liable to warp is in direct relationship 
with the extent to which it shrinks or expands with loss or gain 
of moisture, and we thus find that the softer and lighter woods 
warp less than those which are harder and heavier. Boards sawn 
parallel to a radius, since the tissues are thus uniformly distributed, 
are less disposed to warp than boards sawn parallel to a tangent, 
which no amount of care will prevent from warping; and similarly, 
among the latter class of boards, those taken off furthest away from 
the centre of the log warp most. Boards and scantlings cut out 
of trees with twisted fibre always warp very badly. Even-grained 
wood will warp less than wood wanting in uniformity of structure ; 
bamboos and canes are examples of wood possessing conspicuously 
uniform structure. Warping may be prevented or minimised by 
steaming the wood (this, however, reduces its strength), or by 
impregnating it with oil, or, instead of making an article of a single 
piece of wood, by composing it of several pieces so as to secure 
every possible direction for the run of the fibres, and thus coun- 
teract any tendency to warp in any one direction. 

Cracking and splitting —If in unequal contraction the different 
parts of a piece of a wood cannot move and keep together, and the 
force with which they are drawn apart from one another is great 
enough to overcome the cohesion between them, one or more 
eracks result. Such cracks are most numerous along radii or lines 
of easiest fission, and least so parallel to the concentric rings of 
growth or lines of most difficult fission. The size of the cracks 
increases (a), with the rapidity with which the wood dries and 
shrinks (timber felled during the rains or winter has fewer cracks 
than timber felled at any other season); (0), with the extent of the 
shrinkage (c) ; with the removal of the bark before seasoning has 
made any progress ; (d), with the diameter of the log or breadth 
and thickness of the scantling ; and (e), with the want of uniformity 
in the structure of the wood (the uniform-textured sounding board 
of musical instruments, looked after properly, scarcely ever cracks). 
Wood in the round is most of all subject to cracks. This tendency 
in logs may be diminished by rough-squaring, so as to leave conti- 
nuous strips of bark at the corners ; such treatment, although not 
preventing the formation of numerous little cracks, checks that of 
large ones, which often render the wood useless for many purposes. 
If rough-squaring cannot be resorted to, then in dry climates it 


CRACKING AND SPLITTING—DURABILITY, 23 


is advisable to leave the bark on for a few months until the wood 
has undergone a certain degree of, seasoning ; or the bark should 
be preserved for a few feet at the ends in order to secure a more 
uniform drying throughout the length of the log; or the bark 
should be removed only in spiral strips running round the whole log. 
Short round pieces, that are ultimately to be cut up, are effectually 
preserved from cracks by sawing them through lengthwise along 
a single line as far as the pith; this is the way in which pieces 
of box for engraving purposes are treated. A hole of: sufficient 
diameter bored through the centre of the log also prevents the 
formation of cracks. Sawn pieces are protected either by clamping 
the ends, or by driving iron S88 into the ends, or by tarring the 
ends and pressing on tough brown paper before the tar is dry. 
Steaming, followed by slow drying, also prevents cracks, or, at the 
most, allows only a few small ones to form. 


Szotron VIJI.—Dvrasiuity. 


By the durability of a wood we understand the resistance it 
offers, when brought into use, to the various causes of decay and 
to the attacks of insects and other animals. 

Decay.—Decay is the result of the ravages of various fungi, 
which invade, by means of their fine thread-like mycelia, the 
entire tissue of the wood, obtaining starch, saccharine matters, 
nitrogenous substances, and inorganic elements, such as potassium, 
phosphorus, calcium, &c., from the medullary rays, and other 
food materials, such as water, air, mineral salts, tannin, coniferin, 
lignin from the lignified walls of the cells, tracheides and vessels 
everywhere. The structure of the wall is thus completely des- 
troyed, and the entire mass of the wood becomes brittle and falls 
easily into powder. As fungi cannot live without nitrogen, 
wood could be made imperishable were it possible to rid it of all 
the proteid substances present in the medullary rays. -Since fungi 
require a considerable quantity of moisture, the use of thoroughly 
seasoned wood in a sufficiently dry environment would effectual. 
ly prevent decay. So would complete and uninterrupted sub- 
mergence in water deep enough not to be overcharged with 
air preserve wood against decay. Indeed submergence for a 
sufficiently prolonged period renders wood imperishable : during 
the submergence slow chemical and physical changes go on, by 
which the starch, sugars, nitrogenous matters, &c., are dissolved 
out, and replaced by mineral deposits from the water, both the 


94 TECHNICAL PROPERTINS OF WOOD. 


density and hardness of the wood being thereby increased to a 
greater extent than in the formation of ebony. On the other 
hand, situation in a moist, still, warm atmosphere, contact with 
soil or moist masonry, and alternate submergence and exposure or 
submergence close to the surface of the water, hasten decay. At 
most seasons of the year the soil is moist enough for the germina- 
tion of fungus spores, and, except at a great depth, it contains 
sufficient air and heat for the purpose. In old posts fixed in the 
ground, the greatest amount of decay will be found at the level 
of the ground, and the extent to which decay has progressed in the 
buried portion will be found to grow less as we examine the wood 
further down. The more porous a soil is, the more rapidly does 
the wood decay (witness the fate of railway sleepers laid deep in 
loose ballast). Wood lasts longest in stiff clay soils, much less in 
limestone soils (which are not only porous but also act chemically 
on the wood), and least of all in soils containing much organic 
matter, especially such as are themselves undergoing decay and 
decomposition. In experimenting on the relative durability of 
different woods, the most rigid test to apply is to bury the lower 
ends of posts or scantlings of one and the same size in holes filled 
with fresh cow-dung. 

Impregnation at any time with antiseptics, such as creosote, 
sulphate of copper, &c., precludes the vegetation of fungi, provided 
fungus spores have not already entered the substance of the wood. 
Fungi may also be kept out indefinitely by covering the wood 
where it is to be in contact with a damp surface, with a coat of 
paint impervious to moisture and therefore also to spores, or by 
painting the surface over with creosote, tar or any other antiseptic 
substance. Charring the surface is not always a successful method 
for charcoal being a highly permeable substance, may let spores 
pass in with the water, and in the process of charring deep cracks 
may form giving ingress to the spores. In any case the charring 
to be effective, must be deep, and thus detracts very considerably 
from the strength of the wood. Woods thoroughly impregnated 
with resin are practically imperishable. 

It is evident that the first step to rendering wood durable is to 
season it thoroughly ; no other precautions, if this one has been 
omitted, can save the wood from early decay. 

All woods are not equally durable, and even in the case of one 
and the same species some specimens decay more quickly than 
others. Greater weight is no proof of greater durability in the 
case of woods of different species, for the lighter wood may con- 
tain substances, such as oils, alkaloids, &c., that are poisonous to 


DURABILITY. 25 


fungi ; moreover, the heavier wood may be more subject to cracks 
through which fungus spores may at once get admittance into 
their interior. Nevertheless the heavier woods are generally also 
the more durable. In the case of specimens of one and the same 
species, this rule is universally true, since the closer the tissues are, 
the less room is there for the entry of spores. «Hence the timber 
of trees grown in favourable soils and localities, and in the full 
enjoyment of light and warmth, is more durable than that of trees 
grown under less favourable conditions. This proves the necessity 
of thinning timber forests properly, and the superiority of methods 
of culture which give the future timber trees room for unrestricted 
development. 

The sapwood, being full of moisture and of starch and other 
reserve materials, decays very quickly, although there are some 
extremely durable woods, such as teak, thin rafters of which, if 
properly seasoned, last for over 20 years. In old large trees the 
wood near the ete has generally already undergone a certain 
amount of decomposition, and hence is subject to early decay. 
There are two exceptions to this rule—(1), species in which ebony 
is formed, and (2), conifers rich in resin, the central zones of 
which are generally impregnated with this substance. 

The season in which a tree is felled has a powerful influence on 
the durability of its timber. The most durable wood is obtained 
if the tree is félled when the sapwood and medullary rays contain 
a minimum amount of starch and nitrogenous substances. The 
least amount of such substances is found immediately after a gre- 
garious fructification ; in ordinary years, however, svon after the 
new flush of leaves has come out at the beginning of the season 
of vegetation. 

The following is merely given as an indication of what might 
be done in classifying our numerous species according to their 
power of resisting decay. It must not, however, be forgotten that 
the conditions in which a piece of wood is placed when used affect 
to a very considerable extent the question of its durability. For 
instance, the wood of Ficus religiosa decays quickly in the open 
air, but is extremely durable under water. 

(i). Extremely durable.—Teak, Hardwickia binata, ebony, Aca- 
cia Catechu, iron-wood, Mesua ferrea, sal. 

(ii). Very durable.—Deodar, Michelia Champaca, M. excelsa, 

Dipterocarpus tuberculatus, sundri, black-wood, sissu. 

(iii). Durable.—Albizzia Lebbek ond procera, Schima Wallick, 

Pterocarpus. spp., oak, Eugenia Jambolana, Terminalia 
Chebula. 


E 


26 TECHNIOAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD. 


(iv). Fairly durable.—Anogeissus spp., tun, mango, Terminalia 

belerica. = 

(v). Quick to decay.—Odina Wodier, Adina cordifolia, semal, 

Butea frondosa, Boswellia serrata. 

(vi). Very quick to decay.—Cochlospermum Gossypium, Mo- 

ringa spp., Dalbergia paniculata, Sterculia spp. 

Insects and other animals.—Except in the special case of wood 
used in contact with sea-water, the animals we have to fear are 
insects. For our purpose we may divide timber-destroying insects 
into three classes, viz., (1), those which can enter only fresh-felled 
wood as larve, (2), those which attack wood already in use, but 
only as larve, and (3), those whose full grown individuals attack 
the wood and commit all the ravages. 

In the first class of insects the mother deposits her eggs on, or 
in, the bark of fresh-felled wood, and the larve, after being hatch- 
ed, eat their way into and inside the wood. According to the 
size and number of the larvee, broad “ galleries” are formed, or 
the wood becomes literally riddled with small holes (worm-eaten). 
To prevent the ravages of such insects, it is sufficient to bark the 
trees in time, thus getting rid of eggs already laid, and either 
preventing new ones from being laid, or, owing to the drying up 
and consequent hardening of the surface of the exposed wood, 
preventing the weak, freshly hatched larve from gnawing their 
way to the moist and therefore softer tissues inside. The case of 
the various- species of bamboos presents an anomaly in that they 
have no bark which can be removed ; but submergence in water 
for a few days’or, better still, floating washes off the eggs. Fel- 
ling bamboos during the dark half of the lunar month also preserves 
them from the attacks of insects. Prolonged floating or submer- 
gence in water also preserves all other kinds of wood by drown- 
ing the larvee. Where the use of such substances is cheap enough 
and not objectionable, the wood may be impregnated with insect 
poisons, such as metallic salts, creosote, kerosine oil, &c. Steaming 
will also of course kill all the eggs and larve. The wood of 
broad-leaved species is more liable to the attacks of insects than 
conifers, which are partly protected by the aroma of the turpen- 
tine. The sapwood, on account of its softer texture and the 
reserve starch and other food it contains, is very much more visited 
by insects than the heartwood. 

The second class of insects include the genera Pétinus and Anobi- 
um (death watch), which attack wood used in dwellings, especially 
in dark places in the roof. The larve eat their way through the 
wood in every direction, reducing it to a spongy brittle mass that 


DURABILITY—COMBUSTIBILITY AND HEATING POWER. 27 


crumbles to pieces under the slightest pressure ; while the beetles, 
when they are not out feeding or mating, live in the galleries 
where they lay their eggs. 

The third and last class of insects comprises almost exclusively 
the various species of white-ants. A striking instance of the few 
other families falling under this class is that of & species of Bostry- 
chid beetle which, until the tree is felled or has begun to die, 
lives in the thick bark of the Pinus longifolia, but works its way 
into the wood within a few minutes of the fall of the tree. The 
only remedy against this beetle is to bark the trees without delay. 
As regards white-ants, there are certain woods which are self- 
protected, either because, like teak and deodar, they contain an oil 
not relished by the insects, or, like Salvadora and nim, they are 
impregnated with an acrid alkaloid, or because, like Hardwickia 
binata and khair, they are too hard for them. In the case of other 
woods nothing short of impregnating them, or painting them over 
with poisonous substances, will protect them against these all- 
devouring pests. 

Wood used for marine purposes is subject to the attacks of 
certain crustaceans and mollusca, the most terrible of the latter 
being the barnacle (Teredo navalis). Against this last the only 
sure preservative is to plate the wood with iron or copper. In 
the case of wood kept in dockyards before use, the best plan is to 
bury it in mud at the bottom of the tanks, or to reduce the saltness 
of the sea-water by mixing enough fresh water, as a certain de- 
gree of brackishness is essential for the barnacle. 


Section [X.—CompustiBiLiry aNnp Heating Power. 


By the term “combustibility”’ we mean the ease or difficulty 
with which a substance takes fire, and, being once ignited, continues 
to burn until it is consumed ; and by the heating power of a wood 
is understood the quantity of heat radiated by a unit of volume or 
weight of the wood when burning in the ordinary way. The only 
two elements of wood which burn are its carbon and hydrogen, 
the former combining with oxygen to form carbonic acid, the latter 
to form water ; while the incombustible portions remain behind as 
ash. It is very probable that the combustibility and heating 
power of the pure wood fibre is the same for all woods, and that 
the actual differences existing between the various woods are due 
entirely to differences of structure and the presence of accidental 
substances, such as oils, resins, &c. 

Combustibility is in direct proportion to looseness of texture 
(guaranteeing free access of oxygen into the interior), to aksence 


28 TROHNIOAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD. 


of moisture, and to presence of resins and oils, which enable some 
woods to burn well even in a very green condition. Decayed 
wood, owing to its spongy texture, takes fire easily and burns until 
it is consumed, but, as it has lost a very large proportion of its 
carbon, its combustion is very slow and unaccompanied with flame. 

The conditions which affect the heating power of a given wood 
are— 

(1). Quantity of contained moistwre.—The most highly air-dried 
wood contains a large proportion of moisture. When the wood is 
burnt, a certain portion of the heat produced by the combustion is 
absorbed in converting the moisture into steam, and not only this, 
but as the steam rushes out from the inner layers of the wood, it 
takes up more heat from the burning outside layers. Nérdlinger 
estimates that with 45 per cent. of water present, half: the heat of 
combustion is lost, and with 60 per cent. as much as four-fifths. 
These figures prove the great importance of drying firewood as 
thoroughly as possible ; all large pieces should be cut into short 
lengths and split, and the wood should be loosely arranged in long 
narrow stacks composed of only a single row of pieces, so that 
both ends may be exposed and uir circulate freely between the 
several pieces. 

(2). Specific weight.—This is not a safe criterion for woods of 
different kinds, since other circumstances, such as a greener condi- 
tion of the heavier wood, resin and oil in the lighter wood, &c., 
may more than counterbalance the superiority possessed by the 
heavier wood in respect of its weight alone. Thus the light, but 
porous and quickly-dried, wood of Butea frondosa gives out more 
heat than several much heavier woods. Nevertheless, for one and 
the same species superior weight also means superior heating 
power. Hence the heartwood is better than the sapwood, the 
wood of the stem than the wood of the branches and roots (resinous 
conifers of course excepted), the highly lignified wood of trees 
grown in warm sunny localities and in the open than the wood of 
trees of cooler climates and aspects and of canopied crops. 

(3). Anatomical structure—In the case of the more porous 
wood the moisture is expelled more quickly, during combustion, 
from the inner mass of the wood, and hence there is less loss of 
heat. We have already seen that the more porous wood also burns 
more quickly. Hence in a confined place, as in a baker’s oven, 
the more porous wood will not only give out its heat more quickly, 
but also an absolutely larger quantity of heat. For warming rooms 
a wood of a certain minimum density is required, for if it burnt too 
quickly most of the heat would disappear through the chimney. 


COMBUSTIBILITY AND HEATING POWER. 29 


(4).. Smallness of the pieces of wood used.—The smaller the 
pieces are, the larger is the surface exposed to a free draught of 
air, and the greater the quantity of heat evolved. But there must 
be a limit to the smallness of the pieces, for sawdust burns with 
little heat, as it does without flame. 

(5). Presence of oils and resin.—This circumstance requires no 
explanation. 

(6). Soundness—Unsoundness necessarily implies some loss 
of the original quantity of carbon and hydrogen, the only two 
combustible elements in the composition of wood. As all trees 
begin to get more or less unsound at the centre after a certain 
age, trees intended for the supply of firewood ought not to be kept 
beyond middle age. 

The popular belief that floating diminishes the heating power 
of wood is totally unfounded. What actually happens is that 
when floated wood is taken out of the water, the pieces are piled 
up pell-mell into large heaps, inside which they undergo a certain 
amount of decomposition. If the wood is dried at once, no loss of 
heating power will result from the floating. 

Numerous attempts have been made to ascertain the relative 
heating capabilities of the various woods. In some physical methods 
have been employed, in others chemical methods. 

The most common physical method is to ascertain what quantity 
of water at 0° C. is evaporated by one pound of the given wood 
at a given temperature of the air and under a given pressure. 
A simpler method is to find out what quantity of ice at 0° C. is 
converted into water of a temperature of 0° C. by one pound of the 
wood. A third method, having another purpose, is to burn sepa- 
rately the same quantity of the several woods in one and the same 
fireplace, and note the difference between the temperatures of the 
air of the room at the beginning and end of each burning. The 
doors and windows of the room should of course remain closed 
during the experiment. 

Chemical methods consist in ascertaining the quantity of carbon 
and hydrogen present in a given weight of the wood. This is 
done by burning the wood in a closed retort, either with a direct 
supply of oxygen gas or with a known weight of some metallic 
oxide. In the former case we know at once the quantity of 
oxygen used up, in the other we weigh the balance of the oxide 
and thus ascertain the quantity of oxide reduced, and therefore of 
oxygen given up to the burning wood. In either case we are en- 
abled to calculate the quantity of carbon and hydrogen burnt. 

The physical methods give results of very little practical value, 


30 TECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD. 


while the chemical tests are entirely misleading (the more so, the 
larger the quantity of hydrogen contained in the wood is). Inac- 
tual practice the relative value of the different woods depends to a 
very great extent on the purpose for which the firewood is required, 
and on how it is be used. Thus for warming purposes generally 
we want a wood that does not burn too fast, but gives a steady 
prolonged heat: but so much here depends on the draught that the 
value of a given wood will be different according as it is to be 
burnt in the open (as in a camp fire) or in a fireplace, or ina 
stove. The difference is still greater for cooking purposes ; we 
have every variety of chula, with chimneys and without chim- 
neys, and dishes, some of which require a slow fire, others a quick 
fire, and so on. The baker and brickmaker require wood that 
gives out all its heat in as short a time as possible, so that for the 
short time it lasts, the heat may be intense. For well-made lime- 
kilns also quick-burning wood is necessary; for the very primitive 
ones used by most of our Indian lime-burners the wood must 
not reach full combustion too soon, nor must it burn too quickly, 
although it must give out an intense heat. 


Section X.—DeErscts anD UNSOUNDNESS. 


The difference between a defect and unsoundness is that the form- 
er is purely a discontinuity of tissue, or abnormal development of 
the fibres, which may interfere with the cutting up of the wood, or 
at least unfit it for certain purposes, whereas the latter is always 
some form or stage of decay. Nevertheless, as some defects are 
often accompanied by decay, it is best to treat both under one and 
the same head. It is not intended here to treat of the diseases of 
trees, the discussion of which belongs to the province of botany, but 
only to refer to them so far as they affect the technical value of wood. 

ArticLeE 1. DeEFects. 

The principal defects are—(1) shakes, (2) knottiness and exag- 

gerated waviness of the fibre, (3) twisted fibre, (4) rindgalls, (5) 


covered sections of pruned branches, (6) enclosed dead branches, ° 
and (7) interior bark. 
1. Shakes. 

Shakes are separations of the wood fibres extending along the 
entire or partial length of the trunk of a tree. According to their 
position and the direction in which they run on a transverse section 
they are either (A) Heart-shakes, or (B) Radial-shakes, or (C) 
Cup-shakes. 

A. Heart-shakes.—A heart-shake is a crack, which, beginning at 
the centre of the trunk, extends itself outwards both ways towards 


DEFECTS AND UNSOUNDNESAS. 3k 


the circumference. Sometimes two or more such cracks occur, to 


Heart-Shake, 


which the special name of compound heart-shake or star-shake may 
be given as distinguished from the simple heart-shake. The origin 
of the heart-shake is always the drying up and consequent shrink- 
ing of the tissue at the centre at the stem: As the surrounding 
tissues do not contract at the same time, the central mass splits 
along one or more lines of least resistance, that is to say, along 
medullary rays or radially. As with advancing age the shrinking 
continues, the cracks extend outwards as well as grow wider. The 
drying up and shrinking of the inner tissues may be due to old 
age, or to weak growth induced by an unfavourable soil or situation, 
or by forest fires. Hence heart-shakes always begin and are 
worst at the foot of the affected trees. Sometimes, if owing to 
one or more of these causes there is a predisposition to this de- 
fect, a heart-shake may be produced ina previously apparently 
cound tree by the shock of the fall when the tree is felled, or even 
by the mere lurch given by the tree as it begins to fall. Strong 
winds must obviously aggravate heart-shakes. As heart-shaken 
logs dry, the cracks continue to extend themselves. To minimise 
this danger, the logs must not be barked, and must be allowed to 
season as slowly as possible. A simple device that is nearly always 
successful in arresting the extension of narrow cracks is to drive a 
thin wooden wedge into the end of the log just in front of, and 
across the path of, each such crack. Owing to the position and 
origin of a heart-shake the wood on the sides of the cracks will 
generally be found to be more or less decayed, unless the shake 


32 THCHNIOAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD. 


be a very recent one. Logs affected with only a simple shake 
usually lose nothing of their valne as sawyer’s timber, but a bad 
star-shake renders the wood fit only for fuel. Nevertheless very 
fine compound shakes are no great disadvantage in the case of 
large beams. 

B. Radial-shakes.—Radial-shakes, contrary to heart-shakes, al- 
ways begin at the circumference of the standing tree and extend 
inwards. They are due to the outer concentric zones of growth 


Radial Shake, 7 
a, An oid one closed. 6, A new one still open. 
cv. A still more recent one. 


contracting so as to be no longer able to completely encircle the 
inside solid cylinder of wood. Thus a crack or cracks occur. 
The contraction may be due to sudden excessive cold, or to a very 
hot sun after a chilly night, or to hot blasts of wind, or to forest fires; 
the more sudden the change of temperature the more effective it is, 
as the difference of temperature between the outer and inner zones 
is then greater. A radial-shake will always occur on the most ex- 
posed side of the trunk. When the difference of temperature 
which caused the shake has disappeared, the crack closes up, and, in 
the absence of further accidents for a year or two, may be grown 
over and completely concealed by the new concentric zones of 
wood. But, on the other hand, the crack may re-open year after 
year, in which case a continuous ridge formed by the thicker 
growth of wood along the lips of the long wound (where of 
course there is less pressure than elsewhere) will indicate the 


DEFECTS AND UNSOUNDNESE. 33 


course of the shake. In extreme cases the rupture in the formation 
of the shake may be so violent as to extend to the centre of the 
trunk. Strong-winds may also cause the shake to extend thus. 
From what precedes we are able to understand why radial-shakes 
affect trees of large rather than small girth, solitary trees rather 
than those standing in the midst of a leaf-canopy, portions of a tree 
where the wood is not of uniform structure (the foot, vicinity of a 
large knot, &c.) rather than other parts ; also why a wet soil and 
the possession of easily fissile wood and thick medullary plates 
favour the occurrence of such shakes. The utility of a log affected 
with radial-shakes will depend on the number and continuity of 
the shakes, on whether most of them have healed over, and on 
whether decay has made any progress along the sides of the cracks., 
In some cases the log may be completely ruined for timber pur- 
poses, in others beams and even smaller scantlings may be sawn 
out of them. 

C. Cup-shakes.—In a cup-shake the crack follows the ling be- 
tween two adjacent concentric zones of growth, and it may do so 


Cup-Shake. 
a. Complete. 0b. Partial. ¢. Partial, accompanied 
with rot.  d. Combined with a radial-shake. 


for any distance, from a few inches to the entire length of the 

circumference. The cause of separation may be (a) excessive 

expansion by frost of one or more of the outer zones, so that they 

can no longer fit tight over the enclosed solid cylinder of wood, or 

(6) violent swaying or bending of the tree, so that the limit up to 
F 


34 TECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD. 


which the zones can play upon one another is passed, or (c) heavy 
concussion when the tree itself is felled or another large tree falls 
up against it, or (d) shrinking from loss of moisture of the en- 
closed cylinder of wood. Such being the case, it is evident that 
trees in which the vessels are mostly grouped together along the 
inside edge of each concentric ring, are most liable to cup-shakes. 
Since a great many of our species have not even any distinct 
rings of growth, cup-shakes are not much to be feared in India. 
As we might expect, cup-shakes affect more frequently large than 
small trees (since the former can bend less), and the lower than 
the upper part of the stem (since it is at the lower part that most 
bending takes place and the wood is least uniform in structure). 
The wood in the cracks of cup-shakes is not always decayed, since 
it is never exposed to the air. The extent to which cup-shakes 
render timber unfit for use depends on the number and length 
of the shakes. Badly shaken wood falls to pieces when sawn 
up. Hvena single shake, if it extends all round the circumference, 
reduces the thickness of the useful timber by the thickness of the 
trunk outside the shake. 

“Not unfrequently, in very severe climates, the trunk of a tree is 
abundantly affected both by radial and cup-shakes, in which case 
the wood is fit only for burning (see Fig. 4). 


Fig, 4. 


Eaaggerated case of combined radial and cup-shahes, 
with incipient decomposition, (After Gayer). 


DEFECTS AND UNSOUNDNESS, 35 


2. Knottiness and ewaggerated waviness of fibre. 


A knot is produced by an irregular course of the fibres round 
an independent centre of growth, such as branches or a dormant 
bud. Owing to the greater pressure occurring at these places, 
the fibres are also packed more closely together, and compose a 
denser and harder tissue than that surrounding the knot. The 
simplest knot is that formed by a single branch that has attained 
normal development. In a broad-leaved tree such a knot, as long 
as there is no decay present, detracts from the value of the wood 
only when thin planks of good quality are required. It is, how- 
ever, different with conifers, since the wood of the branches is so 
entirely dissimilar from that of the stem, that if a branch has not 
fallen off while it was still only a twig, it runs radially through 
the tissues of the stem merely like a plug, which ultimately shrinks 
from loss of moisture until it is easily detachable, even falling of 
itself out of boards and planks. Such knots are known as loose 
knots. A burr, so much sought after by the turner and cabinet- 
maker, is a complex knot formed at points where dormant buds 
show abnormal vigour without being able to develop into branches. 
In species extremely rich in such buds, as in Celtis spp. and ma- 
ples, the burrs may attain the size of a man’s head. Epicorms pro- 
duce knotty tissue along the entire length of the stem. If they 
are numerous without ever getting beyond the size of small twigs, 
an extremely handsome mottling may be thereby produced. The 
presence of numerous but weakly-formed latent buds gives rise to 
a wavy course of the fibres, making the wood well adapted for 
ornamental purposes. This defect, when exaggerated, always 
diminishes transverse strength very considerably, and usually 
renders the wood unsuitable for purposes in which heavy strains 
have to be withstood. 


3. Twisted fibre. 


In this defect the course of the grain of the wood follows a 
spiral round the stem, making with the vertical an angle which 
may sometimes exceed 40°. In most cases this angle increases 
with the diameter of the stem, the spiral growth being not at all 
apparent in young saplings. This defect is due to the fibres in 
each new layer of wood being longer than those in the preceding 
layer. The cause of this abnormal growth is not yet exactly 
known. What we know regarding it is that it is hereditary, that 
certain species (Boswellia serrata, Hardwickia binata, &c.), are more 
liable to it than others, that it may be produced by the wind acting 


36 TECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD. 


constantly on an unsymmetrical crown, that itis often peculiar to 
certain localities, every tree therein being affected (e.g., the Pinus 
longifolia forest at Ranikhet just below the road to Almora), and 
that stunted trees and those growing out in the open are much 
oftener twisted than tall trees or those standing in the midst of a 
leaf-canopy. Teak seldom if ever suffers from this defect. Twist- 
ed fibre renders wood useless for a great many purposes : it reduces 
the strength of sawn timber in proportion to the smallness of the 
scantling, it renders the wood liable to warp and split very badly, 
and it prevents any kind of effective planing. Wood with twisted 
fibre has, however, greater transverse strength than straight- 
grained wood if used as large beams. 


4. Rindgalls. 


These are local wounds that have healed up and been covered 
over with new layers of wood. The wounds are such as may be 


Fig. 5. 


2S SSS 


Rindgail, 


eaused by a falling tree, a passing cart, an animal rubbing its 
horns, &c., or by the bark being killed by fire or hot blasts of wind. 
There is always a break of continuity in the first few rings formed 
after the accident, and, however quickly the wound may heal over, 
there is never any uuion between the new covering rings of wood 
and the surface exposed by the wound, and some amount of decay 
is always present. -The portion affected by a rindgall must be cut 
out of all planks and small sawn stuff, also from cask staves; and 
if decay has made any appreciable progress, which is nearly always 
the case, the entire affected portion must be removed, whatever 
use the log may be put to. 


DEFEUTS AND UNSOUNDNESS, 37 


5. Covered sections of pruned branches. 


However carefully a branch may be pruned off, and even if the 
surface of section is painted over with some antiseptic substance, 
there is never any real union between that surface and the new 
wood that forms over it. If the branch is at all large, saprophytic 
fungi never fail to enter the section and engender rot (see Fig. 6.) 


Section showing result of the most careful 
pruning. (After Boppe), — 


In any case no portion of the section can be left in any kind of 
small stuff into which the wood may be converted. 


6. Occluded broken branch. 


Such branches can of course never form any tnion with the en- 
closing rings of wood. The end of such a branch, having for a 
longer or shorter time after death been exposed to the air and 
atmospheric moisture, is invariably more ot less decayed before 
occlusion takes place. Hence the tissues of the branch itself and 
those surrounding it are always in a more or less advanced stage 


38 TECHNIOAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD. 


of decomposition, complete hollows, that are bound to grow larger 
year after year, often being the result (see Fig. 7). 


Fig. 7. 


Occluded dead branch. Notice hollow 
pocket formed. (After Hartig ). 


Whatever use is made of a log containing this defect, the enclos- 
ed dead branch and all the surrounding decayed tissues must be 
cut out. 


7. Interior bark. 


In a few exceptional species having an abnormal mode of growth, 
such as Daldergia paniculata, Bauhinia Vahlii and Millettia auri- 
culata, either layers of bark are found throughout the thickness of 
-the stem alternating with layers of wood, or the stem is composed 
of a mass of bark-tissue traversed by strands of wood. This defect 
is obviously incurable, and the stem is totally unsuitable for use as 
timber, and even yields a very inferior fuel. In the case of species 
possessing normal growth, two distinct stems produced on one 
and the same stool, or the two branches of a fork, may amalgamate 
and become grafted together laterally for a certain distance. When 
this happens, the old bark existing previous to the amalgamation 
remains enclosed in the middle by the newly forming woody layers 
common to the now amalgamated stems. There is also another 
instance of interior bark. In trees that form exaggerated flutes, 
two such flutes may unite laterally and thus shut in the bark 
between them. Interior bark in these two last cases has no fur- 
ther drawback than to give the unfelled tree a fictitious value in 


DEFECTS AND UNSOUNDNESS. 39 


respect of great thickness, as it never leads to rottenness. There 
is no way of recognising it until the tree has been felled and cut 
up, and it must, of course, be removed before the wood can be 
employed. 


ARTICLE 2.—UNsounpDyEss. 


In a previous Section, under the head of durability, the decay 
which overtakes felled and, therefore, dead wood through the at- 
tacks of saprophytic fungi was considered. In the present case 
the unsoundness occurs in the living tree itself, and, besides being 
due to the decomposition consequent on the oxidation common to 
all dead organic matter, is occasioned by parasitic as well as by 
saprophytic fungi. The ravages of the latter are only local, being 
__ confined to the dead tissues, while those of the former may extend 

through the entire tree. The mycelium of such fungi sends out 
fine filaments in all directions, which dissolve and absorb every- 
thing in the shape of food that comes in their way, so that the walls 
of the tracheides, vessels and cells become attenuated, and from 
having been closely cemented together and firm and tough and 
elastic, lose all cohesion and become soft, moist and brittle—in 


Broken dead branch. 
: (After Hartig). ~ 


40 TECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD. 


ather words, the wood becomes “rotten.” The rotten elements 
may fall away in dust and produce a hollow. For our purpose we 
may consider separately concealed rot and external rot. 

The internal rot caused by parasitic fungi, popularly termed 
‘wet rot,” “red rot,” “white rot,” &c., may find entrance into 
the tree either by the roots or through a dead branch, or through a 
wound in the stem. Rot that enters through a dead or broken 
branch of some size (see Fig. 8) is the most fatal of all to the 
value of the tree, as it always extends down the entire stem. 
Both parasitic and saprophytic fungi attack the broken jagged 
end, which moreover absorbs large quantities of atmospheric mois- 
ture. The fermenting action of the fungi converts the wood into 
a mixture of acid substances, which are carried down into the 
portions below by the rain soaking into the branch, and which 
are poisonous to the living parts of the tree. Thus the rot spreads 
rapidly downwards to the base of the tree. Often a callus grows 
over the edge of the broken branch, and forms a constantly 
deepening cup to catch and retain the rain water (see Fig. 
9). Rot that enters by way of the roots is the most dangerous 


Fig. 9. 


Hollow formed by callus-formation over edge of a dead 
branch, and progressive rot. (After Boppe), 


DEFECTS aND UNS)UNDSESS. 41 


of all so far as the number of affected tres: is concerned, =‘nce 
from a single attacked tree as focus it spreads rapidly throuzh the 
soil from iree to tree in an ever-widening circle, and burrowing 
animals of all kinds carry away the infection (spore:) to long dis- 
tance: in their fur. Som=time<s. especially when the rot has spread 
from a dead or broken bough above. it extends outwards at the base 
of the tree as far as the bark itself. where it breaks out in the form 
of a sore (gangrene), from which a dark foul liquid, containing the 
acids above alluded to, o5zes out. Internal rot due to saprophytes 
alone is alwavs local. Its origin is always an occluded wound that 
has remained open long enough for the fungus to attack the dry, 
and therefore dead, wood at the surface. After occlusion, owing to 
the air being shut out. the rot =preac: only slowly. Roi of this 
kind nearly always results in the formation ©: a concealed hollow 
or pocket (see Fia. 1 above). 

External rot usually takes the form of canker. Canker i: the 


Canker, ( After Hartig). 


ccnsequence of imperfect healing of small wounds. the exposed 
cortex and cambium being attacked by some parasitic or semi- 
parasitic fungus. as ther try to form over the wound. The local 
disturbanes: in growth kept up by the mycelium nearly always 
give rise to malformations and escrescences. from which resinous 
and other fiuids often flow. Hence. by analogy, the name by 
which thes> sores are known. There is of course no limit to 
e@ 


42 TECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD. 


the possible spread of the rot, which may, in extreme cases, destroy 
the entire bole, as shown in Fig. 11. 


Fig. 11. 


Result of injury along the whole of one side of the 
trunk and consequent rot (After Buppe). 


Having explained in what forms unsoundness may occur, it is 
now the place here to explain how to detect internal rot, firstly, in 
the standing and, secondly, in the fallen tree. 

In the case of a standing tree the crown and upper part of the 
bole should be searched for decayed stumps of broken-off branches 
or holes produced by their complete decay. If such be found 
there is a certainty that the stem of the tree is unsound for at least 
a portion of its length. To assure one’s self further, the trunk 
should be examined at the base for pangrene, and be sounded with 
the back of an axe. A hollow sound will be a certain indication 
of hollowness, a dead sound of a very advanced stage of rot. A 
clear ringing sound does not necessarily mean that the trunk is 
quite sound, for if there is a sufficiently thick shell of sound wood 
outside, the blow of the axe will return a clear ring. If, in addi- 
tion to giving out a clear ringing sound, the bole is straight, 
symmetrical and without any prominences or excrescences, the 
presumption is that the tree is sound. In unfavourable soils and 
localities the trees have a tendency to become hollow and unsound 
early, and some species exhibit this tendency more than others. 
Hence in addition to the indications furnished by the examination 
of each individual tree, the experience derived from previous fel- 
_ lings should be utilised. If a tree is soon to be felled, it may be 


DEFECTS AND UNSOUNDNESS. 43 


safely put to the really only certain test of cutting into it at the 
base or boring into it with a large auger. The aspect, colour and 
odour of the chips removed by the auger will show whether un- 
soundness is present, and if so, at what distance from the circum- 
ference. The auger holes should of course be made along more 
than a single radius. 

The examination of a felled tree is much easier and surer. The 
log or logs taken out should be examined at both ends. Any 
portion of the section which is softer and more yielding than the 
rest should then be carefully looked at to test its colour, structure, 
hardness, moisture and odour. If this examination of the two ends 
is satisfactory, and still further proof of soundness is required, a 
gouge or auger should be used to sound all abnormal prominences 
or other suspicious-looking spots. Often the odour of the sawdust 
obtained in logging serves as an excellent indication of soundness 
or unsoundness, : 

Logs that have a rotten core along their whole length are quite 
unsuited for use under trying conditions ; but the sound-looking 
portions may be used for furniture and other articles kept in dry 
rooms. Where the rot is only local, if the affected portions are 
completely cut out, the rest of the log may be used for most 
purposes. 


44 THE PRINCIPAL USES OF WOOD. 


CHAPTER II.—THE PRINCIPAL USES OF WOOD. 


With the exception of iron, there is scarcely any raw product 
that serves so many purposes, some of them the most common 
ones of daily life, as wood. All these various purposes may, how- 
ever, be grouped together into only two comprehensive categories 
according as the wood is required for its own sake or only for 
certain products obtained from its decomposition. We have thus 
the two great classes of (1) TIMBER and (2) FIREWOOD. 


Section I.—Timser. 


Since, by the preceding definition, timber includes every piece 
of wood that is manufactured into some article or other without 
its specific nature being changed, timber may be of any size, and 
the popular notion that the idea of timber necessarily implies 
certain considerable dimensions is therefore wrong. 

The timber obtained directly from the tree by merely topping 
it and lopping off the branches is termed round timber, or is said 
to be in the round or in the log. If the trunk is roughly squared, 
either with the axe (the most frequent) or with the saw, it is called 
balk or square timber or simply a balk. A balk that is not quite 
square is said to be waney, the wanes being the vatural round sur- 
faces of the original trunk, and the panes the flat hewn or sawn 
surfaces. Rough timber consists of the trunk or main branches 
hewn to octagonal section. Sided timber is the trunk split down 
and roughly formed to a polygonal section. In India, where 
round posts consisting entirely of heartwood is so often used 
(e.g., sal tors), logs of small girth are dressed round. Compass 
TIMBER is squared timber that is curved in one plane. 

For such a country as India, with its diverse climates, species, 
peoples, and modes of life, it is impossible to devise as yet, in 
English, a classification of the market forms of timber that can 
be universally adopted. The following is, however, given to show 
on what lines such a classification ought to be based, and to make 
ideas more precise in the mind of the student,:— 


Round Timber. 


Loas, pieces at least 6 feet long and having a minimum girth 
ot 3 feet at buit. 


TIMBER USED IN SUPERSTRUCTURBS. 45 


Enps, pieces of the same girth as logs, but shorter than 6 feet. 

Spars, pieces at least 12 feet long and between 24 and 36 inches 
in girth at butt. - 

Potss, pieces at least 12 feet long, and not more than 24 inches 
girth at butt.. 

Posts, pieces of the same girth as poles, but only from 8 to 12 
feet long. 

Bitets, pieces of the same girth as posts, but shorter than 8 
feet. 


Sawn timber with at least two parallel faces. 


Beams, { WHOLE TIMBER, oe 9%x9” to 18" x 18” 
( Har riper, er a 2 a a 
SoaNnrTLines, xe we 57x”, "x 9” 
PLANKS, «.. ae - 11” to 18” x 3” to 6” 
Deas, (conifers) or BOARDS (broad- 
leaved species), gan 8" 5g 2? Oe I? 5g AO 
Batrens, .. oe sie A ye I SOB Be 
Larus, ses Ae we 27+, 4" K 4” ,, 1” 


ARticLe 1. Trmper vsED In SUPERSTRUOTURES. 


The superstructures referred to here are those of buildings, of 
bridges and piers (piles excluded), and other similar constructions. 


1. Superstructures of buildings. 


Speaking in a general manner we have six classes of build- 
ings according as the walls are made (a), entirely of logs (block- 
houses or log-huts), or (6), of planks or boards fixed on a frame- 
work of scantlings, or (¢), of laths or saplings plastered over 
with mud (wattle and daué huts), or (d), of mud or sun-dried 
bricks (kucha walls) or (e), of stone or burnt brick joined with mud 
mortar (kucha masonry), or (f), stone or sun-dried bricks joined 
with lime mortar. 

Daub and wattle constructions are from their nature not intend- 
ed to last for more than a few years. White-ants rapidly destroy 
all but a few woods, and fungi find every condition favourable for 
their ravages.. In such structures the whole weight of the roof is 
carried on posts let into the ground or at least into mortar. 
Hence the posts should be of durable wood and the roof as light- 
timbered as possible consistent with strength and stability. Hence 
the roof will consist principally of split’ or unsplit bamboos, where 
bamboos are available. 


46 THE PRINCIPAL USES OF WOOD. 


For all other descriptions of buildings, the timber should be 
durable, especially pieces placed in contact with earth or mortar 
or used in the roof, which last should at the same time be light 
and possess great transverse strength. Durability. is particularly 
required in timber used for wall-plates and in terrace roofs, as 
fungi everywhere, and white-ants in most places in the plains, 
attack it on the concealed side which is in contact with the masonry. 
Except in roofs covered with cylindrical tiles or thatch, the timber 
must be all sawn and squared pieces without any sapwood. Well- 
seasoned teak poles, floated or washed by the rain during a whole 
monsoon, last for at least 30 years under well-laid tiles or thatch. 
The wood used in boarded ceilings and floors and in every portion 
ofadoor or window should not be liable to warp, and should expand 
and contract as little as possible with the varying humidity of the 
air. The wood of the threshold should be hard and tough, as also 
that of floors that are not to be matted or carpetted. If beauty 
and ornament are desiderata, the grain and colour of all the visible 
pieces of timber should be handsome, especially in doors and 
windows, and wherever there is any moulding. Wainscoting, by 
reason of the great abundance of insect life, is out of place in India. 


2. Superstructure of bridges and piers and of other similar 
erections. 


Here, more so than ‘in house building, strength and durability 
of the highest order are essential, since the structure is not only 
exposed to the full and continuous influence of the weather, but is 
also subject to the heavy shocks and vibrations caused by traffic, 
&c. And in addition the wood must be elastic. Hardness and 
toughness are also requisite in pieces subject to the direct wear 
and tear of traffic. 


ARTICLE 2, TIMBER USED ON OR IN THE GROUND. 


The principal uses for such timber are for piles, for strengthening 
roadways and stream banks, for railway sleepers, for timber slides 
and sledge roads, for palisading and fencing, and for mine props. 


1. Piles. 


For the foundations of bridges and other heavy structures, when 
a firm bottom cannot be easily reached, long logs are driven inte 
the soft earth in order to support the masonry. As in most cases 
the logs are placed in the most favourable conditions for the growth 
of fungi (sufficient warmth, moisture and access of air), only ex- 
tremely durable wood should generally be used; and as the piles are 
driven in with heavy blows, the wood should also be as tough and 


TIMBER USED IN CONTAOT WITH BOIL. 47 


difficult to split as possible. For this reason, in order to preserve 
to the full the strength of the log, it should be used quite round. 
A round section also makes the work of driving the piles easier. 
If deep water constantly stands over the piles, less durable woods 
especially such as last well under water, and at the same possess 
the other requisite qualities, may be used. Trees which grow up 
with a long straight, clean bole furnish the best piles. Where sal 
grows it is the best wood for the purpose. Terminalia belerica 
has been used under the Mortakka bridge where the Rajputana- 
Malwa Railway crosses the Narbada. 


2. For strengthening roadways and stream banks. 


In numerous towns in England and America and also in Paris, 
some of the streets have been paved with short blocks of wood 
laid, with the fibres standing vertically, on concrete, such roadways 
deadening the noise of traffic and being less trying for horses than 
those formed of asphalte or stone pavement, and more durable, 
less dusty and more easily repaired than a macadamised surface. 
Woods used for this purpose must be hard and tough, besides 
being as durable as possible. 

On unmetalled roads many portions, from excess of moisture, re- 
main soft during the whole year, or at least for many months after 
the rains. Such portions are made easy for traffic by laying wood 
across the roadway. Wood so used is subject to the unchecked 
action of every influence of decay, and hence unless they can be 
renewed every year, only durable pieces should be used to form the 
foundation of the way, only the small branch wood laid on the 
surface requiring to be put on afresh every year or even oftener 
according to the volume and constancy of the traffic. 

Lastly, stream banks have often to be protected against erosion 
by forcing the current away by means of spurs formed of wooden 
crates filled with stones. The crates being always roughly made, 
are constructed of only round wood, which should, however, be 
very durable and, if possible, consist exclusively of heartwood. Sal, 
khair, Hardwickia binata, and other similarly hard and durable 
woods are the best for the purpose. 


8. Railway sleepers. 


The total mileage of railways in India in February 1890 was, 
in round numbers, 14,200 miles, requiring, with double lines, 
sidings, &c., about 32,000,000 sleepers for original construction, and 
about 3,000,000 annually for maintenance, supposing the way to 
have been laid only with wood. To meet so enormous a demand has 


48 THE PRINCIPAL USES OF WOOD. 


always, from the first, been a matter of great, and, it may also be 
said, insuperable difficulty. The wood required for sleepers must be 
perfectly free from all defects and unsoundness, as durable as pos- 
sible, and possess great transverse strength. Besides this, it must 
be hard enough to hold bolts well, and to resist crushing of the 
fibres, especially when flat-footed rails are used. Such rails are 
fixed and held in place by dog spikes, which, if the wood is at 
all soft, are liable to crush the fibres laterally, and thus get loose in 
their holes through the constant jarring and jolting to which 
the track is subjected by the moving trains. This danger is 
most to be feared on curves, on which only very hard woods 
should be used. Die-square sleepers containing no sapwood at 
all are of course the best, but about an inch of sapwood on the 
two edges of the upper face are often not objected to, and half- 
round sleepers, obtained by sawing a log in two, are often used 
without any of the sapwood being removed. But in this last case 
both the diameter and thickness of the sleepers are fixed in ex- 
cess of the scantlings of a die-square sleeper, and the seats for the 
rails are adzed flat. If the log to be sawn in two is not straight, 
or one end is much thicker than the other, this defect must be 
remedied by adzing or flitching off with a saw the irregular sides 
or excess width, as the case may he. 

The principal woods used for sleepers in India are teak, sal 
and deodar. Hardwickia binata is easily the most durable of all, 
but it is so extremely hard that special machines are required to 
bore the holes for the spikes, and even then the holes are bored 
with much labour. 

Tt was the great demand for sleepers (when the construction 
of railways was first taken up with vigour soon after the mutiny) 
and the consequent havoc carried into our forests by the contrac- 
tors that first directed the attention of Government to the conserva- 
tion of our forests. The supply was found to be totally insufficient, 
and the question of substituting metal for wood was at once taken. 
The Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway laid its rails on cast-iron pots 
connected with an iron tie-rod. The pot sleepers were soon found 
to be inferior to wooden ones as they produced a rough way, and 
the constant jarring of the passing trains rendered the metal very 
crystalline and brittle. Moreover, owing to the way in which the 
pots were connected, if a single one broke, under a moving train, 
the result was usually the dislocation of a long length of line. 
Hitherto the most successful metal sleeper used in India is per- 
haps the trough-shaped one, with which all the new sections of the 
North-Western Railway have been laid. It ismade of arolled iron 


TIMBER USED IN CONTACT WITH SOIL. 49 


(better mild steel) plate, which is forced under pressure into the 
form of a shallow trough of the same length and width as a half- 
round wooden sleeper. At the seat of each rail the metal is cut 
obliquely away from the rail for a distance of a few inches, and 
the cut ends are raised so as to form between them a chair between 
which the foot of the rail fits. 

As far as present information goes, the following brief compar- 
ison, point by point, between wooden sleepers and metal ones of 
the trough pattern seems to be justified :— 

1. Appropriate form.—No practical difference. 

2. Resistance to fracture-—W ood superior to metal. 

3. Resistance to lateral, longitudinal and vertical displacement.— 
Trough sleepers superior, as they can be fixed deep in the ballast, 
whereas to preserve wooden sleepers, these have to be kept ex- 
posed to the air as much as possible. 

4. Durability—Life of trough sleeper estimated variously at 
from 30 to 50 years. Steel rusts more rapidly than iron, which is 
however liable to be forved out of shape. Sleepers of sound, well- 
seasoned teak probably last for over 20 years. Merely adzed 
sleepers cut from undersized logs, so that they contained the pith, 
have been known to last 14 years, or about the same as the best sal. 
Deodar requires renewing after about 7 years. Hardwickia binata 
will probably last as long as metal. Creosoted fir and pine from 
the Baltic rots in 2 or 3 years, sometimes even in the stacks be- 
fore the sleepers can be placed in the line. Another source of loss 
before use is due to the formation of large cracks in wood that was 
previously quite sound. All wooden sleepers begin by being at- 
tacked by dry rot on the lower concealed surface, and the progress 
of the rot may be very advanced even when the visible surfaces 
are quite sound. White ants sometimes attack wooden sleepers in 
spite of the constant passing of trains. 

5. Cost of construction of permanent way.—Cheapness of the 
one or the other kind of track depends on the local conditions and 
the state of the iron market. 

6. Maintenance of gauge.—Metal superior. 

7. Cost of maintenance and renewal of sleepers.—The advocates 
of the metal track contend that once it has set, it requires much 
less labour to maintain than a track with wood ; and they also 
adduce the fact, which is undeniable, that old discarded metal 
sleepers fetch a much higher price than similar wooden sleepers. 
But at the International Railway Congress held at Brussels in 
September 1887, it was decided that sufficient data to come to any 
conclusion do not yet exist with regard to lines with large and 

H 


50 THR PRINCIPAL USES OF WOOD, 


rapid traffic ; but the greater cheapness of metal tracks carrying 
medium traffic and slow trains has been proved. 

8. Durability of the rails—Wooden track superior. Experi- 
ence in France tends to show that rails laid on wood last three 
times as long as those laid on metal. 

9. Effect on the road-bed.—W ooden sleepers injure it less. 

10. Effect on rolling stock.—Metal road perhaps less injurious. 
On the German railways in 1883 the number of tire breakages 
per 100 miles was 7:25 for a wood-laid way and 5:96 for a metal- 
laid one. 

4. Palisading and fencing. 


In this place we may leave out of account all fences of a merely 
temporary character, such as those yearly put round fields and 
enclosures in villages. The use of wood for palisades and fences 
is necessarily limited in India by the nature of the climate and the 
abundance of destructive insects, especially white ants ; moreover, 
iron wire fencing is very much cheaper and practically imperish- 
able. For standards for wire fences both round and squared 
pieces are used ; for palisades, battens and planks are required of 
woods that stand exposure well. 


5. Pit-wood. 


This is required to support the roofs and often the sides of 
the galleries and shafts. Wood so used remains in contact with 
constantly moist soil in a constantly moist, warm and still atmos- 
phere, and must, therefore, besides being strong enough to resist 
all strains, be as durable as possible. The greater portion of the 
wood used in mines consists of short pieces either round or squared. 
At Warora Terminalia tomentosa and Diospyros Melanozylon are 
the only woods that have been used up to the present ; but several 
other kinds are now under trial. 


ARTICLE 3. TIMBER USED IN CONTACT WITH WATER. 


Under this head are comprised piles used in rivers and in the 
sea, sluice gates and other permanent canal works, water-wheels, 
wet slides, fascines for protecting river banks, &. Wood in con- 
stant contact with water, especially if it is alternately exposed and 
covered, or is in shallow water full of air, is placed in the worst 
possible conditions for its preservation. On this account none 
but the most durable kinds should be so employed. For fascines 
for protective works rapid-grown coppice shoots are the best. 


ArTIoLE 4, TIMBER USED IN OR WITH MACHINERY. 


The most common Indian instances of wood used in machinery 


MACHINERY——BOAT AND SHIP BUILDING. 51 


are the entire apparatus of a Persian wheel, sugarcane and oil mills, 
pulleys, windlasses, tilt hammers and water-wheels. In cog-wheels 
used in machinery set up at a distance from a workshop where 
repairs can be effected, the cogs are best made of some hard, 
tough wood, since the only part of such wheels that is constantly 
breaking consists of the teeth, and broken wooden cogs can be 
at once replaced from a lot kept in stock for the purpose. All 
parts subject to friction should be made of the hardest and toughest 
woods obtainable. For the crushers of sugar and oil mills the 
wood should also be as heavy as possible, like Hardwickia binata, 
khair, iron wood, babul, Schleichera trijuga, Mesua ferrea. The best 
woods for axle trees are such as are hard and tough, and have 
anastomosed fibres, but without knots, such as babul, sissu, &c. 

In many cases wood is used in fixing machinery. In order 
to stand the constant jar and heavy strains while the machinery is 
working, the wood should be very hard and strong. 


ARTICLE 5. TIMBER USED IN BOAT AND SHIP BUILDING. 


More care has to be exercised in selecting wood for ship and 
boat building than for almost any other purpose, firstly, on 
account of the extremely unfavourable conditions in which the 
wood is used for its durability; secondly, on account of the general- 
ly peculiar shape of the different structures; thirdly, on account of 
the enormous strains sea-going boats have to withstand ; and _ 
lastly, on account of the serious risks attending a breakdown of 
any portion of a ship or boat. 

The main differences in shape between sea-going boats and 
those intended for traffic on rivers are—(1), that the former 
are shorter and narrower in proportion to their depth, (2), that: 
they have a keel, whereas river boats are flat-bottomed, and (3), 
that the former have curved sides exhibiting every degree of curva- 
ture, whereas the lines of the others are comparatively straight. 

Timber for boat and ship building, besides being as sound and 
durable as possible, must be quite free from faults, must be strong 
and elastic, and must be of the right weight, shape and dimensions. 

To give a ship stability the centre of gravity must be precisely 
at a certain height, and hence the importance of using heavier wood 
in building the sides than the deck, and the necessity of having the 
masts light, but at the same time as strong and elastic as possible. 

As regards shape the ribs or framework of a ship or sea-going 
boat must consist of naturally curved pieces (compass timber, 
crooks, bends), the curvature being measured by the proportion 
between the length of the chord and the height of the are. The 


52 THE PRINCIPAL USES OF WOOD. 


curvature may be uniform throughout, or most accentuated at 
‘about one-third the distance from the thicker end. The neces- 
sary curvature is sometimes given by steaming or boiling and 
then bending, or by hewing the piece to the proper shape; both 
these procedures, however, weaken the timber very considerably. 
The framework of well-made river and canal boats is formed of 
knees, which are pieces consisting of the stem and astrong branch 
making an angle of from 90° to 100° with the former. The 
branch portion, which is about half the length of the lower por- 
tion, supports the deck. Knees are often used in sea-going boats 
also for the same purpose. Indian river and canal boats, not 
being decked, require no knees. The framework of a ship has to 
bear all the enormous strains caused by the pitching and rolling of 
the vessel, and must hence consist only of the soundest, strongest, 
most elastic and most durable woods, weight being of course no 
disqualification. The sides of the boat and ship are formed of 
planks fixed transversely across the ribs by means of trenails, 
which are large rivets of some straight-grained, strong, durable 
wood. For curved surfaces the planks are steamed or boiled before 
they are used, in order to render them pliant. The deck requires 
a light wood with even grain, and one that does not shrink and 
contract too much with varying quantities of imbibed moisture. 
Teak is perhaps the best wood existing for decks. 

Mast pieces should be of some light but very strong and flexible 
wood, and should be perfectly straight. Slow-grown pine contain- 
ing only a small proportion of the soft autumn wood, and having 
the resin distributed in a uniform manner, is the best. Such 
pines come from high latitudes, and, the supply being limited, are 
extremely costly. The usual dimensions of mast pieces are— 
length from 60 to 80 feet, diameter at thin end from 17 to 22 
inches. The main-mast requires pieces nearly 100 feet long and 
18-19 inches thick at the top. 

In iron-cased ships the plates have to be backed with teak, 
which is the only wood that does not corrode the metal. 


ARrIcLE 6. TIMBER UsED ror JOINERY AND CABINET-MAKING, 


For furniture and house-decoration in any shape wood that 
works easily, does not warp or split, and holds well at the joints is 
required Where beauty is demanded, the colour and grain of the 
wood should be suitable, and the wood should be capable of taking 
a high polish. The mottled wood obtained from burrs and tree 
trunks rendered knotty by numerous dormant buds and small epi- 
corms, is always in great demand ; pieces exhibiting such marking 


CARRIAGE AND WAGON MAKING. 53 


are called curls. Dark veins (as in walnut, zebra wood, sissu, some 
specimens of teak, &.), a regular wavy fibre (as in many specimens 
of tun and sissu), or a satiny appearance due to conspicuously 
bright shining medullary plates (as in satin wood, tun, mahogany, 
padouk, maple, oak, &.), also increase enormously the value of wood 
for the purpose of the cabinet maker. To diminish cost many articles 
are only veneered with the handsome kinds of wood. Veneers are 
thin sheets of wood taken off with special saws and by a special 
process. For curved articles the grain of the wood must be ex- 
tremely even and coherent, the best kinds being teak, ebony, black- 
wood, sissu, walnut and deodar. 

Other. qualities required in cabinet-makers’ and joiners’ wood 
depend on the conditions in which any given piece is used. Thus 
the various parts of a chair and table should be very strong. The 
wood for portable furniture, such as chairs, should be light, 
while tall articles, especially those which have a narrow base, 
require heavy wood below. The sides of drawers should be able to 
resist friction. For the manufacture of bentwood furniture flexible 
young wood is necessary.* And so on. For all articles which 
stand away from walls and round which the air circulates freely, 
the question of durability is of entirely secondary importance. 


ARTICLE 7. Woob UsED IN CARRIAGE AND WaGON MAKING. 


Wood used for this purpose should be as light as possible con- 
sistent with the requisite strength, hardness and elasticity. The 
only portion which forms an exception to the rule is the frame- 
work of high carriages, which must be heavy in order to keep the 
centre of gravity low. 

The most important part of a carriage or wagon are the wheels. 
An ordinary wheel consists of a nave (or hub or hob) and of 
spokes and felloes. 

The nave must be able to resist great and violent shearing strains, 
and the wood must be so dense and hard. that these should be un- 
able to enlarge the mortises or holes in which the spokes are fixed 
and thus render the latter loose. It should contain no sapwood. 


* The process of manufacture is as follows :—The timber is sawn up into strips 
from 12 to 2 inches square, according to the work for which it is intended, and 
then turned in a lathe into smooth round rods. These rods are exposed in an 
air-tight case for fifteen minutes to the action of superheated steam. They are 
then so soft and pliable as to be easily bent by hand, and are in this condition 
fitted to iron patterns well secured. When the pieces are dry, they are detached 
from the pattern and retain permanently the shape given them. 


54 THE PRINCIPAL USES OF WOOD. 


The best woods for naves are babul, sissu, sal, black-wood, teak, 
various Albizzias, and satin-wood. 

The wood of spokes should be all heart-wood, very strong and 
hard, elastic yet rigid enough, not liable to warp or split, perfectly 
straight-grained, and without knots and any trace of unsoundness, 
It should be remembered that the whole weight of the carriage or 
wagon is borne successively by an individual spoke in each wheel, 
so that a single bad spoke spoils an otherwise perfect wheel. To 
prevent the tires from becoming. loose in hot, dry weather, the 
length of the spokes should not be liable to vary much with alter- 
nations of atmospheric humidity. The most suitable woods for 
spokes are sissu, sundri, teak, and babul. 

The felloes should be made of some wood that is able to resist 
crushing, is hard, elastic and strong, does not warp or split and 
is not liable to excessive expansion or contraction with varying 
quantities of imbibed water. Durability is also an essential 
quality, and hence no sapwood should be allowed to remain. To 
preserve all the strength and elasticity of the wood, the fibres 
should be cut across as little as possible, and hence the advisability 
of using naturally curved timber. When such pieces are not 
obtainable, then the felloes should be hewn out of split sections, as 
represented in Fig. 12, so that the concentric rings may all lie 


CARRIAGE AND WAGON MAKING, 55 


as much as possible in the same plane as the wheel. The best 
woods for felloes are teak, babul, sissu, sal, nim and oaks. In 
many parts of India, where the ground is flat and the soil sandy, 
no tires are put on the wheels, and in that case hard, tough 
woods, like babul and sissu, answer best. In some parts of Europe 
“bent rims” are used as felloes for the wheels of light carriages, 
and occasionally the entire circumference of a wheel is formed of 
a single bent piece. 

In teak-growing countries solid wheels for wagons are made, 
consisting of three pieces joined laterally, and held together by the 
tire and by a pair of iron disks, one on either face, strongly rivetted 
together. The axle passes through the middle of the centre piece. 
Such wheels are extremely strong and durable. 

In almost every part of India the axles of numerous carts are 
entirely of wood. To resist the enormous transverse strains due 
to the weight of the body and load and the heavy jolts on a rough 
country road, and constant severe friction, the wood should be very 
strong, hard, tough and elastic. The best axles are furnished by 
Anogeissus latifolia, sal, sundri, babul and Olea ferruginea. When 
the ends, on which the wheels revolve, are of iron, almost any strong 
hard wood will answer for the intermediate portion of the axle. 

The poles and shafts of carts and wagons drawn by oxen should 
be very strong and elastic, the best woods to use are Ougeinia dal- 
bergioides, Diospyros Melanoazylon and sal. The poles and shafts of 
carriages have to be light, and therefore thin and extremely strong 
and elastic. The best Indian wood for the purpose is sundri ; 
but Diospyros Melanoxylon, Anogeissus latifolia, various species of 
Grewia, and well-selected and seasoned bamboo are also found to 
be excellent and are used on a large scale. 

The framing of carts and wagons must be made of very strong 
wood that holds well at all joints without splitting or breaking off. 
The wood in the frame-work of carriages must also be strong, and 
for some kinds of carriages, such as phaetons, it should also be 
naturally curved. The rest of the body of every kind of vehicle 
may be made of any light wood that is strong enough for the 
part where it is used. For carriages every bit of it should be 
thoroughly seasoned and not liable to split or warp, or to shrink or 
expand in an excessive degree. Teak answers excellently all re- 
quirements. Those portions which are not painted must possess a 
handsome grain and colour. 

What has been said with regard to carts and wagons apply, 
with obvious modifications, to wheel-barrows, hand carts, &c. 

As regards railway carriages and wagons, the wheels, axles and 


56 THE PRINCIPAL USES OF WOOD... 


framing of the floor are of steel or iron. The sides and roofs are 
usually of wood of the very best quality—usually teak. 

Gun carriages are subject to much more severe strains than 
any other class of vehicles. Hence great care must be exercised 
in choosing wood for them. Those portions on which the guns 
rest must also be very hard and tough, so as to resist friction well. 

Sledges.must be as light as possible. Hence only the strongest 
woods should be used. The runners are subject to enormous 
friction ; they are therefore armed with removable soles, about 
# inch thick, of some extremely hard wood. In the Western Him- 
alayas Quercus dilatata furnishes the best soles. 

Articte 8. Coopers’ Woop. 

The cooper makes casks, barrels, tubs, pails and buckets for 
holding both liquids and dry goods. For holding “liquids the 
wood should not be so porous as to allow any appreciable quantity 
of the contents to filter through. Moreover, it should not com- 
municate any unpleasant or undesirable taste or odour to the 
contained liquid, nor impart any objectionable colour. Certain 
dry goods must also be similarly protected. Portable casks 
that are to contain liquids must be made of very strong wood, 
because of their great weight when full, and in order to with- 
stand the constant violent shocks to which every portion is exposed 
whenever there is a jolt or shake; and it must be remembered 
that the slightest crack or flaw will cause the liquid to run out. 

The large quantities of rum and other spirits distilled in India 
and the rapid growth of the brewing industry in every part of the 
country will soon require a large supply of staves for casks and 
barrels. The staves should always be split, but English brewers 
seem to be indifferent to whether those they use are sawn or split. 
For a hogshead are required 

20 staves 3’ 8” x 6” or 5” x 12” and 
10 head-pieces 2’ x 8” or 6” x 14”, 

The head-pieces are the staves that go to form the top and bot- 
tom of the cask. Before they can be put together the staves have 
to be properly shaped and shaven, those forming the sides of the 
cask being kept thickest and broadest in the middle. When thus 
prepared, these latter are 3° 1" x 5” (in the middle) x 13’. The 
head-pieces are reduced to a thickness of 14 inches. 

Owing to want of enterprise the doubtless numerous kinds of 
Indian woods suited for cooperage work have hitherto remained 
unutilized. We cannot therefore do better than adapt from Boppe’s 
Technologie Forestidre his excellent description of the manner in 
which cask staves are made in France. 


CARRIAGE AND WAGON MAKING, 57 


The staves are made principally in the forest, since wood is split 
most easily when it is fresh felled ; also because it is not every 
piece of timber that is adapted for the purpose, and in the forest 
itself the workmen can best choose only what is really suitable, 
and can often utilize the tops and butt ends which the sawyer 
rejects. 

Three tools are used—an axe with a broad flat head like the 
back of a wedge, the divider and the shave. The last two tools are 
clearly represented in Figs. 13 and 14 below: 


4 D Fig. 14, 


ih Fig. 13. 


—- + > 


a 


“--—- —- — -29". 


‘Divider 
Stave-maker’s tools. (After Boppe). 


The stave maker’s bench (Fig. 15) consists of the fork of a tree 
Fig. 15. 


7 ‘Shavenahar’a Benak with divider and mailet. 
(After Boppe). 


fixed on three stakes firmly driven into the ground. 


58 THR PRINCIPAL USES OF WOOD. 


The mode of working is briefly as follows :—Billets or rounds of 
the required length being sawn off the logs, they are split with the 
axe into quarters, and each quarter, if large enough, into sectors 
(Fig. 16). 

The divider with a wooden mallet now comes into requisition. 
The sapwood and pith portion of each sector is removed, and the 
sector is split tangentially into pieces of the width of the staves 
to be made. These pieces are fixed on the bench as represented in 
Fig. 15 and finally split up into staves. The divider being driven 
into the wood, the slit is extended by pressing on the handle 
and pushing the blade in further as the wood splits more and more. 
To facilitate this process it may be necessary to use the mallet now 
and then. The staves may be taken off by splitting the sections 
radially or along the lines of the medullary rays as at (a) in Fig. 
16 or along parallel lines as at (b) and (c). The faces of the staves 


(After Boppe). 


obtained by the former method are made parallel with the shave ; 
this method is hence a more wasteful one than the other. 

On the continent of Europe manual labour is sometimes replaced 
by special machinery, which turns out staves of much truer 
shape and size. But the action of such machines is partly a split- 
ting, partly a cutting one. 

In England the staves are cut with circular saws, and, after 
being shaved on one, the future inner, side, are steamed and press- 

‘ed to the required curvature. This practice obtains also at Bor- 
deaux, being not only much easier than splitting, but affording 
the advantage of utilizing seasoned wood. 

Wooden hoops are now seldom used. They are furnished by 
poles and saplings, young stool-shoots being the best. If poles 
are utilized, they are first trimmed straight and clean and then 
split. The hoops are made by forming them on blocks of the re- 


SPLIT WOOD FOR OTHER PURPOSES, 59 


quired girths while the wood is still green. If it has been allowed 
to dry, it must be steamed or soaked in water. Hoops for pails 
are always of rectangular section (about 2” x 14”), and are split 
from pieces of large diameter. 

From what precedes it is evident that the wood used for cooper- 
age purposes must have straight and parallel fibres, and be quite free 
from knots and other flaws and from every kind of unsoundness. 


ARTICLE 9. SPLIT WoOD FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 


Split wood is used for shingles for roofs and walls, for rudders and 
oars, for trenails and pegs, for drums and sieve-frames, for veneers 
and thin boards, for matches and match-boxes, for musical instru- 
ments, and for lead pencils. 


1. Shingles. 


Wooden shingles can be used only in cold dry climates where 
snow lies in winter. Actually their employment is confined to the 
Western Himalayas, where the wuod principally used is deodar, 
which ‘is not only very durable, but is also light and easily split. 
Pinus longifolia and e«celsa are also largely used, and to a certain 
extent also the spruce and the silver fir. 


2. Rudders and oars. 


The woods used must be highly elastic, very strong and durable, 
and not given to warping and splitting. Where teak is obtainable, 
that species alone is used. On rivers in Northern India the paddles 
are made of sal and sissu principally. 


8. Trenails and pegs. 


Trenails are made of teak, since they must, if possible, be more 
durable even than the ribs and sides of the ship. They are from 
16 to 28 inches long and 2 to 24 inches thick. 

Shoe and boot-makers and furniture-makers consume a very 
large quantity of wooden pegs. Any wood will do for pegs, 
which is tough and strong ; it need not be hard, and yet it must 
not be so soft as to get flattened out when being driven in. An 
easy way to test wooden pegs is to bite the end between the teeth ; 
unsuitable wood is easily bitten out of shape. Information re- 
garding the species used is required. Bamboo pegs are very 
largely used by carpenters. 

In this place may also be mentioned skewers for trussing up 
meat. Bamboo of any kind seems to be the most suitable wood 


for the purpose. 


60 THE PRINCIPAL USES OF WOOD. 


4. Drums, sieve-frames and band-boses. 


The Indian double-headed drum is made out of a whole piece of 
wood hollowed out ; but the single-headed drum is, like the frames 
of sieves, made of a single band of split wood. One of the best woods 
for drums is the Pterocarpus Marsupium, which is remarkably son- 
orous ; but any straight, even, and sufficiently close-grained wood 
will be suitable. For sieve-frames the choice is less restricted, 
and a soft wood, provided it is tough enough, will answer. The 
bottoms of coarse sievés are often made of woven strips of bamboo. 

Band-boxes can be made only of woods that split well and can be 
easily bent into shape. The wood may be split into sheets as thin 
as the wood in match-boxes, or into boards nearly half an inca 
thick. The best woods for the purpose are conifers, on account of 
their long fibre and simple uniform structure. 

Under this head we may include the wood used in the sheaths 
of swords, knives and daggers. Simal is largely used for the pur- 
pose when coniferous wood is not obtainable. 

The boards and thin sheets required for the purposes treated 
under this head are most easily split with special machines, a most 
effective pattern of which will be found briefly described under the 
next head. 


5. Veneers and thin sheets of wood for various purposes. 


For veneers only ornamental woods that are also close-grained, 
tough and elastic can be used. They are often sawn with thin 
band saws, but they are best obtained by a process analogous to 
splitting. The Plessis machine is one of the most convenient and 
effective for this purpose (see Fig. 17). It consists essentially of 


Plessis machine for cutting out thin sheets of wood 
_, (After Boppe). : 

(a). Planing iron. (b). Heel to prevent sheet of 
wood from breaking or splitting off irregularly. 


SPLIT WOOD FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 61 


a heavy planing iron (a) working vertically on two guides, which 
can be shifted about horizontally, so that the edge of the blade 
may be moved along any given curve. The heel (6) moves pari 
passu with the plane, and, as it presses up against the sheet of wood 
being cut out, prevents the latter from breaking or tearing. The 
wood to be treated is first cut up into billets of the required length. 
These billets, before being placed on the machine, are roughly 
squared and thoroughly softened by steaming. As soon asa billet 
has been cut up, the sheets are all put into drying presses heated 
with steam. They remain in these presses for a variable time, the 


average being about one minute for every one-twentieth inch of 
thickness. 


6. Wood for matches and match-bozes. 


For matches we require wood that is easily split and burns steadi- 
ly with a flame. It should, therefore, be soft. Conifers answer 
best. Match-sticks, or splints as they are called, are made from 
solid blocks cut to twice the length of a match, and having a square 
section of about 3 inches side. The blocks are first sleamed and 
then placed in a special machine which knocks off several splints 
at a blow. The splints are dipped at both ends into the ignitible 
composition and cut across in the middle when dry. 

The boxes are made of any soft wood that splits easily. All 
knotty portions are removed, and the wood is divided into small 
parallelopipeds of square section, which are then split by a special 
machine. Before the thin boards are pasted into the form of 
the box or cover, they are smoothed inside a revolving hollow 
roller. 


7. Wood used for certain musical instruments. 


These instruments comprise those of the violin class, guitars, 
mandolines, zithers, and sitars. For them the fibres of the wood 
should be cut through as little as possible in order to preserve 
their sonority. The wood should be completely free from every 
kind of flaw, and the grain should be straight, parallel and uniform, 
so as to secure even vibrations throughout and to prevent warping. 
The wood should also be thoroughly seasoned, and as little as pos- 
sible liable to change of volume with alternations of moisture and 
drought. The bellies or sounding boards of the instruments are 
best made of conifer wood, while the sides may be made of some 
harder broad-leaved species. It is superfluous to say that sitars 
are the only instruments of this class made in this country. 


62 THE PRINCIPAL USES OF WOOD, 


7. Wood for lead-pencils. 


The manufacture of lead-penzils is an entirely new industry in 
India, there being only a single factory at Poona. Wood for lead 
pencils must be even-grained, without knots, and, while tough, 
nevertheless easy to cut with a knife. 


ARTICLE 10. Wood FOR VARIOUS ARTICLES WROUGHT WITH ADZE 
AND CHISEL. 


Such articles are the backs of brushes, saddle-trees, shoe-makers’ 
lasts, bowls and platters, spoons, moulds, rakes, clogs, toys, idols, 
gun-stocks, &c. For all of them only wood that does not crack 
or split or warp must be used. For the majority of them the 
wood should also be hard and tough. Wood used in any kind of 
saddlery must, in addition, be elastic. 


ARTICLE 11. Woop For TURNING AND MOULDING. 


For both these purposes even-grained wood that takes a good 
polish is sought after. In most cases handsome colouring and 
marking are desiderata. Ebony is perhaps the best wood we pos- 
sess, but we have a host of other extremely valuable woods—satin 
wood, blackwood, sissu, tun, teak, padouk, zebra wood (Pistachia), 
Pterocarpus spp., box, sandal wood, &c. 


ARTICLE 12. Woop FOR ENGRAVING AND QABVING. 


For wood engraving we require wood that possesses a perfectly 
uniform texture, is close-grained (so as not to absorb inks and 
colours too freely), and is so hard and tough that the sharpest 
edges that can be cut withstands the heavy pressure to which it is 
subjected in the press. Box is pre-eminently the engraver’s wood, 
but for rough wood-cuts any sufficiently even grained and compact 
wood will answer. 

For carving and ornamental relief work similar wood is required, 
although the texture need not be so uniform and close or the grain 
so hard and tough. For open carving the wood should possess 
considerable transverse strength. Teak, on account of its durability 
and colouring, is greatly prized for all kinds of carved work. 
Sandal wood and ebony are used for fine ornamentation. Other 
good woods are sissu, blackwood, walnut, satin wood, Adina cordi- 
folia, Stephegyne parvifolia, Holarrhena antidysenterica, Wrightia 
spp., maples, and a great many other species. 


ARTICLE 18. Woopd FOR PACKING CASES. 


The characters common to all woods used for packing cases are 
that they should be easily worked, light, yet strong enough for the 


AGRIOULTURAL AND GARDEN PURPOSES, 63 


purpose to be served, soft enough to allow nails to be driven in 
without splitting, and not liable to stain or taint or otherwise injure 
the contents. Deodar, although an excellent wood in every other 
respect, is generally too oily and strong-scented for any purpose. 

One of the chief Indian industries requiring packing cases is tea 
manufacture. There are several sizes of cases to contain definite 
weights of tea, but in all the boards are only 4-inch thick. 

According to Mr. Gamble the common tea-box woods in the 
neighbourhood of Darjeeling are tun, Duabanga sonneratiotdes, 
simal, Canarium bengalense, Anthocephalus Cadamba, Acrocarpus 
fraxinifolius, Tetrameles nudiflora, Acer Campbellii or levigatum, 
Engelhardtia spicata, Echinocarpus dasycarpus, Nyssa sessiliflora, 
Machilus edulis, and Beilschmiedia Rozxburghiana. 

In the Dehra Dun mango is the only wood in which the planters 
pack their tea, although there can be no doubt that numerous 
other woods will be found to be equally suitable. In Chhota Nag- 
pur even such an inferior wood as Boswellia serrata is employed. 

Information under this head is required from the tea districts of 
Assam and Cachar, Kumaon and Kangra. Besides the qualities 
essential to all kinds of wood used for packing cases, wood for 
tea boxes must also possess the necessary one of not corroding the 
lead lining. Green wood of most kinds has this injurious effect, 
notably Erythrina and the wild mango, and, according to Dehra 
Dun tea planters, also Pinus longifolia. Teak is used in some 
places, but it is far too valuable a wood to be wasted on tea boxes. 

Opium manufacture also requires a very large quantity of wood, 
Boswellia serrata being chiefly employed. The wood of this spe- 
cies is not at all strong, but as it seasons very slowly, it is proba- 
bly useful in keeping the opium moist. 


ARTICLE 14. Wood FoR AGRICULTURAL AND GARDEN PUBPOSES, 


Under this head we have ploughs, harrows, hoes, clod-crushers, 
rollers, poles and laths for training climbing plants, thorn fences, 
rakes, hay forks, tool handles, &c. 

The plough is made of any hard and strong wood that consists 
of the stem and a large branch making the required angle with it. 
In teak-producing districts that species is almost the only wood 
used on account of its great durability, and the ease with which it 
is worked. In the Himalayas various species of oak are utilized. 
Sal, sissu and babul also make excellent ploughs. The shaft is 
made of any strong, elastic wood, the best being Ougeinia dalber- 
givides, Diospyros Melanoaylon, sal and species of Anogeissus. The 
yoke is made of the same wood as in the case of carts. 


64 THE PRINOIPAL USES OF WOOD. 


Bullock hoes, being confined to the teak-producing provinces, 
are made of teak, the shaft and yoke being of the same woods as in 
the plough. 

In harrows and rakes the teeth must be made of some strong 
tough wood that wears well under constant heavy friction. Sissu 
and babul are the species mostly used. 

For clod-crushers and rollers any hard and heavy wood will 
answer, the heavier the better, such as Hardwickia binata, sl, 
Mesua ferrea, babul, &c. 

Small wood is so cheap and easily obtainable in most parts of 
India, that for poles and other supports for climbing plants any 
wood that will last through one season is considered good enough, 
except in the case of well-kept gardens and orchards, when only 
the most durable woods, such as teak, s4l, &c., are used. 

Forks for hay-making and for lifting up branches (especially 
thorny ones) for hedging purposes consist of a single stem ter- 
minated by two equal branches starting from the same point. 
The wood should be light and at the same time very strong and 
tough. The same qualities are required in wood for the handles 
of picks, hoes, spades, shovels, axes, &c. Solid bamboos are excel- 
lent for axes, hoes and picks, the thicker end being cut just below’ 
a knot that cannot slip through the eye. Species of Zizyphus 
and Grewia also make very good tool handles. In the Western 
Himalayas axe handles made of Cotoneaster bacillaris often last 
three years. 


ARTIOLE 15. TIMBER FOR VARIOUS MISCELLANEOUS PURPOSES. 


There is a very large demand for lance staves in every military 
country of the world. Straight, solid, gently tapering bamboos 
are unrivalled for this purpose, but they are extremely difficult to 
procure at present, and the German army is now adopting hollow 
iron instead of wooden staves. : 

Wooden combs are in universal use among natives, the woods 
used being box, ebony, Stephegyne parvifolia, Adina cordifolia, 
sissu, bamboos, several Gardenias, and several other species with 
straight and uniform grain. 

Wooden hat pegs are to be found in almost every house fur- 
nished according to European ideas. Any wood capable of being 
turned and of taking a good polish is suitable for the purpose. 

Handles for chisels absorb a fairly large quantity of small tim- 
ber. Terminalia tomentosa, khair, sissu and teak are very general- 
ly used, the first two being the best. 

Anvil blocks and blocks on which butchers cut their meat require 


TEXTILE WOOD-FIBRE. 65 


a hard tenacious wood, sl and babul being excellent for the 
purpose. 

The manutacture of walking-sticks consumes a considerable quan- 
tity of branch wood and saplings. Amongst monocotyledons we 
have canes, bamboos, and palms ; amongst dicotyledons we have 
oaks, cotoneaster, ebony, Mimusops indica, Alangium Lamarckii, 
Prinsepia utilis, &., &e. 


Articte 16. Woop FoR BASKET AND MAT-MAKING. 


Bamboos and canes are par excellence the materials for making 
baskets and mats. The bamboos should be cut for the purpose 
before they are a year old, as they afterwards become too highly 
lignified to split well or to bend and take new shapes easily. 
Dicotyledons largely employed for basket-making are willows, Vitea 
Negundo, Nyctanthes Arbor-tristis, Homonoya riparia and numer- 
ous other shrubs forming a profusion of long, twiggy, highly flexi- 
ble shoots. In every case the wood should be used in a green 
condition ; the fresher cut, the better. Wood for basket-making, 
although flexible while green, should become fairly rigid when 
dry, in order that the articles made from it may keep their shape. 
For this reason climbers are seldom suitable for the purpose. In 
the case of dicotyledonous species stool and pollard shoots furnish 
the best material. 


ARTIOLE 17. Woop usED FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PACKING 
MATERIAL, 


Thin shavings of wood are now coming largely into use for the 
packing of brittle articles. This wood wool, as it is called, is very 
rapidly prepared by special machinery, ‘which will work up pieces 
as small as }-inch in thickness and 6 inches long. The softest 
woods, possessing long, straight, and parallel fibres, will furnish 
the best material. 


Axticte 18. TExTILE wOoD-FIBRE. 


Wood wool, as described in the preceding Article, is digested 
in a solution of sulphuric acid in hermetically sealed, slowly rotat- 
ing boilers, the encrusting matters being thus separated from 
the cellulose, which becomes white and lustrous like silk. These 
thin strips of fibre are then dried in special ovens, in which they 
acquire great toughness and elasticity. They are now moistened 
and passed between grooved rollers, which, in flattening them out, 

K 


66 THE PRINGIPAL USRS OF Woop. 


displace the fibres to such an extent that a little twisting suffices 
to separate these last from one another. In this condition the 
fibres may be spun and woven like cotton or flax. 


Articie 19. Woop PULP. 


Paper consists of cellulose with some sizing substance added in 
order to prevent ink from running. Hence, if we remove from 
wood everything but its cellulose, we get paper-making material, 
or, as it is called, paper stock. Paper made entirely of wood stock 
is, with the sole exception of that manufactured from young half- 
lignified hamboos, rather brittle and coarse-grained ; but, on 
the other hand, it takes a cleaner impression and wears away the 
type less than printing paper made from linen or cotton rags. 
Moreover, wood pulp is very much cheaper than stock prepared 
from rags. Mr. Routledge, the great paper manufacturer, made 
samples of paper from bamboo stock, which were equal to the finest 
qualities of linen and esparto paper. 

Wood pulp is not only used by the paper manufacturer, but 
serves for a variety of other purposes. By penetrating it with 
special glutinous substances and subjecting it to high pressures, it 
can be made as hard and as durable as one pleases, and be moulded 
to any shape. Picture-frames, toys, ornaments, &c., are thus 
made ; also slabs, which may be substituted for boards and planks, 
and are practically unbreakable, and cannot warp or split even in 
the most trying surroundings. In America solid railway-wagon 
wheels are made of a skeleton of steel with specially prepared 
wood pulp forced in between under great pressure. Such wheels 
last very much longer than purely iron or steel wheels, and, being 
of much more elastic material, produce very little jar, and minimise 
wear and tear of the rolling stock and permanent way. The loose 
fibre is used for stuffing cushions, as packing material and for 
filtering water. 

The pulp may be made either (I.), by physical means, by rending 
asunder the fibres between grind-stones, or (II.), by separating the 
fibres chemically by maceration. 

I, Tue PuysicaL process.—The wood should be fresh-cut. It 
is first barked, divided into short sections, about a foot long, and 
split up, all knots and decayed portions being removed. The small 
pieces are then broken and ground up in the mill, through which 
a constant stream of water is kept flowing. The water carries 
off the broken fibre and dissolves away all clogging substances. 
The coarser portions carried down by the water are separated by 


WOOD PULP. 67 


a special contrivance, and ground down again to the necessary 
fineness. When the reduction is complete, the superfluous water 
is removed, and the pulp is sorted out into different qualities ac- 
cording to its fineness. In Germany alone over 6,000,000 cubie 
feet of wood is made into pulp by this method. The pulp thus 
obtained is used principally as paper stock. 

II. Tue CuemicaL procuss.—The wood is divided into billets 
and barked. The billets are then sliced obliquely by a special 
cutting machine into pieces about 4-inch thick. These pieces are 
passed between fluted rollers, which break them up into chips 
about $-inch long and from } to 4-inch thick. The chips are next 
put into pierced iron barrels placed inside a large boiler. The 
boiler is then hermetically closed and completely filled with a 
strong lye of caustic soda, and fires are lighted below. After 
from three to four hours, during which the pressure of the steam 
inside reaches a maximum of about 10 atmospheres, the process of 
digestion is complete, the fires are put out, and the boiler is 
emptied and opened. The contents of the barrels, which is now 
pure cellulose (the maceration having dissolved away all the coat- 
ing and cementing substances), are thoroughly washed with plenty 
of water, refined and bleached, and passed between several sets of 
rollers, from the last of which the entire mass issues forth in ap- 
pearance resembling a large sheet of felt. The sheets, while still 
moist, are sprinkled over with sand and rolled up and formed into 
bales. 

From the lye after it leaves the boiler, and from the first wash- 
ings, from 75 to 80 per cent. of the soda is recovered and can be 
used over again. The substance obtained by this process is the 
pure cellulose of the wood in an unbroken condition, and is, there- 
fore, not only adapted for paper stock, but also for the manufacture 
of pressed articles, for stuffing cushions, for packing, for filtering, 
&c. The yield of cellulose by this process is roughly 25 per cent. 
of the air-dried weight of the wood. 

Mr. RovuTLEDGE’s METHOD OF PREPARING BAMBOO FIBRE FOR 
PAPER STOCK.—According to this gentleman the young bamboo 
culms, while they are still semi-herbaceous, should be passed be- 
tween two rollers resembling the rollers of an ordinary iron sugar- 
cane mill. This crushing presses out all the sap and glutinous 
substances, and reduces the culms to the condition of long flexible 
ribbons, which, after being dried, can be made up into easily ex- 
portable bales. The cleaning and bleaching processes can be effected 
at the regular paper mills as in the case of rags and raw fibres. 

WOOD SUITABLE FOR PAPER s8TocK.—Dark-coloured woods are 


68 THE PRINCIPAL USES OF WOOD. 


always unsuitable, since their bleaching would be unnecessarily 
laborious and costly. Heartwood is also inappropriate, firstly, on 
account of the dark colour, and secondly, on account of the encrust- 
ing matters that cause the sapwood to become heartwood. It is 
evident that the wood should also not be too hard. Poplars, wil- 
lows, the firs, most of the pines, species of Sterculia, Boswellia, 
and other soft and rapidly growing species will doubtless prove 
excellent for the purpose. The best wood is furnished by stems 
not exceeding 1 foot in diameter. 


Section II.—Firewoop. 


In spite of the innumerable different requirements of the popu- 
lation in respect of timber, the demand for firewood is many times 
larger, and will not only remain so, but will even increase in 
greater proportion with advancing civilisation and wealth and 
higher prevailing standards of comfort. Considering fuel for 
cooking purposes alone, the annual consumption, at the very mo- 
derate daily rate of 1 tb. per head per day, must already exceed 
300 millions of solid cubic feet. Insufficiency and badness of com- 
munications keep down the demand as well as the supply brought 
into the market, and millions of cubic feet rot or stand unprofit- 
ably in the forest owing to impossibility or prohibitive cost of 
export. 

Firewood may be used for two sets of purposes, viz., (1) directly 
for the heat and ligbt it gives out in burning, and (2) indirectly 
for certain products which form when it is burnt. 


(1). Wood burnt for heating and lighting purposes. 


Wood may be burnt until it is consumed, or it may be burnt 
only to a limited extent and converted into charcoal for future use.* 
Wood charcoal gives out the highest calorific effect of wood, 
and is hence alone used for smithy and foundry work and for other 
purposes which require not only a steady and prolonged, but also a 
very intense, heat. For glass-making and ore-smelting also charcoal 
should exclusively be used, but owing to the primitive condition of 
the arts in India, the hardest and heaviest woods are sometimes 
employed. For the production of steam (as for driving machinery, 
soap-making, laundry work, &c.), charcoal is the best, but with 
a strong draught the harder woods yield completely satisfactory 
results (the softer woods are not used at all, because they burn too 


* The manufacture of charcoal will be described in detail in Part III. 


FIREWOOD. 69 


quickly, and hence do not maintain a sufficiently steady heat). 
¥or the kitchen also charcoal holds the first place, both on account 
of the even heat it gives out and for its burning without smoke. 
Hence the exclusive use of charcoal for roasting, baking, and 
grilling ; but when wood can be used, the choice between the soft 
and light and the hard and heavy kinds depends on the nature of the 
food to be cooked according as it requires a quick or a slow fire. 
The baker, the potter, the tile and brick-maker, the lime-burner, the 
stoneware manufacturer, &c., require a fuel that burrfs readily and 
gives up all its heat quickly, and hence prefer the softer and 
lighter woods. For warming purposes the best adapted are the 
heavy woods, that are not reduced to ashes at once, but form 
large masses of glowing charcoal, and which do not crackle 
and splutter or emit clouds of black pungent or malodorous 
smoke. 

In the Himalayas the resin-gorged wood of pine and deodar 
stumps is split up into chips and splinters, and burnt in a chafing 
dish in place of a lamp, giving out both light and heat. Dry 
bamboos, bruised so as to become full of numerous long cracks, 
burn like torches, and are so used by night travellers through the 
jungles. The green branches of the torch tree (Jzora parviflora) 
are also used for torches. 


(2). Wood burnt for the products of combustion. 


When wood is burnt (dry distilled) numerous substances are 
given off in the smoke and vapours, such as lighting gas, acetic 
acid, wood spirits, ether, creosote, tar, pitch, soot, &., the quanti- 
ty of these substances increasing with the temperature to which 
the wood is raised, i.¢., with the rapidity of the distillation. In the 
ashes, we have potash and various other salts. The woods that 
constitute the best fuel also yield the largest quantity of acid, 
small branch wood being the richest. Tar and pitch can be 
obtained in remunerative quantities only from resinous conifers. 
The destructive distillation of wood is usually effected in large 
iron vessels connected with a condenser. Tar and pitch may be 
easily made by heaping up the wood to be burnt in a pit, at the 
bottom of which there is a receptacle or a hole in communication 
with a receptacle. After being filled, the pit should be very nearly 
closed with sods, only a small opening in the middle being left in 
order to admit a sufficient supply to maintain the wood at a glowing 
heat. The wood should be split up small. As the wood burns the 
tar and pitch run down to the bottom and is thus collected. 


70 FELLING AND CONVERSION. 


CHAPTER III.—FELLING AND CONVERSION. 


In utilizing a forest we must be guided by the extent of the use- 
fulness and value of the produce it yields, and, so long as no 
injury accrues therefrom to the productive powers of the forest, 
also by the condition and demand of the market. As the circum- 
stances of the market are very different according to the nature of 
the district and to the local manners and customs, these require to 
be very carefully enquired into and intimately known. 
The subject of the present chapter will be studied under the fol- 
lowing heads :— 
I.—Organisation of labour. 
II.—Agency by which work is carried out. 
II1.—Tools employed in felling and conversion. 
IV.—Season for felling and conversion in the forest. 
V.—Felling. 
VI.—Conversion. 
VII.—Seasoning and stacking. 


Srction I.—ORGANISATION OF LABOUR. 


The productiveness of any industry isin direct proportion to the 
sufficiency, competence, and organisation of the labour engaged in 
it. In the case of forests the efficiency of the labour employed in 
realising its yield not only determines the extent to which the 
products turned out satisfy the requirements of the market, but 
also influences the amount of outturn in money as well in produce, 
and not unfrequently even the success of the treatment adopted. 
The men must be tractable, sober, industrious, strong, hardy, and 
enduring, inured to the climate, accustomed to life in the forests, 
and thoroughly skilful in the use of their tools. India has this 
great advantage over most other countries in that its labouring 
population being almost purely agricultural, nearly everyone from 
his boyhood is more or less expert with the axe. 

The best men to get, if they are otherwise suitable, are those 
living inside or immediately round the forests. Such people are 
from their childhood accustomed to a forest life, are not afraid of 
wild beasts or the climate, know the trees and their characteristics, 
and, from long familiarity with the place, take an interest and often 
a pride in the welfare of the forest to which feeling imported 


ORGANISATION OF LABOUR. 71 


men cannot but be strangers. Moreover, they are available at 
any moment during the slack season for agriculture, and are hence 
also not so costly as imported labour. If such men can always 
look forward to having remunerative work to do during the time 
they are not engaged in their fields, they associate themselves cor- 
dially with the forest establishment and become a very effective 
addition thereto for the general conservancy and protection of the 
forest. As a rule, the aboriginal tribes, such as the Gonds, Bhils, 
Kols, &c., are the best adapted for the purpose; they are not 
only most amenable to discipline and control, but, depending to 
avery geat extent for their livelihood on the produce of the forests 
and on the work therein, they are also more willing and expert 
workmen. The effectiveness and cheapness of local labour is sin- 
gularly increased by according to the people who come to work 
small privileges which cost the owner of the forest little or nothing, 
such as grazing for a limited number of cattle, removal of a few 
head-loads of firewood, and minor produce, &c., either free or at 
nominal rates. 

An indispensable condition for a sufficiently numerous body of 
well-trained woodmen is regularity and continuity of annually re- 
eurring work ; but with local labour available, sudden unforeseen 
demands for mere axe-men can nearly always be met without diffi- 
culty. It is, however, otherwise when sawing work has to be 
done, knowledge of the use of the saw being, from caste and other 
prejudices, practically confined to the carpenter class. Hence a 
body of local sawyers cannot be trained and maintained without 
regular annual work. 

In case local workpeople are wanting or are insufficient, the 
whole or part of the labour must be imported. If it is possible to 
get the new men tv settle down with their families permanently 
in the locality, this should be done, otherwise inefficient men will 
have to be employed or a heavy compensation, in the shape of high 
wages, must be paid to good men for the journey to and fro, and 
for long absence from their homes, especially if they are towns- 
people. Another great drawback inseparably connected with 
imported labour, unless work is steady and continuousand on a 
sufficiently large scale, is the difficulty and sometimes impossibility 
of obtaining it in adequate quantity. 

Whether the labour is local or imported, the men may be paid 
either by the day (daily labour) or by piece-work. The latter sys- 
tem has always this advantage, that it is cheaper—often very much 
cheaper ; on the other hand, as it holds out a temptation to work 
hurriedly, its results are not always satisfactory. Moreover, it can 


72 FELLING AND CONVERSION. 


be adopted only when the quantity and quality of the work turned 
out can be rigidly tested and gauged. The cutting back of coppice 
and the execution of cleanings and thinnings are best done by daily 


labour. 
Whether the men are paid by the day or by the amount of work 


done, they should be divided into gangs, each under a headman or 
master-workman elected by the gang and approved of by the em- 
ployer. The headman should, in the case of daily labour, be paid 
somewhat higher wages than the rest of the gang, and he should be 
responsible for all his men. The gangs should be just large enough 
to be within the control of a single man ; and hence it should also 
not be too small or there will be waste of power. 

The amount of work to be done will often vary above a certain 
known minimum. This minimum will fix the permanent strength 
of the combined gangs, and for any work above this minimum occa- 
sional workmen must be employed. These occasional men are best 
distributed amongst the existing gangs and not organised into sepa- 
rate gangs—a plan that will obtain from each headman the greatest 
amount of usefulness of which he is capable, and keep up every 
gang at its highest point of efficiency, by making the new men 
work side by side with those who have been accustomed to it, 
and by enabling the employer to get rid of inferior men without 
weakening or breaking up his gangs. 

No organisation can be successful unless there exists a definite 
set of working rules, which prescribe the working hours and days, 
the kind of work to be done, the rates to be paid, the mode and 
days of payment, the obligations of the workmen, the punishments 
to be inflicted for infringement of those obligations, and the special 
concessions, if any, accorded by the employer during good behavi- 
our or under certain specified circumstances. Under the head of 
obligations of the men, enter, among other things connected directly 
with their work, the following matters :—Their camping grounds 
or villages, as the case may be, sanitary arrangements, abstention 
from avoidable injury to the forest or forest area, immediate report 
of injury by others, liability to be called out to extinguish forest fires, 
or to help the establishment in tracking and arresting offenders, 
and so on. The punishments may take the form either of forfeiture 
of wages earned or of longer hours, or of curtailment of privileges, 
without prejudice, in serious cases or to deter habitual offenders, 
to prosecution under the forest or other law. Among necessary 
concessions due from the employer are payments to sick men, 
especially sufferers from accidents; advances under certain circum- 
stances; special rewards for extra good work; arranging for sup- 


AGENCY BY WHICH WORK IS TO BE CARRIED OUT. “43 


plies of food if otherwise unobtainable, even to the extent of bearing 
part or whole of the cost of carriage ; concessions of timber and grass 
for building huts for the men, and of firewood for cooking or warm- 
ing purposes. In the case of large operations giving steady employ- 
ment all the year round, the employer may establish villages for his 
workpeople and their families, granting each family or household 
some land for cultivation at low rents and the privilege of grazing 
free, or at special rates, a fixed number of cattle. Furthermore, he 
may raise and maintain a Provident Fund, to which each workman 
will be bound to contribute, and he may establish primary schools. 


Srction II.—AGENcY BY WHICH WORK IS TO BE CARRIED OUT. 


The work of felling and conversion may be carried out either by 
direct agency of the owner of the forest (departmental agency as it 
is calledin the case of the State being the owner) or by the purchas- 
er of the standing produce. The former method is obviously the one 
which offers the best guarantee of effectiveness from the point of view 
of conservancy and treatment, if well organised under the direction 
and supervision of experienced, energetic, and honest men who are 
in close and constant touch with the fluctuating affairs of the market. 
The system also saves to the owner a part or the whole of the profits 
that would otherwise fall to the wholesale purchaser of ‘the standing 
unconverted material. This is especially true in the case of the private 
owner who gives his personal attention to the working of his forests. 

In the case, however, of State forests or of forests belonging to 
corporate bodies, the entire directing and supervising agency is ne- 
cessarily hired, and hence the requisite industrial activity and zeal is 
nearly always wanting, and even if they are present, the inevitable 
red tape, with its attendant hundred checks and ceaseless circumlo- 
cutions, kills all initiative, damps ardour, and renders the working. 
agency at best but a sluggish machine. Moreover, corruption not 
unfrequently eats into profits, and may even make a possible paying 
forest a losing or unworkable concern. Lastly, owing to the 
peculiar constitution of the departments which together comprise 
what we call the Government, favouritism (for those who confer 
appointments have no private interests at stake), and the essentially 
permanent nature of service in any of those departments (except 
in the case of notorious dishonesty or gross incompetence or care- 
lessness), unsuitable men, contrary to the custom of private mana- 
gers or proprietors, are retained and entrusted with important 
duties and large powers, which they exercise to the detriment of 
the State. Hence the economical superiority of State over private 
agency in felling and conversion operations is more often apparent 

L 


74 TOOLS FOR FELLING AND CONVERSION, 


than real, especially in a country of almost pure officialism such as 
India is. 

In any case, private agency alone can be resorted to (1) when 
the money returns are not expected to cover the cost of felling 
and conversion, except in the few instances when the State may 
have to work at a loss in order to open the way to private enter- 
prise; or (2) when only a few scattered trees possessing special 
characters and hence commanding specially high prices can be 
sold; or (8) when the annual coupe is divided into small lots 
either for convenience of supply, or because, owing to the poverty 
of the district, large and wealthy dealers do not exist; or (4) 
when the trees are surrendered to right-holders ; or (5) when 
the establishment is too weak to undertake anything beyond 
merely seeing that the forest suffers no harm from the felling and 
conversion operations ; or (6) when the consumers in the immediate 
neighbourhood of the forests are so poor that they require only 
small quantities of firewood and small timber, which, from not 
being able to pay others, they must cut and convert themselves. 

On the other hand, the agency of the owner alone can be em- 
ployed in cleanings and thinnings, since in both these operations 
the selection of the stems to be cut and their removal must proceed 
pari passu with one another. In after-fellings also, when serious 
damage is to be feared for the new generation, private agency 
should, as far as possible, be avoided for the felling and rough 
wonversion of the trees. 


Section III.—Too.s EMPLOYED IN FELLING AND CONVERSION. 
These tools, according tothe purpose for which they are used,are— 


For cutting down saplings and f Bill-hooks (Fig. 18), liglt axes 
small poles, ... ids { (Fig. 23). 
For cutting down tres above { Felling axes (Fig. 20), cross-cut 
the ground, . oe saws (Migs. 33, 34, and 87). 
Felling axes (Fig. 20), grubbing 
axes (fig. 25), grubbing chisel, 
levers (Figs. 43 and 46), the 
serew-jack (Fig. 45), windlass, 
derricks, winches, 
Chains, levers (Figs. 43 and 46), 
For directing the fall of trees | the screw-jack (Fig. 45), thrust- 
pole (Fg, 44). 
For lopping and *orping and aes axes (Fig. 20), cross-cut 
logging, — a. _ Ps ce oe 33, 34, 37, and 39). 
és ill-hooks (Hig. 18), light axes 
ee or ee ake (Pip. 23), franio: srosecone eae 
’ , (Fig. 38). 
ee ee . LBP one axes (Fig. 24), wedges 
HSER { (Fig. 41). 


For felling trees by the roots 
and for grabbing out stumps, 


BILL HOOKS, 75 


For moving logs, iss «» Levers (Fig. 47). 
ne Peay or none aes } Trimming axes (Fig. 22). 
For converting logs, ee .. Saws (Figs. 34, 35, and 36). 


It will be most convenient to describe the various implements 
in the following order :—(1) bill-hooks, (2) axes of all kinds, (3) 
saws, (4) other grubbing tools, (5) tools for directing the fall of 
trees, and (6) other tools. 
ARTICLE 1.—BtLL-HOOoKs. 


The most suitable forms of this tool are represented in Fig. 18.* 
Bill-hooks are used principally for cutting down thin stems, which 


Fig. 18. 
A B Cc 
A 
be i 
! \ : 
t ! 
i i i 
a f 1 
Cl .! Pm | 
POR : 
1 ‘ ' 
4 
1 i 
4 ¥ 


Bill-hooks Cisth oviginal size). 


cannot stand the shock of an ordinary axe, and for trimming off 
small branches and preparing faggot wood. They require less 
room to swing than axes, and are therefore more convenient to use 
in dense young growth; but in the exploitation of bamboo clumps 
their short handle and long blade are not so suitable as light one- 
hand axes to be described lower down. 


ARTICLE 2.—AXES. 


All axes agree in consisting of a head, in the eye of which one 
end of the handle or. haft is fixed. The portion of the head from 
the cutting edge to the eye is called the blade, that on the opposite 
side being the back of the axe. The head may be entirely of steel, 
or of iron edged with steel (the more usual case, as steel is quite 
unnecessary except at the edge). The temper of the edge must 
be exactly suited to the hardness of the wood to be cut. If the 


* Information regarding “dahs” used in Burma and North-East India is 
wanting and would be gratefully received. 


76 TOOLS FOR FELLING AND CONVERSION. 


steel is too highly tempered, it will break; if not sufficiently 
tempered, the edge will be turned. Soft-wooded trees require a 
higher temper than hard-wooded trees. 


1. The felling axe. 


ACTION OF THE AxE.—The action of an axe is to sever, to crush, 
and to shear. The severing and shearing actions are in direct, 
the crushing action in inverse, proportion to the sharpness of 
the edge and the thinness of the blade combined. When an axe 
is driven at right angles to the fibres, there is no shearing action 
at all, only severing and crushing ; but when the blow is delivered 

Fig.19. obliquely, all three actions take place and the axe 
produces its greatest effect. Another reason why 
the obliquely driven axe penetrates further is that 
the lower lip of the wound it makes (see a in Fig. 
19), bends easily downwards and thus widens the 
gape, so as to allow the blade to continue its onward 
motion ; whereas when the cut is perpendicular to 
the axis of the tree, the severed fibres have to be 
crushed away longitudinally to produce a wider 
opening for the entry of the thicker hind portion 
of the blade into the wound. 

WEIGHT OF THE AXE-HEAD.—This of course depends to some 
extent on the strength of the axe-man, but it is essentially regulat- 
ed by the degree of hardness of the wood to be cut and the size 
of the tree to be felled. The softer the wood, the more easily are 
the fibres crushed and displaced, and, asa rule, also separated from 
one another, whereas in hard wood the axe can do very little crush- 
ing and comparatively little splitting, and must hence act chiefly 
by severing. Hence hard woods require a lighter and thinner- 
bladed axe than soft woods. Very light thin-bladed axes must 
be used with small poles and saplings in coppice fellings to save 
the roots from violent shocks and consequent rupture, and also 
whenever the stem is so thin and pliant as to yield before the blow 
from a heavier axe. Thus the weight of the felling axe for any- 
thing above small poles varies from 14 to 3} Ibs., the latter limit 
being attained in the conifer forests of the Himalayas. For a 
stem having a greater diameter than 6 inches the weight of the 
axe should not be less than 2 lbs. For the special case of thin 
yielding stems and of small poles in coppice felling the weight 
should be about 1 1b. more or less. 

SHAPE OF THE HEAD.—The shape of the axe-head is extremely 
varied, especially in India, where no machinery is employed in the 


AXES. W7 


manufacture and the smith follows his own sweet will so long as 
the product of his handiwork bears a general resemblance to the 
model he is imitating. Information on this point is, therefore, 
very scanty, and hence in Fig. 20 below only a few good patterns 
of axe-heads used in India are reproduced. 


Fig, 20. 


oe iP | 


; 
oO 
iS. 
a 
of 


Some good Indian felling axes (pgth original size). A, Nimar pattern (up 
to 23 lbs.). B, Amritsar pattern (up to 35 1bs.). C, D, and HE, North-West 
Llimalayas (up to 33 1bs.). I, Gond pattern (up to 2% lbe.). 

In some axes the cutting edge forms a perfectly straight line, 
but a slight curve is always to be recommended : /irstly, because 
in a straight edge there is risk of the nearer corner striking the 
wood first and breaking off, whereas, when the edge is curved, the 
middle of the curve, which is the strongest portion of the edge, 
always strikes and enters the wood first, and is followed by the rest 
of the edge ; ‘and, secondly, because, as a consequence of this last 
mentioned fact, a curved edge penetrates deeper. 

The width of the edge will depend on the hardness of the wood. 
The harder the wood is, the narrower must be the blade, in order to 
secure effective penetration. 

In every good felling axe the weight should be accumulated prin- 
cipally just in front of the eye, so as to give it as much steadiness 
as possible in the stroke. Such a disposition of the weight also per- 
mits of the faces of the blade being made slightly concave or at least 
perfectly straight. This fact is of no slight importance, with 


y * 
p 
rar 


78 TOOLS FOR FELLING AND CONVERSION. 


respect to penetrative power, in our Indian axes, as otherwise, the 
eye being circular, the blade would taper down too abruptly. 

The eye may be either circular or oval (the narrower extremity 
being directed towards the edge). The opening of the eye is not 
the same throughout, but is widest at the further end in order to 
prevent the head from slipping off the handle. An oval eye (Fig. \ 


Fig. 21. 


_ Felling axe with oval eye and curved handle (ith original size). 


21) secures greater rigidity for the handle, distributes the weight 
properly by enabling an even taper to be maintained, and, as shown 
in the next paragraph, also enables the axe-man to deliver a steadier 
stroke. Per contra, it has two disadvantages as compared with a 
circular eye: the handle requires some skill to prepare, and as it 
must be put into the eye by the lower extremity, it can be fixed 
tight only by means of a wedge driven into a slit, which is obviously 
a source of weakness, and from which the wedge has a constant 
tendency to slip out. In India the eye is always circular. 

THE HANDLE.—According as the eye is circular or oval, the 
whole of the handle is round or the lower quarter or fifth of it is 
flat. In the latter case the woodman, having flat surfaces to feel 
with his right hand (with which he directs the blow and which he 
slides down to near his left hand as the axe descends) can aima 
much steadier blow than when a completely cylindrical object, the 
feel of which is the same whatever its position is, slips through 
his hand. An oval section near the axe-head also gives the handle 
greater dimension parallel to the blade just where greatest trans- 
verse strength is required. Lastly, and this is a matter of prime 
importance, a round handle is liable to work round in the eye and 
thus destroy the entire effect of a stroke, besides possibly causing 
the edge to be turned or broken. On the other hand, a round 
handle is easily obtained, being merely a straight branch or stem 
or solid culm, the lower end of which is just too thick to pass 
through the eye (if it isa hard knot, so much the better), and 
on this account requires no wedging at all to keep it in place. 


AXES. 79 


The handle is usually straight—in India always so—buta handle 
of the shape represented in Fig. 21 gives the axe-man a better 
grip with his left hand and is easier for his right hand. 

The length of the handle varies from 2} to 3} feet. For very 
hard woods it should not exceed 3 feet. 

In round handles the fibres at the thick end are apt to get 
crushed in the eye, eventually allowing the head to slip off. This 
is effectually prevented by protecting the last inch or so of the 
handle with a strip or two of thin sheet iron or copper, which gets 
jammed between the wood and the iron head and renders any 
movement of the latter impossible. 

Information regarding the best woods for axe handles is want- 
ing. In Central India and in the plains of North-Western India 
Anogeissus latifolia, species of Grewia, Zizyphus Jujuba, and Den- 
drocalamus strictus are chiefly used. In the North-West Himalayas 
Cotoneaster bacillaris furnishes handles that last up to two and even 
three years. 

2. The trimming axe. 

The trimming axe serves to remove the branches of fallen trees 
and to dress and rough-hew logs. The same axe with which a 
tree was felled will do equally well for trimming off branches, but 
for all large branches and for dressing logs a heavier axe with a 
broader blade is much more serviceable. Indeed, in dressing fallen 
timber the axe is best swung vertically in order to secure the full 
nmount of momentum, and its weight may hence be as much as 
the axe-man can control. In the conifer forests of the Western 
Himalayas the weight often runs up to 8 lbs., and even more. To 
gain additional momentum long handles are used, the length rang- 
ing from 33 to 44 feet. In Fig. 22 are reproduced two patterns 


Fig. 22. 


A 


42° 
s 


Indian trimming aes (qth original size), 
A.— Amritsar pattern (up to 6 1bs.). 
B.— North-West Himalayas (from 6 to 9 1bs.). 


80 TOOLS FOR FELLING AND CONVERSION. 


of Indian trimming axes. Although the advantages of using special 
trimming axes are unquestionable, yet woodmen in most parts cf 
India actually do all their work with the ordinary felling axe alone. 

Under this head may be mentioned the light, broad, thin-bladed, 
one-handed axes (hatchets) used for lopping off small branches and 
for topping off saplings and cutting bamboos (fig. 23). 


Fig. 23. 


Light oneshanded anes (Yoth natural size), 
A and B.—Used in North-West Himalayas. Weight, 12 ounces, 


3. Splitting azes. 


These axes, as the name implies, are used for splitting up thick 
billets or large rounds into sections. Their action is thus almost 
purely a shearing one. Hence they need not be so sharp as the 
two descriptions of axes already described, but they should be as 
heavy as the heaviest trimming axe. Contrary to the rule for 
those axes, their weight should lie all round the eye in order to give 
them as much driving power as possible. As they are often used 
as hammers for driving in wedges, there should also be plenty of 
metal in the back. ‘A slight convexity of the faces of the blade is 
not objectionable as long as the taper near the edge is sufficient. 
Fig. 24 represents two useful patterns of splitting axes. . 


Fig. 24. 


eye 


Splitting axes (4th natural size). 


AXES. 81 
4. Grubbing axes. 


Grubbing axes serve the double purpose of digging up the soil 
round roots and severing those which do not exceed 3 or 4 inches 
in diameter. The blade should always be slightly curved, and 


about 12 inches long and from 2 to 4 broad at the edge. Fig. 25 
represents three effective forms. 


Fig. 25. 


an 


C 


Grubbing aves (y!gth natural size). 
ARTIOLE 3.—THE Saw. 


The saw consists of a thin, comparatively broad blade or plate 
of steel, one edge of which is toothed. The saw is essentially a tool 
for use across the fibres of the wood. If the fibres of wood were 
perfectly parallel and there were no discontinuity due to branches, 
knots and other causes of transverse or irregular growth, then 
all longitudinal separation would be effected by tools acting solely 
on the principle of the wedge. It is because of such discon- 
tinuity that the saw is also used for cutting wood longitudinally, 
ripping as it is technically called. 

The following are some of the technical terms used in connection 
with saws:— 

_ Rake, the inclination of the line of the teeth, ina straight saw, 
to the direction in which the.saw moves. 

Space, the distance from tooth to tooth measured at the points. 

Face of a tooth, the profile of the tooth facing the side towards 
which the saw moves in cutting. 

Back of a tooth, the opposite profile. 


82 TOOLS FOR FELLING AND CONVERSION. 


Gullet or throat, the extent of opening between two successive 
teeth. 

Gauge, the thickness of the saw. 

Set or bent set; the extent to which the teeth are bent to either 
side of the plane of the blade. 

Straight set, when the teeth lie entirely in the plane of the blade. 

Pitch, the angle formed by the face of a tooth with the line 
passing through the points of the teeth. 

Kerf, the thin plate of wood removed by the saw in the form of 
sawdust. 

Other technical terms will be explained as they occur. 

AcTION OF THE sAw.—For the sake of clearness we will assume 
that the saw works across tbe fibres. A perfect saw makes its way 
through the wood by combined cutting, tearing, and shaving. Sup- 
pose A, B, and C in Fig. 26 to represent the faces (considerably 
enlarged) of three consecutive teeth, A and B being filed obliquely 


Fig. 26. 


aah es 


Diagram illustrating action of the saw. 


to an edge on different sides, while C has an edge equal in width to 
the thickness of the blade. As the saw moves forward, A clears in the 
wood D, the opening @ partly by cutting, partly by tearing asunder 
the fibres which come in its way. Similarly the tooth B clears in 
its passage the opening 6. The triangular portion ¢ left between a 


THE BAW. 83 


and 6 is then shaved off by the broad edge of the tooth C, which 
is hence designated a clearance tooth. In the preceding explana- 
tion we have supposed only one tooth of each kind acting, but 
actually the opening a may be made by two or more teeth following 
in succession; and similarly the opening b by as many teeth filed 
away in the other direction, while a single clearance tooth suffices 
to remove the section of the fibres between a and b. The action 
of the saw is greatly facilitated if each clearing tooth shaves off 
only a portion of the section left by the cutting teeth that precede 
it. This end is- secured by making the clearing teeth slightly 
shorter than the other teeth. In India the faces of the teeth are 
never filed to an edge, and the action of the saw is consequently 
reduced to simply tearing and shaving, or, to use a simple and 
more expressive term, to rasping. 

The portions of fibre torn and shaved off (the sawdust), unless 
they were at once removed out of the way of the saw, would inter- 
fere with its passaye, and, by coming between the blade and the 
cut surfaces of the wood, eventually cause it to jam (buckle). 
Hence the necessity of making the gullet large enough to afford 
sufficient room to hold the sawdust until it falls out as the saw 
continues to advance. 

SHAPE OF THE TEETH.—A great variety of shapes have been 
devised, especially in America, where the saw is better understood 
than in any other part of the world. For us, who have to work 
in a backward country like India, it will suffice to note only a few 
of the principal forms. 

If a saw is required to cut in one direction only, the teeth have 
the well-known form approaching more or less nearly that of a 
right-angled triangle. The pitch of the teeth may vary from 80° 

; to 100°, according to the softness of the 

Fig. 27. wood. It is usually high in circular 

Saws on account of their great speed. 

If the quantity of sawdust is large, the 

gullet is enlarged by hollowing out the 

back of the teeth and giving the bottom 

of the gullet a curved outline (Fig. 27). 

Such an outline is an advantage under 

all circumstances, as it prevents any tendency of the blade or 
teeth to crack. 

If the saw has to cut in both directions, the teeth must as- 
sume the form of isosceles triangles, the bottom of the gullet 
being, according to the quantity of dust to be cleared, either 


Rounded gullet, 


84 TOOLS FOR FELLING AND CONVERSION. 


an angle (Fig. 28), or a curve (Fig. 29), or a straight line 
(Fig. 30). 


Fig. 28. Fig. 29. 


ww ANA 


Fig, 30. _ 


AAA, 


A very powerful combination of the two preceding forms, which 
is of American design, is the M tooth (Fig. 31). 


Fig. 31. 


M teeth. 


Sawdust occupies from four to six times the space it did in the 
wood, the proportion being greatest in the case of soft and porous 
woods. The height of the teeth should, therefore, always be con- 
siderably greater than the depth cut through at each movement or 
revolution of the saw, so as to increase the depth of the gullet. 
Hence the softer and looser grained the wood is, the longer will be 
the teeth, Greater capacity can be secured for the gullet also by 
a wider spacing of the teeth, and actually the wideness of the spac- 
ing is determined by the softness and porosity of the wood ; but 
it has been found from experience that the force required to move 
the saw increases with the fewness of the teeth, so that a limit is 


THE SAW. 85 


fixed for the spacing, which ought never to be exceeded. In the case 
of hard woods the necessity of close spacing is further accentuated 
by the fact that each single tooth can do comparatively little work, 
and that consequently the more numerous they are, i.¢., the closer 
the teeth, the more effective is the saw. Hence the superiority of 
M teeth and other similar forms, which increase the number of teeth 
for a given length of blade. 

The angle between the two profiles of a tooth may vary between 
70° and 45°, being about 45° to 50° for very soft woods and 65° 
to 70° for very hard woods. Hence, since we know that the num- 
ber of teeth must increase with the hardness of the wood, saws 
for very hard woods should always have teeth in the form of 


isosceles triangles, and should hence cut when drawn in either 
direction. 


The line passing through the points of the teeth (clearance teeth 
alone obviously excepted) should be an even line; that is to say, 
some teeth should not project beyond others, otherwise the former 
alone will do the work and the cutting power of the saw will 
thereby be diminished. This proviso being satisfied, the length of 
the teeth need not always be the same. There are many woods so 
constituted that in cutting them the saw can be moved only with 
difficulty at the commencement of each cut, and there is much 
splintering and tearing of the wood if the cut is commenced with 
coarse teeth. To obviate this drawback, the size of the teeth is 
gradually increased, so that the finest commence the cut and the 
coarsest finish it, 

The teeth should be filed away on one side to a sharp edge. If 
the saw is to cut in one direction only, the face alone should be so 
filed (see Figs. 26 and 27) ; if in both directions, both profiles of 
the teeth should be sharpened (see Figs. 28, 29, and 30). Alternate 
teeth should have their sharp edges on opposite sides. The Indian 
sawyer nearly always neglects to give the teeth of his saw any 
sharp edge at all, probably in order to diminish wear ; but against 
this diminished wear must be set the much greater loss he suffers 
from the smaller quantity of work he turns out. 

SET OF THE TEETH.—The teeth are given a set in order to enable 
them to clear in the wood a passage wide enough for the blade of 
the saw to pass through without any tendency to buckling. The 
softer or more coarse-fibred or gummy or resinous the wood, the 
stronger must be the set ; but it should be just strong enough to 
serve its purpose, otherwise there is waste of wood due to too thick 


86 TOOLS FOK FELLING AND CONVERBION. 


a kerf, and the teeth get worn away unnecessarily quickly, and the 

surfaces cut are unnecessarily rough. The strongest setting should 

not increase the width of the cutting edge to more than double 

the gauge of the saw. Asa rule, ripping saws require very little 

set, since the two sections, from the wood in the interior being 

moister, bend away outwards and make room for the saw. The set 

should be uniform throughout the length of the saw, for if one tooth 

projects sideways beyond the rest, besides that it will become worn 

much quicker, it will also scratch the wood and produce a rough 

: surface. The set should be the 

Fig. $2. same on both sides, otherwise the 

saw will cutmore freely on the side 

of the stronger setting and have a 

——___—— _ --—tendency to run towards it. The 

Oo: ndian sawyer sets the teeth of his 

saw either by blows or by leverage 

with a hand saw-set (Mig. 32). 

The teeth should be set alternately 

to different sides—a very obvious warning, but one which our saw- 
yers very often neglect. 

In a bent set each tooth can cut on only one side, and generally 
the teeth have a tendency to spring in and are more subject to side 
strains. To obviate these defects the spread set has been devised, 
in which the points of the teeth are flattened out so as to become 
broader than the rest of the blade. This kind of setting is perhaps 
too advanced for introduction into India. 

Ture Biapz.—The gauge of a saw ought to be only just 
sufficient to give it the requisite stiffness. The disadvantages of 
a thick-bladed saw are that it requires more set, is in need of 
more frequent sharpening, is more difficult to file, wastes more 
wood, and, being heavier and cutting a wider kerf, is more fatigu- 
ing to use. If the blade is too thin, the saw is liable to twist 
and make an uneven kerf, the result being buckling. The Indian 
method of filing the teeth, so that they cut when being drawn 
towards the operator, permits of the use of much thinner blades 
than the English method, which makes the saws cut in thrust. 
Saws are sometimes made thickest along the cutting edge and 
become gradually thinner towards the back. This is in order to 
dispense with the necessity of any set at all. 

In order to reduce friction to a minimum, tbe blade should be 
as smooth as possible, and its width should be no more than what 
is required to prevent it from bending in its own plane. The 


~ 


Saw-set. 


TOE SAW. 87 


smoother and more uniform it is, the thinner and narrower a saw 
yon can use. A smooth blade is also less liable to rust. To 
diminish the friction, most saws are made gradually narrower to- 
wards one extremity. Some cross-cut saws are made broadest in 
the middle (fig. 33), not only with a view to minimise friction, 
but also in order, without using too much metal, to place most of 
the weight where it is required. 

When stiffening frames (fig. 36 and 38) are used, both the 
thickness and width of the saw are reduced to a minimum. 

The cutting edge is very often made on a convex curve (Fig. 
33), or with a “ crown” or “breast” (Fig. 34), to adapt it to the 


Fig. 33. 


—— 


Curved Cross-cut Saw, 


Fig. 34. 


Delhi Saw. 


natural rocking motion of the hand and arm. 

A saw should be springy and elastic and at the same time highly 
tempered. A soft saw dulls sooner, drives harder, and does not 
last so long as a hard saw. Nevertheless saws of Indian manu- 
facture are often made of merely tough iron. 

In a straight saw the rake influences the pressure of the saw on 
the wood during the progress of cutting. The rake should there-. 
fore be regulated according to the hardness of the wood to be 
sawn and the height and pitch of the teeth. 


88 TOOLS FOR FELLING AND CONVERSION. 


THE MORE COMMON FORMS OF SAW USED FOR FOREST WORK IN 
Inp1a.—These are the ordinary pit saw (Fig. 35) and the frame 


Fig. 35. 
sin. ; a| 
Mies 
EVRA nip an ay a 
Pit Saw. 


saw (Fig. 36) for longitudinal cutting ; the curved cross-cut (Fig. 


Fig. 36, 
fis, ees, eee 7 
Wedge -— i Li, 
i ba 
ERGey ake ads tapas ee 


Frame Saw for longitudinal cutting. 


33) and straight cross-cut (Fig. 37) saws for felling and logging ; 
the frame cross-cut saw (Fig. 38) for cutting up into billets ; and 


Fig. 37. 


the Delhi saw (Fig. 34) for all three purposes. In the Western 


THE CROSS-CUT SAW. 89 


Himalayas and in the Punjab a straight one-hand saw about 


Fig. 38. 


—aoe 


Frame Cross-cut Saw, 


3 feet long (Fig. 39), like an ordinary ripping saw, is used 

Fig. 39. for logging. It is, how- 

ever, a very ineffective 

Gee ee tool, and when a tree is 

aie ° more than about 23 feet in 

1) diameter, it has first to 

be split down the mid- 

dle with wedges. There 

Rude one-hand Cross-cut Saw. is no reason why the 

American one-man saw 

(Fig. 31) should not be at once introduced as a substitute. It 
works very quickly and cuts both ways. 

The use of the circular saw for conversion in the forest is too 
restricted in this country for a special description of it to be in- 
troduced here. ; 

In logging fallen trees a curved cutting edge offers several 
most important advantages: it suits the natural rocking motion 
of the hands and arms of the men, it requires less force to pull 
the saw (since the teeth come successively into action one by 
one, never several together), the sawdust is never an obstruction 
(since it is at once cleared), the saw can cut down to the very 
bottom of the log without risking the teeth against the ground or 
requiring the log to be raised off the ground, and the operators’ 


hands are always well above the ground and cannot therefore be 
hurt. 


hn 7 
WA MAINA ATA AMAA 


N 


90 TOOL8 FOR FELLING AND CONVERSION. 


In felling also a curved edge is to be preferred, as it causes 
very much less fatigue. 

In longitudinal cutting, a curved saw, besides suiting the natural 
motion of the hands and arms, is easier to pull, cuts deeper at 
each stroke, enables the bottom sawyer to stand or kneel well 
away from the falling sawdust, and can be used to cut with right 
down to the ground. 

In the use of both the curved and the frame saws for longi- 
tudinal cutting the logs have to be raised off the ground only at 
one end, whereas, when the pit saw is employed, owing to its great 
length, the logs have either to be entirely lifted off the ground 
on two high supports or placed on supports resting across a long 
deep pit. The curved Indian saw, owing, no doubt, to its very 
rough manufacture, offers the very serious drawback of leaving a 
very uneven surface. 

How To seLecr saws.—A few general directions will prove 
useful. First of all try the blade by springing it; it should be 
elastic, and stiff enough without being too thick. The thinner you 
can get a stiff saw the better ; also the narrower the better. Next 
see that it bends regularly and evenly from point to heel in propor- 
tion to its width at each. place. In the third place, ascertain that 
the blade is ground smooth by examining it in different lights ; 
the appearance of the surface should remain the same under chang- 
ing lights. Then test the temper by bending one of the teeth with 
a sharp blow ; if the tooth does not break, there is ample proof that 
the teeth will not break in use. Lastly, examine the colour and 
ring. The blade should by preference be of a dark colour, and 
when struck, should give a clear bell-like sound. 

If the saw is a one-hand one, it should be well balanced when 
held in the position for cutting. Moreover, the handle should be 
made of strong, well-seasoned wood, should fit the hand properly, 
and should be firmly attached to the blade. 

How To MEASURE UP SAWING WoRK.—A few words on this point 
are necessary, as it is not uncommon to read, even in printed 
official reports, of the amount of sawing done estimated in so many 
cubic feet! The work done by a saw is evidently the area of 
surface it has cut through—not the sum of the two surfaces, one on 
each side of the kerf, but the single surface, supposing the kerf 
to be a mathematical plane. 

Nevertheless, in paying up sawyers, since slabs and other pieces 
flitched off, although they are taken off by the saw, are not deemed 
to be sawn goods, it is customary to measure up the total surface 


WEDGES, 91 


of what comes under this designation. As a certain considerable 
amount of detailed measurement and calculation are necessary to 
get at this figure, a still simpler plan is pursued when a large quan- 
tity of goods of a single fixed scantling is prepared : the work to be 
paid for is ascertained in running feet. The simplest case of all 
would of course occur when the sawing was paid for by the number 
of pieces in each class of goods turned out. But none of these 
methods of measuring up work gives the real amount of sawing 
work done. 


ARTICLE 4,—WEDGES. 


Wedges may be made entirely of iron (Fig. 40), or of wood and 
iron combined (Jig. 41), or of wood alone (Fig. 42). 


t 
Fig. 40. Fig. 41. Fig. 42. 


Iron wedge. Chisel-wedge. Wooden wedge. 


Iron wedges are unnecessarily heavy and costly, and are there- 
fore seldom used. They require to be driven with heavy wooden 
mallets. 

The: second class of wedges (Fig. 41) is very much more service- 
able ; perhaps the most serviceable of the three. It is on the 
same principle as the ordinary Indian village chisel, the head, 
corresponding to the handle of the chisel, being of some hard, 
compact wood, strengthened with an iron ring round the crown. 
Both this and the next class of wedges are driven with the back of 
a heavy axe. 

Wedges of the third class (Fig. 42) are shaped out of some hard 


92 TOOLS FOR FELLING AND CONVERSION, 


tough wood, the grain running with the length of the wedge. 
In conifer forests they are readily made out of the branchwood. 
If the wedges are carefully made from wood not immediately 
at hand, the head may be protected from splitting with an iron 
ring. 


Agtictt 5.—TooLs FOR DIRECTING THE FALL OF TREES. 


These are strong chains ending at either extremity in a hook at- 
tachable to any of the links, the forest devil, and an apparatus 
which may be termed the thrust pole. 

The chains are used for hauling down trees in a given direction 
when they have been sufficiently cut through. 

The forest devil (Fig. 43) consists of a strong pole about 6 feet 


Fig. 43. 


The Forest Devil. (After Gayer). 


long, to which are fixed the three chains A (of indefinite 
length) and B and B’ (of short length), and ending each in a hook 
that can be hitched on to any link of the free chain C, which is 
attached to the tree to be felled. The chain A is secured to a 
stump or standing tree. As the tree to be felled is pulled and 
sways forward more and more, the hooks at the end respectively of 


TOOLS FOR UPROOTING TREES AND STUMPS, 93 


B and B’ are hitched forward alternately a link or two at a time, 
until the tree is completely pulled over. 
The thrust pole (Fig. 44) consists of (i) a straight stout pole P, 


Fig. 44. 


\ re 
\ fp 


\ 


The Thrust Pole. (After Gayer). 


the upper end of which is armed with a strong iron point ¢, while 
an iron bar bb passes through a hole a few inehes above the lower 
extremity ; (ii) a block B of some hard tough wood, the upper 
surface of which is serrated, and which is prevented from moving 
backwards by the peg p driven into the ground ; and (iii) two 
crowbars or iron levers, ¢, ¢. 


ARTicLH 6.—TooLs FOR UPROOTING TREES AND STUMPS. 


These tools comprise grubbing axes (already described on p. 81), 
grubbing chisels, the forest devil (already described on p. 92), the 
stool-wrench, the thrust pole (see above), and the screw-jack (A in 
Fig. 45). 


94 TOOLS FOR FELLING AND CONVERSION. 


Fig. 45. 


The Screw-Jack. (After Gayer). 


A grubbing chisel is simply a long iron chisel edged with steel 
and used on roots that cannot be reached with a grubbing axe. 

The stool-wrench (Fig. 46) consists of a strong hook h, which 
slides easily on a crowbar, c. 


Fig. 46, 


Sh 


The Stool-Wrench. (After Gayer). 


TOOLS FOR MOVING LOGs, 95 


The screw-jack is well known to every one who has been at a 
railway station. Its employment, as well as that of the thrust- 
pole and stool-wrench, is sufficiently evident from the illustrations. 


ARTICLE 7.—TooLs FOR MOVING LOGS FOR CONVERSION. 


The tools with which we are concerned here are only such as 
serve to move logs over short distances to points in the forest, 
and often even in the coupe itself, where they can be easily con- 
verted. 

Rough tools always ready to hand are small round billets or 
poles on which the logs are rolled and sufficiently strong, short 
poles used as levers, with which they are rolled along. 

A wonderfully convenient and effective tool for rolling logs 
along is what we may term the hook-lever (Fig. 47), an implement 


Fig. 47. 


The Hook-Lever. (After Gayer). 


of German origin, which consists of a hook, similar to that of the 
stool-wrench, sliding on a stout pole that is shod with a two- 
pronged fork. 


96 SEASON FOR FELLING AND OONVERSION. 


Ssction [V.—SEason FOR FELLING AND CONVERSION IN 
THE FOREST. 
(1). Season for felling. 

On the season in which trees are felled depend the technical 
properties of the wood, and even the possibility of carrying out the 
work, for labour may not be available in sufficient quantity and at 
reasonable cost throughout the year, and malaria or heavy rain or 
snow may be a bar to all operations. 

To prevent cracks timber should be allowed to season slowly. 
Hence it should be felled in damp and cool (if possible, even cold) 
weather. Where there is.a true winter, felling in winter also 
preserves the wood from fermentation of the sap, from infection 
by fungus spores, and from the attacks of insects. With regard 
to durability alone, the theoretically best time for felling occurs 
when the trees contain their minimum of reserve materials (see 
page 25, para. 3), that is to say, generally just after the new flush 
of leaves is out. But this season can be observed only when it 
does not coincide with the appearance of new seedlings, which the 
felling and export operations are bound to destroy ; or with the 
season of heavy rains, during which the ground would be soft and 
muddy and the advance growth, if there is any, full of tender and 
easily-injured shoots. It may of course be observed in coupes that 
are to be clear-felled and then re-stocked artificially. For the safety 
of young growth the best time for felling is the season of repose, 
when the plants are least fragile and possess their greatest recu- 
perative power; but on the higher ranges of the Himalayas the 
snow lies too heavy for felling to take place then without risk to 
human life, and, as export must take place during the following 
summer, most of the trees have to be cut in spring, while the seed- 
lings are only just sprouting or coming up from seed. 

As regards firewood, we know that the quicker it dries, the 
better it is; also that it is heavier the more full it is of reserve 
materials. Hence in felling for firewood, the best time of the year, 
provided sylvicultural exigencies do not bar it, is when dry, warm 
weather prevails ; and if this coincides with the season of repose, so 
much the better. The time for felling coppice is limited, by purely 
sylvicultural considerations, to this season, the only exception being 
when bark for tanning is the chief produce sought, in which case 
the felling must be effected during the first three or four weeks of 
the season of vegetation, unless the trees are barked standing, or 
this period falls within the rainy season. In the case of charcoal- 
making, the charcoal-burners must have a sufficiently long spell of 


FELLING, 97 


fairly dry weather in which to complete their work. Cleanings and 
early thinnings, in which the poles are cut as they are selected, must 
of course be effected while the forest is in full leaf. 

The season when alone floating is practicable fixes the period 
within which wood that is to be removed by water must be cut. 
The condition of the market may also exercise a determining in- 
fluence. For instance, purchasers who require a certain class of 
fresh-cut produce may offer themselves only at a certain time of 
the year. 

Lastly, when the trees are to be removed by the roots, the work 
must be undertaken while the soil is still sufficiently moist to be 
easily dug. 

The general conclusion to be drawn from what precedes is that 
the period for felling will always vary with the locality and climate 
and with the purpose to be served ; but, as a general rule, in the 
higher Himalayas, where heavy snow falls and lies, it will com- 
prise the spring and early part of summer, while elsewhere it will 
extend over the cooler portion of the season of rest. 


(2). Season for conversion. 


As a rule, the limited amount of conversion to which wood is 
subjected in the forest is effected pari passu with the felling 
operations, as such an arrangement economises labour and super- 
vision, and every kind of conversion is effected most easily 
while the wood is green. Butit may happen that the time in which 
the coupe must be cleared does not allow of the work being com- 
pleted, and in this case only the roughest kind of conversion is 
permissible before the produce is removed to the nearest special 
conversion depéts. 

When the market requires fresh-cut produce, the date on which 
delivery must be made and the time occupied in export fix rigidly 
the season for the conversion operations. 


Section V.—FELLING. 


In felling a tree we have to keep in view three main objects— 
(1) realisation of the largest outturn in money or produce that it 
can yield, (2) facility, sometimes even possibility, of export, and 
(8) safety of the soil and surrounding forest. 

In order to secure the first object, the timber-yielding portion 
of the tree should be preserved as intact as possible. Hence the bole 
of a heavy tree should not be allowed to fall across a hollow or 
across any projection, such as a ridge, rock, or boulder, or a fallen 

° 


98 FRLEING, 


tree. The bole of a tree will often break across owing simply to 
its strong ample crown striking the ground first. When this 
danger is apprehended, it will be necessary to lop off the larger 
boughs, or even remove the whole or the greater part of the crown. 
Such a proceeding will also cause the tree to fall much lighter. 
A very tall tree, like a deodar, pine, or fir, cannot, under any 
circumstances, be saved from breaking, and the only plan to 
adopt, when it is feasible, is to remove the upper portion of the 
bole in sections from the standing tree. For this purpose ex- 
pert and fearless men, such as can be found in few places in 

; India, must be obtained, and climbing irons 

Fig. 48. used (Fig. 48). 

On a slope, a tree falls through the smallest 
angle, i.e., with least momentum, if felled to- 
wards the hill; but unless the tree is well secur- 
ed, there is danger for the workmen as well as 
for the tree, if the ground is precipitous, from 
the tree slipping down hill. Hence it is best 
to make the tree fall more or less on a hori- 
zontal contour line, so that it may be at once 

Elimbing Iron. (After caught up against the foot of the trees just 
oppe.) : 
below that line. 

The trunk is liable to split along a considerable portion of its 
length if the tree falls before it is cut through. Hence a heavy 
tree, which originally bears down very much on the side on which it 
is to fall, should be held back or propped up until it is cut through, 
or a portion of its crown on that side should be removed. More- 
over, no felling should be done in a high wind, which would, be- 
sides, prevent the woodmen from having any control in directing. 
the fall of the tree in a given quarter. 

The utilizable underground portion of a tree constitutes up to 
one-fourth the gross outturn of the portion above ground, and the 
amount of timber rendered useless or lost by felling the tree above 
ground may run up to from 6 to 10 per cent. of all the timber in 
the tree. To prevent this loss the trees should be felled by the 
roots, whenever the safety of the soil and surrounding vegetation 
and the nature of the soil and locality will permit, and the value of 
the wood thereby saved at least covers the extra expenditure it occa- 
sions. Hven if there is no timber to be saved, this mode of felling is 
to be preferred, for, unless powerful machinery is available, there 
is no work so slow and arduous as grubbing out stumps—a mode 
of utilization that also yields a very large proportion of chips, 
which either have little value or are totally unsaleable. Neverthe- 


GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS, 99 


less, when time is limited, it may be necessary to fell above ground 
and then extract the stumps at leisure. 

The removal of the underground stock has, from a sylvicultural 
point of view, the advantage that it thoroughly loosens the soil and 
thus favours the germination of seeds and the establishment and 
growth of seedlings. On the other hand, such loosening of the soil 
is dangerous on sloping ground or ground that is subject to inun- 
dation, while in sandy or otherwise dry and barren land it deprives 


the soil of so much manurial matter, and renders it too freely 
permeable to water. 


If a large tree has to be exported in the log, it should not be 
allowed to fall or roll into a ravine or other hollow, from which its 
extraction would be impossible or extremely laborious and expen- 
sive. 

To restrict, as much as possible, the damage to surrounding forest 
inevitable in all felling operations, the fall of every tree should be 
so directed that the tree may fall inside a gap between surround- 
ing trees, or over a spot where there is least reproduction. In 
the midst of a close forest or abundant young growth the crown 
must be reduced, or may have to be altogether removed, parti- 
cularly if the tree is very tall, as it is the portions farthest from 
the ground which acquire the greatest momentum, and therefore 
do most damage. In felling over dense very young growth, as in 
the case of after-fellings or in jardinage coupes, the seedlings should 
first be carefully bent away to either side, so as to form a narrow 
lane into which the tree may fall. 

If, in spite of every precaution, a tree falls upon another so 
that its crown gets entangled in that of the latter and cannot be 
disengaged by merely trying to pull it away, then either a log or 
two must be cut off from the bottom, or, that expedient failing, one 
or more branches of the standing tree must be sacrificed. 

As arule, the amount of felled material lying on the coupe at any 
time should not exceed what may be cut up and removed within 
the next two or three days. Hence conversion should progress 
pari passu with the felling operations. 

All large coupes should be divided into sections small enough to 
be worked by a single gang, and in each section the work must 
begin at one end and progress successively to the other end. On 
a slope the boundary lines between the sections should run 
straight up and down hill, and each section should run down the 
entire length of the slope, so that no gang may endanger another 
by felling above it. Small drainage basins or separate sides of a 
larger one constitute the most convenient sections. In each section 


100 FELLING. 


work must begin at the highest point, so that all the trees in the 
portions not yet operated in may aid in preventing the trees felled 
above them from slipping or rolling down. In clear fellings on 
level ground, as, for instance, in coppice coupes, the trees should 
be made to fall in the direction opposite to that in which the work 
is progressing, so that every portion of the area in which the 
fellings are still to be made may be quite clear of fallen material. 
Where a constant wind blows, the work should begin on the edge 
of each section and progress against the wind. 

Trees may be felled either with some chopping instrument alone, 
or with the saw alone, or with a chopping tool and the saw com- 
bined. Stems cut back for coppice will not admit of the use of a 
saw, which would leave a spongy absorbent surface that would 
afterwards have -to be smoothed with an axe or adze at great 
additional expense. 


The different modes of felling will now be sketched in broad 
lines. 


ARTICLE 1.—FELLING ABOVE GROUND. 


(1). Felling with chopping tools alone. 


Nothing special need be said here regarding the cutting down 

of saplings, except that when they are expected to coppice, their 

-base should be supported with a stout piece of hard, knotty wood, 

in order to prevent the roots from being injured by the shock of 
the felling axe or bill. 

In cutting back small poles, the fall of which, owing to their 
lightness, is easily directed, it is usually found convenient to cut 
all round the stem, thus giving the butt of the detached pole the 
form of an inverted cone. 

In the case of larger stems, the fall of which it is important or 
absolutely necessary to direct, a horizontal cut should first be 
made on the side on which the tree should fall and extending to a 
little beyond half the diameter. This depth of cut is needed to 
prevent the bole, when the tree is beginning to fall, from splitting 
along the whole or some portion of its length—an accident of 
frequent occurrence with unskilful workmen. Another advan- 
tage gained is that if the tree is perfectly symmetrical, the ver- 
tical through its centre of gravity falls inside the cut, and the 
weight alone of tho tree then bears it down on the side on which it 
has to fall. Even when the tree is over-developed on the opposite 
side, the deep cut helps it to be pushed or pulled over more easily 
in the required direction. The second cut should be made exactly 


FELLING ABOVE GROUND. 101 


on the opposite side and almost meet the first. The operation 
is then completed by deepening this latter until the tree falls. 
The second cut may be made on the same level as the first one, so 
that the stump of the tree is given a perfectly horizontal section. 
This mode of cutting is indispensable in felling for coppice, in 
which case the stool is still further dressed into the form of a flat 
dome by sloping off the edge all round (Fig. 49). In all other 
cases there is very great advantage in 
beginning the second cut from 6 to 10 
inches higher up, according to the size of 
the tree, as all risk of the bole splitting 
upwards is thereby avoided, and the tree is 
much more easily forced to lean over to 
the side on which it is desired to make 
it fall. To still better secure this latter object, the second cut 
should be made slightly sloping downwards, as represented in 
the illustration below. Into such a cut wedges are easily 
driven in to force the tree to lean over to the opposite side. If 
the cut is wide, a billet of wood must be placed in it crosswise 
before the wedges can be inserted. The tree will fall only when 
the point y comes exactly over the point x, the fibres merely 
separating along ay. 

Fig. 50. In making any cut, the wood- 
man should never, until it is com- 
plete, allow its two surfaces to meet 
at a sharp angle, as otherwise the 
natural tendency of the axe to work 
downwards, instead of parallel to the 
upper surface, will make his work 
very difficult each time he tries to 
widen the cut at the top. 

Trees exceeding 18 inches in dia- 
meter are often best felled by seve- 
ral men together. Men working 
on opposite sides should cut with 
different hands, otherwise the cuts 
will not be parallel, but form the letter 2. 

In making the two cuts necessary to fell a tree, a very large 
quantity of wood falls off in chips, while the wedge in which the 
butt-end of the felled tree terminates is of little or no use as timber. 
The quantity of wood thus lost is said by Boppe to be approxi- 
mately as follows, according to the size of the tree :— 


Fig, 49. 


Dome-shaped stool. 


) 


SN) 


=h 


Mode of felling a large treé. 


102 FELLING ABOVE GROUND. 


Diameter at base, Depth of cut, Wastage, in, 
in inches, in inches, cubic feet. 

12 10 05 

16 12 14 

20 14 2°5 

24 16 4:2 
28—382 18—20 64—- 8:8 
36—40 20—22 11:8—16-0 


Felling with the axe alone is thus a very wasteful method, and 
should be confined to stems having a diameter at the base of not 
more than 12 inches. Where timber is very valuable, the maxi- 
mum diameter may be reduced to even 6 inches. One great 
advantage of the axe is that with stems up to 12 inches or so in 
diameter it works much more expeditiously than any other hand 
tool. 


(2). Felling with the saw alone. 


The saw is made to cut continuously on one side (opposite to 
that on which the tree is to fall) until the stem is nearly cut 
through. To prevent the saw from jamming, as well as to gradually 
force the tree over, two or more strong wedges are driven into the 
cut behind the saw. To facilitate this operation, if necessary, the 
tree may be pushed or pulled over with the usual tools. As the 
single cut extends almost to the bark on the opposite side, unless 
the wedges are driven in skilfully, the tree is likely to fall in 
almost any direction within an angle of nearly 180°. 

The amount of kerf is so small, that for all practical purposes 
there is absolutely no waste of wood with thesaw. The saw should 
be used in felling all trees exceeding, according to the value of the 
timber, from 6 to 12 inches in diameter. 

It is allowable to use the axe in order to round off buttresses 
and other irregularities. 


(3). Felling with the saw and axe combined. 


In this case a first cut is made with an axe on the side on which 
the tree is required to fall. This cut extends into the stem for 
only a fourth or fifth of its diameter, and its object is simply to 
make the work of the saw easier and to secure with certainty the 
fall of the stem in the exact direction desired. The saw-cut is 
made and opened out in the same way as when the saw alone is 
used. 


FELLING BY THE ROOTS. 103 


ARTICLE 2.—FELLING BY THE ROOTS. 


All the main roots are laid bare with the help of picks, the 
smaller roots that come in the way being cut through with grub- 
bing axes. The former are then severed with the axe or a curved 
saw, whichever is more convenient, those being cut last which 
auchor the tree on the side opposite to that on which it is to fall. 

If the tree has no tap root or any other large roots penetrating 
into the ground more or less vertically, the procedure is very simple. 
All the main roots are laid completely bare up to the point at which 
they cease to have useful dimensions. In doing this, the second- 
ary and other subordinate roots are cut through and removed with 
grubbing axes. The upper main roots, which are also the largest, 
are first severed close to the trunk with axes or a short curved saw, 
and then cut through at the further end and torn up with grub- 
bing axes and wooden levers (poles of some hard, strong wood, from 
6 to 10 feet long and cut into the form of a wedge at the thick end). 
The lower roots, on the contrary, are severed first where they are 
thinnest, as they are then more easily lifted up and broken off. The 
roots on the side opposite to that on which the tree is to fall should 
be cut last, and from the beginning the tree should, with the aid 
of a hook and chain or the thrust-pole, be forced gradually to lean 
over until the enormous leverage exercised by its crown brings it 
down, tearing asunder all the smaller roots that are still holding 
it. These roots cause the tree to fall slowly, and therefore with 
much less momentum, than if it were felled above ground, and 
hence, in this system of felling, there is less occasion for reducing 
the crown. 

If the tree has a tap root or other roots running down more or 
less vertically, the upper roots are cut and removed as in the 
preceding ease. When there is only a tap root, this should be cut 
into obliquely on two opposite sides, the cut on the side opposite 
to that on which the tree is to fall being deeper and the one by 
which the felling is completed. To help in deepening this cut 
as well as in bringing down the tree, a number of men should tug 
away at the tree in the direction in which it is to fall. By alter- 
nately pulling and giving, and causing the crown to sway forwards 
and backwards, greater effect is secured, and to prevent the trunk 
from swaying back too far, poles, thrust under it on that side, should 
be pushed in further and further as the tree bends forward more 
and more. In the case of several vertical roots, they must be cut 
through one by one, the most easily reached being attacked first, 
and the last being cut in the same manner as the single tap root- 


104 CONVERSION, 


When a screw-jack is available, trees with only large horizontal 
roots may be felled in the manner shown in Pig. 45. 


ARTICLE 8.—GRUBBING OUT OF STUMPS. 


The same procedure may be adopted here as in felling a tree, 
except that the enormous leverage of the crown and trunk is now 
entirely absent, and practically all the roots must be completely cut 
through. For the leverage of the upper portion of the tree must 
be substituted the action of the forest devil (Fig. 43), or of the 
stool-wrench (Fig. 46), or of the screw-jack (Fig. 45), or of wind- 
lasses, derricks, or winches. 

Another way is to split and chip up the stump, converting it at 
once into firewood ; but owing to the knottiness and crossing of 
fibres which characterise this portion of most trees, especially of 
broad-leaved species, this mode of extraction is generally extremely 
slow and can be adopted only very exceptionally. 

Lastly, blasting powder or dynamite may be used. The blast- 
hole is made with a strong gimlet. It is best to bore it down- 
wards through the centre of the stump; but in case of rotten- 
ness there, it should be bored sideways along a radius. In blast- 
ing with powder, the charge will be from 2 to 5 ounces, ac- 
cording to the size and nature of the stump, and the tamping 
should be done with clay or stiff loam. In the case of dynamite 
the charge will vary from 1 to 5 ounces, from 2 to 8 ounces suffic- 
ing, according to Gayer, for a stump from 20 to 28 inches in dia- 
meter. The stick of dynamite is put into the hole and rammed in 
tight with a wooden rod. Above this, in close contact, is placed the 
detonator containing the cap, to which the fuse is securely fixed. 
The rest of the blast hole is filled with clay or loam or fine sand. 
The fuse is fired with a burning piece of tinder placed in contact. 
When powder is used, the effect is often merely to rend the stool 
asunder, whereas the very much more powerful dynamite usually 
blows it up into numerous small fragments. 


Szection VI.—ConveERsIon. 


It will be most convenient to take up separately (1) the rough 
and ready conversion, such as can be effected by any gang of wood- 
men and which all felled material must undergo before it can be 
removed from the coupe, and (2) conversion into sawn goods. 
The manufacture of staves has already been described (pp. 57-58), 
and references have been made in various places to the preparation 
of felloes, sleepers, and some other classes of manufactured goods, 
which may be wrought in the forest. 


ROUGH CONVERSION. 105 
ArtIioLteE I1.—RovaH Conversion. 


In every felling a certain amount of conversion is iridigpensable, 
primarily in order to reduce the produce to exportable dimensions, 
and secondarily to reduce the cost of export (for it is waste of 
money to carry out material that serves no purpose at all and has 
ultimately to be got rid of), and to render the produce readily sale- 
able at the highest prices it can command. Hence the mode and 
extent of conversion in any case in question will depend on the pur- 
poses which the unmanufactured produce can be made to serve, on 
the demand and prevailing prices, and on the accessibility of the for- 
est to the centres of consumption. The more valuable the timber is 
and the larger the demand for it, the more carefully and the more 
extensively must the felled material be converted. The question of 
conversion is, therefore, of the highest importance in the working 
of a forest, and requires on the part of the management an inti- 
mate knowledge of prevailing sylvicultural and economical condi- 
tions and frequently no little skill. 

The procedure to follow in effecting rough conversion will be best 
stated in the form of briefly-worded rules, thus :— 

I.—When practicable, the saw should be used, in order both to 
save material and to avoid, as much as possible, encumbering the 
soil with chips of wood. On steep ground, and where the trees lie 
all in a heap one over another, the use of the axe on a very large 
scale cannot be helped. 

II.—The first thing to do, after a tree has been felled, is to trim 
off all branches and conspicuous projections. While this is being 
done, a number of men should work at the detached branches, the 
portions fit for timber being separated and trimmed like the trunk, 
and the rest cut and split up into firewood. 

TII.—Now cut up the trunk ; if necessary, removing from it 
what is fit only for fuel. 

IV.—The timber portions should be kept as long as possible, 
in order to furnish the largest kinds of timber, while still being 
capable of being cut up into smaller goods. Division is necessary 
only when definite lengths of log are required (as when sleepers are 
to be sawn), or when the nature of the ground and communications 
place a bar on the export of logs above a certain size, or when the 
lower part has obviously a different utility from the upper. 

V.—Timber must be presented to the purchaser in its most 
attractive aspect, and at least in such a form as will enable him to 

judge readily and with certainty of its quality and its suitability 
for his purpose. In round or roughly dressed timber, all burrs, 
P 


106 ROUGH CONVERSION. 


prominent knots, and other excrescences, &c., should be cut through 
and exposed ; when straight pieces are required, all irregularities 
should be adzed off. 

VI.—The bark may be removed by beating it with the back of 
an axe or with a special tool (Fig. 51), which is also useful when 


Fig. 51. 


Tools for stripping the bark off logs. (After Gayer). 


the bark has to be taken off only along certain lines, as described on 
page 23. The immediate removal of bark is a great protection 
against insects ; but, on the other hand, in hot dry weather it leads 
to too rapid drying, and consequently to extensive splitting and 
cracking, unless the timber is worked up within a few weeks, or 
sometimes even days. Teak poles have, however, been known to 
remain free from insects throughout an entire rainy season if fully 
exposed to the rain, and then the dry bark has readily come off 
like a loose jacket, giving no chance to insects. 

VII.—If the logs are to be carried over long distances by land 
before being sawn up, it will generally be found advantageous to 
rough-square them (convert them into balks). The procedure is 
as follows :—Having fixed the log firmly and in a convenient 
position for work and for obtaining from it the largest balk it can 
yield, the workman traces on the section at the thicker end, with 
the aid of a plummet and line and a carpenter’s square, the lines 
of the four faces to be hewn (Fig. 52), Then, with a cord steeped 


Fig. 52. 


Mode of rough-squaring logs. 


in water in which pounded charcoal or red hematite has been 


ROUGH CONVERSION. 107 


mixed, he marks along the entire length of the log the lines aa 
and bb, which should follow as nearly as possible the outline of the 
log, and be as nearly parallel to one another as the taper and shape 
of the log will allow. This being done, he proceeds to hew with 
an axe the two vertical faces. But to enable him to work quickly 
and with accuracy, he begins by making at short intervals a num- 
ber of guide cross-cuts 7, Y, Z...+6. , the lines forming the bottom 
of which are vertical, so that all he has to do afterwards is to 
tlitch off the portions between the cuts. It is always more con- 
venient to stand upon the log while axing it, but not unfrequently 
our Indian wood-cutters stand on the ground next to the face 
which they are engaged in dressing. The remaining two faces 
are dressed in the same way, after changing the position of the 
log. 

VIII.—Rough timber is adzed with the aid of the eye alone, 
the eight several faces, in order to diminish waste as much as possi- 
ble, following closely the general outline of the log. 

IX.—In preparing sided timber the workmen, after fixing the 
log firmly, must split it open along the vertical diameter of the 
lower section. The split must then be extended along the length 
of the log by constantly driving in a new wedge in front of the 
one last inserted and gradually forcing them home. No little 
skill is required to make the split follow more or less the same 
diametral plane from the beginning. The two halves are then 
dressed with the axe. 

X.—Tors of heartwood alone are dressed with the axe. No 
guiding lines are traced, and the workman follows mainly the run 
of the heartwood, of which he endeavours to leave as much as pos- 
sible, even at the sacrifice of straightness and regularity of shape, 
if the heartwood forms an irregular figure. 

XI.—Firewood naturally divides itself into three broad classes, 
according as it consists of sections split from thick stuff or of un- 
split billets or of small branchwood and the small stuff obtained by 
splitting up stumps and roots. These three classes should be sepa- 
rated at once as the tree is cut up. The rounds and thick billets 
from which the first class is obtained are taken off by sawing, and 
in India are usually from 2 to 3 feet long. The rounds are stood 
up on end, and a first split is made with axes driven in at two or 
three points along a diameter. When the split has been opened 
enough, before the axe is drawn out, wedges are inserted, 2, 3, or 4, 
according to the size and fissility of the round. These wedges are 
then driven home. It is advisable to have two men to each round, 
working opposite one another. If the halves thus obtained are too 


108 ROUGH CONVEKSION. 


large, they are further divided into quarters, and so on. Some- 
times the billets to be split are too thin to stand up. In that case 
they must be laid lengthwise on the ground, with one end raised 
on a small billet, the splitting being begun at this end. The third 
class of firewood is too small to be conveniently moved without 
being tied up into bundles, whence the name of faggot-wood usual- 
ly given to it. Small branches and branchlets are quickly formed 
into faggots by fixing four uprights firmly in the ground in pairs, 
the interval between the two pairs being equal to the diameter of 
the required faggot. The sticks are arranged between the pairs 
across one or more withies laid on the ground. When enough of 
sticks have been put on, the workman presses them down with one 
foot, while he binds up the withies. (zx taking his foot off, the ex- 
pansive force of the pieces now released from pressure fixes firmly 
the twisted free ends of the withies. Perhaps a more convenient 
and time-saving apparatus is that shown in Fig. 53. The lever J, 


Fig. 53. 


Faggot-binder’s Press. 


the lower end of which rests up against the bar b, is drawn towards 
the operator and hitched into the hook A, thus tightening the chain 
over the bundle of sticks. The withy can now be tied up and the 
pressure on the faggot released by unhitching the lever. The length 
of the chain, which can be varied, regulates exactly the size of the 
faggot. 

XII.—In the midst of abundant reproduction, as in seed and 
after-fellings and in jardinage coupes, and also in thinnings in a 
young forest, the less the amount of conversion effected on the 
coupe, the better for the safety of the standing stock. Hence all 
pieces that can be easily carried, such as poles, rounds, &c., should 


FURTHER CONVERSION WITH THE SAW. 109 


be taken out at once to the nearest roadside or large blank and 
cut up there. The same thing must be done in coppice coupes, 
when the time, before the new re-growth makes its appearance, is 
very limited. So also in the case of transport by water ; the pieces 
should be taken out as long as possible and cut up only on arrival 
at destination. 


ARTICLE 2.--FURTHER CONVERSION OF TIMBER WITH THE Saw. 


No reference will be made here to sawing by machinery, which 
is of too exceptional a character in India. 

The first thing to do is to rough-square the logs in order to be 
able to fix them firmly enough for sawing. The amount of squar- 
ing required is of the very slightest, and may often be reduced to 
merely dressing one side flat enough to lie evenly on the trestles. 
When the contrivance represented in Fig. 54 is used to support 


Fig. 54. 


Delhi Sawyer’s triangular trestle. 


the log, it will suffice to trim off only all prominent irregulari- 
ties. 

Next, the lines along which the saw must cut should be marked 
with a string in the same way as for rough-squaring. The section 


110 CONVERSION OF TIMRER WITH THE 8AW,. 


of every scantling to be cut should be accurately traced on both 
ends of thelog. The first set of lines at both ends should be drawn 
vertically with the aid of a plummet ; the rest will, in nearly every 
case, run at right angles to these, and can then be ruled with the 
help of a carpenter’s square. Before beginning any cut, the plane 
along which it is to run should be accurately indicated by joining 
the extremities of the corresponding lines traced at the two ends. 
Tn order to save time, as many such lines as possible should be 
marked off all at once. The slabs flitched off by the first cuts may 
often be thick enough to yield small scantlings. 

The wood at the centre of a log is, as a rule, specially liable to 
decompose quickly and to warp and split. Hence this part should 
be removed if the sawn goods are to be used for any important 
purpose. 

Speaking in a general manner, the saw-cuts may follow a radius 
ora tangent. In the first case, the entire width of the medullary 
rays, the silver grain, is made visible (whence the designation for this 
mode of sawing of “sawing with the silver grain”), and the layers 
of concentric growth run through the piece at right angles to the 
surface of section (Fig.55-A). The medullary plates, being lustrous 


Fig. 55. 


A B 


Eee ee y 
eagainikereaeere if E_SPIII 


Sawing (A) with, and (B) across, the Silver Grain. 


and harder than the wood fibres, contribute very greatly both to 
the beauty and lasting quality of the surface, while the uniform 
disposition of the concentric layers prevents, or at least minimises, 
any tendency to warp. On the other hand, a tangential section 
(Fig. 55-B) exposes principally the softer fibrous tissue, and the 
irregular distribution of the concentric layers exaggerates the ten- 
dency to warp in the direction of the concavity of these layers, and 
the medullary plates are invisible, except when they are extraordi- 
narily thick, as in oaks. Actually the sections are seldom perfectly - 
radial or tangential, but approach more or less one or the other of 
these two directions. For pieces in which beauty is a requisite, or 
for surfaces which, like floors, are subject to much wear and tear, 
sawing with the silver grain is essential. 


CONVERSION OF TIMBER WITH THE SAW. 111 


Fig. 56 exhibits several modes of sawing with the silver-grain. 
Fig. 56. 


NU 


Tah 

nl 

x am 

4 

Tb Soa 
Fat el poe “i+ Tay 
aie 1 IBy, 
1 


Several methods of sawing with the Silver Grain. 


Methods A and B are practically the same, except that the latter 
gives more broad planks, although at a slight sacrifice of quality in 
respect of those taken from the outside of each section. In method 
C there is less waste of wood than in either A or /3, and the pieces 
taken from the middle, where the silver grain is best exposed, can 
be of specially large dimensions. In each quadrant the planks can 
be taken off alternately one from each side, or alternately two and 
two, or three and three, or irregularly if the log is strongly elliptic- 
al. All three patterns, A, B, and C, possess this capital defect, 
that the widths of the planks cut are very different. This defect 
is, however, avoided in pattern D. In patterns A and B the wood 
of the centre of the logs, which is always of doubtful quality, is 
necessarily removed in squaring the inside edge of the planks. In 
patterns C and D the centre of the log has to be specially cut out. 
Besides that most of the methods of sawing with the silver grain 
yield planks of very various widths, the width of the widest planks 
is not even equal to the radius of the log. Hence, except for very 
special purposes, it is not usual to saw with the silver grain, and it 


112 CONVERSION OF TIMBER WITH THE SAW. 


is preferable to adopt a mixed style of sawing, which will always 

give a certain proportion of goods showing the silver grain. 
Two very frequently used methods of mixed sawing adopted for 
cutting out planks and boards are those represented in Fig. 57, A 
“and B. A gives pieces of different widths, B pieces mostly of one 
A Fig. 57. 


an in ——— 


) Z =4 


NU Y a 


be = 


SOU Li 
Ordinary methods of mixed sawing. 


and the same width. The irregular edges of the planks taken off 
in A and from the side slabs in B can be sawn square with a single 
cut by placing several planks together one over another. 

When pieces of different scantlings are in demand, it is best to 
obtain from each log as many of the highest-priced classes as pos- 
sible. These should, therefore, be traced first of all on the ends of 
the logs, the remaining space being filled up as completely as possible 
with traces for inferior scantlings. In this way alone can the 
largest money-return be obtained from a given log and the wast- 
age in sawing reduced to a minimum. Under the most favourable 
circumstances the wastage, resulting both from sawdust and from 
pieces that cannot be utilized, except as firewood, is never less than 
22 per cent. if there is no objection to sapwood, or 33 per cent. if 
only heartwood is allowed. When only a single class of thick 
stuff is demanded, such as railway sleepers, the loss, even in cutting 
up perfectly sound logs, attains half the volume of the log. 

When pit-saws are used, owing to their great length (8 feet), 
unless the logs themselves are long, these latter must be supported 
several feet off the ground across a pair of strong parallel trestles 
firmly fixed in the ground. With shorter saws it will suffice to 
raise only one end of the log by resting it on a single trestle, or, 
if the log is long enough, even across another log laid horizontally. 
The most convenient support for logs that are not too heavy is the 
triangular trestle so often used in the plains of Northern India 


CLEARING THE COUPE OF PRODUCE. 113 


(Fig. 54). When only one end of the log is raised off the ground, 
the oblique position of the log makes the footing of the top-sawyer 
unsafe. To remedy this, a slab, one face of which is cut into teeth 
having the section of a right angle, is placed upon the sloping log 
with the smooth face downwards. 

Section VII.—Cuizarine tHe Cours. 

The produce may be removed either by rolling or dragging, or 
carrying on men’s shoulders, or on wheels, or by sliding or sledging, 
or by letting it shoot down inclined ground or along a specially 
made channel. More than one of these methods may be employed 
together, and in choosing the method or methods to adopt, the objects 
to keep in view are economy and the safety of the forest and soil, 
as well as of the produce itself. The method to employ will also 
depend on the amount and price of labour available, the cost of 
cattle, and on the nature of the ground. 

In clearing a coupe the different classes of produce must through- 
out be carefully kept separate, and it is always advisable to get the 
same gang to take out the produce, which cut and converted it. 

Rolling can be adopted only on ground that bears no reproduc- 
tion, and is at the same time fairly clear of trees, rocks, and other 
obstructions. If the ground slopes a little, so much the better. 
On steep ground logs can be rolled only in unfrequented localities, 
on account of the extreme danger to human life resulting. Rolling 
is a very easy mode of moving logs, being effected with ordinary 
poles cut to a wedge shape at the lower end, or, better still, with 
the lever and hook represented in Fig. 47. Trained elephants do 
the work very effectively and expeditiously on level ground. 

Dragging may be effected either with human power or with. 
draught cattle, according to the size of the piece or collection of 
pieces to be dragged. In the latter case a chain is fastened round 
the log and its ends attached to the yoke or traces, as the case may 
be. To save the trouble of fastening the chain to the log and then 
unfastening it, the contrivance shown in Fig. 58 may be used, two 

Fig. 58. 


Dragging Grappling-Hook. (After Gayer). 


114 CLEARING THY COUPE OF PRODUCE. 


holes being scooped in each side of the log to receive the end of the 
hooks h,A. The log is firmly held by the hooks in proportion to the 
tension of the draught. Simple levers have nearly always to be used 
to control the moving log or to lift the forward end off obstacles. 

Pieces weighing up to 800 and even 1,000 pounds may be car- 
ried out on men’s shoulders, if the lead is short. 

Carts and barrows should be used only when the lead is long ; 
otherwise the labour and time spent in loading and unloading cease 
to make this mode of transport an economical one. Large logs 
are always much more cheaply dragged, especially if they are sus- 
pended, more or less by the middle, from the axle of a pair of high 
wheels. The hind end should slightly over-balance, but not to such 
an extent as to prevent one or two men from holding it off the 
ground, if necessary. If the axle-tree consists of wood, the ends 
may be made like a capstan head, to enable the log to be easily 
raised off the ground. The use of wheeled conveyance is of course 
limited to level even ground. 

Only large logs may be taken out by sliding. On more or less 
level ground sliding is similar to dragging, except that the logs 
must be moved entirely on rollers. A simple device is to use two or 
three strong portable frames carrying well-turned rollers. As the 
log is slid off the hindmost frame, this latter is carried forward and 
placed in front of the advancing log. On slopes the logs may be 
pushed forward with levers. Ifthe depédt to which the logs have 
at once to be taken is some distance off, and the quantity of timber 
to be moved is large and concentrated within a limited area, a 
special sliding road may be made. 

In this last case, if the pieces to be moved are small, a sledge 
road may be made instead of a slide, and a rough continuation of 
the road may be readily laid down (and as readily taken up) along 
successive lines of the coupe as the area is progressively cleared. 

On very steep gradients the produce may be allowed to slide 
down of its own weight. No difficulty presents itself when the pro- 
duce is to be collected at the bottom of the slope, except that the 
pieces may break and lose in value as timber. If the produce has 
to be arrested above the bottom of the valley, special works must be 
built up for the purpose. A channel or shoot, constructed of wood, 
may be used for the rapid transport of billets, for which class of 
produce this mode of moving is peculiarly well adapted. 


Section VIII.—Srasonrnc AND STACKING IN THE FOREST. 


Until the produce removed from the coupe is finally disposed of, 


SEASONING AND STACKING OF TIMBER. 115 


it must be stacked so as to season properly, without becoming 
full of cracks and shakes and without being exposed to decompose 
or be attacked by insects or fungi. In the case of pieces not more 
than a few inches thick, judicious packing prevents them from 
bending or warping, and helps to straighten those which are 
originally crooked. 

In whatever way the wood is kept, the stacks or groups should 
be all of the same dimensions or contain the same number of pieces. 
There is no other way of keeping a correct and ready account of the 
produce. 


1. Seasoning and stacking of large unsawn timber. 


Such timber should of course be allowed to dry slowly and evenly. 
It should, therefore, be kept under shade if possible, but air should 
be allowed to play freely round each piece, especially if the season 
and the ground be damp. The pieces should hence be kept off the 
ground by skidding, unless they are to be removed again almost 
at once, in which case no stacking is necessary, the logs being 
simply placed together side by side in equal groups with the 
thicker énds all directed one way. 

If the timber is to be kept for months, it should be carefully 
stacked as follows :—The lowest tier should be raised at least a 
foot off the ground and contain the largest and heaviest pieces, and 
there should be skidding of some inches under each one of the 
other tiers, the skidding being in every case perfectly level. The 
logs in each stack should have their butt ends all on one and 
the same side. Although free ventilation is necessary, a con- 
tinuous current of air, especially of hot, dry air, should be kept 
out, and hence, where steady winds prevail, a screen of thatch 
should be erected on the windward side of each stack. 

If it is necessary to take outa log here and a log there, it should 
be possible to do this without breaking up the stack. For this 
purpose, the smaller ends of all the logs should be kept slightly 
higher than the butts with small blocks of wood, and under the 
skidding over each tier should be packed similar blocks of wood 
from 14 to 2 inches thick. By pushing away this packing, any 
log between two layers of skidding may be withdrawn without 
disturbing the remainder. 


2. Seasoning and stacking of sawn material. 


Thick stuff must always be put up in stacks without delay, in 
order to prevent them from drying too fast. When the pieces are 


116 SEASONING AND STACKING OF POLES AND POSTS, 


not broad, the tiers may be laid directly one over another, the lowest 
tier alone being skidded perfectly level off the ground. In this 
case, the pieces in two successive tiers will cross one another at 
right angles. An inch or two of space should be left between 
every two pieces in each tier. If individual pieces are likely to 
be required from time to time, it should be possible to take them 
out without breaking up the stack, and then small blocks should 
be placed under each piece; as soon as these blocks are pushed 
away, the piece which was resting on them can be at once drawn 
out. If the pieces are wide, each tier should be blocked below by 
laths from 1 to 3 inches thick and 3 to 4 inches broad. In every 
case, the last tier should be sheltered from sun, rain, and wind with 
a covering of thatch or inferior slabs of wood. 

Thin deals, boards, and battens are extremely liable to warp 
strongly almost as soon as they have been sawn. They should be 
stacked without delay and kept as close together as possible until 
they are fairly dry, when they should be stacked like broad thick 
stuff. The last tier should be well weighted to prevent warping 
and sheltered in the usual way. Even if the timber is to be re- 
moved almost immediately, it should be stacked close together, as 
without the most careful and unremitting precautions a very large 
proportion of newly sawn stuff will be rendered useless or at least 
have its value considerably lessened by cracks and warping. 


3. , Stacking and seasoning of poles and posts. 


While they are still green, poles should be piled up horizontally 
in stacks between pairs of vertical posts fixed firmly in the ground, 
and they should be well weighted on the top, in order to straighten 
those which are crooked and to prevent straight ones from becom- 
ing crooked in drying. Ifthe stacks are not to be disturbed for some 
time, a few cross pieces should be laid under them on the ground 
as skidding. 

A common method adopted in many parts of India is to stand 
up the poles close together round the trunk of a tree, the thick end 
being on the ground. Placed thus, the poles are freely exposed to 
air and their upright position causes the sap to run down. More- 
over, the crown of the supporting tree shelters the thin ends. Ob- 
viously only straight poles should be so stacked. 

Posts may be stacked according to either of the two methods 
just described, but the second is preferable, as, even if they are 
crooked, they are not capable of being straightened under ordinary 
pressure, and straight ones cannot become appreciably crooked. 


SEASONING AND STACKING OF FIREWOOD. 117 


4. Stacking of firewood. 
Fig. 59 explains at once how to stack firewood. In A the pieces 


Fig. 59. 
ze “ B 
\ ANN WAN Rs ANG 


YS 


» 


we ON PAN 


Methods of stacking firewood, (After Gayer).: 


are in direct contact with the soil; in B they rest on billets laid 
crosswise on the ground ; while in C the whole stack is completely 
raised off the ground and there is free play of air underneath. In 
every stack the pieces should be all of the same length and belong 
to the same category of firewood. The height of a stack should be 
uniform throughout, and should be such a figure that the height 
multiplied by the breadth should give a constant whole number—if 
possible, the number 10,—so that we have to measure only the length 
of a stack to know at once its contents. As the wood is bound to 
shrink considerably, causing the stack to settle down and its breadth 
to diminish, it is usual to allow the product to slightly exceed the 


118 SEASONING AND STACKING OF FIREWOOD. 


figure really required ; but in finding out contents it is always best 
to use this latter figure. On slopes a horizontal terrace is easily 
prepared for the site of a stack. To prevent the uprights, which 
support the stack, from being thrust away outwards, each of them 
may be strutted, or a strip of strong fibrous bark or a long withy 
may be put round each upright, as shown at w in Fig. 58, B, and 
kept in place by the weight of the wood lying on its united free 
ends. If necessary, two such ties or straps may be put round each 
upright. It is needless to say that the firewood pieces should be 
packed together as closely as possible. 


DISPOSAL AND SALE OF WOOD IN THE FOREST. 119 


CHAPTER IV.—DISPOSAL AND SALE OF WOOD IN 
THE FOREST. 


Tae question of supplying right-holders with the wood to which 
they are entitled belongs to the province of forest law, to which 
the student must refer for information. Here we shall concern 
ourselves only with wood to be disposed of by sale. : 

The conditions under which the sale of wood may be effected are 
infinite, and would require a large volume to be adequately dealt 
with. For our purpose it is necessary only to describe very briefly 
the most characteristic elementary systems of sale, a general ac- 
quaintance with which ought to suffice to form the judgment of the 
student. These systems are:— 

I.—The license or permit system. 
Il.—The kham tahsil system. 
I1I.—The lease system. 
IV.—Sale of a small number of selected trees at a time. 
V.—Wholesale disposal of the trees of a coupe standing. 
VI.-—Wholesale disposal of the trees on the coupe after they 
have fallen 
VII.—The forest depdt system. 


Ssction I.—Tue License or Permit System. 


In this system the would-be purchaser must, before he can 
enter the forest and begin to cut and collect his wood, purchase a 
license or permit, which, besides setting forth in detail the nature 
and the quantity of the produce he is authorized to remove, lays 
down certain conditions to be strictly observed, which have for 
their object the safety of the forest and easy and effective exercise 
of the necessary check over his action. For this purpose the per- 
mit must define the area within which he must cut, specify the 
road by which he must take out his produce, fix the period within 
which he must pass it out, and make it compulsory for him to 
submit his license and his goods to examination whenever called 
upon to do so by any competent Forest Officer. The license is 
usually in foil and counterfoil, the former being given to the pur- 
chaser, the latter being retained by the vendor for submission to 
the Accounts Office. Sometimes the foil is double, so that one part 
may be torn off by the person checking the produce when it first 
passes out of the forest, and sent independently of the counterfoil 


120 THE LICENSE OR PERMIT SYSTEM. 


to the Accounts Office to be compared with this latter. Besides 
this advantage of the double foil, the possession of only one part 
by aman inside the forest is proof positive of attempted fraud, 
as this part is meant only to enable him to pass on his produce 
to market or to his house, and to protect it-as long as it remains 
with him. The check can of course be nearly as complete even 
when only a single foil is used, for the foil can be cancelled by 
means of some mark or endorsement as soon as the produce has 
left the forest ; but the double foil license is absolutely simpler to 
work, and in the present illiterate condition of the country folk 
and forest guards is also much more practical. 

The amount of money paid for the license may be written on it, 
but illiterate purchasers are liable to be defrauded thereby, and in 
case of collusion between the vending and checking establishments, 
the forest revenue may suffer, as there is nothing easier than to 
enter different quantities and sums on foil and counterfoil, the 
counterfoil, in order to render detection more difficult, yeinig 
written up only after the produce has been removed and ‘the foil 
recovered and destroyed. It is, therefore, safest to indicate the 
value paid and received by means of colours and some readily 
recognized symbols impressed on the license or of adhesive labels 
resembling postage stamps affixed to it. In the case of different 
colours and symbols being employed, each license will possess an 
unchangeable value, whereas by means of adhesive labels it can 
be made to bear any value. This latter mode of denoting value 
is evidently much the better one. The stamps can be cancelled at 
once by the vendor, either in the same way as postage stamps, 
or by being punched through like court-fee stamps and railway 
tickets. Characteristic marks or letters can be similarly punched 
through at each check station or in each beat passed or traversed 
by the purchaser, thus denoting at once the route which he has 
followed and the extent to which he was under surveillance. 

In the beginning of the system the vendors were also members 
of the checking establishment. In many places this is still the 
case ; but a great improvement effected in many others has been 
to authorize selected village headmen and patwaris to sell the 
licenses under the supervision of Forest Officers of and above the 
rank of Ranger, so that the people need never have to go far 
for a license, and the revenue is collected, as it should be, by men 
entirely distinct and removed from the protective establishment. 

The license or permit system is an excellent one to adopt for 
small produce where the demand is comparatively light and there 
are no regular dealers and no near markets. The consumers being 


THE KHAM TAHSIL SYSTEM. 121 


generally too poor to pay the profits of middlemen, purchase their 
produce directly from the forest, and cut and remove it themselves 
at seasons when they and their cattle are free from labour in the 
fields. To prevent over-cutting, the forest should be divided into 
blocks, which are closed and opened in rotation. Under the 
strictest supervision a certain amount of damage to the forest is 
inevitable, and hence as soon as the demand becomes large enough 
to require and pay for more intensive management and to create 
a class of regular dealers, the system must be abandoned for one 
that gives greater control to the conservancy establishment over 
the exploitation of the forest. Nevertheless, until the trade in 
timber and firewood has obtained a very high development, it will 
generally be found advantageous to retain some form of the license 
system for the disposal of the very small wood which is of too low 
a value to bear long carriage. Two simple systems applicable in 
this case are those of tickets of fixed value, valid respectively only 
for the day of issue and for a month. The former leaves less room 
for fraud, but requires the establishment of vending stations on 
every line of export. Tickets valid for a whole month may be is- 
sued from a single central office. Such tickets are used with great 
success at Naini Tal, where they are made of brass, are consecu- 
tively numbered, and authorize the holder to remove head-loads of 
small firewood, of which, owing to the distance he has to travel, he 
cannot take out more than one a day. Infraction of the condi- 
tions under which the tickets are issued render the holder liable 
to forfeiture of his ticket, without prejudice to punishment under 
the law. 

The license or permit system, in some form or other, prevails, as 
is to be expected, over more than half the forests of the empire. 


Section II.—Tae Kuam Tausin, System. 


In this system the would-be purchaser may enter the forest and 
cut and collect whatever he pleases within the authorised classes of 
produce, and he pays for what he carries away and obtains a pass 
for it only after he has taken it out of the forest and reaches a 
station where the money is levied and such pass issued. The 
system can of course be adopted only in forests from which there 
is a limited number of outlets. Such are forests situated in a 
mountainous country from which everything must pass out by the 
valleys, or forests lying behind a range of hills which are crossed 
by only a few passes, or remote forests for which the main highway 
to populous centres consists of one or a few large rivers. A very 


great disadvantage of this system, which is inseparable from the 
R 


122 THE KHAM TAHSIL SYSTEM. 


mode in which the revenue is collected, is that it provides no 
check on wasteful or fraudulent cutting. Any one may fell 
more than he can or intends to take out, and dishonest people may 
cut without fear, in the hope of being able to smuggle out some 
part of the produce. The case is worst of all when the protective 
and revenue-collecting establishments conspire together with the 
smugglers. To minimise the chances of such collusion, the follow- 
ing precautions have to be taken :—(1). To establish two parallel 
lines of stations as far apart from one another as possible, the 
stations of the first line being on the edge of the forest. (2). On 
any consignment of produce reaching the first line, it should be 
counted or measured up and a pass issued thereon. (3). At the 
second line of stations, this pass and the produce should be checked 
together, and if no discrepancy be found, the pass should be taken 
away, the price of the produce collected, and a fresh pass issued. 
(4). Counterfoils, or in their stead a statement detailing their 
contents, should be despatched to the control office on the very 
day of issue. (5). Separate, responsible, well-paid inspecting 
officers should constantly patrol both lines of stations. If found 
more practical, the respective functions of the two parallel lines 
of stations can of course be reversed, the money being levied on 
the first line, and only a fresh pass issued at the second in lieu of 
the original pass issued on receipt of the royalty. 


A very primitive form of the kham tahsil system is that in 
which the people who cut and bring the produce to the revenue 
stations are not purchasers at all, but act merely as wood-cutters 
and carriers. The purchasers themselves need not go nearer the 
forests than those stations. When the produce reaches such a sta- 
tion, the men who have brought it are paid for cutting, conversion, 
and carriage, and the purchaser, after paying royalty to the offi- 
cial in charge of the station, obtains a pass and takes away the pro- 
duce under cover of it. This system has been adopted, as a matter 
of policy, in forests inhabited by poor aboriginal tribes, whose nearly 
sole means of subsistence is wood-cutting. It is also in force in 
some places for the working of bamboo forest. | 

Under the most favourable circumstances the kham tahsil sys- 
tem is a very clumsy one, and can have only a very limited ap- 
plication. Besides labouring under the essential drawback of re- 
quiring certain exceptional topographical features, it can, like the 
license system, be adopted for only the inferior classes of produce, 
and it is far more open to fraud than any other system. When the 
configuration of the country permits of its adoption, it may be 
resorted to temporarily, to encourage an incipient or languishing 


THE LEASE SYSTEM. 123 


export trade, especially if the forest population is a very poor one 
and dependent for its livelihood chiefly on the wood-cutter’s craft. 


Section II].—Tue Lease System. 


In this system the lessee purchases the right to utilize and re- 
move, during the term of the lease, as much of the specified classes 
of trees or produce as he has the time and ability to take out. 
Before any beginning was made in forest conservancy, certain 
forests were leased out for every article it produced, and even at 
the present day impecunious private proprietors, and indeed also 
rajahs, give out their forests on such terms. It is evident that a 
lease of this wholesale kind means the rapid extermination of the 
forest, and that the system itself is adapted only for the removal of 
inferior material from forests on which there is only an insignifi- 
cant demand. Indeed, the lease system in any form is justifiable 
only when it is adopted to encourage the beginning of a trade in 
wood. Hence it is peculiarly suitable for clearing out of forests, 
that cannot otherwise be worked, the few trees that die and fall 
naturally every year. In the case of a large accumulation of dead 
material, the system would be justified only in the absence of a keen 
competition to obtain this material. Under any other circumstances 
the lessee would always be tempted to try to pass off green for dead 
wood, and, if he could afford to wait, to kill a number of valuable 
living trees, which he would extract after they weredead. As the 
number of trees that die each year from natural causes is, under 
normal conditions, comparatively insignificant, the forest should be 
divided into blocks, each block being leased in turn only at the end 
of a period long enough to allow of a sufficient accumulation of 
dead wood to attract purchasers and thus command remunerative 
prices. 

The forests of the Saharanpur Division of the School Circle, 
containing, as they do, a very inferior stock, are a good illustration 
of the successful application of the lease system, but the interval 
during which each block has rest would perhaps with advantage 
be extended. 

The weakest point in the lease system is that, as the lessee pays 
down a fixed lump sum, it is his interest to remove as much pro- 
duce as he can, and he is, therefore, under constant strong tempta- 
tion to take out also what he has no title to. The lease system is 
totally unsuited for the working of. bamboo forest, as no amount 
of precaution will prevent over-cutting in individual clumps. 

The lease money may be recovered in one instalment before the 


124 SALE OF A FEW TREES AND OF A WHOLE COUPE STANDING. 


lessee is allowed to begin operations or recovered in two or more 
instalments, the first to be paid down immediately on conclusion of 
the sale, the last while there is still enough produce in the forest 
to cover the balance due. In the case of petty sales it is best to 
exact a single instalment paid in advance. 


Section IV.—SALE OF A SMALL NUMBER OF SELECTED TREES 
AT A TIME, 


Under this system a small number of trees are given on special 
application, the applicants being generally the would-be consumers 
themselves or petty tradesmen. This is the mode of sale to adopt 
when the demand is insignificant and irregular and is limited to 
large and valuable timber. It is specially well adapted for the 
sale of the larger and more valuable trees standing in areas which 
are worked for the less valuable portion of the material by the 
license or the kham tahsil system. It may also be employed for 
the disposal of the best trees in regular coupes ; but in this case 
there is always risk of the value of the remaining produce being 
depreciated out of proportion, owing to the previous removal of the 
best material, and in some cases the depreciated stock may even fail 
to find a purchaser. 

The trees selected for removal may of course include dead and na- 
turally fallen trees as well as those standing. Standing trees should 
be marked at the foot only if they are to be converted before re- 
moval, and at the foot and also just above the place where they are 
to be cut off, if the trunk is to be taken out round. When the pro- 
duce is converted before export, each piece should be stamped with 
the sale mark before it is allowed to be removed. -The sale mark 
should also be similarly put on round logs before they are taken out. 


Section V.—WHOLESALE DISPOSAL OF THE TREES OF A 
COUPE STANDING. 


This system cannot obviously be adopted for the produce of clean- 
ings and early thinnings, in which operations the felling has to be 
effected by the owner’s agency. Its employment is also out of the 
question in the absence of a large class of well-to-do and honest 
dealers. When it can be adopted, it is by far the best method to 
employ, as it leaves the conservancy establishment completely free 
to devote itself to its legitimate duties of culture and protection. 

The trees being marked for sale (or girdled and killed, as in 
Burmah), the first point to decide is whether they should be sold 
by public auction or by inviting sealed or open tenders; also 


SALE OF AN ENTIRE COUPE STANDING. 125 


whether their sale price should be recovered as a lump sum covering 
the entire lot or at so much a tree, according to species and size, or 
at so much per unit or number or volume of converted material. 

When purchasers, eager to buy, readily offer themselves, the 
system of sealed tenders is the best, as public bidding at an auction 
and open tendering enable the dealers to combine. In the State 
forests of France the following mode of public auction, termed 
vente au rabais, is, however, said to prevent such combinations. A 
short candle, capable of burning about 5 minutes, is lighted and the 
auction is declared open. The crier begins by calling out a sum 
considerably in excess of that at which the Forest Officer has esti- 
mated the value of the coupe, and at regular intervals he goes on 
diminishing this sum by a small fixed amount. The auction lasts 

_only as long as the candle is burning, and the sale is adjudged, 
at the figure last called, to the first person who cries out “I take.” 
Each bidder, knowing that the time is limited to only a few min- 
utes, is usually only too eager, as soon as a figure is reached which 
he thinks will yield him a profit, to ery out “I take,” being afraid , 
of being forestalled by another. This method of sale is practic- 
able only when the bidders are quick-witted men of business, and 
is unfortunately not adapted to the haggling spirit engendered by 
the Indian mode of buying and selling. 

In the case of sale by sealed tenders a certain date is fixed by 
which all such tenders must be sent in. On a day and atan hour 
notified beforehand, the tenders are opened in the presence of any 
of the tenderers who wish to attend, and the terms of the tenders are 
read aloud, so that the proceedings may be entirely of a public 
character and above suspicion. To prevent people from making 
tenders which they are unable to carry out, every tender, before 
it can be received, should be accompanied with a deposit of money, 
which is forfeited in case of non-fulfilment of the tender. The 
adoption of the system of sealed tenders is impossible without the 
existence of a sufficiently large class of enlightened and enterprising 
dealers, as the excitement that naturally accompanies the public 
bidding at an auction and incites to keen competition is entirely 
wanting init. It is totally unsuited to men who have not risen 
above the haggling spirit of the Indian buyer and seller. But 
when the proper class of dealers is not wanting, it is the best 
system to adopt, as it saves time and worry, and effectually prevents 
combination, since every tenderer, being anxious to secure the sale 
for himself, and not knowing what the terms tendered by other 
people are, offers as high a figure as he, according’ to his lights, 
thinks will yield him a sufficient and legitimate profit. 


126 SALE OF AN ENTIRE COUPE STANDING. 


In the method of open tenders would-be purchasers may apply, 
either personally or by letter, and at any time within a given date, 
but the Forest Officer is not precluded from foreclosing with any 
tenderer before the expiry of that date. In this method of open 
tender an opportunity is afforded of bargaining, which must be 
made the most of. The terms offered by the various tendering 
parties may be disclosed or not, according to the discretion of the 
vendor. The system is, however, liable to induce combination 
amongst dealers, as the vendor is obliged more or less to disclose 
his hand to the first tenderer ; moreover, unless the value of the 
produce in question is well-known and is not subject to wide 
fluctuations, the vendor is exposed to commit himself to prices 
which subsequent tenders may prove to be too low, and in such 
case the system of sealed tenders or of public auction is preferable. 

Whether the value of the produce sold should be fixed as a lump 
sum for the whole lot or recovered at so much a tree, or at so much 
per unit or cubic foot of converted material, depends principally 
on the condition of the market and the nature and character of the 
purchaser. Ifthe purchaser is honest and understands his busi- 
ness thoroughly, it is best to sell the whole coupe for a lump sum, 
thus obviating the heavy tedium and labour of classifying and 
counting all the produce, of keeping a complete voluminous regis- 
ter of it, and of making endless calculations in order to ascertain 
the price of each one of the numerous classes of which it consists. 
The benefit accruing therefrom to the purchaser is equally great, 
since it relieves him at once from the thousand and one obstructions 
and petty annoyances to which he would otherwise be liable from 
the people checking his operations. But in the absence of a suffici- 
ently honest and enlightened class of dealers, it is impossible for the 
Forest Officer, who necessarily has little acquaintance with the mar- 
ket, to know whether the lump sum offered represents anything like 
the true value of the coupe or not. In that case it is safer for him 
to receive the value of the produce according to the quantity of each 
class of material taken out of the coupe, and it remains for him to 
decide whether the unit of sale shall be a tree or a cubic foot or the 
number of pieces of each class. Of these three bases of valuation, 
the first is the simplest, as the total value of the coupe can then be at 
once calculated, and this amount can be treated as a lump sum due 
from the purchaser, thereby avoiding all chance of future disputes. 
But this system is not applicable in a forest in which the quality of 
the trees varies very much from place to place. For instance, 
large profits for a few years, owing to the trees sold having been 
sound and well-shaped, may tempt purchasers to give unusually 


SALE OF AN ENTIRE COUPE STANDING, 127 


high prices at subsequent sales ; but the trees proving unsound, 
heavy losses are incurred. The confidence of dealers is thus once 
for all shaken, and in future, however good the trees may be, the 
rates offered are based on the assumption that the trees are no 
better than the worst descriptions obtained before. 

Hence, when the quality of the trees is very variable, it is best to 
charge the purchaser rates based on unit of volume or number of 
pieces of converted material. When volume forms the basis, a con- 
siderable amount of labour is inevitable in working out the total 
sale-value, if the number of pieces to be measured is large. 
Moreover, very few of our Indian purchasers are familiar with the 
methods of timber measurement. Hence, except for large logs, the 
contents of which obviously differ very much one from another, it 
is best to fix the rates on the basis of number units, which can be 
understood by the most illiterate purchaser. The unit rates on 
which the value of the produce is calculated must of course be ori- 
ginally fixed by measure of volume. The use of the numerous pub- 
lished tables of timber measurement will aid very materially in 
lightening the work of calculation in either case. 

In some places, the better class of timber dealers care to utilize 
only the best logs and to take out ouly timber of the highest 
quality. Such purchasers will either leave the inferior timber 
untouched, or, as they look only for large profits, will take it out only 
at disproportionately low rates. In such cases it is best to admit in- 
to the coupe two or more separate purchasers following each other, 
the first taking out only the finest timber, the second the next best 
class, and so on until every saleable stick has been removed. This 
method has been followed for many years in tho forests of the Cen- 
tral Circle of the N.-W. Provinces and Oudh with the best results 
It is peculiarly suitable for India, where the small dealers are men 
who are satisfied with profits giving them an average income of a 
few rupees a month ; but it necessitates keeping even the smallest 
coupe open for exploitation for at least a couple of years, as it would 
be impolitic to let in a new purchaser until the previous one had 
cleared out all his produce. But even when the owner of the 
forest sells the whole produce of the coupe to a single purchaser, 
it will often happen that this latter will himself remove only the 
best timber and admit petty tradesmen and consumers to take out 
the rest at prices which he will constantly lower as the better 
class of the remaining material is taken away or the distance or 
difficulty of transport increases. 

When the value of the coupe is estimated in a lump sum, this 
amount should be recovered in not less than two instalments, the 


128 WHOLESALE DISPOSAL OF FELLED MATERIAL. 


first one being taken before the purchaser is allowed to begin work, 
and the last while there is still enough material (whether it be 
scattered over the whole area or collected at temporary depdts) to 
cover the amount of the instalment. In the event of any instal- 
ment not being paid when it falls due, there should be a proviso in 
the written conditions of sale to empower the owner to recover it by 
seizing and appropriating the produce remaining unexported. If 
the value to be paid by the purchaser is calculated on the basis of 
unit rates, the money may be recovered in the same way, or in one 
of two other ways. Hither the purchaser may be made to pay 
down a sufficiently large sum as earnest-money on the conclusion 
of the sale, and to make good the balance when all the produce has 
been collected and counted or measured up, as the case may be, or 
he may be required to pay the value of the produce as he takes it 
out, the earnest-money in this case being refunded to him when his 
operations have been completed. What is termed the “ permit and 
revenue depdt system” and adopted in the Central Circle of the 
N.-W. Provinces and Oudh, is a practical application of the latter 
method. The system in question is a development of the kham 
tahsil system, which it can replace at once without any derange- 
ment of current arrangements, the revenue stations serving at once 
as depéts where the out-going produce has to be stopped for check 
and counting or measurement and the price has to be collected, 
and the only change required being that instead of any and every 
one being allowed to go into the forest and cut and collect what he 
likes, only bond fide purchasers, with whom distinct contracts have 
been made, may cutand export. It is always impolitic to put temp- 
tation in the way of people on small salaries, and hence, where 
Government treasuries or private banks are not far off, the large 
sums of money due at various times from the purchaser of whole 
coupes should be paid direct to a treasury or bank, the pass for 
the wood being given to the purchaser on bis presentation of the 
receipt for the money. And, whenever possible, only well-paid 
officers, holding high responsibility, should be authorized to measure 
up and value large quantities of produce, which are to be paid for 
on the basis of unit of volume or number. 


Szorion VI.—WHOLESALE DISPOSAL OF THE TREES ON THE 
COUPE AFTER THEY HAVE BEEN FELLED. 


In this case the owner fells the trees and then sells them, as they 
lie on the ground, to one or a series of wholesale purchasers, as the 
case may be. The object of felling the wood himself is to ensure 


SALE FROM FOREST DEpots, 129 


that every stem whose removal is necessary for the improvement 
of the forest is got rid of, since, in the system just described above, 
the very crooked trees and those of inferior species may be left 
standing by the purchasers as not being sufficiently valuable -to 
give them the profits they require. In all other respects, however, 
the procedure to follow in the present system does not differ from 
what has been described under the preceding one. 

The felling of the trees by the owner also secures another im- 
portant cultural advantage. It enables him, in young forest or 
where there is a mixture of ages, to cut back all badly grown 
saplings and small poles the re-growth from which would very ap- 
preciably improve the constitution and fature of the stock. Such 
saplings and small poles having little or no value, the purchaser of 
standing produce might not have sufficient inducement to cut them 
back, even if the price he had to pay for the coupe was consider- 
ably diminished on that account. Hence in all cleanings and early 
thinnings, in nearly all improvement fellings, and often in after- 
fellings and jardinage coupes, this system must necessarily be 
employed, and in the two last classes of fellings, even if the system 
is not adopted for the entire cut, it must be followed in the minor 
operations which, forming an essential part of the felling, have for 
their object the improved growth of the younger generation. 

As in this method of sale the coupe gets littered with small 
and very inferior produce, the principle on which it is based can be 
adopted only where there is a demand for almost every portion of 
the cut. The system cannot be applied to the sale of trees that 
are scattered over a large area, as the cost of felling them would 
eat too much into profits. It is for this reason that in the Dehra 
Diin s4l forests only the trees which are above 6 inches in diameter 
are sold standing, the inferior stems, the removal of which is doubt- 
ful, being girdled to make sure of their disappearance. 


Section VII.—Tue Forest Derét System. 


In this system the owner not only fells all the trees, but also 
subjects them to a certain amount of conversion and collects them 
into smaller or Jarger lots on the nearest roadside or in neighbour- 
ing blanks, from which their export can then be effected with ease 
and without injury tq the forest. This system is adopted when pur- 
chasers cannot be trusted to work inside the forest without hurt- 
ing or plundering it, or when the management has plenty of time 
on its hands, labour is easily obtained and organized, and the owner 
is anxious to secure for himself a part of the profits that would 
otherwise fall to the purchaser. 


8 


130 SALE FROM ‘FOREST DEPOTS. 


The collected produce may be disposed of wholesale to a single 
purchaser or in assorted lots to several purchasers or in a more or 
less retail manner, and the sale may be effected either by auction 
or by sealed or open tenders, or according to a published tariff. 


MANAGEMENT OF DEPOTS AND TIMBER YARDS. 131 


CHAPTER V.—MANAGEMENT OF WOOD DEPOTS 
AND TIMBER YARDS. 


In the chapter just completed the sale of wood in the forest was 
described. In the present case, the wood, after undergoing a 
considerable amount of conversion, is brought to a depét within 
convenient reach of the market. A depdt of this kind is, therefore, 
necessarily of a permanent character, and is maintained on a very 
much larger scale than mere forest depéts. It requires the enter- 
tainment of a special resident establishment, which can be more 
fully utilized and better paid the larger the depét is, thus securing 
at once economy and honesty. 

The most important points ‘to attend to in such a depét are a 
correct classification of the produce in accordance with the market 
demand, and such an arrangement of the different classes that 
they may be found at once and every piece examined without any 
trouble. For facility both of check and of sale, the pieces in each 
class should be put up in stacks or lots of definite size or contain- 
ing a definite number of pieces. Provision should also be made 
for the easy removal of every piece of wood. For this purpose the 
entire area should be divided off into compartments containing 
each a main class of produce, and each compartment into sub-com- 
partments destined to contain separately the various categories of 
each class. The division lines may be roads fit for carts or laid 
with rails, according to the amount of trafic. 

Very large logs, too heavy to be moved without great difficulty, 
should all be kept only in a single tier with the butt-end facing 
the road. Smaller timber should be stacked in the way already 
described on page 115. ‘ 

In very large depéts, sheds may be built to shelter the more valu- 
able goods and to allow them to season properly. In these sheds, 
in order to economise space, the ceiling should consist of strong, 
open wood or iron work, capable of bearing boards and smaller sawn 
material. While a perfectly free circulation of air throughout the 
shed is necessary, draughts, especially of very dry and hot or very 
damp or cold air, should be prevented, and the temperature inside 
kept as equable as possible. 

A further precaution for timber that is not yet completely season- 
ed is to plaster the ends with a mixture of clay and cowdung. It 


132 MANAGEMENT OF DEPOTS AND TIMBER YARDS. 


is surfaces exposing a cross-section that give out moisture most. 
rapidly and are most liable to form cracks, and the object of the 
plastering is to diminish the rapidity of evaporation. Wood intend- 
ed for carving or engraving should be kept in short lengths, round 
pieces being sawn along their entire length down to the centre, so 
that as the various concentric rings of growth contract, the saw- 
cut opens out wider and wider, without a single important crack 
occurring. 

Sometimes it may be necessary to water-season timber (see 
page 20). In that case there ought to be a large or several large 
tanks, and until the pieces thrown in sink of themselves or unless 
they are forcibly kept under water, they should be constantly 
turned, otherwise decomposition would soon result in the portion 
near the water line. 

The smallest stacks of firewood should have a square horizontal 
section, the side of the square being equal to the length of the 
billets, and the height such a figure as will bring up the contents of 
the stack to 10 cubic feet, ora little more if allowance is to be made 
for shrinkage. Larger stacks may be built up like those described 
on page 117, and should contain some multiple of 10 cubic feet. For 
wholesale dealers, specially large stacks, having a square horizontal 
section of 10, 20, 30, 40, and even 50 feet side, should be built up. 
No little skill is required to give them sufficient stability. Fig. 60 


Fig. 60, 


Wa a 
<S OTA 
ey 


Bs Dro 
Sigoz TAA 
KORE re 
AB aa Eros) 
CoA Ke 
SRA 


BSS Ser 


x 
ee es a BAT 
oe as yrs ea earl 
“EB 
be ARK 


"ava a°AVA"A 
es 
caren, 


SE 
ranqe 


Serer 
ee NATIT 


iy 
ae, Sols as 
Be Se 


Mode of building up large stacks. (After Gayer). 
shows a very good plan to follow. In it the corners are tied very 


MANAGEMENT OF DEPOTS AND TIMBER YARDS. 133 


ingeniously, and, in order to secure uniform shrinkage, horizontal 
rows of straight pieces should be laid at short intervals, thus build- 
ing up the stack in regular layers. Ovcasional long pieces should 
be inserted with the same object with which headers are employed 
in masonry. -In the case of firewood that has been floated, there 
should be no delay at all in spreading the pieces out to dry, and 
stacking them so that they may be freely exposed on every side. 
In Fig. 61 is exhibited a very successful mode of building such 
stacks, 


Stacking moist wood. (After Gayer). 


It is hardly necessary to say that every precaution should be 
taken against the occurrence of fire,and for this reason the site of 
the depét should be specially selected for its proximity to an abun- 
dant supply of water. As it is easier to suppress a fire that is just 
beginning than to attack one that has already spread, numerous 
pots of water should always be kept handy at different points. 

Besides depét registers punctiliously written up as each transac~ 
tion occurs, a special rate-book should be kept wherein all fluctua- 
tions of prices both at the depdt and in the open market are care- 
fully recorded. 

The mode of sale will generally be by open tenders, sealed tenders 
and public auctions being resorted to only in the case of such stock 
as must be got rid of at once. Stock of this kind will generally 
consist of deteriorating material or material likely to deteriorate if 
not sold off quickly. But if it is not possible to place a well-paid 
and trustworthy man in charge, the only plan to follow in effect- 
- ing the ordinary sales is to fix from time to time, for the guidance of 
the establishment, a tariff of prices, to which the utmost publicity 
should be given. 


134 MANAGEMENT OF DEPOTS AND TIMBER YARDS. 


At all large depéts the establishment of saw machinery will 
never fail to result in a marked increase of revenue. By its means 
the scantlings most in demand could be prepared at once, either on 
indent or in expectation of buyers, and all odds and ends could be 
utilized to the utmost extent of their value. For this reason, it 
would be an advantage to place the depdt where water-power can 
be used, since such power costs next to nothing, and the machinery 
required for it is of the very simplest description, being most of it 
capable of being repaired without skilled labour. In the absence 
of such advantages, steam machinery must be used, the wood re- 
fuse supplying the necessary fuel. In Government depéts no wood- 
working machinery beyond a simple saw bench should be intro- 
duced, further conversion being properly left to private dealers. 


PAR Cr. 


COLLECTION, PREPARATION, AND DISPOSAL OF 
MINOR PRODUCE. 


Unpver the term minor produce is included every useful sub- 
stance that can be obtained from a forest besides timber and fire- 
wood. The forests of India are particularly rich in minor produce, 
both in regard to quantity and variety, and a knowledge of how to 
utilize the various descriptions of such produce is, therefore, of 
peculiar importance to us. At present, owing to the backward 
condition of the country, the demand is limited; but with the de- 
velopment of means of communication, a rise in the standard of 
living, and the continued expansion of internal as well as external 
trade, the exploitation of minor produce will becomea most import- 
ant source of national wealth. 

A complete study of the utilization of every article of minor pro- 
duce would lead us a great deal too far, and would require several 
large volumes. Here it will suffice to consider ina general manner 
how they are obtained from the forest, and to what extent they 
may be utilized without unduly interfering with the main end of 
sylviculture, namely, the production of timber and firewood. The 
subject will be treated under nine principal heads as follows :— 

I.—Utilization of herbaceous vegetation. 

II.—Utilization of the flowers and fruit of trees and shrubs. 
IlI.—Utilization of the bark of trees and shrubs. 
IV.—Utilization of the leaves of trees and shrubs. 

V.—Dtilization of minor produce obtained from wood and 

from the interior of stems. 
VI.+~Utilization of minor produce furnished by the roots of 
trees and shrubs. 
VII.—Dtilization of exuded products. 
VIII.— Utilization of animal products. 
IX.— Utilization of minerals and some other products. 


CHAPTER I.—UTILIZATION OF HERBACEOUS 
VEGETATION. 


The herbaceous vegetation covering the ground in our forests is 
peculiarly abundant, but consists chiefly of grass. On it, at pre- 


136 PASTURAGE, 


sent, depends the entire system of agriculture of the country, and 
hence its title to first consideration. It supplies (1) pasturage, (2) 
hay and cut green-fodder, (3) ensilage, (4) litter, (5) fibres, (6) 
material for thatching and for making mats and baskets, and (7) 
drugs, dyes, &. 


Section I.—PastuRAGE. 


In the present condition of our agriculture, pasturage is the 
most important want supplied by the herbaceous vegetation grow- 
ing in our forests. Nearly half the live-stock of the country 
depends entirely on the forests for its sustenance, while an extreme- 
ly large proportion of the rest is driven for some period or other 
of the year to graze there. Forest grazing has been for so many 
ayes an essential part of our rural economy, that with a climate op- 
posed to meadow cultivation on any appreciable scale, and national 
habits and religious prejudices which preclude any extensive con- 
sumption of meat, it will always continue to be the chief mode of 
feeding cattle. 

The fields, owing to the enormous population and to India being 
one of the granaries of the world, will never cease to be used prin- 
cipally for the production of food-grains, oil-seeds, and fibres, fodder 
being, as now, only a by-product. Thus we must submit to most 
of our forests being used as permanent pasture grounds, and must 
accordingly arrange for the fullest utilization of the fodder they 
yield, consistently with the production of timber and firewood. 
The forest-grazing question acquires its highest importance in dry 
countries with a low rainfall, and in hilly and mountainous districts 
where the extent of available arable land is usually hardly sufficient 
for producing the food of the population. 

The advantages accruing to agriculture from forest-grazing are 
thus unquestionable and incalculable. For the forests themselves, 
the advantages are few and only occasional, while the disadvantages 
are enormous, and may tend to the extermination itself of the 
forest. 

The advantages may be said to be fourin number. Firstly, graz- 
ing helps to keep down the rank growth of grass and weeds, which 
come up in profusion even under a dense leaf-canopy with only a 
modicum of light, and interfere with reproduction. Secondly, 
when the ground is sloping, but not so steep as to require careful 
protection against slipping, the going to and fro of cattle breaks 
up and loosens the surface soil and thus prepares it for reproduc- 
tion. Thirdly, where in open glades and blanks the soil gets 


PASTURAGE,. . 137 


covered with a close matting of grass roots impenetrable to the deli- 
cate roots of forest seedlings, there the sharp feet of cattle and the 
plucking action of their bite combine to tear up the grass at numer- 
ous points and thus make openings for seedlings. ‘Lastly, in all 
conifer forests, without the crushing action of the feet of cattle, the 
dry undecomposed needles form a thick layer over the ground, 
through which the roots of seedlings are unable to reach the mineral 
soil below, or are at least able to do so with difficulty. 

Exceptionally, a fifth advantage may be derived from regulated 
grazing. In mature babul forest, when a new generation of 
seedlings is required, the appearance of this latter is singularly 
accelerated by admitting goats and folding them at night within 
the area while the pods are falling. The seeds that have been 
voided by the animals germinate without delay, whereas the rest 
generally take at least a whole year to sprout, during which time 
they are exposed to every cause of injury or even complete de- 
struction. 

The principal dangers arising from grazing are as follow :—(1). 
The removal of the herbaceous vegetation means the loss of so 
much manurial matter, including potash, phosphorus, and nitrogen 
in its most assimilable form. (2). The animals break and crush 
young seedlings, the heavier kinds under their broad hoofs, sheep 
and goats with their sharp and quick-moving feet which cover but 
little ground at each step, the mischief being aggravated in the 
case of sheep by their moving in a dense mass together. (8). 
Forest-bred cattle, and even those that are only partly stall-fed, ac- 
quire the habit of eating the leaves and twigs of forest trees with as 
much relish as they browse off grass and herbaceous vegetation. 
All cattle without exception, when very hungry, fall greedily and 
indiscriminately on every green thing before them ; and we know in 
what a starving condition the animals are brought into the forest 
every year from the villages. To make matters worse, these animals 
arrive when the grass is dry, hard, and tasteless, so that in their 
famished condition they make at once for all the low forest growth, 
which, as-a rule, puts forth new foliage before the new grass makes 
its appearance. Now we know that a woody plant suffers most and 
recovers least easily while its new flush of leaves is coming out. 
Thus the heaviest grazing occurs during the most dangerous season 
for forest vegetation. Broad-leaved species, yielding, as they do, 
the best fodder, suffer most. (4). When the soil is wet, the con- 
stant tread of the animals beats it down into a hard pan quite im- 
penetrable to the roots of forest seedlings, and it is when the soil 
has been drenched by rain that seeds germinate ; hence the presence 

T 


138 PASTURAGE. 


of cattle during the rains, and, in the Himalayas, also during spring, 
is a great bar to natural reproduction, if it does not entirely 
prevent it. (5). Young animals are much more destructive than old 
ones, since they nibble at forest growth not only for their food, but 
also sometimes from pure mischief ; sometimes to relieve the irrita- 
tion arising from the cutting of new teeth. (6). The continued 
admission of goats into a forest results, in a few years, in its com- 
plete disappearance, since these animals prefer the leaves of woody 
species, when they can get them, to the finest grass. They also 
gnaw off bark, and, besides standing up to their food, they throw 
themselves on to flexible stems, thus bending them down under 
themselves and getting at the tops of saplings up to 9 and 10 feet 
high. Even camels, in spite of their very much higher reach and 
the peculiar way they have of tearing off a long succession of leaves 
and twigs, are less to be dreaded than goats. Sheep, from naturally 
holding their heads along the ground, will seldom touch anything 
else if they can get grass ; but when the grass is dry and hard, they 
may nibble off leaves at the height of their heads. Buffaloes, even 
when they eat only grass, crush young growth up to the size of sap- 
lings, and when hard pressed for green food, have been known to 
use their enormous weight to bend down to the ground poles up to 
12 inches in girth and 14 feet high. Cows are the least harmful 
of all domestic stock (elephants, ponies, and horses are in too small 
numbers to be taken into account), and will, as a rule, not touch 
seedlings and saplings of forest trees, even if abundantand mixed 
up with the grass, unless this last is very bad indeed. 

Some species, such as Anogeissus pendula and Prosopis spicigera, 
are extremely resisting to the effects of constant browsing ; but, 
even in their case, the appearance of new seedling growth, except 
in the midst of thorny bushes, is an impossibility, and the indivi- 
duals that survive are permanently stunted and often reduced to 
low twiggy knotty bushes which spread out along the ground. 

The advantages and dangers connected with grazing in the 
forest have now been briefly considered. It has also been shown 
that the provision of grazing on a large scale is, in present cir- 
cumstances, an unfortunate necessity. Some general rules must 
hence be yiven for regulating its exercise, while avoiding or mini- 
mising the attendant risks. In the first place, goats and camels 
must be rigidly excluded from all areas which are intended to 
grow wood, mature babul crops being, however, excepted in favour 
of goats during the fall of seed immediately preceding the re- 
quired appearance of the new crop. All other animals also must be 
excluded from areas under regeneration or containing abundant 


PASTURAGE, 139 


young growth not above their reach, while the ground is soft and 
sodden or seeds are germinating or the grass is dry and wiry and 
the tree-species are in leaf or coming out into leaf. Otherwise 
cows, buffaloes, and in many cases even sheep, may be admitted in 
restricted numbers and in small herds or flocks at each place, since a 
number of animals moving in a mass would make a clean sweep of 
everything before them and tread the soil into a hard pan. In re- 
gulating the size of the flocks and herds and apportioning to them 
the areas in which they may range, we may assume that for every 
100 Ibs. of live weight each animal requires per diem from 10 to 
12 Ibs. green weight of fodder, and that an acre of forest land, in- 
clusive of unproductive portions and fully canopied areas, produces, 
on an average, about 12,000 lbs. green weight of edible grass, of 
which hardly one-third remains ina fit condition to be eaten during 
the six months of the year that grazing is permissible. It is, there- 
fore, evident that the smallest area of forest land that can be assigned 
per head for those six months cannot be less than 24 acres for cows, 
4 acres for buffaloes, and 4 acre for sheep. These are minima 
figures, and the actual areas assignable, after deductions in the in- 
terests of reproduction, unstable soil, &c., will considerably exceed 
those figures. If more cattle are admitted than the forest can stand, 
we must make up our minds to sacrifice the woody growth : ex- 
cessive grazing and forest growth are totally incompatible terms. 
Actually, in many places, the number of head of cattle is in excess 
of the capabilities of the forests, and the assumed necessity (in 
nearly every case totally unfounded) of providing grazing for the 
entire number is the cause of so much lamentable deterioration 
and arrested progress visible everywhere. It is undeniable that 
the number of cattle is enormously in excess of requirements. At 
any rate, hundreds of thousands of utterly useless brutes ravage 
the forests, and two half-starved, ill-bred animals have to be used 
where a single well-fed, well-bred one would suffice. Thus, were 
it not for the neglect and apathy of the Indian agriculturist, 
the demand made on our forests for grazing would probably be 
well within the capability of nearly every one of them. To over- 
come this neglect and apathy of ages we must enlist on our side 
the sympathies and powerful aid of the Agricultural Depart- 
ment. 

Each group of animals must be in charge of responsible herdsmen 
sufficiently numerous to control them and to drive them over the 
entire allotted area, so that no part may be overgrazed. In areas 
into which cattle are admitted to keep down the grass and weeds, 
or to wound the soil or to crush an excessively thick layer of dead 


140 PASTURAGE. 


undecomposed débris, it should be a condition of admission that 
they are driven regularly backwards and forwards over the whole 
area, and especially there where they can do most good. If the 
animals are penned within the forest at night, a special spot must 
be fixed for them which is a natural blank, and is not immediately 
surrounded by promising and abundant young growth. Every 
animal of the bovine class should have a bell hung from its neck, 
so that no animal may stray without the fact being at once de- 
tected. The leaders of a fleck of sheep should also have beils. 
The herdsmen, when out in the forest with their cattle, should not 
be allowed to carry any woodmen’s tools with them ; but in case 
they are allowed to lop, they may have with them light hatchets 
or bills. Infringement of rules on their part must be followed by 
heavy fines or summary expulsion from the forest, together with 
suspension, if necessary, from the privilege of grazing for a deter- 
minate period. 

Lastly, in crops of mixed ages, especially if young growth is 
deficient, every assignment should be further divided into two or 
more equivalent portions and a rotation established, so that each 
area may have a certain period of rest. 

When grazing is charged for, the fee per head to be levied for 
the different classes of animals should be regulated by several com- 
bined considerations, the principal of which are (1) their relative 
destructiveness from a forest point of view, (2) their relative value, 
(8) the quantity of fodder they consume, (4) the market value 
of the fodder, (5) the wealth of the general population, and (6) the 
degree of conservancy to be adopted. Thus, although a goat will 
eat less than a fifth of what a plains cow will consume, the respec- 
tive fees to be levied should be considerably in excess of the ratio 
of 1 to 5. As so many different considerations affect the question 
of the amount of grazing dues, it would be absurd to adopt the same 
tariff of rates for a whole province or even for a whole district ; 
and often even two neighbouring forests, which are under differ- 
ent degrees of conservancy, will require different rates. Similarly, 
the proportionate rates for the different classes of animals ought 
not to be the same everywhere. For instance, in the North-West 
Himalayas, the diminutive hiil cow is hardly worth more than a 
sheep or goat, while in most other parts of the country the value of 
a cow is 4 to 10 times higher than that of a sheep or goat. The sim- 
plest way of reducing the number of animals of any class grazing 
in a given forest is to raise the grazing fee. Remembering this, 
if the grazing in any forest is in excess of its capability, we have 
only to gradually raise the rates until the number of cattle is 


HAY AND CUT GREEN FODDER. 141 


brought down to the desired figure; the effective rates in each 
case will depend on the wealth of the population and the value of 
the cattle. Sometimes, however, certain classes of people may 
have to be specially favoured, such as backward jungle tribes which 
are under our particular protection, or inhabitants of villages com- 
posed exclusively of our work-people ; and in their case a limited 
number of animals per family or household may be admitted to 
graze at lower rates, only those in excess of this number being 
taxed according to the general tariff. The full rates at present 
levied in most provinces are far too low in comparison with the 
amount of fodder consumed and the value of the animals. 

The levy of grazing dues gives, more than the collection of any 
other kind of forest revenue, special facilities for oppression and 
extortion, for there is scarcely a household in the neighbourhood 
of forests which does not possess at least one goat or cow. For this 
reason the arrangements for collecting the dues must be made with 
the greatest care. At the same time they should be such as not to 
engross the time of the establishment. The system will have to 
be different according to circumstances. Yor cattle which go to 
graze in the forests during the day and return to their villages at 
night, the plan which commends itself most is to require annual 
returns from the patwaris and headmen jointly, a few of these re- 
turns being checked, to test their general accuracy, by the forest 
staff. On receipt of the corrected lists, the dues should be collect- 
ed by the Collector of the district in the same way as land revenue. 
In some districts a triennial census of such cattle is made, and a 
grazing assessment is fixed by villages for a period of three years, 
the amount assessed being collected annually by the district off- 
cials like land revenue. This: is perhaps the simplest and least 
inquisitorial system that has yet been devised, but many changes 
may occur in the number of cattle in a village during the period 
of three years. For cattle which pass‘the night also in the forest, 
the forest staff must both count the cattle and collect the dues, 
unless the same cattle have been paid for through another channel, 
jn which case the herdsman must come provided with a pass for 
the number of head already paid for. A copy or duplicate of such 
pass must be sent for check to the District Forest office. 


Szction I].—Hay AND CUT GREEN FODDER. 


The removal of grass means, just as in the case of grazing, the 
loss to the forest of so much precious manurial matter ; but, in 
nearly every case, this disadvantage is much more than counter- 


142 HAY AND CUT GREEN FODDER, 


balanced by the benefits accruing therefrom. In frosty localities, 
if tall dense grass protects small seedlings, it, on the other hand, 
makes it very difficult for them to rise above it, as it increases by 
several degrees the intensity of the cold. Weavy frost will lie 
upon the grass in grassy land, when on bare open land the temper- 
ature may be several degrees above freezing. In the case of high 
temperatures, however, surrounding and overtopping grass is near- 
ly always beneficial. For young seedlings struggling in the midst 
of grass, cutting the grass is a much better and surer means of 
getting rid of it than grazing, with all its attendant risks. On 
this account grass-cutting should be encouraged as much as possible 
wherever it will lead to a diminution of grazing. The closing of 
the forest areas in Ajmere against grazing has not only resulted in 
the possibility of growing forest on dry, bare, rocky hill-sides, but 
even in an increase in the production of fodder, so marked as to be 
freely recognised by the population itself, which clamoured most 
against the measure on its introduction only 15 years ago. But 
the grass-cutters must be warned to be careful not to cut off seed- 
lings with the grass, and the use of scythes should be strictly pro- 
hibited. 

Green grass from the forest can be used only by people living 
within the distance of a day’s journey. Hence for a more general 
utilization of the fodder, it should be converted into hay, the pre- 
paration of which must, therefore, now be described. 

Grass for hay should be cut immediately it is in full bloom. 
After this period, the formation of seed robs the stem and leaves of 
potach, nitrogenous matters, and phosphates, and the carbo-hydrates 
are converted into coarse fibre, so that the grass becomes poorer 
in nutritive substances and the proportion of indigestible fibre 
increases. Moreover, the further vegetation of the plant and the 
progress of fructification continue to exhaust the soil without 
any compensating advantage. At any rate, the grass should be 
cut before the seed is fully formed. As soon as the grass has been 
cut, it should be spread out to dry. If not dried quickly enough 
it would ferment, the sugar in it being converted into alcohol, 
which would both destroy its favour and nutritive value, and cause 
it to lose the well-known fragrance of hay. The alcohol also 
dissolves out the green colouring matter of the chlorophyll, so 
that hay that has not been dried quickly enough is yellow and not 
greenish. At the same time it must not be dried too quickly, 
otherwise it becomes too hard and is not so nutritious and diges- 
tible as properly dried hay. On the approach of evening, the 
grass, now partially dry, should be collected into heaps, so that the- 


HAY AND CUT GREEN FODDER. 143 


dew at night may not undo the work of the day. The second day 
after the grass has been cut, it should be tossed up in the air with 
forks, after it has been spread out with a rake and the dew has 
evaporated. If the hay is now ready, it should be carted away or 
stacked ; otherwise it must be collected once more into heaps 
against the night, and tossed up again with forks for another day. 
Wet weather is of course disastrous for hay-making. Good hay 
is greenish in colour, appreciably dry, sweetish to the taste, and 
agreeably scented. The weight of hay is 4rd that of the original 
grass. 

To preserve hay it should be stacked, in order to protect it from 
wind, rain and dew, and, at low elevations, also from white ants. 
The ordinary Indian way followed in the plains is to tie up the 
hay in bundles from 1 to 3 Ibs. each, which are piled up in stacks 
resembling either a house with a pent roof or a circular hut with 
a conical roof. The dimensions at the eaves in either case is 
greater than those at the base, in order to let the rain drop off on 
the ground clear of the hay. The former kind of stack is the 
easier one to build, especially when large stacks are required. Such 
stacks, containing 200,000 lbs. of hay, are not uncommon. After 
the stacking is completed, a roof of thatch should be put on. For 
the first kind of stack the thatch can be constructed on the ground 
and then put up and kept down with ropes heavily weighted at 
the ends, thereby also securing compression for the hay—another 
very important advantage gained by the adoption of that mode of 
stacking. For the supply of the army in cantonments Captain 
Wingate, the officer specially charged with the forage operations 
of the Western Commissariat Circle of the Bengal Presidency, 
recommends the following system of stacking. A circle is traced 
on the ground of the required diameter and encircled with a 
shallow trench, the earth from which is used to raise the ground 
inside. Above this earth is laid a 4 to 6-inch bed of cinders, 
which not only keeps out white ants and rats, but also prevents 
damp getting in from below. Before the grass is stacked, the site 
is dressed, so as to give it the form of a flatdome. The height of 
the stack at the eaves is about two-thirds of the diameter at the 
base, and the diameter there at least 6 feet in excess of the lower 
one. The stack is then finished off in the form of a cone with 
steep sides. It should not be thatched until it has settled. This 
takes about a fortnight, and in the meantime the hay is protected 
with tarpaulins. In the Himalayas, where space is always a de- 
sideratum, the stacks are usually built up loosely, in a more or less 
globular form, on pollards or in the crowns of trees in the midst 


144 HAY AND CUT GREEN FODDER. 


of the main branches. Well-kept hay will remain good for more 
than three years. 

In many parts of India hay is pretty carefully made; but not 
unfrequently the grass is cut when the seed is quite ripe, and even 
after the whole plant has become quite dry. No practice is more 
reprehensible. 

Our forests could furnish the whole country side with excellent 
hay, and remove, once for all, the frequent great embarrassment 
experienced by the army in obtaining forage. But the dispropor- 
tionate bulk of hay, compared with its weight, renders its trans- 
port difficult and expensive, especially with our high railway 
freights and deficient means of communication. Hence its export 
beyond two or three days’ journey by cart has been hitherto im- 
practicable. To remedy this very serious drawback, the practice 
has, since the last year or so, been experimentally resorted to of 
compressing the hay into bales weighing about a maund each and 
bound round with iron bands, just like a bale of cotton or piece- 
goods, or with iron wire, the latter requiring no rivets and being 
at least 2 lbs. lighter for each bale. This plan was very success- 
fully followed in 1889 and 1890 in the Changa Manga plantation, 
when the entire outturn was taken by rail to the cavalry camp at 
Muridki, a distance of’ about 60 miles. The compression was 
effected with hand-worked Boomer presses, which are easily port- 
able and readily put up. The advantage of compressed bales of 
fodder to an army inthe field is incalculable ; and even in ordi- 
nary peace times their transportability and non-liability to spon- 
taneous combustion will render them invaluable in large towns and 
cantonments, especially those situated at a distance from sources of 
supply. At Amritsar, in the Punjab, a large steam factory, con- 
taining several presses and managed by a rich company under 
European supervision, has been at work for the past three years. 

Better than ordinary compressed fodder is fodder compressed 
in combination with some sweet glutinous substance, which, by 
filling up all air-spaces, converts the bale into a solid mass. Mr. 
Arthur Rogers, a railway mechanical engineer, who originally 
conceived this excellent idea, has patented a most successful pro- 
cess, in which treacle is used as the cementing substance. ‘The 
treacle increases, to a marvellous extent, the nutritiousness and 
palatability of the fodder and makes it keep good for an indefinite 
period. Moreover, it makes use of the interstices which would 
otherwise only contain air, and thus helps to economise space. 
Some bales of Mr. Rogers’ fodder were found totally unaffected 
after having been buried in the ground for three years. 


GRASS PRESERVES, 145 


Sxction III.—Grass PRESERVES. 

It will be appropriate to say a few words here regarding the 
formation and management of grass preserves, a matter that has 
real importance for the Indian Forester in the neighbourhood of 
large towns and cantonments and in dry places on the North- 
Western frontier, where a ready supply of fodder for any military 
emergency is a necessity. We may have (1) unirrigated natural 
grass preserves, or (2) irrigated preserves. In both classes of 
preserves a sprinkling of deep-rooted trees with shady crowns 
helps the growth of the grass. 


1. Unirrigated natural grass preserves. 


The special maintenance of such preserves is to be recommended 
only when the rainfall exceeds 10 inches and the soil is at least of 
medium quality. The coarser grasses and weeds should be grub- 
bed out; and if money is available, the land should once for all be 
ploughed up, top-dressed with well-rotted cattle droppings or pou- 
drette, and sown with seeds of the better kinds. The quantity of 
seeds to be sown will vary from 3 to 10 lbs. per acre, according to 
the species. Once established, the preserve requires only to be 
kept free of undesirable growth and top-dressed from time to time 
with manure. Grazing or the periodical cutting of the grass 
should never be entirely stopped, for there is no more effective and 
economical mode of improving the quality of the fodder and of 
keeping out coarse species than allowing moderate grazing at the 
proper seasons and maintaining the ground clear of dead tussocks. 
If cut fodder is required, as many as three and sometimes even 
four cuttings may be taken off during the first three months of the 
rains, the next crop being left, if necessary, to mature for hay. If 
the same area has also to serve as a grazing ground, grazing may 
be permitted during the first two months of the rainy season, and 
again after the crop of hay has been removed. Combined grazing 
and cutting is better than cutting alone,as the grazing makes the 
grass grow closer and the droppings of the animals constitute so 
much effective manure. Heavy or frequent manuring or any kind 
of intensive treatment is of course quite out of the question in na- 
tural preserves, except in the immediate vicinity of large centres 
of population. At Allahabad, off extensive unirrigated areas that 
have now been systematically treated since 1882, the yield of green 
grass is as high as 800 maunds per acre per annum. 


2. Irrigated grass preserves. 


Irrigation places in our hands an instrument which enables 
U 


146 ENSILAGE, 


every desirable species of grass to be cultivated in the greatest 
abundance possible. In this country we seldom, if ever, find any 
area that is covered at every point with only the best kind or kinds 
of fodder grass. Hence the first thing to do is to sow or plant up 
the land with good species, after levelling the ground and laying 
out the irrigation channels. 

Certain kinds of grasses, especially those which spread by means 
of runners, may be planted ; the rest are best sown at the rate of 
from 20 to 40 Ibs. of seed to the acre, according to the species used. 
The usual method of preparing the land, which will probably never 
be superseded, is to plough it up and top-dress it with manure. 
This method can give in the very first year of cultivation as much 
as 600 maunds of green doob (C'ynodon Dactylon) per acre. Gene- 
ral Ottley’s system, which is said to increase the yield by at least 
39 per cent. by giving eight cuttings per annum at the rate of 56 
maunds of green grass each per acre, and to get rid of the soda 
efflorescence in reh soils, consists in excavating the soil to a depth 
of 18 inches, putting in a 9-inch layer of fresh litter or other manure 
and returning the earth, thoroughly sifted, over the manure. 
Finally, the area is divided off into beds 3 feet wide and enclosed 
by a ridge of earth to hold the irrigation water. The system has 
not yet had a fair trial, but it is beyond question a most costly one, 
and for that reason alone can never be generally adopted. 

The land should be irrigated once every two, three, or even four 
weeks, the soil being flooded and thoroughly drenched each time. 

It is evident that in irrigated preserves grazing cannot be per- 
mitted and the grass can only be cut. 


Ssction 1V.—Ensiace. 


Silage is fodder obtained by storing green material under con- 
tinued compression and exclusion of air. 

The simplest method of making silage is to excavate a rectangu- 
lar pit not less than 8 feet deep, in a stiff soil impervious to air. 
In order to pack the fodder close and thus diminish the quantity 
of air necessarily left in the pit, it should be chopped short and 
stratified, each stratum being well trodden down by men and boys 
before the next one is laid on, The thickness of the layers, when 
completely settled, should not exceed 3 inches, and the shortness of 
chopping will depend on the stiffness of the material to be ensil- 
aged. If the temperature of the air is much under 95° Fah., anew 
stratum must not be put on until a certain degree of fermentation 

has occurred in the one previously laid down. This fermenta- 


ENSILAGE, 147 


tion not only brings up the temperature to the right point, but as a 
direct result of the formation of carbonic acid, which is heavier 
than air, this last is driven out of the fermenting heap. If the tem- 
perature of the air is already high enough, the filling should be done 
quickly, but not so quickly as to prevent the contents from settling 
down and acertain amount of fermentation setting in. The pit 
should be filled with the fodder within about a foot of the top. 
The covering should consist of bamboo or other cheap matting, 
overlaid with sufficient closely-rammed earth to create a pressure 
of from 100 to 150 Ibs. to the square foot. The contents of the pit 
will continue to subside, and with them also the covering, which 
should be constantly watched for cracks, until there is no further 
settling. Unless the contents are well compressed, they become 
overheated and the silage is rendered poor and uneatable. At the 
end of from three to six months the silage is ready for use, but it 
can of course be kept unopened for several months longer. The 
portions at the top and sides are nearly always over-fermented and 
not fit to be eaten, but all the rest is highly nutritious and whole- 
some, although it possesses a peculiar flavour and odour, to which 
cattle must generally become accustomed before they take to it. 

A more elaborate method, which is, however, perhaps unneces- 
sarily expensive, is to line the pit with masonry and cement, and 
effect the compression with planks and mechanical appliances. 

What occurs in the pit while the silage is forming may be briefly 
described. Provided the temperature is not too high, minute organ- 
isms (ferments), the germs of which are enclosed with the fodder, 
grow and multiply rapidly. Under the action of these ferments 
certain acids, the most important of which are lactic and butyric, 
are formed at the expense of the carbo-hydrates present in the 
fodder. If air is not perfectly excluded, oxidation becomes too 
rapid, and the temperature rises high enough to kill a large propor- 
tion of the ferments, thereby arresting the formation of the two 
acids just named, so that sweet instead of sour silage is produced. 
Whichever kind of silage results, there is a loss of carbo-hydrates 
and of nitrogenous matters (especially of true albuminoids) and a 
consequent increase in the proportion of indigestible fibre. The 
total loss of solid matters varies from 24 to 28 per cent. 

The difference between sweet and sour silage may be summed 
up thus. Sweet silage contains somewhat less water, a smaller 
quantity of acids (sweet silage from 0:02 to 01 per cent., sour up 
to 2 per cent.), and about } per cent. more albuminoids, but 2 per 
cent. less carbo-hydrates, and about 3 per cent. more undigestible 
fibre. Moreover, it docs not keep so well as sour silage, and, when 


148 FIBRE. 


given in large quantities to milch cattle, it taints their milk, al- 
though eaten in moderate quantities it improves it. On the whole, 
cattle take more readily to sour than to sweet silage. 

Silage contains a smaller proportion of nutritive matter than 
hay ; but, whereas hay can be made only with the finer grasses, the 
coarsest materials, that could not otherwise be utilised at all, can 
be ensilaged and rendered tender and palatable. 


Section V.—Litter. 


From an agriciltural point of view, litter is the dry absorbent 
vegetable material placed under cattle where they are stalled, with 
the object not only of giving the animals a soft warm bed to lie 
upon at night, but also and principally of collecting, for use in the 
fields, their droppings and urine. In India, grass and straw are, 
as a rule, so abundant that the leaves and stalks of other herbace- 
ous plants are hardly ever used ; and, indeed, the practice of litter- 
ing cattle obtains on only a very small scale, owing both to neglect 
and to so large a proportion of the cattle being either sent out into 
the forests to graze, or folded together, almost as close as they can 
stand, in an open railed enclosure. 


Section VI.—Fisre. 


Amongst herbaceous species, the most generally utilised for the 
fibre they yield are certain grasses, and a few species of Tiliacez 
and Malvacese. 

None of our grasses yield any really textile material, their fibres 
being suitable only for making ropes, matting, and paper. The most 
important, as well as by far the most valuable, of our grasses are the 
bhébar (Ischemum angustifolium) and the munj (Saccharum Sara). 

The former grass grows gregariously on dry bare slopes along 
the foot of the Himalayas and in the hilly parts of Behar, Chota 
Nagpur, Western Bengal, and the northern districts of the Madras 
Presidency. The late Mr. Routledge, the great paper manufac- 
turer of Sunderland, declared that “It closely resembles esparto 
but does not contain so much glutinous and amylaceous matters, 
nor so much silica. * * * * * A small quantity of bleach brings it 
up to a good colour. The ultimate fibre is very fine and delicate, 
rather more so than esparto, and of about the same strength ; the 
yield is, however, 42 per cent., somewhat less.” Mr. Edwards, 
of the Lucknow Paper Mills, found the yield to be only a little 
more than 35 per cent., but the specimens he experimented with 
had been badly collected, the top parts of the plants being more than 


FIBRE. 149 


usually perisked. We have thus in this grass an extremely valuable 
paper-making material, but unfortunately our few paper mills are 
not yet capable of turning out the finer kinds of paper, and are 
situated too far away from the bhabar-producing tracts for the raw 
material to be landed at them at remunerative rates. For the pre- 
sent, therefore, bhabar is used only for making cheap ropes. Doing 
up the grass into well pressed bales will, no doubt, reduce very ap- 
preciably cost of carriage. 

The munj grows in abundance in all moist low-lying places, 
especially those which are occasionally flooded every year. Its 
fibre, which is obtained from the long sheaths closely enveloping 
the stalk, is used both for rope-making and for weaving into very 
durable and handsome ornamental carpet-like mats which white ants 
will seldom touch. . 

Grasses required for fibre should be cut only when perfectly 
ripe and as soon as they are ripe ; otherwise the nightly dews which 
then prevail, followed by the hot morning sun, would produce in- 
cipient decomposition and weaken or destroy the fibre. Before 
export, the cut grass should be cleaned of all decayed and useless 
portions. Itisa fact proved by experience that annual cutting not 
only keeps up the quality of the grass, but also increases the yield. 
If cutting is neglected even for one year, the production falls off in 
an astonishing manner. The annual burning of the grass also 
improves its quality, by rendering it finer and more fibrous ; but it 
is evident that the forest on the dry hill-sides affected by the bha- 
bhar grass cannot be burnt with impunity. 

Amongst the herbaceous Tiliacee the most important fibre-pro- 
ducing species belong to the genus Corchorus, two of which, under 
cultivation, furnish the jute of commerce. All the wild species 
yield valuable fibre, but their utilization has hitherto been only 
Jocal. Like the fibres of the mallow family next mentioned, the 
fibres are all textile and also make good cordage and paper. They 
deserve very much more attention than they have hitherto received. 

In the mallow family, the herbaceous fibre-yielding species 
belong to the genus Hibiscus, and to them may be added the 
Malachra capitata. — 

The fibres of the plants belonging to both the above-mentioned 
families are generally anastomosed, but they are joined together 
so lightly as to be easily separated by a short period of maceration 
in water. Plants collected before flowering occurs, yield a finer 
and more silky fibre than they do later on ; but the strongest fibre 
is obtained when they are in fruit. The fibre must be extracted 
at once, otherwise fermentation sets in and deterioration ensues. 


150 OTHER USES OF HERBACEOUS VEGETATION, 


Sxcrion VII—MatTERIAL FOR THATCHING AND MAT-MAKING. 


More than half the population of the empire live under thatch 
roofs, and nine-tenths of this enormous number under thatch com- 
posed of grass, used either by itself or with leaves packed in between, 
in order to secure more perfect tightness combined with lightness. 
The durability of grass under complete exposure to the sun and 
atmospheric influences is in direct ratio to the proportion of hard 
fibre it contains, and in inverse ratio to the quantity of sugar, 
starch and nitrogenous matters init. Hence tough fibrous grasses 
are the best for the purpose, and no thatching grass should be cut 
until the seed has ripened and the stalks have begun to dry. 
After it has been cut, the grass cannot be dried too quickly and 
put away under shelter from dew and rain. The sooner it is used, 
the better. 

For matting, the stalks of both sedges and grasses are employed 
after they have been deprived of their leaves. The most suitable 
species are those which have long, straight, well-silicified stalks, 
with sufficient fibre to prevent their being brittle. Like thatching 
grass, the material for matting should be cut only after the seed 
has ripened and the stalks are nearly dry. The matting made is 
not only used for covering floors, but also as a ceiling immediately 
under thatch roofs. It is also, when stiff enough, sometimes used 
directly for roofing, and especially for putting over open carts and 
stage coaches during the rainy season. 

Another use made of the stalks, besides mat-making, is in the 
manufacture of “chicks.” With the thick lower portion of the 
stalks of the large Saccharums are made the chicks commonly hung 
round verandahs in Northern India. In the Indian mode of paper 
manufacture a fine grass chick takes the place of the wire netting 
on which the half stuff is caught in becoming a sheet of paper. 


Section VIII.—OTHER USES OF HERBACEOUS VEGETATION. 


Numerous species are eaten by man as a vegetable, some of 
them being equal to the best kinds grown in kitchen gardens. 
Many others supply useful drugs, while some are used in the in- 
digenous arts of the country. Two species of lichens, Rocella 
linctoria and R. fuciformis, yield the orchella of commerce, which 
gives on treatment with lime, carbonate of potash and urine, a 
very valuable blue dye (litmus). Dyers use it also to produce 
crimsons. Khas-khas tatties and chicks, made of the roots of 
Andropogon muricatum, are well known. The demand for these 
various species is, however, as yet too limited for any special 
reference to be made here regarding the mode of harvesting them. 


FLOWERS AND FRUITS OF TREES AND SHRUBS, 151 


CHAPTER II.—UTILIZATION OF THE FLOWERS AND 
FRUITS OF TREES AND SHRUBS. 


Tur abundance and quality of flowers and fruit depend upon the 
exposure of the bearing trees to light. Some of the plants which 
produce saleable fruit and flowers either grow naturally in open 
places, or, being climbers, or trees towering above their compani- 
ons, require no help to obtain the necessary amount of light. In all 
other cases thinnings must be made round every promising indivi- 
dual, both before the bearing age in order to promote its growth, 
and during this age to cause it to extend its crown and produce a 
large crop of flowers and fruit. When possible, trees furnishing 
valuable produce should be pruned just after a crop has been col- 
lected. ‘The extent to which the flowering and fructification of any 
species should be encouraged will, of course, depend on the demand 
to be met, the prices to be obtained, and the relative value from 
both an economic and financial point of view, of the flowers or 
fruit, or both, as compared with timber and firewood. 

In order to collect flowers and fruit, the ground under the trees 
should be kept perfectly clean, as, even if the produce is to be 
plucked off standing trees, a large proportion fit to be utilized will 
always drop on the ground. Flowers and fruit that require to be 
dried for the market should be at once spread out in an airy place 
and turned from time to time in order to prevent fermentation. 
They should also be preserved from rain and dew. When it is the 
seed that is wanted, the fruits should be treated as described in the 
Manual of Sylviculture. Occasionally, only the kernels of hard 
seeds find their way into the market; the quickest way to get rid 
of the shells is to pass the seeds between mill-stones kept sufficient- 
ly far apart to avoid breaking the kernel. When the shell is soft, 
instead of the upper mill-stone, a properly moulded mass of stiff 
clay may be used. 

Flowers and fruit serve various purposes. Some are eaten by 
man or beasts, ¢.g., the flowers of the Bassias (eaten raw or cooked 
after being dried ; also yielding by fermentation and distillation 
a spirit resembling gin), Bauhinia variegata, &c., the fruit of 
the olive, Salvadora, Cashew, Zizyphuses, Artocarpuses, d&c., the 
seed of the Pinus Gerardiana, Buchanania latifolia, Se. In years 
of gregarious fructification, which are often years of drought and 


152 FLOWERS AND FRUITS OF TREES AND SHRUBS. 


scarcity, the seeds of the various bamboos afford food to the forest 
population. Others yield dyeing and tanning extracts, such as the 
flowers of Woodfordia floribunda (colours leather red and contains 
203 per cent. of tannin), Butea frondosa (yellow and orange colours, 
much used at the Aoli festival), Nyctanthes Arbor-tristis (yellow), tun 
(yellow), &c., and the various myrabolams, and the fruit of Mallotus 
philippinensis, §c. The beleric and chebulic myrabolams, which 
are most valuable when gathered just before they are ripe, contain 
30 to 50 per cent. of gallo-tannic acid, producing a soft and porous 
leather of a bright yellow colour. In 1880 the exports of my- 
rabolams from Bombay and Kurrachee to London amounted to 
235,000 cwts., valued at £180,000. In 1888-89 the quantity of 
myraholams carried by rail and river in India, exclusive of Burma, 
exceeded 500,000 maunds, and was worth, in round numbers, 
12 lakhs of rupees. From a third class of flowers and fruits oil is 
expressed or distilled, ¢.g., the flowers of the various scented grasses, 
of jessamine, &c., the seed of the Bassias, the sal, olive, apricot, &e. 
The oil of the Bassias and of sal is obtained by expression after 
boiling the seed and removing the hulls, the yield of oil being 40 
to 50 per cent. of the weight of the hulled seed. The oil of all 
these species congeals at a lower temperature than ghee, which 
it resembles when solid, and which it is often used to adulterate. 
Numerous flowers and fruits are used medicinally, e.g., the flowers 
of Acacia Farnesiana, &e., and the various myrabolams and the 
fruit of Podophyllum, of Cassia Fistula, Strychnos Nux-vomica, ke. 
A few kinds of fruit have special uses, such as clearing water 
(Strychnos potatorum), washing (the soapnut, Acacia concinna), 
poisoning water for fish (Randia dumetorum), &c. The fruit of the 
genus Bombax and Calotropis yield fibre which makes a soft stuf- 
fing for pillows and, in the case of one species, can also be spun. 


BARK FOR TANNING. 153 


CHAPTER IIJ.—UTILIZATION OF THE BARK OF 
TREES AND SHRUBS. 


Tue principal uses of bark are for tanning and dyeing, and for fur- 
nishing fibres and drugs. On a small scale, it is also employed as 
covering material, as fuel, and for some minor industrial purposes. 


Szcrion I.—Bark FOR TANNING. 


Tannin is the generic name given to a large class of organic 
bodies, mostly uncrystallizable, which ofteu differ widely in chemi- 
cal composition and reaction, but have the common property of 
precipitating gelatine from its solution and forming insoluble com- 
pounds with gelatine-yielding tissues. By virtue of this property 
they convert animal hide, which is easily putrescible, into insolu- 
ble imputrescible leather. They all form blackish-blue or blackish- 
green compounds with ferric salts, and when treated with alkalies, 
they give solutions which oxidize rapidly, usually becoming suc- 
cessively orange, brown, and black. Associated with catechu-tan- 
nic acid a white crystalline body is found, called catechin, which 
does not precipitate gelatine. The tannins are met with chiefly 
in parenchymatous tissues, especially in bark and young wood, in 
the pericarp or other coverings of green fruits, and in the excres- 
cences called galls. Leaves that darken in drying, like those of 
the tea plant, of Anogeissus latifolia, &e., are rich in tannin. 

From the tanner’s point of view, tannins may be divided into 
two principal classes, viz., those which produce a light fawn-colour- 
ed deposit (the bloom) on leather and those which do not. To the 
first of these belong the tannin of myrabolams, to the second the 
tannin of cutch. 

Tannin is a substance so easily soluble in water that bark intend- 
ed for it has to be taken off with the greatest care. Bark may 
be removed (1) from a standing tree, or (2) from fresh-felled 
wood, or (3) from wood that has become more or less dry. In the 
first two cases it should be possible to strip the bark off the wood 
without difficulty ; hence the barking must be effected when the 
union between the bark and wood is weakest, that is to say, at the 
beginning of the season of vegetation, from the moment the buds 
begin to swell up to the time the leaves attain their full size. Dur- 
ing this period, the cambium is exceptionally active, and the tissues 

x 


454° UTILIZATION OF BARK. 


on éither side of it are soft and gorged with sap, so that the bark 
ean then be separated from the wood easily. Moreover, owing to 
this special activity, the liber also contains at this time its maxi- 
mum amount of tannin. 

The only portion of the bark which contains tannin in useful 
quantities comprises the living layers ; the dead bark is practical- 
ly of no value at all. Also, owing to the great solubility of tannin, 
the moment the periderm begins to split and a rhytidome to form, 
rain and dew both reach the living layers through the cracks and 
wash outa large proportion of the tannin. Hence the best stems 
for the tanner’s purpose are those of vigorous growth which have 
still a smooth uniform shining bark. When this period of growth 
is past, the yield of tannin diminishes considerably. According to 
Mueller, as quoted by Gayer, the bark of young poles contains 
twice as much again of tannic acid as the bark of full-grown trees. 
The best stems are unquestionably young coppice poles, and coppice 
worked for tanning bark should be exploited on short rotations. 
The great drawback in the case of bark which contains a consi- 
derable proportion of dead rhytidome is that this latter must be 
got rid of, always with immense trouble, before the bark can be 
used. The rhytidome without appreciably increasing the amount 
of tannic acid, introduces a large quantity of undesirable colouring 
matters into the tanning liquor. 

The removal of bark from standing stems (technically termed 
peeling) is thus effected. With a sharp broad-bladed hatchet or a 
eurved bill the bark is cut through round the base as far as the 
wood. A similar cut is made 3 or 4 feet higher up. Then with 
the tool represented in Fig. 62, which is very sharp along the edge 
e, a straight incision is made from the top cut to the bottom. 
The bark on each side of the incision may now be lifted off with 

’ ease with the extremity of the same tool or with 

Fig. 62. the ordinary khurpa of the Indian gardener. 
After this, the workman has only to gradually 
strip off the entire cylinder of bark, aiding him- 
self with the tool wherever it adheres too firmly 
to the wood. In this manner he peels off succes- 
sive complete rolls of bark until the entire stem 
and the thicker branches, if any, have been laid 
bare, This method of barking is evidently unsuit- 
ed for large trees. Moreover, it is the most trou- 
blesome of the three methods, and should, there- 
fore, be employed only when the stems to be peeled 
cannot, for some reason or other, be felled at once. 


Bark scalpet. 


BAKK FOR TANNING. 155 


In the second method, the bark is stripped off immediately the 
trees have been felled. The tree may of course be of any size. If 
the stems are small enough to be rolled about, they may be peeled 
in the same way as standing poles, the bark being taken off in 
complete rolls. In the case of larger stems, the bark must neces- 
sarily be pulled off in narrow strips like semi-cylindrical tiles ; the 
bark being thick, with a hard rhytidome, all the incisions must be 
made with an axe, and in order to loosen it, it has often to be 
beaten with the back of the axe. 

In the third method of barking, the tree is cut up into billets, 
and at any time after the tree has been felled, the billets are ex- 
posed to the action of steam, under which the bark swells up and is 
easily detached. It is evident that only comparatively thin wood 
can be peeled in this manner. Ordinary steam, owing to the solu- 
bility of the tannin, injures the quality of the bark, and hence the 
best apparatus are those in which superheated steam is used. Porta- 
ble apparatus, weighing less than 600 Ibs., have been constructed, 
which, with the labour of only four individuals, give an outturn of 
more than 2,000 lbs. of barka day. The researches of Grandeau 
have proved that the steaming does not affect at all the yield of 
tannic acid. 

Under ordinary circumstances the bark itself is exported after 
being dried, in order to reduce its weight and volume and to pre- 
vent fermentation. Air-dried bark is only from one-half to two- 
thirds the weight of the green bark. The diminution of volume re- 
sulting from air-drying varies from 20 to 40 per cent. To dry the 
bark, the rolls are stood up close together against one another in the 
form of a pent roof, a line of rolls being placed along the top like 
ridge tiles ; or they are piled up in a single row, in low stacks, on 
trestles raised at least a foot from the ground. In fine weather 
they become sufficiently dry in two or three days. Heavy rain is 
fatal to the bark, and hence, unless the steaming prucess is resorted 
to, drying in the open is out of the question for most of our Indian 
species, since their growing season is ushered in with continuous 
wet stormy weather. 

To obviate this very serious drawback, it is matter for consider- 
ation whether it would not be best to fix the season for felling 
without reference to the production of tannin, and to extract the 
tannin at once, thus exporting the extract instead of the very 
much more voluminous and heavier bark. The extract could bo 
either dry and solid or a thick liquid. In either form the tannic 
acid would keep for ever, whereas in the bark it disappears in the 
course of two years in spite of the utmost precautions, and com- 


156 UTILIZATION OF BARK. 


bined great heat and humidity, such as obtain in the hold of a 
ship, would cause it to decompose in a much shorter time. This 
plan would save cost of packing and carriage in a very remarkable 
degree, so that our forests, in which thousands of tons of bark now 
go annually to waste, could supply not only local tanners, but 
tanners in the most distant countries.* To Captain Wood is due 
the credit of attempting to introduce this practice into India and 
thereby utilizing the vast resources of our forests in tanning bark. 
He has experimented with sal and Terminalia tomentosa. The bark 
is chopped up in pieces about 4 inches square and boiled in earthen 
pots, the strained liquor being completely desiccated or reduced to 
the consistency of treacle. The extract prepared by the Oudh 
Forest Department has the defect of containing too much dark 
colouring matter ; but this is, no doubt, due in a great measure to 
portions of the dead bark having been boiled with the lighter- 
coloured living bark, a practice to which must also be attributed 
the very poor outturn in tannic acid (only 24 per cent. of the dry 
weight of the bark). With a proper system of manufacture, the 
yield would be at least doubled, and the percentage of tannic acid 
in the desiccated extract would certainly reach 50, instead of only 
33, as at present. The price of chestnut wood extract, containing 
30 per cent. of tannic acid, varies in London from £12 to £15 a 
ton. There is no reason to suppose that a great many of our 


* The practice of preparing a tanning extract by boiling chips of wood of the 
sweet chestnut is a very old one, and for many years now the system has been 
very successfully applied to oak wood in Europe. Within the last 30 years an 
extract of the hemlock (Abies canadensis) bark has taken the place of the crude 
bark in the exports from Canada and the United States. The mode of preparation 
is an instructive one for us in India, who have to devise some way of turning to 
profitable account the thousands of tons of bark which go to waste every year. 
The bark, in pieces § to 1 inch thick and several inches long, is soaked for about 
15 minutes in water at 200° Fah, It is then fed into a hopper, which conducts it 
to a 3-roller machine, something like a sugarcane mill, through which it passes, 
coming out lacerated and compressed. It next falls into a vat of hot water, where 
it is agitated by a wheel in order that the tannin from the crushed cells may be 
dissolved in the water. Hence it is raised by a series of buckets, on an endless 
chain, to another hopper, whence it is fed to another 3-roller mill, Here it 
receives its final compression, and comes out in flakes or sheets, like coarse paper, 
and almost free from tannin. The buckets are made of coarse wire, that the 
water may drip through. To avoid the blackening action of iron, wherever this 
metal is brought into contact with the solutions, it is thickly coated with zinc. 
The solution is evaporated to a solid consistency, generally in vacuum pans, 
About 2 tons of bark yield 500 Ibs. of extract, containing 18 to 25 per cent. of a 
deep-red tannin, giving considerable weight and firmness to leather. 


BARK FOR TANNING, 157 


gregarious trees would yield a worse commercial article than this 
latter extract, and we thus only require capital and enterprise to 
enable our ee materials to compete successfully in all the 
markets of Western and Central Europe with such materials from 
other sources of supply. If caste prejudices militate against the 
expansion of the tanning industry in India and the local conversion 
into leather of the shiploads of raw hides which leave the country 
every year, they cannot be a bar to the preparation of tanning 
extracts. 

We have as yet no figures for the proportion of tannic acid 
contained in the barks of our various species. Even in Europe 
the figures are few and contradictory for the three or four species 
used. In France a quantity of acid varying from 5 to 7 per cent. 
of the dry weight of the bark is considered good. In Germany 
the best bark is said to yield 16 to 20 per cent. of its dry weight 
of tannic acid. But the practical tanner does not value bark 
only by the quantity of tannic acid present in it. Even in one 
and the same tree the bark is prized more highly by him, the 
lower it is obtained from the tree, although the bark from the 
upper portion of the stem is, as a rule, very much richer in tannin 
than that from the base. The commercial and practical value of a 
tanning material depends not only on the quantity of tannin 
present in it, but also on the character of the leather it pro- 
duces, whether hard or soft, dark or light-coloured, and heavy or 
light. 

The volume of the bark varies from one-third to one-eighth that 
of the original unbarked wood, according to the age of the portion 
or the tree from which this latter has been taken. Hence the 
barking of firewood diminishes very appreciably both its weight 
and volume. On the other hand, the peeled wood always commands 
a relatively higher price, while the value of the detached bark, if 
there is any regular market for it, will, after deduction of the 
cost of removal, drying, and separate export, always exceed the net 
depreciation suffered by the firewood in consequence of loss of 
weight and volume due to the peeling. 

Some of the best known barks used by tanners are those of Acacia 
arabica, Terminalia tomentosa, Cassia auriculata, Rhus Cotinus and 
Rhus_mysorensis, Garuga pinnata, Zizyphus xylopyra, Buchanania 
latifolia, Bauhinia purpurea and Bauhinia variegata, Albizzia pro- 
cera, alders, Quercus incana, and Phyllanthus Emblica. 

Tannic acid is not the only product from the bark of trees that 
serves the purpose of curing leather. The well-known softness, 
peculiar scent, and water-proof quality of Russia leather are due to 


158 UTILIZATION OF BARK. 


its being impregnated, after it has been tanned, with the essential 
oil distilled from the outer white bark of the birch. Amongst our 
numerous species some are sure to be found capable of yielding a 
similar oil. 

Sxotion IJ.—Bark FOR DYEING. 


Irrespective of tannic acid, which with salts of iron gives various 
shades of green, purple, maroon, grey, and black, almost all our 
barks yield, by mere decoction, a large proportion of other colouring 
matters, some of them red and yellow, but most of them giving some 
shade of brown. Contrary to tannic acid, most of these colouring 
matters reside in.the rhytidome, so that the older a tree is, the 
larger will be the amount of colouring matter present in its bark. 
It is principally these colouring matters which cause a difference 
in the colour of leather, according to the species of bark used. 
Up to the present, scientific dyers have not taken up a study of our 
various tree-barks, and hence their capabilities as dyeing materials 
for use on a large scale are still only a matter for the future to 
reveal. All the dyes are permanent. That these dyes are likely 
to be greatly fancied the moment they become known seems certain 
from a casual use of the brown dye obtained in bleaching the fibre 
of Bauhinia Vahlii. Mr. Wilson, the gentleman who experimented 
with the fibre in England, employed the colour in dyeing silk, and 
produced some elegant shades by different reactions. The bark of 
Acacia arabica, Hardwickia binata, Soymida febrifuga, Terminalia 
tomentosa, and sal are well known to yield extremely rich browns. 


Section IIJ.—Fisres. 


All woody species yield fibre, but there are only a very few, of 
which the fibres are strong enough to be twisted without breaking, 
and the number is still smaller of those the ultimate fibres of which, 
remaining after the completion of the cleaning and bleaching pro- 
cesses, are long enough tobe spun. All fibres suitable for cordage 
and spinning are also excellent for paper-making, for which a great 
many others also are well adapted. The fibre of the living bark 
alone is fit for use. The woody species whose bark yields utilizable 
fibres belong almost exclusively to the Malvacese (Hibiscus, Thes- 
pesia, Kydia, Adansonia), the Tiliaceze (Grewia), the Sterculiacese 
(Sterculia, Helicteres, Eriolena), the Urticacese (Behmeria, Pouzol- 
sia, Sarcochlamys, Maoutia, Debregeasia, Broussonetia, Antiaris, 
Ficus, Ulmus, Sponia), the Leguminoseze (Sesbania, Desmodium, 
Bauhinia, Hardwickia), and the Asclepiadese (Calotropis, Marsdenia, 
Pergularia). Careya arborea and Daphne papyracea are two well- 


OTHER USES OF BARK. 159 


known exceptions to this rule. Amongst the Monocotyledons 
several palms yield fibre. 

In all the dicotyledonous species the bark has only to be strip- 
ped off in as long ribbons as can be taken off, a certain amount of 
pounding or beating being necessary to loosen it. In the case of 
Bauhinia Vahlii, however, owing to the peculiar structure of the 
stem, the stem has first to be first split up into long thin strips, 
and then pounded until the bark separates from the numerous 
enclosed wood-strands. 

Among the woody Monocotyledons, the chief of our fibre-yield- 
ing species are the cocoanut palm, from which we obtain coir (the 
fibre surrounding the nut) and the fibre of the leaves and sheath- 
ing leaf-stalks, and the Caryota urens, the leaves and sheathing 
leaf-stalks of which give the strong Kittul fibre, which is made 
into ropes, brushes, brooms, baskets, &c. The cord-like fibre ob- 
tained from the interior of the stem of the cocoanut, palmyra, 
Caryota, and other palms, may also serve important uses.* 


Section 1V.—OTHER USES OF BARK. 


Many barks are used for medicinal purposes, owing chiefly to 
the alkaloids they contain. The most universally used of such 
barks is that of the various Cinchonas, which, although exotics, 
are now cultivated on an extensive scale in plantations treated 
mostly on the coppice system on very short rotations. Some 
barks are used for special industrial purposes, those containing 
gelatinous secretions or tannic acid serving, in many cases, for 
clarifying sugar. The gelatinous matters coagulate with heat, 
thus separating from the liquid and carrying away with them the 
minutest impurities, while the tannin, by coagulating the albumi- 
nous matters present, has the same effect. The bark of the Acacia 
leucophiea is used in the distillation of spirits, the tannin causing 
the albuminous matters to be precipitated. 

Exceptionally, mere temporary huts are sometimes covered 
with bark, and cheap umbrellas in Upper India are made with the 
bark of the Bhojpattra. Moreover, the thick corky bark of Pinus 
longifolia is made into charcoal, which is more highly prized than 
wood charcoal by blacksmiths in the Western Himalayas. 


* ‘This paragraph should have appeared in a different place. It will do so in 
another edition. 


160 LEAVES FOR FODDER. 


CHAPTER IV.—UTILIZATION OF THE LEAVES OF 
TREES AND SHRUBS. 


Tue leaves of trees and shrubs are used principally for fodder, 
manure, litter, and thatching. On a smaller scale they yield drugs 
(nim, Vitex Negundo, senna, Adhatoda Vasica, &c.), material for 
dyeing (Indigoferas, Lawsonia alba, &c.), and tanning (Anogeissus, 
Rhus, §¢.), and for matting, basket-making, and paper manufac- 
ture (various palms). The number of species which serve these 
last mentioned purposes is, however, so small, and the quantity of 
leaves that is actually used, or is ever likely to be required, is so 
insignificant, that arrangements for meeting the demand for them, 
without injuring the stock or the resources of the forests, will 
never present any difficulty. 


Section I.—LEAVES FOR FODDER. 


For fodder, leaves must of course be plucked or lopped green, 
as otherwise they would have no nutritive value. Moreover, the 
leaves of most fodder-yielding species are relished by cattle only 
while they are young and tender, since they afterwards either be- 
come too tough and fibrous or acquire an unpleasant flavour. It 
is scarcely necessary to say that only broad-leaved species yield 
fodder. ‘ 

The nutritive value of tree-fodder, as compared with that of the 
best meadow grass, is as 100 to 125. Lopped twigs and small 
branches contain from 40 to 60 per cent. by weight of leaves and 
edible stem-portions. 

The practice of lopping is always harmful. Besides robbing the 
plants of assimilating organs and causing disfigurement and intro- 
ducing the germs of unsoundness, it deprives the soil of manure 
more valuable than that furnished by the grass growing under 
them. This higher value is due to the leaves being less fibrous 
and decomposing more readily, and also to the fact that the total 
mass of leaves produced by canopied trees is larger than the entire 
quantity of grass growing below. Moreover, leaves are extremely 
rich in nitrogen and contain up to 8 per cent. of ash, a very large 
proportion of which consists of potash and phosphates. When 
wood alone is utilised, nearly all these constituents, which have 
been collected and brought to the surface by the roots from an im- 


LEAVES FOR FODDER, 161 


mense thickness of soil, are left on the surface to enrich it, and the 
same matter is thus repeatedly used, year after year, by successive 
generations of trees. If we remember this fact, and also that it is 
the dead fallen leaves alone which can, by their decomposition, 
draw fresh supplies of nitrogenous substances from the atmosphere, 
and convert refractory compounds of potassium, calcium, and mag- 
nesium present in the soil into soluble and assimilable constituents 
of plant-food, it is evident that the continued removal of the leaf- 
production of an area injures it not only in the present, but even 
more so also for the future, and that the injury is greater in pro- 
portion to the natural infertility of the soil. Sooner or later, the 
evil consequences of removing leaves become apparent in the lan- 
guishing growth of the forest. In a sandy soil, the most careful 
conservation in other respects will fail to make the trees attain 
their normal size or grow close enough together to form a leaf- 
canopy. In very rich soils, the trees may still attain their usual 
size and form a dense growth, but at a comparatively early age 
they will begin to decay at the centre, so that they will be unable 
to furnish timber of any size. 

The evil effects of lopping are thus extremely grave and incon- 
testable, and yet we have to permit its continuance in many of our 
forests in consequence of admitted prescriptive rights. In the 
higher ranges of the Himalayas, the maintenance of these rights is 
doubtless unavoidable on account of the severity of the climate 
during the winter and early spring, when the leaves of trees are 
almost the only kind of fodder available. | But in all other places 
the right of lopping for fodder is totally unjustifiable, as it only 
gives encouragement to improvidence. It is true that the leaves 
of trees are actually lopped only when the grass on the ground is 
dry and wanting in nourishment, but the same grass might have 
been cut in time and converted into hay, and therefore wholesome 
nutritious fodder, in anticipation of the coming dry season. 

No effort should therefore be spared to suppress, whenever pos- 
sible, the practice of lopping. Where we are powerless to stop it 
entirely, it should at least be restricted within the narrowest 
possible limits, and be regulated on lines having for their objective 
the safety of the trees lopped. In forest regions rich in species, 
there will nearly always be many kinds which are more or less 
useless from the point of view of timber and firewood, but which 
yield good fodder. Every endeavour should be made to confine tho 
lopping to such species, and even then the lopping should be effect- 
ed only in such a way as to maintain, to the fullest extent possible 
under the circumstances, the productive power of the trees lopped. 

¥ 


162 UTILIZATION OF LEAVES. 


A tuft of foliage at least 5 to 10 feet deep, according to the height 
of the trees, should be left, and the branches below this level should 
be cut, with sharp tools, with a clean section, in order to prevent 
unsoundness and to enable the buds at the base to throw out new 
vigorous shoots. If the quantity of leaf-fodder to be furnished is 
large, a regular rotation of from 2 to 5 years should be established, 
the forest being divided into as many blocks, of which only one 
at atime is kept open for lopping. Advantage should be taken 
of the trees and poles to be removed in the ordinary course of 
fellings, by allowing them to be lopped for several years pre- 
ceding their exploitation, thus furnishing at once a not inconsider- 
able portion of the total amount of fodder required. In coppiced 
forests, the entire stock of a coupe may be lopped just before it is 
felled. 

_ When the amount of lopping admissible is very heavy, and it is 
found difficult or impossible to regulate and control it without 
serious injury to the forest, the best plan is to set aside a portion 
of the area exclusively for fodder purposes, and in this area to 
pollard the trees, either every year or after the lapse of a recurring 
number of years, according to the system of pollarding adopted. 

The leaves of trees and shrubs, like grass and the leaves of pulse 
crops, may also be dried and stored up for future use. The leaves 
of various species of Zizyphus are used in this way. Asa rule, 
dried leaves make very poor fodder for cattle, but sheep eat them 
with avidity and thrive on them. 


Section J].—LEAVES FOR MANURE. 


The practice of using vegetable ashes as manure for field crops 
is one that dates from pre-historic times. The original inhabitants 
of India probably grew nearly all their crops in forest clearings 
in the ashes of the felled trees and other vegetation. In spite of 
injunctions in the Vedas to save forests from fire, the Aryans 
adopted the customs of the aborigines in the hilly regions where 
forest vegetation grew in luxuriance. Even in the plains, where 
cultivation made rapid progress, the idea that leaves and branches 
supply valuable ash was not forgotten, and the jungle was cut and 
spread over the fields, where it was burnt. In this manner, pre- 
scription has established rights which the present Government has 
in most cases, with certain restrictions, admitted. The exercise 
of such rights being more universal even than lopping for fodder, 
and one that is, in the opinion of the people and a powerful section 
of the official class, identified with successful agriculture, is so 


LEAVES FOR MANURE, 163 


much the more difficult to suppress, although it is utterly indefen- 
sible and is always followed by the gravest consequences. 

The only system of using tree-loppings for manure, of which any 
serious defence has ever been attempted, is that called rab in the 
Konkan districts of Bombay and beta on the Malabar coast and in 
Mysore. It prevails especially in districts where the wet cultiva- 
tion of rice is practised and the seedlings are transplanted from a 
nursery, and consists in preparing the seed-beds by burning layers 
of cowdung or brushwood with subordinate layers of leaves, grass, 
rice straw, and earth, in other words, in using a kind of surkhi ash 
for manuring the seed-beds. For this system it is contended that 
it is the only one which gives good and certain results in the 
peculiar circumstances in which those districts are placed. These 
circumstances are (1) the absence of heavy showers before June, 
when it is necessary to raise the seedlings if they are to be really 
strong at the time of transplanting ; (2) the very heavy early 
rainfall ; (3) the heavy continuousness of the early rains ; (4) the 
early closure of the rains ; (5) the absence of rain from the North- 
Hast Monsoon ; and (6) the absence of facilities for water-storage. 
Owing, it is said, to these peculiar conditions, seed cannot be sown 
until the rains have set in, and the seedlings have to be forced, so 
as to enable the crop to mature within the short period during 
which the rain continues. Professor Wallace of Edinburgh has. 
lent his powerful name in suprort of this system, but by merely 
re-echoing the opinions he heard in Bombay. There is really no 
reason why the rice cannot be forced by other means. A very 
simple expedient, which would help very much to shorten the time 
the crop would require to be on the ground, would be to force 
germination before the seed was sown. 

In Southern India sugarcane fields are also often rabbed on 
account of the large quantity of manure required by this class of 
crop. A system of rab was once largely practised in parts of Cen- 
tral Europe and supported by arguments just as specious as those 
now employed in India; but these arguments could not stand 
hefore the march of science, and what was once considered a neces- 
sity has aow received unqualified condemnation on every side. 

Even if we assume, for the sake of argument, that the burning 
of leaves on the surface of seed-beds is necessary, it is impossible 
to understand why dead fallen leaves should not fully serve the 
purpose. Whether we burn the leaves taken off green or collected 
only after they have been shed naturally, the ash constituents lett 
behind, after the burning, are practically the same. But, on the 
other hand, fur the forest ilsclf, the removal of green leaves means 


164 UTILIZATION OF LEAVES. 


arrested vegetation and the irretrievable loss of all proteid matters 
and starch, besides whatever other useful combustible constituents 
dead leaves contain. There is hence no reason why lopping for rab 
should not be stopped, even if vigorous rice seedlings cannot be 
produced without burning leaves on the surface of the beds, for dry 
leaves could take the place of the green material. The only excuse 
for rab thus seems to be that the green leaves, being attached to 
the branches, are more conveniently collected and carried than 
dead fallen leaves. 

In the outer Himalayas, loppings of broad-leaved trees are 
spread over ginger and turmeric fields as a mulching to keep the 
soil loose and warm. At the same time they enrich the soil by 
their decomposition. But there is no reason why a mulching of 
straw would not be as effective, while the manurial properties of 
the leaves could be made good by applying an additional quantity 
of other manures. 

The day must come when, with the march of progress and wealth, 
this very primitive practice of using the leaves of forest trees for 
manuring fields will be discontinued, just as the barbarous system 
of clearing and burning the forest for cultivation has already given 
place to settled agriculture. Until then, however, we must resign 
ourselves to arrange for its continuance with the least possible injury 
to our forests. In the first place, whenever we can do so, we ought 
to substitute dead fallen leaves for green lopped branches. In the 
next place, the practice should be rigidly excluded from all areas 
intended for the production of timber. In fuel forests, the adoption 
of the coppice system on short rotations should be taken advantage 
of to furnish a large supply of small branches and leaves at each 
exploitation ; and to save people from coming long distances, there 
should be numerous small working-circles. The establishment of 
such small circles of course means excessively detailed work and 
a large staff, and therefore heavy expenditure. But Government 
must be prepared to face these drawbacks, if it rules the continuance 
of the cause thereof. In mere grazing reserves, the same rule 
must be adopted as for fodder-lopping, namely, restriction of the 
lopping to definite species and maintenance of a crown at least 
5—10 feet deep. Where there is a mass of low shrubby vegetation, 
such vegetation may be cut back once every two or three years, 
a short rest being given to enable the soil as well as the root-stocks 
to recover. 

The regulation of the removal of dead fallen leaves and the in- 


fluence of the practice on tho forest are described in the next 
Section. 


LEAVES FOR LITTER. 165 


Section IJJ.—LEAvES FOR LITTER. 


The leaves of broad-leaved species, when they die and fall off, 
become so brittle and rot away so quickly, that the only dry leaves 
that can be used for litter are the fallen needles of conifers. When 
the leaves of broad-leaved species are cut green and then dried and 
spread under cattle, the object is more that of providing fodder 
and of using the leaves directly as a manure than of obtaining an 
absorbent medium for the easy and convenient collection of the 
droppings and urine of the animals. Thus nothing more need be 
said here regarding the use of the green leaves of trees and shrubs 
than what has already been given in the immediately preceding 
Section, and consideration must hence be limited exclusively to the 
utilization of conifer needles. 

The needles of the pine tribe, as they contain the largest propor- 
tion of fibre, are the best adapted for litter. On the other hand, 
the needles of the other species of conifers which grow on an exten- 
sive scale, namely, the firs and deodar, and in certain parts of the 
Himalayas, also the larch, yield almost as much ash as the leaves 
of most broad-leaved species, and have, therefore, a high intrinsic 
manurial value. 

The sweeping away of the entire annual fall of leaves is obvious- 
ly fatal to the productiveness and maintenance of the forest. But 
since conifer needles decompose very slowly, and, unless crushed 
by artificial means, form a thick covering over the ground which 
prevents all reproduction by seed, the raking away of a portion of 
the annual fall is more beneficial than hurtful. The operation in 
question not only diminishes the thickness of this obnoxious cover- 
ing, but also helps to crush whatever portion of it is left unre- 
moved. 

The injurious effects following the removal of the layer of dead 
leaves covering the soil are greatest (1) on sloping ground, especi- 
ally exposed hill-sides, since the soil there requires all the protection 
that can be given it to prevent erosion and impoverishment by the 
rapid downward filtration of water ; (2) on bad soils, in a forcing 
climate, with naturally quick-growing species, and in youth and in 
old aye, for in all these cases the presence of a large quantity of 
plant-food in the soil is an absolute necessity ; (3) in open forest, 
where of course every bit of the exiguous annual leaf-fall must be 
preserved ; (4) in coppice, in which class of forest the soil is more 
or less completely exposed during half the rotation, so that the 
protection of the fallen leaves is an absolute necessity during that 
half, and their preservation and conversion into humus under the 


166 UTILIZATION OF LEAVES. 


leaf-canopy during the other halt is the only means of maintaining, 
the productiveness of the soil ; and (5) during the season of vege- 
tation, when the soil must be in the most favourable condition 
possible. 

In regulating the removal of dead leaves, two precautions must 
never be omitted: (1) a rotation must be established, and (2) 
measures must be taken to ensure a part of the annual fall being 
left on the ground. The length of the rotation will depend, princi- 
pally, upon the nature of the soil and locality and the largeness of 
the demand, and, secondarily, upon the component species, the age 
of the crop, and the method of treating the forest. The more un- 
favourable the soil and locality and the heavier the demand, the 
longer must be the rotation. So also a young or an old crop, an 
exacting species, and a system of treatment which exposes the soil 
for long intervals, will require a Jong rotation. The saving of some 
portion of the annual leaf-fall is ensured by allowing the dead 
leaves to be collected only while they are falling and only during 
the first half of this period. A combination of the two precautions 
in question will never fail to result in a considerable quantity of 
leaves being left on the ground to decompose and form humus and 
enrich and improve the mineral soil below. 


Section [V.—LEAVES FOR THATCHING. 


Where palms grow in abundance, the leaves often form the en- 
tire thatching put intoa roof. Before using the leaves, they should 
be placed over one another, on a dry floor, with the leaflets proper- 
ly spread out, so that they may dry quickly and well flattened out. 
When dried thus, they are easily arranged over one another in the 
roof. If the leaflets are long and narrow, like those of the cocoa- 
nut palm, they may be plaited together into a sort of matting. 
Palm thatching seldom requires renewal oftener than once in three 
or four years, and then too it is only the upper layers that need 
replacement. Thatching composed of leaves of the Wallichia den- 
siflora is extremely durable. 

The leaves of other species, and also often of palms, are laid 
under or between grass thatch. By increasing the tightness of the 
roof, they enable it to be made extremely thin and light. Before 
the leaves can bo used, they must be dried, after being pressed to- 
gether and tied up in bundles, The leaves of teak and of Bauhinia 
Vahlii, especially the former, are extensively so used and constitute 
an article of considerable export. Any broad fibrous leaf serves for 
thatching, and accordingly the leaves of many other species, such 


LEAVES FOR TANNING, 167 


as Butea frondosa, Semecarpus Anacardium, Diospyros Melanoxylon, 
&c., are often used in the vicinity offorests. Matting of palm leaves 
is often placed directly over the timbers of a roof before the grass 
thatch is put on and lasts for more than ten years. 


Section V.—LEAVES FOR TANNING. 


The leaves of a few species, such as Anogeissus latifolia, Rhus 
Cotinus, &c., are used in tanning. The leaves should be collected 
only when they are mature, but while they are still full of sap and 
before their colour changes previous to their being shed. The 
change of colour results from the appearance of colouring matters, 
which have their effect on the leather. Hence for white or light- 
coloured leathers there ought to be no delay in picking. The high- 
est quality of leaves is obtained nearest the ends of the branches. 
After being picked, the leaves should be first wilted, then spread 
out and quickly dried, either in the sun or on racks arranged one 
above another in a heated room. To accelerate the process, the 
leaves should be frequently turned. Leaves properly dried should 
be greenish. For convenience of export, the leaves should be 
ground into a coarse meal. 

The dried leaves of the various species of Rhus used for tanning 
contain 16—24 per cent. of gallo-tannic acid, and make a soft, pale- 
coloured leather. The leaves of Anogeissus give a similar leather, 
and the samples analysed by Professor Hiimmel yielded 15} per 
cent. of tannin, while those of the leaves of Phyllanthus Emblica 
gave as much as 18 per cent. The decoction of the leaves of both 
theso species obtained by the Professor was of a pale yellow colour 
and slightly turbid. 


Section VI.—SomME OTHER USES OF LEAVES. 


The leaves of Melaleuea Leucadendron yield the Cajuput oil of 
commerce. The leaves of Terminalia Catappa, Baccaurea sapida, 
and some other species are used in dyeing, those of the first giving 
a black dye. The leaves of Butea jrondosa, Bauhinia Vahlii, and 
Cordia Myzxa are very largely used by Hindus in the place of plates 
and cups. The plates are formed of several leaves pinned together 
with long spines or stiff grass stalks, while the cups consist of one 
or several leaves bent and pinned to the proper shape. The same 
leaves are also used by shopkeepers to wrap round grocery and 
other small articles that they sell. Jor these various purposes the 
leaves in question are exported to great distances. The leaves of 
the plantain are also used for plates. Both the leaves of the plan- 


168 SOME OTHER USES OF LEAVES. 


tain and of species of Bauhinia take the place of paper in the ciga- 
rettes smoked by the people of the Western Coast, while the leaves 
of Cordia are used to cover Burmese cheroots. The dried leaves of 
nim, Vitee Negundo, and some others are used as insectifuges. 
Pine needles, digested in a solution of caustic soda, yield more 
than 80 per cent. of their dry weight of a fine fibre (pine wool), 
which is made into felt and is woven into cloth resembling wool- 


len fabrics. 


DYES AND OTHER EXTRAOTS. 169 


CHAPTER V.—UTILIZATION OF MINOR PRODUCE 
OBTAINED FROM FELLED WOOD. 


TuE stem, besides yielding major produce, viz., timber, firewood, 
and wood for charcoal, furnishes many other useful products that 
are extensively used. They may be grouped under the heads of 
(1) dyes and other extracts, (2) oils and the various products of 
distillation, and (3) starch. 


Section I.—Dyezs AND OTHER EXTRACTS. 


The heart-wood of every species owes its colour to a substance or 
substances which can be used in dyeing; but these substances 
must be capable of being extracted with ease and in sufficient 
abundance to have a commercial value. In spite of the very slight 
knowledge possessed by our dyers of the various modes of mani- 
pulating dyeing substances, a great many dye woods are already 
used by them as well as by the general population. The Jack wood, 
Plecospermum spinosum, and various others yield a yellow dye. 
Plerocarpus santalinus gives a very pretty salmon-pink dye, Cesal- 
pinta Sappan and Adenanthera pavonina a red dye, Cynometra 
ramiflora a purple dye, and so on. But the most common colour 
yielded is some shade of brown. The easiest way to obtain the 
dye from wood that has been sawn is simply to boil the saw-dust. 
But for work ona commercial scale, the wood, before being boiled, 
would be most quickly reduced to thin shavings on a lathe. 

The two best known and most widely used wood-extracts are the 
eutch and katha of commerce, the former being used principally 
asa dye and exported to Europe, the latter being chewed with 
betel and the betel leaf. From Upper Burma alone the annual 
exports, a few years before the annexation, amounted to 150,000 
maunds, valued at Rs. 11,00,000. Since then, owing to restricted 
cuttings in consequence of reckless utilization during the late 
dynasty, they have diminished 50 per cent. in quantity and about 
AO per cent. in value. In Lower Burma, in two Divisions alone 
(viz., Tharawaddy and Prome), the annual revenue from cutch is 
not less than half a lakh of rupees. In India proper, the manufac- 
ture is on a much smaller scale ; nevertheless the quantity carried 


by rail and river in 1888-89 was over 33,000 maunds, valued at 
Z 


170 MINOR PRODUCE FROM FELLED WOOD. 


Rs. 5,00,000.* Many of our dark-hearted trees, such as Hard 
wickia binata, Soymida febrifuga, &c., would, no doubt, yield dye- 
ing extracts quite as valuable as cutch. Industry and enterprise 
alone are wanting to bring them into use. 


Suction Il.—OrLs AND OTHER PRODUCTS OF DISTILLATION. 


The oils at present distilled from wood are those obtained from 
sandal-wood, from teak, from deodar, and from pines (chiefly P. 
longifolia, Khasya, and Merkusit). 

Amongst these, the only articles of commerce are the produce of 
the sandal-wood, Pinus longifolia, and teak, the rest either having a 
very local use or being manufactured to meet an occasional demand. 

The process of manufacture of sandal-wood oil will be described in 
Part III. A large quantity of wood is now wasted which would pro- 
fitably be used for distilling the oil, and the establishment of stills 
in all the sandal-wood forests of Madras, Mysore, and Coorg would 
permit of those forests being worked and treated on a much more 
intensive system than can be adopted under present circumstances. 

The oil of the deodar and Pinus longifolia, as well as of teak, is 
obtained by destructive distillation. The method of distillation 
is extremely primitive. Chips of the wood, long enough not to 
fall out, are put into an earthen pot with a narrow mouth. The 
chips are set on fire, and the pot is inverted into another, with a 
broad mouth. As the wood burns, the vapour of the oil condenses 
against the sides of the upper pot and the oil trickles down into 
the lower one. Sometimes the wood is not set on fire, but the two 
pots are so arranged that the inverted one is surrounded with fire. 
In either case, the produce obtained is never quite pure, as tarry 
matters and acids distil with the oil and discolour and taint it. 
This is, however, actually no disadvantage in the case of the coni- 
fer oils, which are at present used only for friction in rheumatism 
and skin diseases. Teak wood cil is rubbed into inferior woods to 
make them more durable and to give them the odour and oiliness 
of teak wood. In each one of these cases, tarry matters and a 
small quantity of acid probably add to the effectiveness of the oil. 
Teak wood oil, being siccative, is also sometimes used in the place 
of linseed oil. 

The other products of distillation of wood, in which there isa 
trade, are acetic acid, wood-spirit, creosote, and tar. Of these, tar 
alone is made in this country, and that, too, only on a very small 


* For further particulars regarding cutch and katha, see Part IE. 


STARCH. Wl 


scale for local consumption. The method of preparing wood-tar 
directly has already been described on page 147, and will again be 
further noticed in Chapter IV. of Part ILI. Although wood-tar 
can never compete with coal-tar in the general market, there is 
still plenty of room for its more extended use in and near the 
areas where deodar and pines grow. 

The method of dry-distilling wood will be explained under the 
head of charcoal-burning in Part III. The acetic acid obtained 
directly from the distillation is full of various other products, and is 
in that condition termed pyroligneous acid. The pure acid is 
separated in the-form of an acetate of lime, which is then heated 
with sulphuric acid, or, better still, hydrochloric acid, the base 
going to form sulphate or chloride, as the case may be, ana setting 
free the acetic acid. Acetic acid is a powerful solvent of various 
organic bodies, camphor, resins, essential oils, phosphorus, &e. Tt 
is extensively used in the treatment of gums, caoutchouc, and 
various albuminous substances, in the manufacture of paints and 
varnishes, and as a drug. The uses of vinegar are well-known. 
The crude pyroligneous acid, owing -to its containing creosote 
and other hydro-carbons, is a powerful antiseptic. Finally, acetic 
acid forms a series of salts, or “ acetates,” of special value in calico 
printing, dyeing, and other branches of industry. 

Wood alcohol is, however, the most important product of the dry 
distillation of wood and constitutes about 1 per cent. of the distillate. 
Combined with sugar alcohol in the proportion of 10 parts to 90 
of the latter, it becomes the methylated spirits of commerce, a 
product of such wide use in the arts and manufactures and in the 
scientific laboratory. Bleaching powder acting upon wood spirits 
produces chloroform. Ether is prepared by heating alcohol with 
sulphuric acid. 

The products of the dry distillation of wood comprise, besides the 
substances already mentioned, all the substances, such as parafiin, 
benzene, &c., yielded in much larger quantities and at infinitely 
less expense by the distillation of coal. 


Section IIJ.—Starcu. 


The only woody Indian species from which starch is extracted 
are a few palms, such as Caryota urens, Phenix acaulis, Arenga, 
and Corypha. This starch is, however, only consumed locally 
and has practically no market value, But there is no reason why 
it should not become an article of trade. Owing to the peculiar 
structure of the stems of palms, the centre consists entirely of 
cellular tissue rich in starch, the quantity of which is generally 


172 STARCH. 


largest towards the base, where the reserve materials are princi- 
pally stored up. The starch is easily separated from the tissues 
containing it. These tissues are crushed and well rubbed and 
washed in water. The whole is then thrown upon a fine sieve, 
through which the starch passes with the water. The water is 
evaporated and only the starch remains. 


WOODY ROOTS. 173 


CHAPTER VI.—UTILIZATION OF MINOR PRODUCE 
FROM WOODY ROOTS. | 


THE roots of woody plants yield (a) food for man (eg., yams, 
Pueraria tuberosa, &e.; (6) drugs (e¢g., Strychnos Nusx-vomica, 
Hemidesmus indicus, Cissampelos Pareira, mudar, some barberries, 
&e.); (¢) fibres (eg., Butea frondosa, the aérial roots of some figs, 
&e.); (d) dyes (e.g., chay or Hedyotis umbellata, known as Indian 
madder ; Lubia cordifolia, yielding manjit, a product much resem- 
bling madder ; Morinda citrifolia, yielding a scarlet dye, species of 
Berberts, a yellow dye, Ventilago Maderaspatana orange by itself, 
chocolate with chay, and black with galls; and so on). Many 
edible wild roots contain some acrid principle which can be got 
rid of only by long boiling. The fibres of the roots of the Butea 
frondosa are easily separated by beating the whole root with the 
back of an axe. These fibres, however, make only very coarse 
cordage, which becomes brittle in drying. Strips of the fresh-cut 
root are used for tieing up thatch. 


174 SUGARY SAP. 


CHAPTER VII.—EXUDED PRODUCTS. 


THESE are very numerous and of extreme importance. They may, 
for our purpose, be divided into (1) sugary sap, (2) gums, resins, 
and varnishes, and (3) rubbers. 


Szecrion I.—SuaGary sap. 


The utilization of such sap is the basis of a very extensive in- 
dustry. In India, the palms are the only family which contain 
trees that yield sugary sap. Those usually tapped are the cocoa- 
nut and palmyra palms, the Caryota urens, the Arenga sacchari-— 
Jera, the Nipa fruticans, and the wild date palm. The first four 
yield juice from the cut stalk of the inflorescence before the flow- 
ers appear, the last from incisions made in the stem at the base of 
the lower leaves, which are cut off. The sap, or toddy as it is called, 
of these palms flows in abundance. While it flows it is collected 
twice a day, the daily yield varying from a pint or two to several 
gallons. Nearly every spathe may be tapped, and the yield, there- 
fore, depends on the number of spathes developed or cuts made. 
The same spathe or cut goes on giving toddy for nearly half the 
year ; but periodically, about once, twice, or thrice a week, a thin 
piece has to be sliced off to freshen the wound. In the case of the 
wild date palm, the sides of the incision are freshened once a day 
for three days running each week, and the quantity of juice col- 
lected in the morning after each re-cutting is, in Bengal, respec- 
tively 16, 63, and 38 pints. During the three remaining days the 
outflow is insignificant, and the trees are allowed to rest before 
being cut again. 

The toddy is largely drunk ; but the greater portion is ferment- 
ed and made into spirits and vinegar, or boiled down into raw 
sugar, which is refined at Cossipore in Bengal and in many places 
in the Madras Presidency. Toddy is nearly as rich in saccharine 
matters as cane juice, and as, unlike this latter, it is entirely free 
from colouring matters, chlorophyll and other impurities, the sugar 
it yields is much easier to clarify. The proportion of gur obtained 


GUMS, RESINS, AND VARNISHES. 175 
2 ? 


from date juice averages one-tenth by weight. The palm gur, as 
actually made, contains a large proportion of gluten, which causes 
it to deteriorate sooner than cane gur. 


Section IJ.—Gums, Resins, anD VARNISHES. 


Gums are degradation products of the secondary cell-wall. The 
essential constituents of gums are arabin, cerasin, and bassorin, 
and according to which one of these three is present or preponder- 
ates, we have gum arabic, cherry gum, and gum tragacanth. 
Other constituents of gums are dextrin, sugar, tannin, colouring 
matters, and mineral ingredients. The various kinds of gum 
arabic, the type of which is obtained from several species of Acacia, 
are readily soluble in water at all temperatures and have the same 
composition as starch. They are the only gums which can be used 
for adhesive purposes. Cherry gum, to which category belong the 
exudations of Bauhinia Vahlii and Thespesia populnea, is insoluble 
in water, but absorbs it greedily and swells up into a transparent 
jelly-like mass. Boiled with a small quantity of some alkali, it is 
converted into gum arabic. Gum tragacanth, which is typically 
represented by the gum (katira) of the Sterculias, of Cochlospermum 
Gossypium, of Eriodendron anfractuosum, and of the cocoanut 
palm, is also insoluble in water, but, above a certain low minimum 
temperature, it absorbs water energetically, increasing enormously 
in bulk. It, however, becomes soluble when treated with an 
alkali. When acted upon by weak sulphuric acid, it yields a 
sugar that is incapable of fermentation. Most of our gums are 
mixed gums, that is to say, they contain two or all three of the 
three main constituents. Gums have various uses besides their 
employment as adhesive material. They are used in pharmacy 
as a medium for medicaments and as mucilage for soothing in- 
ternal inflammation ; also directly as a medicament itself. They 
are also largely employed in calico printing, in sizing paper, and 
in confectionery. 

Resins are also degradation products of the cell membrane, but 
sometimes they are derived from fine-grained starch. In most 
species, the change into resin is brought about in those cells the 
vitality of which has been diminished from any cause. It is for 
this reason that resin is found in greatest abundance in the region 
of wounds, and that the stumps of felled pine and deodar trees 
become almost transparent with the large proportion of resin 
formed by the degradation of the cell-walls. Resins are soluble in 


176 UTILIZATION OF EXUDED PRODUCTS. 


alcohol, ether, and carbon disulphide, but insoluble in water. They 
burn with a bright or a smoky flame. 

Resins may be classified into (1) true resins, (2) gum-resins, 
and (8) oleo-resins. The true resins are (a) hard or copaline, as 
the resins of Vateria indica (piney), Hopea odorata, Dipterocarpus 
tuberculatus, Shorea spp., and Canarium bengalense, or (6) soft or 
elemi, as the exudation of oswellia thurifera. The gum-resins 
embrace three sub-classes, (a) the emulsive (eg., gamboge of Gar- 
cinia Morella and kino of Pterocarpus Marsupium and Butea fron- 
dosa), (b) the fetid (e.g., asafcetida and the exudations of Gardenia 
lucida and gummifera), and (c) the fragrant, this last being further 
sub-divided into two sections, represented respectively by the exu- 
dations of Balsamodendron (bdellium) and mango, and that of the 
genus Styraa (gum benjamin or benzoin). The oleo-resins embrace 
balsams (eg., the gurjun “oil” of Dipterocarpus turbinatus, the 
wood “oil” of D. levis and D. zeylanicus, and the copaiba-like 
balsam of Hardwickia pinnata), natural varnishes.(e.g., the lacquers 
of Melanorrhea usitata, Rhus vernicifera, Semecarpus Anacardium 
and travancorica, Holigarna longifolia), and turpentines and tars 
(the products of numerous conifers). 

Gums are found in exploitable quantity only in the bark, while 
resins are formed in the wood as well as in the bark. In the bark 
the resin always occurs in special receptacles (resin cells or ducts); 
in the wood there may be special reservoirs, as in pines, or the resin 
may be secreted in the vessels themselves, as in the wood of the 
Dipterocarpeze. 

According to where the resin or gum is secreted, and to whether 
the secretion has or has not to be artificially aided, we have three 
modes of collection, viz., (1) collection of spontaneous exudations, 
(2) collection from wounds made in the bark, and (3) collection 
by tapping the wood. 


ArticLE 1,—-CoLLECTION OF SPONTANEOUS EXUDATIONS, 


During the season of rest, especially when the bark becomes dry 
and cracks, and the tree, unable to transpire, is full of moisture, the 
low vitality of the numerous cells in the bark results in the forma- 
tion of gum. It is also at this time that the outflow of resin is most 
active. The quantity of resin that bursts, through the bark and 
exudes spontaneously is too insignificant to become an object of re~ 
gular exploitation, and hence only gums are thus collected. Gums 
obtained in this manner comprise those furnished by Anogeissus lati- 


COLLECTION FROM WOUNDS MADE IN THE BARK, 177 


folia and some-of the Acacias, especially A. arabica. The yield of 
gum is largest after a forest fire, which not only reduces the vitality 
of the trees, but also enlarges existing cracks and creates new ones. 
The prolonged hot dry weatber which precedes the setting in of the 
summer rains, however, suffices to produce a large quantity of the 
degradation product, chiefly in the more unhealthy trees ; and we 
have thus a means, without setting fire to our forests and injuring 
growing timber, of deriving some sort of utility from trees, which, 
although they hold out no promise in respect of wood production, 
cannot, for some cultural reason or other, be removed. 


ARTICLE 2.—CoLLECTION FROM WOUNDS MADE IN THE BARK, 


This mode of collection is employed chiefly in obtaining the kino 
of Pterocarpus Marsupium and Butea frondosa, the gum of Bauhi- 
nia retusa (semla), and, in poor forests, also of Anogeissus latifolia, 
and the exudations of the Garcinias. In the case of all but the 
last, vertical rows of parallel, slightly oblique gashes, a few inches 
long and about 6 inches apart and penetrating as far as the wood, 
are made in the bark, all round the stem, and also round the main 
branches of small trees. The exudation collects generally in long 
or globular tears. It is allowed to harden on the wounds and is 
then broken or scraped off. 

The semla is subjected to a very systematic utilization. The 
trees are tapped twice in the year, viz., during the dry seasons pre- 
ceding respectively the summer and winter rains. The gashes are 
cut in March-April and September-October, and the gum collected 
in May-June and Novemher-December. A rest of from one to 
two years after each year of exploitation suffices to enable the 
wounds to heal over and the trees to recover completely. Accord- 
ing to Babu Karuna Nidhan Mukerji, the average yield per tree is 
about 5 seers of gum, which sells in the Dehra Dun bazar at an 
average rate of Rs. 3 per maund of 82 lbs. The semla gum, like 
that of Anogeissus, is used in calico printing and is also eaten, 
The yield of kino from Butea frondosa is about the same as the 
yield of gum from the semla, while that from Pterocarpus trees, 
which often attain an enormous size, is, no doubt, very much 
larger. The firs give resin only from the bark, but the yield is so 
small, that in the present state of the market it does not pay to tap 
those trees. 

The true gamboge is not collected in India, although the tree 
which produces it, Garcinia Morella, grows in the forests of South 


India. In Ceylon the tree is tapped thus. Thin slices are cut off 
2A 


178 UTILIZATON OF EXUDED PRODUCTS. 


the bark here and there. (n the flat space thus exposed the gum 
collects and is scraped off when sufficiently dry. 


ARTICLE 8,—COLLECTION FROM WOUNDS IN THE WOOD. 


This is the only mode of collecting the resins of the Diptero- 
carpe and of pines. The native method of tapping both families 
of trees is to cut one or more deep niches, according to the size 
of the tree, .into the stem, at about 4 feet from the ground 
(Fig. 63). The height of the niche is about 18 inches and the 


Fig. 63. 


FRONT VIEW. 


SECTION. 


Niching Pinus longifolia for resin. 


width at the opening about 1 foot. At the bottom it is hollowed 
out into the form of a deep bowl (b in Section) to receive the 
resin that runs down the sides. This hollow is emptied as fast as 
it fills up ; in the case of Pinus longifolia, once in from 4 to 10 days 
when the niche is first made, and at longer intervals afterwards 
when the outflow diminishes. The Dipterocarpee are tapped 
during the dry hot months preceding the summer rains, Pinus 
longifolia during February-June, after which the resin, although 
it continues to flow, does not do so fast enough to tempt the col- 
lector to extend his work into the rains. In the pine a niche is 
worked for two and three consecutive seasons, unless a forest fire 
occurs and chars all the inside; and the yield is from 8 to 6 Ibs. 
the first year, a little more than half that quantity the second year, 
and almost as much the third year. From time to time, however, 


COLLECTION FROM WOUNDS MADE IN THE WOOD. 179 


the resin encrusting the sides of the niche must be scraped off and 
the wound freshened. The method of tapping just described ob- 
viously injures the stem, and as the object of the tappers is to 
obtain the largest quantity of resin, the pines always suffer in 
their growth if they do not become sickly and die. It has been 
found that more than one niche in a tree up to 18 inches in dia- 
meter kills it. The open niche also allows bark and other impuri- 
ties to fall into the turpentine. : : 
Since 1887 systematic tapping operations have been carried on 
in the Pinus longifolia and P. excelsa forests in Jaonsar. An 
attempt has been made to follow the system employed in the tap- 
ping of the cluster pine in the west of France; but as the 
French curved-bladed axe (Abchot, Fig. 64 D) was found too 


Fig, 64, 


B 


res 


a 
ae 
ae 


Frenvh method of tapping pine for resin. 


A,—Blaze in full operation. 

B.--Blaze shown in horizontal section, 

C.—Blaze shown on a longitudinal sec- 
tion, 


D.—Abchot or curved-bladed axe. 

E.— Curved chisel for making incision 
Sor admission of zine gutter g 
in A, . 


180 UTILIZATION OF EXUDED PRODUCTS. 


heavy by the hill-men, the blaze has been made with the ordinary 
hill adze (Fig. 65 A). It would, however, be easy enough to 


Fig. 65. 


Section on ab 


Departmental method of tapping the Pinus longifolia in the Jaonsar Division, 
School Circle, N.-W. P. and Oudh. 

A,—Hill adze (weight under 2 lbs.) C.—Section on u, b. 

B.— Blaze in elevation. D.—Section on e. d. 
get lighter abchots made and the men would soon get into the 
way of using them. Regarding the superiority of the abchot to 
the adze there can be no question. It is more than twice as 
expeditious and effective, and for the same size of blaze injures 
the tree less, while the gently sloping edges of the blaze get more 
quickly covered over with the new deposits of wood (compare sec- 
tions in Figs. 64 and 65). Then, again, in using the adze there is 
always risk of the tool working obliquely towards, and exposing 
the heartwood, and the sides of the blaze can never, from time to 
time, be freshened by the removal of a layer of wood, a mere frac- 
tion of an inch thick, as can be done with the abchot. Fig. 64 D 
represents a blaze in operation, with a zine or galvanised iron 
gutter g fixed into the stem at the base of the blaze and a pot 
suspended immediately below, into which the resin drops from the 
gutter. The blaze, which has a nearly constant width of a little 
over 5 inches to begin with, should be made about 16 inches long. 


COLLECTION FROM WOUNDS MADE IN THE WOOD. 181 


In Jaonsar it is given a depth of 4 inches near its lower extremity 
(see Fig. 65 C). This depth is excessive, but it is impossible to 
make a shallower cut with the wretched adze used. The adze or 
abchot, whichever is employed, should always be almost as sharp as 
a razor, as a blunt edge, instead of cutting the resin ducts with a 
clean section, would bruise and lacerate the surrounding walls and 
thus choke up the entrance to the cavities. To preserve the 
edge of the tool, the dead, rough bark should be removed with an 
ordinary axe, and all old dry resin scraped off with a khurpa before 
using it. In Jaonsar the receiving pots were originally of iron, 
but they were so frequently stolen, that they are now made of 
ordinary baked clay, and are practically merely small flower-pots 
of about one imperial pint capacity. 

As the gutter consists of only a thin flexible metal plate (Fig. 
64 A and C,g), a groove is made to receive it with a curved chisel 
(Fig. 64 F). The metal plate is inserted into this groove and 
driven home with light blows. 

Once a week, and even oftener when the resin flows very freely, 
the blaze must be freshened, as some of the exudation dries on 
the surface, thus clogging it and arresting the outflow ‘of resin. 
In freshening the wound, a thin slice of wood, not more than the 

_thickness of ordinary erriting paper, should be taken off. At the 
same time that the blaze is freshened, it should be extended up- 
wards a small fraction of an inch at a time, so that the blazes 
become generally longer with the advancing season. 

Our experiments in Jaonsar have now gone on for three years, 
and there is still no point of any blaze either in Pinus longifolia 
or. in P. excelsa from which resin is not still oozing out. In the 
niche system too, in the case of P. longifolia, the aggregate outflow 
during the second and third years exceeds that of the first year, 
and is very nearly as large in the third as in the second year. 
Such being the case, the extension of the blaze upwards should 
be effected very gradually, and when the length of any blaze 
becomes so great that the resin from the upper portion becomes 
too thick to run down freely until it reaches the gutter, a second 
gutter should be inserted about two feet above the first. The 
resin from this gutter may be allowed to drop directly on to the 
lower one, or a second pot may be hung on one side of the blaze 
and the gutter so shaped as to carry the resin sideways into it. 
It would not answer to suspend the second pot in a line with the 
blaze, for then the continued freshening of the blaze would become 
an impossibility, or would at any rate be extremely incommoded. 
If experience shows that it is desirable to extend the blazes to a 


182 UTILIZATION OF EXUDED PRODUCTS. 


height of several yards, a series of such gutters and pots will have 
to be fixed one above another. 

Experience both in Jaonsar and in the Punjab has proved that, 
although the flow of resin is most active during the season of rest 
and when the weather is warm and dry, it still continues to ooze 
out in fair, and sometimes in considerable, abundance throughout 
the rest of the year. Pots left hanging in winter, under the snow, 
have been found to have overflowed with resin. It is, therefore, 
for consideration whether somewhat larger pots than those now used 
should not be tried, and due arrangements made for carrying on oper- 
ations during the entire open season. Rainy weather is no draw- 
back at all, for water being lighter than the resin cannot prevent the 
pots from filling with the latter. Large pots would also necessitate 
less frequent visits to each tree in order to collect the exudations, 
and one man could then look after more trees than he does now. 

The blaze system of tapping, although itis only in an experiment- 
al stage, already promises to produce a larger outturn than the niche 
method. The two systems, carried out with chir trees situated in one 
and the same area, gave the following yield in the first year :— 

Average per niche, ves ene ee «74 Ibs. 
os » blaze, Has 62 ,, 

The niched trees were all large and specially selected, 20 in. 
number, while the blazed trees numbered 3,221 and covered a 
whole hillside of about 200 acres only, so that many of them were 
quite small and not very vigorous. In the second and third years 
the niched trees gave respectively 4°9 and 4:5 lbs. per niche, 
whereas the corresponding figures for the blazed trees were 6 
and 8 lbs.* respectively per blaze. Even if the blaze system did 
not increase the yield, it at least saves the base of the stem from 
complete mutilation, and as it determines a flowof resin in the 
trunk uniformly in every direction, it will produce more highly re- 
sinous and therefore harder and more durable timber. Mr. Mann 
says that a single long blaze is often made in the trunk of Khasya 
pine trees one year before they are felled, with the object of increas- 
ing the amount of resin in the wood. The wood of trees so treated 
contains 16 per cent. of its total weight of resin. 

A remarkable fact brought to light by the experiments in Jaon- 
sar deserves to be mentioned. If a blaze goes through the sap- 
wood of the Pinus longifolia, the exposed heartwood soon becomes 
full of cracks and dries up at the surface, and ultimately the flow of 
resin from the blaze is almost completely arrested. In the Pinus 


* The last figure is only approximate, as the exact quantity has not yet been 
communicated to the author, 


CAOUTCHOUC AND ITS ALLIES. 183 


eécelsa, however, the outflow of resin apparently remains unaffected, 
even if a portion of the heartwood is remeved in making the blaze. 

Those of our conifers, the tapping of which is likely, in a near 
fature, to become a large and profitable exploitation, comprise the 
three pines, Khasya, Merkusii, and longifolia, and perhaps also the 
ercelsa. The aggregate areas covered by these pines are estimated 
respectively at roughly 200, 50, 2,000, and 100 square miles ; but 
in these figures is probably included a large proportion of poorly 
stocked areas. The resin of the Khasya pine is the best, as it yields 
a purer oil than any other conifer resin in the world. The oil of 
Pinus longifolia is the least pure and has the least pleasant odour. 
It has also the great defect of not drying quickly—a characteristic 
which unfits it for the manufacture of varnishes. Excluding im- 
purities, the turpentine consists of 18 per cent. oil and 82 per cent. 
colophony. The corresponding figures for Pinus excelsa are 22 
and 78 respectively. 

The utilization of the various turpentines will before long give 
rise to an important forest industry from the borders of Afghanis- 
tan to the frontier of Siam. A short account of the manufacturing 
processes through which the raw product passes will hence be given 
in Part III. 

Section III.—Caourenouc AND ITS ALLIES. 

These substances are found suspended, in the form of small gra- 
nules, in the latex of numerous plants belonging principally to the 
Euphorbiacee, Apocynacee, Asclepiadece, Sapotacee, Lobeliacece, and 
Urticacee. The latex, after a shorter or longer exposure to the air, 
becomes coloured brown, and the granules separate of themselves 
from the rest of the liquid and form a solid independent mass. 
Caoutchouc is insoluble in water, acids, alkalies, and alcohol ; solu- 
ble, but without any chemical change, in carbon disulphide. Its 
composition is complex, but its market value depends upon a pro- 
portionate abundance of the elastic substance, with a relative ab- 
sence of a certain oxidized, viscid, resinous body soluble in alcohol, 
whose formation is in great measure prevented by rapid evapora- 
tion of the milk and other means of avoiding oxidation. 

In India the only species tapped on a large scale for caoutchouc 
is the Ficus elastica, In Burma Parameria glandulifera is said to 
yield a product equal to the best Para rubber, and Urceola esculenta 
is described as very abundant, but not yielding as good a rubber. 
Both are Apocynaceous climbers. They are not tapped, but cut 
down, and the bark is at once stripped off and boiled. The hot 
water, however, causes much of the milk to coagulate inside the 
bark and thus reduces the yield very considerably. 


184 UTILIZATION OF EXUDED PRODUCTS, 


The Ficus elastica throws out numerous large aérial roots, some 
of which run for many feet along the ground. Both the stem and 
these roots are tapped, the latter being more productive. February- 
March is considered the best time for tapping. Oblique incisions, 
about 8 inches wide across the middle, are made right through the 
bark. The exudations, if abundant, are received in conical cups 
made of folded leaves (pots would surely be more convenient and 
effective) ; otherwise they are allowed to concrete on the wound. 
Native collectors often allow the milk to run down into holes made 
in the soil. The incisions used to be made only 1 foot apart, but 
this was found to weaken the trees. In the State forests an inter- 
val of 2 feet is now adopted, and in tapping the same trees again, 
the new incisions are made between the old ones; if these latter 
are opened again, not only do the trees suffer in vigour, but the 
yield of milk is diminished 50 per cent. If the milk is left to it- 
self, it solidifies in about 20 days, when it is stripped off the wounds 
or taken out of the leaf-cups or holes in the ground, and kneaded 
into a ball, whence the designation of bald rubber for this product. 
Leaf or slab rubber is thus prepared. The fresh milk, collected 
within 24 hours after incision, is poured into boiling water, and 
the mixture is briskly agitated until the rubber separates and can 
be handled without sticking and kneaded. A more elaborate plan 
is to run the milk into wooden bins partially filled with water, on 
which the rubber begins to float after a time. The rubber, while 
still liquid, is removed and boiled over a slow fire in iron pans 4 to 6 
feet in diameter and 23 feet deep, two parts of water being added 
and the whole stirred constantly. When coagulated, the rubber is 
removed with iron forks, pressed, again boiled and pressed, sun- 
dried, and washed over with lime. 

The average yield of rubber is one-third the weight of the semi- 
liquid latex. Ball rubber is obviously more impure than loaf rub- 
ber (the impurities often reaching 35 per cent). Owing to longer 
exposure to oxidation, while coagulating naturally, it also gives a 
smaller yield. Even when loaf rubber is made, a certain quantity 
of the ball kind is obtained from what collects subsequently and 
solidifies in the wounds. The ball rubber, when just pulled off the 
tree, contains about 17 per cent. of moisture, which, however, it 
soon loses after being rolled up and sunned. 

The yield of course varies very much with the size and age of 
the trees and the number of aérial roots, and with the weather. 
Unseasonable rain may wash away almost all the latex. Middle- 
aged trees are the most productive. Large healthy trees have been 
known to yield as much as 150 to 200 lbs.; but the average yield, 


CAOUTCHOUC AND ITS ALLIES. 185 


in the present condition of the forests and plantations, is only about 
10 lbs. per tree. 

The trees require at least one year’s rest between two tappings, 
otherwise they decline in health and may even die. Gamble recom- 
mends a rest of two years. 

The total exports of India-rubber from and through Assam 
amounted, in round numbers, to 7,500 lbs. in 1887-88, of which 
1,000 lbs. came from Bhutan and other tracts inhabited by hill 
tribes. The price of the rubber at Calcutta fluctuates considerably, 
but the average may be taken at Rs. 80 per maund, or very nearly 
Re. 1 per lb. 

Gutta-percha is closely related to caoutchouc. The tree that 
yields the gutta-percha of commerce, Dichopsis Gutta (one of the 
Sapotacez) is not a native of India; but one Indian species, D. 
polyantha, yields a very good article, quite capable of exploitation. 
Mr. B. F. DaCosta claims to have discovered in the latex of Zu- 
phorbia-neriifolia a substance having the properties of gutta-percha 
and capable of being substituted for it. 


28 


186 LAC AND LAC DYE. 


CHAPTER VIII.—UTILIZATION OF ANIMAL 
PRODUCTS. 


THE most important of these are lac and lace dye; silk ; honey, 
wax, and manna ; and hides, horns, bones, and ivory. Under this 
head may also be included hunting and fishing. 

Sretion I.—Lac anp Lac DYE. 

The lac insect (Coccus Lacca) frequents a great many species of 
trees and shrubs, but of these Schleichere trijuga, Butea frondosa, 
Zizyphus Jujuba, and Shorea laccifera are alone gregarious enough 
to be regularly exploited for lac without resort to artificially-raised 
plantations.* 

The lac insect breeds'twice, and, in Mysore, even three times a 
year, but the spring brood yields the largest quantity of Jac. As 
the insect can survive and form thick incrustations only on twigs of 
generous growth, the trees on which it is cultivated should always 
be pruned and lopped, in order to induce an abundant crop of 
strong juicy shoots. In the case of Hutea frondosa, it will doubt- 
less be best to adopt pollarding outright. 

To cause the insect to spread over the whole tree or bush, the 
brood lac, as it is called, which is nothing more than fresh-broken 
lac from which the young insect has nut yet swarmed out, is cut 
up into short pieces 6 to 12 inches iong and tied up at various points 
in the crown, after being surrounded with a few wisps of straw in 
order to protect the young brood inside from injurious weather in- 


* Besides the above, the following trees and shrubs are frequented by the lac 
insect :— 


Acacia arabica and Catechu, 

Anona squamosa. 

Butea frondosa and superba, 

Carissa Carandas. 

Celtis Roxburghié, 

Croton lacciferus. 

Dalbergia latifolia and paniculata, 

Dichrostachys cinerea. 

Dolichandrone Rheedii, 

Eriolena Hookeriana. 

Erythrina indica. 

Feronia Elephantum. 

Ficus bengalensis, cordifolia, elas- 
tiea, glomerata, and infectoria, 


. 


Garuga pinnata, 

Kydia ealycina, 
Lagerstremia parviflora. 
Mangifera indica. 
Nephelium Litchi, 
Ougeinia dalbergioides. 
Pithecolobium dulce. 
Prosopis spicigera. 
Pterocarpus Marsupium. 
Schima crenata. 

Shorea robusta, 

Tectona grandis. 
Terminalia tomentosa. 
Zizyphus rylopyra, 


LAC AND LAC DYF. 187 


fluences and to create numerous points of contact with the branch to 
enable the larvae to pass over at once. The pieces should be tied 
up in the upper and middle branches, so that any wandering larve 
that may fall off from them may not be lost on the ground, but 
find a lodgment on the lower branches immediately underneath. 

The brood lac may be gathered without any danger a whole fort- 
night before the young larvee swarm out, so that there is always 
time enough to plant them on any number of trees. 

The wood of the tree on which the brood lac is to be tied should 
not be harder than the wood of the tree from which it has been taken 
off ; otherwise the larvee may not be sufficiently powerful to draw 
nourishment from the new host. On the other hand, brood lac 
from harder-wooded trees may generally be safely propagated on a 
softer-wooded one. 

As soon as the larvee issue forth from the lac, they crowd over the 
whole crown, attaching themselves to wherever the bark is soft and 
juicy enough and soon covering the entire length of the twig with 
their incrustations. The male larve swarm out, attach themselves 
to the host, and begin to form incrustations round themselves 
exactly like the female larve. But when they become mature, 
they leave their cells to impregnate the females, now also mature. 
This exit of the perfect males must not be mistaken for the swarm- 
ing of a young brood ; lac broken off at this stage would be utter- 
ly worthless both for propagation and for sale. 

The lac insect is extremely sensitive to low temperatures and to dry 
heat. It has also many enemies. Ants invade lac-bearing trees in 
numbers for the sweet excretions. They bite off the ends of the 
white filaments and thus prevent a sufficient supply of air from 
reaching the insects ; but they are easily kept off by surrounding 
the foot of each tree with wood-ashes or by tempting them with 
other more attractive food. Monkeys also break off and chew the 
incrustations for the same sweet substance and injure more than 
they can eat. The larva of a moth (Galeria?) bores through the 
cells, devouring the juicy females. A Tinea also works its way into 
the cells and eats the colouring matter. No mode of protection 
has yet been devised against these two last pests. 

What is not required for propagation is sold. This lac also is 
gathered before the young brood can make its appearance and 
exhaust the dye. In this unprepared condition the lac is techni- 
cally called stick lac. To obtain the dye, the stick-lac is passed 
under a roller in order to detach the incrustation from the wood 
which it surrounds. The small portion still remaining is picked 
off with the hand. The separated lac is then crushed and washed 


188 UTILIZATION OF ANIMAL PRODUCTS. 


in water, which effectually removes all thedye. The water is strain- 
ed and the dye allowed to settle, precipitation being assisted by 
an admixture of alum or lime. The water is drawn off and the 
sediment collected, pressed into cakes, and dried in the sun. Cot- 
ton wool is often saturated with the dye and used by confectioners 
for colouring sweetmeats, and by women for rouging their hands, 
feet, and faces. Since the introduction of aniline dyes, the demand 
for lac dye has become insignificant. 

The resinous portion or real lac (in this condition termed seed lac) 
is dried and placed in a long bag of fairly close-woven cotton 
drill. The bag is held by two operators over an open charcoal fire, 
which melts the lac inside. The men, one at each end, now begin 
to twist the bag in opposite directions, so that the melted lac is 
forced through the cloth and drops into a long trough underneath. 
From this trough, which is hot enough to maintain the lac in a 
molten condition, a third operator throws a ladleful on to a smooth 
hollow cylinder of porcelain or metal filled with warm water. 
Without any delay a fourth operator quickly spreads the lac evenly 
over the cylinder with an aloe or plantain leaf. The sheet of lac 
is at once lifted off, and waved about in the air for a moment or 
two until it is quite crisp. This is the shellac of commerce. The 
cylinder is kept warm to prevent any portion of the lac adhering 
to it. In Bengal, the shellac is often solidified on plantain stems. 
If, instead of using the cylinder, the melted lac is dropped upon a 
smooth plane and assumes the shape of small ginger nuts, it be- 
comes button lac, which generally commands higher prices in the 
London market than shellac. 

Schleichera trijuga furnishes the most valuabie product, a bright 
amber-coloured lac. The lac of Butea is reddish. 

The total inland trade in lac in India proper carried by rail and 
river in 1888-89 was composed as follows :— 

Stick lac, .. 200,000 maunds, worth 36 lakhs of rupees. 
Shellac, .. 125,000 ,, » 65 ,, 


In India lac is used in the manufacture of bangles, lacquer ware, 
varnishes, and sealing wax ; in Europe for the preparation of spirit 
varnishes, cements, lithographic ink, and sealing wax, and for the 
stiffening of hats. 


” ”» 


Szction II.—Sinx. 


Perhaps no country in the world is so rich in indigenous silk- 
producing insects as India, the number of species exceeding thirty. 
They are divided by F. Moore into— : 

].—Tus MULBERRY-FEEDING GROUP, represented by the various 


SILK. 189 


domestic Bombyces and by the wild Theophila. Theophila Huttoni 
is abundant in the North-West Himalayas, but Mr. Cotes says.: 
“Tt has not been found possible to rear the worms successfully in 
captivity, and the silk is not made use of commercially at present. 
The worm is bivoltine in Mussoorie.” The name of the group is 
misleading, as several species feed on other Urticaceous plants : 
thus T. religiosa, the jori of Assam and deo-mooga of Cachar, lives 
on Ficus bengalensis and religiosa. 

II.—TuE Arias on Eri GRovup, comprising the genus Aétacus. 
A. Atlas is found in many parts of the empire feeding on a variety 
of trees. It is not cultivated, but its silk, when procurable, is 
highly prized. The eri silk, possessing little lustre and not capable 
of being reeled, but extremely durable when woven, is produced 
by A. Ricini, which is entirely domesticated. 

III.—Tux Actias croup.—A. Selene is found in many parts of 
India on Pieris ovalifolia, Coriara nepalensis, cherry, walnut, Odina 
Wodier, &c. Mr. Cotes says that no use is made of its silk. 

IV.—THE TUSSER AND MOOGA GROUP, comprising the large genus 
Antheraa. The two most important species, and indeed the most 
important of the wild silk-producing moths of India, are the tusser 
(A. Mylitta} and the mooga (A.“Assama). The former is bivoltine, 
the latter multivoltine, the first and last crops being most produc- 
tive as wellas of the highest quality. Both are largely reared in the 
open air, the tusser chiefly in the Central Provinces and in Chhota 
Nagpur on various trees, the principal of which are Terminalia 
tomentosa and Arjuna, Lagerstramia indica, Carissa Carandas, and 
Zizyphus Jujuba, the mooga in Assam on Machilus odoratissima 
and Tetranthera monopetala. The trees have to be pollarded both 
for convenience and to produce a good crop of leaves. 24 lbs. of 
mooga silk per acre, valued at Rs. 110 to 130, is a good outturn. 
The expense of rearing is trifling. The cocoons of both the tusser 
and mooga worms can be reeled and yield a valuable silk, that of 
the former being remarkable for its strength and durability and 
consisting of tape-like, not the usually cylindrical, filaments, 

V.—A MISCELLANEOUS GROUP, including Rhodia Newera, found 
in Sikkim and Nepal, and Cricula trifenestrata, or the mango silk- 
worm, distributed in most parts of the empire. The silk of the 
former is not used, while that of the latter cannot be reeled and 
is not of much value. 

The Inland Trade Returns for 1888-89 for India proper show a 
trade in home-produced raw silk valued at nearly 2 crores of rupees. 
The trade in silk fabrics, independently of a large local consump- 
tion, showed the figure of 60 lakhs. 


190 UTILIZATION OF ANIMAL PRODUCTS. 


Section II].—Howry, Wax, anp Manna. 


Honey and wax can, for the forester, be only natural products ; 
but, thanks to the teeming numbers and extensive distribution of 
our wild honey-making bees, they are obtainable in very large 
quantities, especially where rocky scarps and large trees abound. 
The combs are often as much as 6 feet long and 34 feet broad. 
The usual mode of collecting the honey is to smoke off the bees, 
the men covering themselves with blankets and carrying a torch 
at the end of a pole. This practice injures the honey ; but there 
are some tribes which possess the secret of anointing their bodies 
with some substance, so that not a single bee will touch them. 
The honey is obtained by expression. The remains of the comb 
are then put into boiling water, the wax soon floating on the top, 
where it hardens on the water being cooled. In this state the wax 
is known as yellow or virgin wax. The best honey in India is 
made by a species of Trigona, which is a small stingless bee build- 
ing its comb inside hollow trees. 

Manna or honey-dew is the sweet substance excreted chiefly by 
some Aphide. In certain, especially dry, years, these insects 
breed in enormous numbers, so that every tree of the species on 
which they live becomes infested with hundreds of thousands of 
them. The total amount of sweet substance excreted is then so 
large, that the leaves and twigs become covered with a thick 
syrup, much of which also falls upon the ground. The species 
frequented by such insects are principally gregarious conifers and 
only a few broad-leaved species, such as Eleodendron glaucum 
and sal. 

Honey-dew is eagerly gathered, for home consumption, by the 
inhabitants of the Himalayas. The encrustation is washed off the 
leaves and twigs in hot water, which dissolves it at once. The 
syrup is then strained and boiled down to the consistence of honey, 
for which it may be easily mistaken by its appearance. A con- 
siderable proportion of the honey-dew crystallises at ordinary tem- 
peratures. 


Szction I[V.—HIpDEs, HORNS, BONES, AND IVORY. 


Every year thousands of cattle die inside our forests, the car- 
casses remaining unappropriated by the Hindu owners. Unless 
arrangements are made to secure the hides without delay, carrion- 
eating birds and quadrupeds soon destroy them and valuable raw 
material is thus lost. Excluding Burma, the inland trade dur- 
ing 1888-89 in raw hides amounted to 75 lakhs of rupees and in 


HUNTING AND FISHING. 191 


leather to 83 lakhs. These figures leave out all local consumption, 
which is worth many times more, since every village has its 
tanners and nearly every village its shoemaker. In the same 
year Calcutta alone exported to inland places 30 lakhs’ worth of 
leather goods. 

The horns of the dead cattle, especially if they are buffaloes, 
ate also worth collecting. There are, at present, practically no 
workers in horns in India, but there is a large export trade in 
them to Europe (about 65,000 maunds, of an aggregate value of 
9 lakhs of rupees), and the day cannot be far distant when combs 
and other articles will be extensively manufactured from horns in 
India itself, instead of the raw article being sent out of the coun- 
try or allowed to perish in the forests and on the outskirts of towns 
and villages. 

The so-called horns of deer contain no horny matter at all, but 
consist entirely of bone and really constitute an inferior kind of 
ivory. A small quantity of deer horns that have been shed can be 
collected in almost every forest and would command ready sale. 
As regards ivory, since the number of elephants is kept down by 
the kheddah operations, and elephants live to a great age, the 
annual find will always be insignificant and irregular. 

Bones are used for buttons, handles of knives, &c., and are also 
ground into meal for manure. A large export trade to England in 
bone-meal has recently sprung up from Bombay and Kurrachee 
and along the routes leading to those ports. The total exports from 
the country amount to about 50,000 tonsa year. The price of the 
meal in Bombay is Rs. 35 to 45 per maund. As yet the Indian 
ryot is too prejudiced to use bone manure, but before long the preju- 
dice will disappear, and then every scrap of bone lying in the forest 
will become marketable. 

The best way to dispose of the products grouped under this head 
is to give out annual leases for their collection, but great care 
must be taken that the animals are not poisoned or shot by the 
lessees. 


Section V.—HUNTING AND FISHING. 


In all advanced countries a considerable income is derived by the 
owners of forests and streams from hunting (including snaring 
and trapping) and fishing ; and, where dangerous animals abound, 
special arrangements are maintained by the State for their destruc- 
tion. Two principal causes have hitherto militated in India against 
the introduction of laws to regulate hunting and fishing : (1) the 


192 UTILIZATION OF ANIMAL PRODUCTS. 


great abundance of game and fish in comparison with the wants 
of the apathetic population, and (2) the unwillingness of an im- 
portant section of the community to submit to restrictions in the 
matter of sport. An excellent beginning has, however, now been 
made in the Central Provinces and Madras, close seasons have 
been declared for certain descriptions of game in most provinces 
as far as the State forests are concerned, and numerous munici- 
palities treat some kinds of dead game as contraband during the 
breeding season. Fire-conservancy has also operated in the pre- 
servation of game and fish by closing the conserved forests during 
nearly half the year, and thus affording game a safe retreat and 
protecting the higher reaches of rivers from molestation. Circum- 
stances are thus ripe for extended imperial legislation, which cannot 
be undertaken tov early, and which the Supreme Government 
have already under their earnest consideration. 

In regulating hunting the following general points, amongst 
numerous others of a more special or local character, must be kept 
in view :— 

(1). Separate rules must be made for animals dangerous to man 
and cattle. If such animals cannot be exterminated, their numbers 
must be kept down -as low as possible; hence special facilities 
should be given for their destruction, and rules must be relaxed 
and large discretionary powers given to the superior local officials 
in the case of rogue elephants and man-eating Felide and Canidae. 
Where dangerous animals abound, the District Magistrate or 
Divisional Forest Officer may surely be empowered to organize 
and conduct annual expeditions for their destruction, a reasonable 
budget grant being allowed for necessary expenses. Forest con- 
servancy, by affording increased cover and protection and a larger 
supply of food, favour in a remarkable manner the multiplication 
of elephants and beasts of prey. The rewards offered for killing 
dangerous animals must be adjusted to the urgency of their destruc- 
tion: a single tariff for an entire province and sometimes even an 
entire district is a mistake. Solitary wild boars not unfrequently 
become dangerous enough to require being specially marked down 
for destruction. 

(2). All vegetable-feeding mammalia are harmful to field crops 
as well as to forest growth.* Pigs will break through almost any 


* Elephants are under the protection of a special Act, and the Forest Depart- 
ment can only suggest their being caught when they have become numerous 
enough for a kheddah. 


HUNTING AND FISHING, 193 


fence, and deer and antelope will clear most obstacles that can be 
put up to stop them. Limitation of their numbers is, therefore, 
in the interests of all. Their total annihilation would be a mistake, 
for by their presence the ravages of the large beasts of prey 
amongst men and live-stock are restricted, and they supply a large 
part of the population with meat, and provide an innocent and 
absorbing pastime, than which nothing better can be conceived for 
developing sense of locality, powers of observation, capacity for 
endurance, fertility of resource, self-control, and promptitude of 
judgment. Moreover, the right of hunting them may be sold for 
asum of money large enough to more than cover the risks arising 
from their preservation. In the case of deer and antelope no 
hunting should be allowed during rutting time, and the killing 
of females should be forbidden during the entire breeding season, 
which extends roughly from 1st July of one year to 1st March of 
the following year. After a careful study of the habits of the 
animals and the capacity of the forests to yield them food without 
suffering real harm, the number of full-grown males and females 
to be preserved in each forest should be fixed, all above this num- 
ber being considered legitimate quarry.* If the actual numbers 
are under this minimum, no hunting should be permitted until its 
figure has been reached. In the case of forests bordered by ex- 
tensive cultivation, the safety of the fields must also be considered 
in fixing the head of game to be maintained ; but their ravages will 
usually be found confined to a very narrow belt of cultivation, and 
the owners of fields lying within this belt will in any case find 
their compensation in a lower assessment of land revenue. As 
regards pigs, they are so prolific that, in the present condition of 
the country, their numbers can seldom be kept down without the 
help of one or more large battues a year, in which every neighbour- 
ing villager should be invited to join. The organisation of such 
battues will cost no money, as most people will be only too glad 
to get meat free and enjoy the pleasure of the sport, and every 
one will do his best to get rid of a pest that ravages his crops. 

(3). The destruction of birds other than game and edible birds 
should be forbidden, and for these latter a close season should be 
observed, long enough to allow the young to be sufficiently grown 
to take care of themselves. The Central Provinces Government, 
acting on the advice of that accomplished sportsman and naturalist, 
Mr. R. Thompson, has adopted the following limits for the various 
game and edible birds :— 


* This may sound unsportsmanlike, but our concern is with the good of the 
country—forestry first, sport afterwards. 
20 


194 UTILIZATION OF ANIMAL PRODUCTS. 


1. Sand grouse, ... «+» Ist October to 31st May. 
2. Pea-fowl, cee ... 1st March to 80th November. 
8. Jungle fowl, ... Seecge?, Shh iy as 
4, Spur-fowl, .«... Bes ss i 3 3 
5 eeice grey and painted, 1st June to 30th November. 
: > black, ... 1st January to 30th November. 
6. Quail, ase -» Ist May to 30th November. 
7. Bush-quail, ... ie gp i a 
8. Bustard-quail,... see: Sy Gs - a 
9. Bustard, ioe dies i ‘5 
10. Lik-florikan, ... aed By 055 a 7 
11. Spurred goose, «.» Ist June to 30th November. 
12, Goose-teal, ... ay ee si i 
13. Whistling teal, das. ye Doggy ”% rf 
14, Grey duck, ... Bee 35 oF i a 
15. Green pigeon, --» Ist February to 31st July. 
16. Blue rock-pigeon, «s. Ist November to 80th June, 
17. Doves, ise «.. lst November to 3lst May, but for 


Turtur senegalensis, 1st Febru- 
ary to 31st July. 

Most birds are the forester’s friends, and should, therefore, be 
carefully protected by him. 

(4). The practice of snaring of birds in the vicinity of large 
centres of population should be discouraged or even put down as 
much as possible. 

(5). For the destruction of a proclaimed animal, such as a 
man-eating tiger, rogue elephant, &c.; three lines of action offer 
themselves. Hither the local-officials may organize an expedition, 
or a single individual or party may receive exclusive permission to 
hunt it, or numerous parties acting independently of each other 
may be allowed to pursue it. The first system is obviously the 
most likely to succeed, and exposes the forest to the fewest risks. 
Failing it, the second system is to be preferred, but the forest 
officer must assure himself that the individual or party commands 
all the necessary resources for success. 

(6). For the destruction of ordinary game, the right to hunt 
in a specified locality may be leased to a single party, or all may 
be allowed to come who obtain a permit to hunt.. The country is 
at present not advanced enough for the general adoption of the 
former alternative, which is without doubt the one to strive for, as 
it fixes responsibility, and the wealth and position of the single 
lessee are a guaranteo of his good faith. In adopting the other 
alternative a reasonable fee should, whenever possible, be charged 
as the price of the permit. The amount of the fee should be re- 


HUNTING AND FISIING. 195 


gulated principally by the value of game in the locality, the 
accessibility of the forest, and the number of applicants. If it is 
desired to limit the number of applicants, high fees should be 
charged. The fee may be fixed for the whole year, or the year 
may be divided into periods, the scale of fees for the several periods 
being proportionate to the dangerous nature of the season for for- 
est conservancy and the convenience of the time of the year for 
seeing and tracking game. The levy of the fees should be based 
on the number of “effective guns” with the party, ie., the num- 
ber of persons carrying and using guns. The number of elephants 
used in hunting should also be taken into account, and a certain fee 
charged for each such elephant. All other things being the same, 
the success of a hunt will depend on the number of elephants used, 
and sportsmen possessing the means to employ elephants are ipso 
facto able to pay higher fees than other people. Moreover, ele- 
phants crush and break a good deal of the forest growth, besides 
grazing as they are driven along. On the other hand, sportsmen 
mounted on elephants have less temptation to fire the grass, and are 
more to be trusted than the majority of those who cannot, afford the 
use of elephants. The fees should in any case be high enough to 
leave a reasonable surplus after paying for additional establish- 
ments required by the increased supervision necessary for control- 
ling the hunting. Hvery large hunting party should be accompa- 
nied by a trustworthy official, whose special duty will be to look 
after the followers and prevent acts endangering the safety of 
the forest, particularly when the party is encamped inside the forest. 
Fishing is very much more easily regulated than hunting. It 
involves but little, if any, risk to the forest, and is limited to defi- 
nite lines, and may often even be restricted to certain lengths of 
the course of a stream or to pools and tanks. Hence the sole ob- 
ject to be sought in prescribing rules for fishing is the preservation 
of the fish, and to this end the poisoning or damming up of water 
should be absolutely prohibited and a minimum size of mesh should 
be fixed for fishing nets. A close season may also be prescribed 
for fishing generally in special spawning grounds or for particular 
kinds of fish everywhere. For purposes of revenue, the right of 
fishing may be leased or a certain fee may be levied per net or rod. 
In the rains, when the rivers are in flood, the water-courses that 
are at other seasons dry become rapid torrents, and fish come up 
them in shoals and are easily clubbed. From people who thus 
club fish and from those who catch fish by torchligbt from under 
stones and boulders it will always be difficult to collect revenue. 
The latter practice should, however, in most cases be forbidden. 


196 MINERALS. 


CHAPTER IX.—MINERALS. 


Numerous mineral products are obtained from forest areas. 
The principal of these are building stones, which may be either 
for cut-stone or for rubble (including boulder) masonry; flag- 
ging and paving stones; slates ; metal for macadamised roads ; 
gravel and sand; lime-stone for mortar and plaster; gypsum, 
kaolin and potter’s clay ; tale and mica; coloured clays for plas- 
tering and dyeing ; peat and lignite ; ores; and gold; and so on. 
These various materials may be obtained either (1) by quarry- 
ing, or (2) by cutting down or breaking up a hillside, or (3) by 
collecting off the surface of land producing or capable of pro- 
ducing forest, or (4) by gathering from stream beds. The second 
of these methods is an extremely destructive one, unless the por- 
tion of the hill to be cut away is judiciously chosen and is of 
limited extent, and the stones removed are not allowed to be 
rolled down the hillside. The danger is greatest in loose sand- 
stone and metamorphic formations, especially when only particu- 
lar strata are exploited, in -which case the removal of these strata 
necessarily undermines those overlying them. Unless precau- 
tions are rigidly enforced, any kind of vegetation on the hillside 
will become impossible and the safety of the hillside itself will be 
threatened. The third method, which is very commonly resorted 
to in broken country of trap and sandstone formation, is always 
harmful. As the stones lie about everywhere, their collection and 
removal to central export depots result in much damage to forest 
growth of all ages. Quarrying into the earth is much less dan- 
gerous than the two methods just referred to; but unless regular 
metalled roads or tramways are made to the quarry, the constant 
going to and fro of heavily laden carts will do damage to a large 
extent of surrounding forest. The least dangerous of all the four 
methods is collection from the beds of streams ; the materials being 
taken in small quantities from a great many points all along the 
course of the stream, there is never any dangerous concentration of 
traffic. 

If kankar or any other limestone is used, burning it on the spot 
secures economy both of fuel and carriage. The kilns should be 
constructed only on open sites some distance from good forest 
growth. The most convenient mode of levying payment, when 


MINERALS. 197 


the utilization is on a large scale, is to lump up the price of the 
firewood and stone together and to charge a fixed rate for one 
burning, according to the capacity of the kiln. By this means 
the worry and labour of frequent measurements and of watching 
against unpaid removal, as well as all chance of disputes, are effec- 
tually avoided, and no premium is offered on careless or unskilful 
burning. In the dry shallow beds of streams issuing from the 
Himalayas, numerous pebbles and boulders of limestone are annu- 
ally brought down by the floods during the heavy rains. They 
are collected without trouble, and yield excellent lime, which is 
much in request. This limestone is best sold by leasing for a 
lump sum, for a whole year or season, definite lengths of the 
stream course, and then the price of the fuel should be separately 
recovered at so much a charge according to the capacity of the 
kiln. 

The exploitation of ores will nearly always be effected on the 
same basis as that of limestone. IJron-smelting, on a small scale 
and according to most primitive methods, is carried on in many of 
our forests. 

In several of our rivers washings of the sand yield a small 
quantity of gold. As it is impossible to check the quantity col- 
lected, each collector should be made to pay a certain fee per 
month or season, according to the richness of the sands. 

Stones for building, paving and road-material, and other minerals 
are best sold by measurement, although exceptional cases may 
occur in which the levy of a fixed rent will be found preferable. 


PART III. 


MINOR FOREST INDUSTRIES. 


Tue only minor forest industries that will be dealt with in this 
Part are— 
I.—Charcoal-burning. 
1.—Manufacture of cutch and kattha. 
IJI.—Distillation of sandal-wood oil. 
IV.—Preparation of turpentine products. 
V.—Impregnation of timher with antiseptic substances. 
Several petty industries have already been briefly described in 
Parts I. and IJ.; as, for instance, the manufacture of tar at page 
69, the distillation of teak and deodar oil at page 170, and so on. 
In the course of a few years the number and extent of such minor 
forest industries in this country are certain to undergo an enormous 
expansion, requiring the employment of hundreds of thousands of 
the population. 


CHAPTER I.—CHARCOAL-MAKING, 


If wood is burnt with free access of air, there will be nothing 
left of it but a small quantity of ash varying, for most of our 
species, from 4 to 2 per cent. of its dry weight. If, on the other 
hand, air be entiely excluded and the wood subjected to a temper- 
ature of 300° to 350° C., a number of liquid and gaseous products 
will be given off, what remains behind being. charcoal. Charcoal- 
making, or the carbonisation of wood, is thus only a process of 
destructive distillation. In this process all the moisture, most of 
the oxygen and hydrogen of the wood, and about half the carbon 
are expelled, so that the charcoal consists of the remaining carbon, 
oxygen and hydrogen, and all the ash elements, the carbon constitut- 
ing about 90 per cent. of the whole. Actually the charcoal-burner 
uses wood with its bark on, the result being a somewhat larger 
proportion than 10 per cent. of elements other than carbon. 

As just said, more than half the aggregate quantity of the com- 
bustible elements, wz., carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, is lost in car- 
bonisation. But, on the other hand, the advantages gained are 


CHARCOAL-MAKING. 199 


numerous and important. In the first place, the heating power of 
charcoal is very nearly twice that of the same weight of wood, being 
just a little inferior to that of English coal and superior to that. 
of Indian coal. In the second place, charcoal is easier to light 
and maintain burning than wood, and gives out a very much more 
steady heat. In the third place, charcoal] makes a clear, smokeless 
fire, and on this account is preferable, for metallurgical purposes, to 
coal in the production of the finer varieties of iron and steel. In 
the fourth place, itis always ready for immediate use, whereas wood 
has to be cut or split up to convenient sizes. In the fifth and last 
place, in addition to being so very much more effective and conve- 
nient a fuel, it is less than a quarter of the weight of the original 
wood and less than half the bulk, so that it can stand very much 
longer carriage (at least three times as long) than wood, and thus 
enables us to utilise the small produce of distant forests that would 
otherwise be quite unsaleable and have to be left behind in the 
forest to feed forest fires, favour the unchecked multiplication of 
destructive insects and fungi, and impose a forced limit on the 
improvement of the stock. 

There are numerous methods of making charcoal, but they may 
all be reduced to three main systems, according to the care taken 
to exclude air. These three systems are (1) carbonisation in re- 
torts and close ovens, (2) carbonisation in ordinary kilns, and (3) 
carbonisation in open pits. 

Whichever method is adopted, it is necessary that all the wood in 
process of carbonisation should be converted into charcoal as nearly 
as possible simultaneously; otherwise those pieces which were car- 
bonised first would become partially or wholly consumed, or would 
at any rate deteriorate under continued exposure to the intense 
heat, while the carbonisation of the remaining wood was being 
completed. Hence, woods of very different densities, as well as 
pieces of very different thicknesses, should never be mixed toge- 
ther. There is also another objection to carbonising woods of dif. 
ferent densities together. The quality and, consequently, also the 
use to which the charcoal is put, depends to a great extent on the 
density of the wood ; so that the different qualities of charcoal 
should be kept apart from the beginning, as it would be impossible 
to separate them afterwards. Very thick pieces must, in any case, be 
split up in order to hasten the carbonisation, and the thicker billets 
may also be split up so that they may be carbonised with thin- 
ner ones. The pieces to be carbonised should be dressed straight, 
in order that they may pack close together. Unsound wood should 
never be used, as it will yield no charcoal. Lastly, if the wood is 


200 CARBONISATION IN RETORTS AND CLOSE OVENS. 


to be carbonised in retorts or close furnaces, it should be as dry as 
possible in order to economise both fuel and time ; and if it is to be 
carbonised by any other method, which requires the admission of a 
certain considerable quantity of air to produce the necessary tem- 
perature, it should be just dry enough to develop that tempera- 
ture without burning too rapidly and being consumed to no pur- 
pose. In the latter case, the quantity of moisture allowable will 
be in direct proportion to the dryness and high temperature of 
the air, the defective nature of the covering over the kiln, and 
exposure to winds. 


Srection I.—CARBONISATION IN RETORTS AND CLOSE OVENS. 


In every method of carbonization in retorts or close ovens the 
double object is sought of obtaining the charcoal and of securing 
the products of distillation, thus allowing no portion of the wood 
to go to waste. 

A convenient and general form of oven used in England consists 
of a cast-iron cylinder laid horizontally in masonry with a fire- 
place below. The wood is put in at one end, which is then closed 
with a well-fitting iron door that is carefully luted to render it com- 
pletely gas-tight. or the first two or three hours the fire is kept 
low to dry the charge of wood. It is then driven hard until carbo- 
nization is complete ; but if the operation is conducted too quickly, 
the yield of charcoal may be reduced by as much as 80 to 45 per 
cent. A charge of 100 stacked cubic feet of wood requires 12 to 13 
hours to give the best results. During carbonization the following 
process takes place. First, the free moisture of the wood is driven 
off ; then, as the temperature is raised and decomposition of the 
wood occurs, acetic acid and water are given off, followed by tar 
and volatile oils, and lastly by uncondensable gases, viz., carbon 
monoxide and dioxide, and marsh and olefiant gases. The pro- 
ducts of distillation escape through a pipe at the other end, whence 
they pass into the condenser. The condenser pipe gets rapidly 
clogged with tarry matters ; it must therefore be composed of 
short straight lengths that may be speedily cleaned out. At the 
exit end of the condenser pipe there are two outlets, through the 
lower one of which pass out the condensed products, consisting of 
water, pyroligneous acid, ammonia, tar, naphtha, and various oils 
and resinous matter ; through the upper the uncondensable gases 
above mentioned, which, instead of being allowed to pass off into 
the atmosphere and taint it, are conducted into the fireplace to 
feed the fire. In order to utilise to its fullest extent the heat of the 


CARBONISATION IN RETORTS AND CLOSE OVENS: 201 


fire, the products of combustion, with the heated air, are made to 
circulate in an enclosed space, between the oven and the floor of 
a drying room above, before passing up the shaft of the chimney. 
In this drying room is stacked the wood to be carbonized after- 
wards. Any number of ovens may be set up side by side in the 
same building. The condensed products of the distillation are 
delivered into a tank, where the tar settles down to the bottom 
and is drawn off, while the supernatant liquid, after the lighter 
tarry and carbonaceous matters which rise to the top have been 
skimmed off, is pumped up into a reservoir containing a solution 
of lime or soda to form the acetates, from which the pure acetic 
acid of commerce may then, if required, be distilled after admixture 
with sulphuric or hydrochloric acid. When the run of liquid from 
the condenser ceases and the exit pipe from the cylinder becomes 
cool, it is known that the distillation, in other words, the carboniza- 
tion, is complete. The fires are allowed to die down, the door is 
opened, and the charcoal raked out into a deep iron waggon with 
a close iron cover, which is luted down with clay to prevent the 
charcoal from taking fire in contact with air. 

In some other works in England, instead of the cast-iron cylin- 
ders, they use more or less square ovens, into which the charge is 
introduced in sheet-iron waggons. The waggons are filled up to 
about 18 inches above the sides ; with the progress of carbonization 
the contents ultimately subside below the sides. In this method 
the charcoal is at once withdrawn in the waggons and thus runs 
no risk of breaking. 

The disadvantages of the cast-iron cylinders are a liability to 
crack, and a larger consumption of fuel owing to the thickness of 
the plate. On the other hand, the wrought-iron ovens are apt to 
leak at the joints and doors, to warp with the heat, and to be more 
quickly corroded by the acid products of the distillation. The 
yield of charcoal in both kinds of apparatus slightly exceeds 25 
per cent. of the weight of well-seasoned wood ; but this of course 
leaves out of account the fuel consumed below the cylinder to 
effect carbonization. 

A form of apparatus much used in France consists of a cylindri- 
cal cast-iron retort, which, after being charged and closed, is hoist- 
ed into a close-fitting brick furnace or jacket with a fire-place at 
the bottom. A strong air-tight cover is put over the furnace. 
As soon as the distillation is finished, the retort is hauled out and 
afresh one put in. In another very convenient form of apparatus, 
M. Kestner’s pattern, the retort is fixed and built round with 
masonry. Both patterns are yery simple and less costly than the 

2D 


202 CARBONISATION IN RETORTS AND CLOSE OVEWS. 


two English forms described above, but their object is principally 
to obtain a good yield of pyroligneous acid. 

Apparatus have also been invented for distilling sawdust. Ow- 
ing to its finely divided state, sawdust cannot be distilled in the 
ordinary retorts, as it forms a dead mass and becomes carbonised 
only superficially. For this reason, the sawdust is fed into the 
retorts very gradaally, and is constantly moved on, on an endless 
iron band, until it finally leaves the retort at the other end in a 
fully carbonised condition. The charcoal is comparatively useless, 
but it may be made up into patent fuel. 

Very successful carbonization may be effected in ovens built 
entirely of brick masonry and ending in anarrow chimney. Such 
ovens may be made large enough to take up to 6,000 cubic feet of 
wood. The wood is carefully packed inside, several vertical flues, 
filled loosely with the smaller pieces, being formed, in order to 
secure a free through-draught and to distribute it uniformly. Just 
enough air is admitted through the sole of the furnace to carbonize 
the wood. The products of distillation pass out into convenient 
receptacles through openings at the sole of the furnace. The car- 
bonization is complete when the smoke issuing from the chimney 
turns from black to a bluish white. . ‘ 

The great disadvantage attaching to all fixed works is that tho 
wood to be carbonized has to be carried to them, often at prohibi- 
tive expense. Hence their general inapplicability, except when the 
products of distillation obtained serve to cover the increased ex- 
penditure. : 

To overcome this drawback various portable apparatus have 
been devised, two of which are described below. One of these, 
designed with the double purpose of effecting carbonization and 
securing the products of distillation, is M. Moreau’s patent. It 
consists of a cast-iron furnace, having the shape of an octagonal 
prism and capable of containing about 400 stacked cubic feet of 
wood (roughly about 120 maunds). Tubes fixed at the top carry 
off the products of distillation, while ingeniously designed self- 
acting valves at the bottom allow of the wood inside being lighted, 
as well as regulate the entry of air to keep up the combustion, the 
valves completely closing of themselves when this becomes too 
active. The whole apparatus can be quickly taken to pieces, and 
transported and set up again with ease. The carbonization is com- 
pleted in 80 hours, and the yield, by weight, of charcoal is said to 
reach 28 to 24 per cent. 

Another apparatus, the invention of M. Dromart, consists of a 
beehive-shaped oven, capable of containing about 800 stacked cubie 


CAKBONIZATION IN ORDINARY KILNS, 208 


feet, and composed of-plates of sheet-iron which fit closely together 
at the edges and are supported ona strong circulariron frame. This 
oven, open at the bottom, is placed over a fire-place built up with 
brick or clay and provided with numerous holes through which the 
heat from below can enter it. Some of these holes are covered over 
with a shect-iron plate to moderate the heat. The oven terminates 
in a chimney that can be closed or opened at pleasure. The wood 
is stacked within the oven through a side-door. When lurid 
vapours begin to issue from the chimney, an event that is not long 
in occurring, the carbonisation is complete. All that has then to 
be done is to close the chimney, put out the fire under the oven, and 
allow this latter to cool down. Tho apparatus is extremely porta- 
ble, and the fire-place may be built up anywhere without skilled 
labour. 

As contrivances merely for the manufacture of charcoal, neither 
of these two last-described or other sithilar apparatus are likely to 
come into general use, as they can never supersede the inexpen- 
sive wholesale methods of carbonization in ordinary kilns, which 
can, besides, take in pieces of any size without requiring them to 
be split up small. Those permitting of the utilization of the pro- 
ducts of distillation must, however, at no distant date, enjoy a 
certain extended application in India in meeting the large demand 
that is sure to arise for acetic acid, wood spirits, ether, creosote, 
tar, &e. 


Section IT.—CaRpoNIZATION IN ORDINARY KILNS. 


In every system of carbonization in ordinary kilns, the covering 
over the wood is a rough one (generally of leaves and earth), the 
wood in the kilns has to keep up its own combustion, and the em- 
placement of the kiln is not in any way built up. 

There are numerous forms of such kilns, but only four of them, 
which are simple to build and manage, and are thoroughly practi- 
cal and in very general use, will be described. They are (1) the 
paraboloidal over-ground kiln, (2) the paraboloidal pit-kiln, (3) 
the hill kiln, and (4) the prismatic kiln. 


ARTICLE 1.—THE PARABOLOIDAL OVER-GROUND KILN. 


The shape of the kiln, when it is ready to be fired, is very near- 
ly a paraboloid of revolution, the formula for the contents of which 
figure is wr’? X + or, expressed in terms of the circumference, C 


: ‘ Ch _ Ch 
(which basal dimension alone can be measured), S—- = 3549 


As the kiln is generally more acute than a paraboloid and has 


204 CARBONISATION IN ORDINARY KILNS. 


straighter sides, it is usual to diminish the contents given by the 
formula by 4—6 per cent. 


1.—Size of the kiln. 


The larger the kiln is, the less will be the relative quantity of 
covering material used, the more limited the space occupied, the 
fewer the men required, and the smaller the proportion of wood 
consumed in producing the heat necessary for carbonizing the 
remainder, and hence the lower will be the cost of carbonization. 
On the other hand, the larger kiln requires greater skill both to 
build up and to manage during the burning, and produces a harder 
charcoal. The largest kiln of the kind made in India seldom con- 
tains more than 1,500 stacked cubic feet of wood. A very conve- 
nient size for persons possessing little skill is one containing about 
600 cubic feet. : 


2.—mplacement of the kiln. 


The site selected should be sheltered, even, and level, and it should 
be close to abundant water and to the wood to be carbonized. If 
the quantity of wood is large, there ought to be room enough for 
several kilns, as the same party of burners can just as easily man- 
age several kilns as a single one. The nature of the soil is also of 
considerable importance. A soil that is too free and porous would 
allow too strong an upward draught of air to pass through it into 
the burning wood above, while a too stiff soil would, on the con- 
trary, cause the kiln to burn too slowly. A loamy sand is the best, 
as, besides possessing average stiffness, it absorbs at once the con- 
densed vapours given off by the wood, which in a stiff soil would 
clog the surface and interfere with the carbonization. It is abso- 
lutely necessary that the soil of the entire site should be uniform, 
otherwise the kiln would burn more rapidly at some points than at 
others, the result being unequal subsidence and consequent exten- 
sive and frequent breakages, and hence unequal carbonization and 
unprofitable waste of wood. 

If a new site is used, it must be very carefully prepared. Such 
preparation will consist in (1) clearing away all vegetation by the 
roots ; (2) removing all stones, for garbonization will be unnecessa- 
rily slow over boulders and injuriously quick over smaller elements ; 
(8) raising the site about 8 to 12 inches in the middle and sloping 
it down outwards in every direction, so as to allow the liquid pro- 
ducts of the kiln, which cannot be absorbed into the soil, to run out 


THE PARABOLOIDAL OVER-GROUND KILN. 208 


freely. The soil should then be allowed to settle for two or three 
months until it becomes close enough. If it is damp, it should, 
just before it is used, be warmed up and dried by burning over it 
a thick layer of dry twigs and leaves. 

An old site is preferable to one that is perfectly new ; in the for- 
mer the soil has already undergone the necessary preliminary pre- 
paration, and it is a matter of experience that in a fresh-made site 
the yield of charcoal is from 10 to 17, and sometimes even 25 per 
cent. smaller. But of course a site on which a kiln has just been 
burnt cannot be used again until the moisture that it has absorbed 
from the kiln has completely dried up. 

Even before using an old site, the surface must be carefully 
re-dressed and the numerous pieces of charcoal, left in it from the 
previous burning, broken up small and mixed up intimately with 
the soil. 


3.— Building up of the kiln. 


In building up a kiln, the pieces of wood may (a) be all laid 
horizontally, or (2) horizontally only in the topmost tier with the 
rest set up more or less vertically. In the first case the system of 
piling up the wood is the same as that followed in constructing the 
paraboloidal pit-kiln, in the Article on which it will be found de- 
scribed. For this reason, and also because a kiln so formed is much 
more difficult to build and is more liable to unequal subsidence and 
breakages (these drawbacks increasing with its size), nothing fur- 
ther will be said regarding them in this Article. 

First of all, the chimney cr flue through which the kiln is fired 
has to be formed. For this purpose three straight upright posts, 
of the same height as the future kiln, should be firmly fixed in the 
centre of the site, about a foot apart from each other, and bound 
round with watiling or strands of twisted grass. As the kiln rises, 
readily ignitible chips of wood or half-burnt fragments obtained 
from a previous burning are loosely thrown into the flue until it is 
nearly full. According as the wood in the chimney is to be fired 
from above or from below, the largest fragments are placed at the 
bottom and the smallest and most combustible at the top, and vice 
versd. In either contingency, if the soil is damp, a small board 
must be placed over the ground under the chips, to prevent the fire 
from being smothered by the steam rising up from the ground. 

The next step is to pile up the wood to be carbonized. To ensure 
a circular section to the kiln, the base should be accurately pegged 
out. The wood is arranged in three or more tiers, according to the 


206 CARBONIZATION IN ORDINARY KILNS, 


size of the kiln. Fig. 66 A shows the disposition of the wood in 
Fig. 66. 


& 
mi 
my fe 


ROS 


ZA 1) 1 
usps Lay ier Sy, Dy 


Paraboloidal over-ground kiln with upright stacking. 
A.— Before fring. B,—Carbonization complete. 


SS 


ee VA / 
is ; \ NN 
Bite i us S 


ENS 


a, kiln composed of three tiers. The upright pieces should rest on 
their thick end, so that they may incline more and more towards 
the chimney the further away they are set up from it ; there is no 
other way of giving to the sides of the kiln the slope necessary for 
their stability, which slope should nowhere exceed 65°. Itis evi- 
dent that all the upright pieces in the lower tiers should be of equal 
length in one and the same tier, Those in the topmost tier, being 
laid horizontally, must, on the other hand, be necessarily of differ- 
ent lengths to admit of being closely packed together and to enable 
the apex of the kiln to be properly rounded off. It is not neces- 
sary that the whole of a tier should be completed before the next 
one is begun ; indeed, it is always more convenient to commence 
building up this latter when the other has been about half com- 
pleted. In the topmost tier, as in all the rest, the laying of the 
pieces should progress from the chimney outwards, and great care 
must be taken to secure an even paraboloidal outline without plac- 
ing any piece on the outside in such a way that it must fall off when 
the kiln begins to subside with the progress of the carbonization. 
The packing should everywhere be as close as possible, for the 
volume of every piece must diminish considerably as it becomes 
carbonized, thus causing all originally empty spaces to grow larger 
and thereby diminishing the stability of the kiln. As a further 
precaution, the numerous intervals that must remain even after the 
most careful packing should be filled up tight with thin pieces and 
chips, preferably of completely dry or, better still, if at hand, of half- 
carbonized wood. 

If the kiln is to bo fired from below, a narrow passage, extend- 
ing as far as the chimney, should be left open along the ground, 


THE PARABOLOIDAL OVER-GROUND KILN, 207 


whereby the combustible material at the bottom of the chimney 
may be reached when the kiln is ready to be lighted. The pas- 
sage is easily made by laying a straight pole on the ground and 
arranging the billets on each side of it in the way that a house is 
built up with cards, the pole being finally withdrawn. 

The wood placed immediately against the chimney should con- 
sist of thin split pieces, dry enough to take fire readily. The best 
material to use, if obtainable, is the half-charred wood from a pre- 
viously-burnt kiln. The packing near the chimney should be spe- 
cially close, all insterstices being filled up with chips and shavings. 

As split wood takes fire most readily on the split side, such wood 
should be placed with this side facing the chimney or downwards, 
as the case may be. This position of the pieces also helps the wood 
to be packed with greater ease and closer together. 

The thickest pieces should be placed where the heat will be strong- 
est and steadiest, that is to say, about midway between the chim- 
ney and the periphery. 


4.— Covering the kiln. 


In order to prevent the unchecked entry of air amongst the wood 
and to regulate the indraught during the carbonization, the cover- 
ing put over the kiln should be such that, while it is easy to put 
on and take off or increase and diminish in thickness at any point, 
it should subside evenly as the kiln subsides, without falling away 
or opening out in rents and fissures. Experience has shown that 
it should always consist of two parts, (1) an inner layer composed 
of moss, sods of turf, green weeds, leafy twigs or green grass, and 
(2) an outer one of wet-earth plastered or thrown over the first. 

The inner covering must obviously be formed with some gr cen, 
yielding fibrous material that does not take fire too easily and is 
at the same time able to hold together, however much the kiln 

may subside. Moss and close turf are the best for the purpose, 
and grass the worst. When grass is used, it ought to be short, 
soft, and fine. Whatever the material is, it should be the same 
throughout, otherwise the covering will both lie and subside un- 
evenly. 

For the outer covering we require a soft earth which will not form 
a too stiff and impermeable mass when moistened, will not harden 
and become full of cracks with the great internal heat of the kiln, 
and will not conduct heat too rapidly, but which will at the same 
time not lie so loosely as to fall away too easily and not be so porous 
as to be too freely permeable to air. Hence the best natural 


208 CARBONIZATION IN ORDINARY KILNS. 


material is loam containing a large proportion of vegetable remains, 
and the best material of all is the earth obtained from an old kiln 
with its large admixture of ashes and fine cinders. 

The first covering should be laid on beginning from the top, so 
that every portion of it may be supported and prevented from slip- 
ping downwards by the overlapping portion immediately below. 
It should be thick enough to prevent the earth of the outer covering 
from falling through amongst the wood and thus retarding and 
even preventing carbonization. In order to obtain a good in- 
draught of air while the kiln is taking fire, the covering should 
not at first be put on too thick near the ground, and may even be 
left open at a few points there, such openings being stopped only 
when the carbonization is in full progress. Similarly, the vent of 
the chimney should also he left open until then. 

The earth for the second covering should be freed of stones and 
other large fragments, which would destroy its even texture and 
let in unequal draughts of air. All clods should be broken up fine 
and the whole mass of material thoroughly well worked up until 
it is of uniform texture throughout. For the top of the kiln and 
those portions which have a gentle slope, the earth need only be 
moistened just sufficiently to keep the particles together, and then 
it is best thrown on with a shovel, so that it may get evenly dis- 
tributed and ultimately rest safely at the proper angle of repose. 
_ For the steep portions, especially when grass is used inside, the 
earth should be made into a sort of thick mud and plastered 
over the grass. To prevent the earth from slipping off the steeper 
portions, it has to be propped up, especially near the ground. Two 
simple and effective modes of propping are shown in Trig. 67. 


Fig. 67, 


Node of propping up covering of kiln, Different styles shown at A and B. 


THR PARABOLOIDAL OVKER-GROUND KILN. 209 
5.—Firing of the kiln. 


If the kiln is to be fired from below, a torch is formed at the 
end of a long pole with grass and some highly inflammable chips 
of wood. The lighted torch is inserted into the open passage left 
along the ground and pushed home against the bottom of the chim- 
ney, the pole being at once withdrawn. The draught along the 
ground and up the chimney carries the fire into the latter, from 
which then as centre it is able to spread outwards amongst the 
wood to be carbonized. The chips and other small fragments of 
wood placed in the chimney are quickly consumed ; as they sub- 
side, fresh pieces must hence be gradually stoked in from the top. 
Ultimately, when the fire has become establisheil and has begun to 
spread outside the chimney, this latter is filled up tight to the top 
with short billets of wood. If this last operation is not properly 
done, the chimney will soon become empty and cause the wood 
from the sides to fallin, thus leading to unequal subsidence and 
to the breaking up of the kiln. After the chimney is full, and even 
earlier if the wood is very dry or a strong wind is blowing, the 
tunnel along the ground is filled up with short straight billets well 
packed together. When the combustion inside the kiln is in full 
progress, the covering is completed over the open extremities of 
the chimney and tunnel. It requires some experience and judg- 
ment to close these openings at the proper time. 

If the firing is to take place from above, a dishful of live coal is 
dropped into the chimney and the fire worked into the chips below 
with a thin bar of iron or even a green sapling. The fire is stoked 
from time to time with small pieces of dry wood, and, finally, when 
the wood in the chimney is in full combustion and the fire has 
reached the bottom, the chimney is filled up and closed in the 
same manner as in the method of firing from below, already 
described. 

Firing from below is always troublesome, and the necessity of 
leaving a passage open along the ground breaks up the regularity 
of the stacking and renders the kiln liable to excessive subsidence 
on one side during the process of carbonization. To compensate 
for these drawbacks, it is more certain in its results, as unless the 
chimney is properly constructed and the fire skilfully stoked, fire 
lighted from above may fail to reach the bottom of the chimney, 
thereby rendering the carbonization of the lowest tier of wood a 
difficult matter, or at any rate entailing the overburning of the wood 
in the upper tiers after it has already become carbonized. 

26 


210 CARBONIZING IN ORDINARY KILNS, 
6.—The process of carbonization. 


Whether the kiln is lit from below or from above, the whole of 
the wood in the chimney must be on fire before the burning is 
allowed to extend into the wood beyond. 

Assuming that the wood in the chimney is fully ablaze first, the 
fire spreads thence outwards in the form of an inverted cone with 
an ever-widening base, until the whole of the kiln is on fire. This 
mode of progression of the fire is explained by the principle of the 
parallelogram of forces. The heated air and other gases tend to 
rise vertically, while lateral contact of the wood to be earbonized 
creates a tendency for the fire to extend horizontally. The result- 
ant of these two tendencies is at first an oblique line not far re- 
moved from the vertical, and since the height to which the fire can 
extend is limited, and the temperature inside the kiln is constantly 
rising, the horizontal spread of the fire becomes more and more 
conspicuous until the whole of the wood at the bottom is carboniz- 
ed. Thus the carbonization proceeds progressively from the top 
downwards. 

During the process of carbonization large quantities of various 
gases are given off. The whole of these gases being unable to 
leave the kiln, what remains behind condenses inside and trickles 
down through the lower tiers of wood to the ground, where it is 
absorbed or from which it flows away through the foot of the kiln. 

While any piece of wood is being carbonized, first of all steam, 
the characteristic colour of which is a bluish-grey, issues forth. 
This is followed by russet-coloured vapours, which would, if con- , 
densed, yield pyroligneous acid, tar, wood-spirit, &. When the 
carbonization is complete, if the burning is still continued, a elear 
blue flame proceeds from the carbonized wood, proving that only 
charcoal is left and is being burnt away. 

Some of the gases given out by the carbonizing wood form ex- 
plosive mixtures with the oxygen of the air ; if they are not given 
a free vent, explosions will take place inside the kiln, disarranging 
the wood and causing the covering to burst. 


7.—Conduct of the carbonizing operations. 


If the formation and expansion of the fire-cone took place uni- 
formly in every direction, all that would be required would be to 
keep the covering sufficiently pervious to air along the edge of the 
expanding cone (that is to say, at the level at which carbonization 
was going on) and to maintain it air-tight elsewhere, especially 


THE PARABOLOIDAL OVER-GROUND KILN. 211 


over those portions of the kiln where carbonization was completed. 
Hence, the first thing that would be done after closing the flue of 
the chimney would be to pierce small vent holes, 1 to 2 inches in 
diameter and about 2 feet apart, all round the kiln a foot or so 
below the apex. The object of these holes, which could be easily 
made with a bamboo or sapling pointed with iron, would be to 
admit the necessary amount of air for carbonizing the wood at the 
top of the kiln and allow the vapours and other gases of distilla- 
tion to pass out freely. When the carbonization at this level was 
complete, which fact would be recognized by the pale blue colour 
and transparency of the smoke, the holes would be closed and a 
new line of them opened | to 2 feet lower down. In this way the 
charcoal-burner would gradually effect the carbonization of the 
entire kiln, the natural spread of the fire-cone being aided and 
regulated by means of the holes. He would then cover up the 
kiln as thickly as possible in. order to stop all combustion, and in a 
few days the kiln would have cooled down enough for the covering 
to be taken off and the charcoal removed. 

Under actual conditions such extreme uniformity is unattainable, 
owing to several causes of irregularity, the principal of whieh are 
the following :— 

(i). Inevitable defects in the packing of the wood, in conse- 
quence of which unequal draughts are produced, lead- 
ing to more rapid carbonization and, therefore, more 
sinking at some points than at others. 

(ii). Differences in the amount of moisture contained in dif- 
ferent pieces of wood. 

(iii). Difference of density, even when only a single species is 
used. 
(iv). Movements of the atmosphere, from which the kiln can 
never be effectually screened. 

(v). Unequal nature of the site. 

(vi). Unavoidable errors of judgment, to which the most skil- 
ful are liable. 

To overcome these various causes of irregularity requires no lit- 
tle skill and experience and unremitting care and watchfulness on 
the part of the charcoal-burner. To gain his end he must have 
recourse to one or more of the four following measures, which 
constitute the whole of his duties at the present stage of his 
work :— 

I.— ERECTION OF A SOREEN ON THE WINDWARD SIDE OF THE KILN.— 
The cheapest form of screen is one of thatch supported against 
upright posts firmly fixed in the ground. But the first precaution 


212 CARBONIZING IN ORDINARY KILNS. 


to take, which may save the necessity of a screen, is to select a 
sheltered site with a close fringe of trees standing to windward. 

IL.—IncREASING THE DRAUGHT.— Whenever unequal subsidence 
takes place, there is proof positive that in the higher portions car- 
bonization has been going on more slowly than elsewhere. If the 
sinking at the lower points is not too rapid, then it is evident that 
the burning in the higher portions requires to be accelerated, in 
other words, that more air must be admitted inside them. This is 
done by making new vent-holes there or enlarging existing ones. 
The size of the holes and the intervals between them will depend 
on the degree of acceleration required. The new holes made need 
not be all at one and the same level. 

Sometimes, it may happen that the rate of carbonization is 
everywhere too slow. The remedy for this is to make a line of 
vent-holes all round the kiln immediately below the level at which 
carbonization is actually going on. The object of these vent holes 
is not only to increase the inflow of atmospheric oxygen, but 
also to give free exit to the vapours given out during carboniza- 
tion, the rapidity of which is impeded by them. The size of the 
holes and the intervals between them will depend on the amount 
of moisture in the wood and the slowness or rapidity with which 
the particular wood burns. If a screen has not been erected or 
the wind is constantly changing, no holes should be made on the 
windward side, and as the wind shifts about, some of the holes 
must be closed and new ones opened or enlarged. Every hole 
must be closed as soon as a clear blue flame or bluish transparent 
vapours issue forth. 

The vent-holes are thus made to fulfil the double object (i) of 
securing equal combustion on every side, and (ii) of conducting 
the carbonization with the requisite speed. The necessity of vent~- 
holes increases with the size of the kiln, and, under favourable 
circumstances, a small kiln situated in a sheltered spot may hardly 
require any at all. 

TII.—DiminisHine THE DRAUGHT.—This is the opposite of the 
preceding operation, and consists in increasing the thickness of the 
outer covering wherever the kiln, by sinking too rapidly, affords a 
certain indication of over-rapid combustion. Over-rapid combustion 
can be detected even before sinking actually takes place: at such 
points an excessive quantity of dense smoke issues continuously. 

As the carbonization progresses from the top downwards, the 
outer covering over the portions, where the process has just been 
completed, should be strengthened until no more smoke finds its 
‘ way throngh it; and wherever, from any portion that has been 


THE PARABOLOIDAL OVER-GROUND KILN. 213 


already carbonized, smoke is seen to come out, additional earth 
should be thrown on until it ceases. 

The intense heat of the kiln bakes the moist covering of earth 
into a hard brick-like mass in which numerous cracks open out. 
It is impossible to close such cracks, and the only way to render 
the covering effective again is to quickly pull off the loose pieces 
of baked earth and replace them with fresh material. Some of the 
pieces may even be broken up fine on the kiln with a mallet. Not 
unfrequently it is impossible to stop smoke without moistening the 
outer covering; but the necessity for such action occurs only to- 
wards the end of the entire carbonization, when there is not suffi- 
cient humidity left inside to keep the covering moist with the 
vapours given out. 

IV.—Fr.ine up HoLLows.—However carefully the wood is 
packed or the regulation of the draught attended to, it is impossi- 
ble to entirely prevent the formation of hollows owing to the wood 
at certain points burning so fast as to become partially or wholly 
consumed. If such hollows are not at once filled up, the further 
settling of the wood will cause the kiln to fall in at those points. 
Hollow places may be detected by beating the sides of the kiln 
with a club; where there is a hollow, the cover will yield or even 
fall in, or return the tell-tale sound. 

To fill up a hollow the covering over it should be quickly torn open 
with a hoe and short billets of wood thrust in one after another as 
tight as possible, the covering being restored without delay. In 
doing this work the utmost dispatch should be used, and hence a 
quantity of filling and covering material, sufficient for all contin- 
gencies, should always be kept ready at hand. When the covering 
is cut open, a good deal of flame will issue through the opening. 

GENERAL.—In order to do the needful at the right moment, the 
kiln should be constantly watched and tended by a number of men 
sufficient for all contingencies. For a single kiln containing up to 
800 maunds of wood, or even for two kilns of that size, two men 
will suffice. During daylight the watching of the kiln and conduc- 
tion of the burning offers no special difficulties ; but during the 
darkness of the night accidents are especially to be feared, parti- 
cularly if high winds blow. On this account, every evening, before 
nightfall, all hollows should be examined and filled up and all 
weak places thoroughly overhauled and strengthened. if the 
night is expected to be stormy, additional covering should be put 
on everywhere, and only just enough vent holes left open to prevent 
the fire from going out. Lastly, at short intervals all through the 
night, the kiln should be carefully examined on every side. Bun- 


214 CARBONIZING IN ORDINARY KILNS. 


dles of dry grass should be kept handy, in order to get up plenty 
of light in case of accidents. 

When, with the gradual downward progress of the carbonization, 
clear blue flames issue from the base of the kiln, the work is com- 
plete and the fire must be caused to die out without delay. This 
is. done by shovelling on fresh earth and moistening the covering 
until smoke ceases to come out. A little superficial smoking, due 
to the conversion of the moisture in the covering into steam, must 
not be mistaken for real smoke. It is especially along the base of 
the kiln that draughts are likely to continue to enter, and it is. 
here that the covering should receive extra strengthening. 


8.— Opening of the kiln. 


Even after the fire has gone out, the temperature inside the kiln 
will still be high enough to cause the charcoal to light up again, if 
air were admitted. On this account the kiln must-.be allowed to 
cool down sufficiently before it is opened. If we waited until the 
contents were cool enough to be comfortably handled, a week or 
even a whole fortnight might elapse. In practice, therefore, the 
work of taking out the charcoal may be commenced, according to 
the size of the kiln and the skill of the burners, from 1 to 3 days 
after the carbonization has been completed. 

To prevent the charcoal from burning it should be taken out only 
at night, when the air is cool and damp and burning pieces can be 
at once detected by their glow and put out. The simplest plan to 
follow is to cut open a section of the kiln on one side, pull down 
quickly as much charcoal as possible, and cover up the kiln with- 
out delay. When so much charcoal has been picked out, another 
section adjoining the first should be pulled down, and so on untila 
complete circuit of the kiln has been made. If the remaining 
charcoal is also cool enough, a second and even more such tours of 
the kiln may be made. A small kiln may be emptied out in a 
single night ; but usually the work requires at least two nights, as 
the charcoal in the centre is always hot enough to take fire readi- 
ly, and covering it up for another night brings about the necessary 
reduction of temperature, The emptying of a large kiln may 
take several successive nights. 

As the charcoal is picked out, it should be spread out on the 
ground, otherwise a single piece taking fire would set the whole 
heap burning. When spread out thus, individual pieces becom- 
ing aglow are detected at once and put out with a few drops of 
water. 


THE PARABOLOIDAL PIT-KILN. 215 


The Indian charcoal-burner is often accustomed to empty out 
even a large kiln in a single operation, and to prevent all risk of 
fire, he deluges the hot charcoal with water. Nothing could be 
more reprehensible, as the moistened charcoal not only breaks up 
into innumerable small fragments, but also loses quality. 

As soon as the charcoal is cool enough to be handled, it should 
be sorted and at once put away under shelter, for charcoal absorbs 
moisture greedily and becomes depreciated thereby. If there is a 
demand for it, the very small charcoal that is mixed up with the 
dust of the kiln should be sifted out, constituting then the lowest 
class of charcoal. 

However skilfully the carbonization has been conducted, a very 
appreciable portion of the wood will always be found incompletely 
charred. Such pieces, as already recommended before, should be 
utilised in new kilns as filling material for the chimney and hollows 
and for placing next to the chimney. But if they are very nume- 

. rous, it will be found convenient to complete their carbonization 
separately in a kiln made up entirely of such stuff; mixed up 
with fresh wood in any other manner than that indicated above, 
they would be reduced to ashes by the time the latter was car- 
bonized. 


ARTICLE 2.—Tup ParapoLtoraL Prr-Kiry. 


In this system, a circular pit from 1 to 2 feet deep is dug, with 
a level bottom and sides sloping enough not to fallin. The bottom 
of the pit is first strewn over with a layer, from 4 to 6 inches thick, 
of dry leaves and twigs, and then the kiln is built up, The object 
of this foundation of loose and highly combustible material is 
(i) to preserve the wood to be carbonized from direct contact with 
‘the soil, which, besides that it may itself be originally moist, must, 
during the process of the carbonization, become sodden with the 
liquid products of distillation, and (ii) to ensure the fire extending 
amongst the wood at the bottom of the kiln. The pieces of wood 
to be carbonized are Jaid horizontally—some radially, others tan- 
gentially. Hence, to pack close, they must be of all sizes. Before 
beginning a new layer, all empty spaces in the one just completed 
should be filled up with small pieces, preferably of dry wood. It 
is superfluous to add that every layer should be arranged as hori- 
zontally as possible. 
- The manner of forming the flue requires to be described. The 
billets forming its sides in alternate layers of the wood are arrang- 


216 CARBONIZING IN ORDINARY KILNS. 
i 


ed respectively as represented in A and B of Fig. 68. As the 
Fig. 68. 


Mode of constructing flue of horizontally-laid p araboloidal kilns, 


horizontal position of the pieces precludes any tendency for them 
to fall in, no posts are necessary to support the sides ; but to help 
to form the flue straight and vertical, a straight billet may be held 
upright in it until the kiln has been built up. 

The firing can of course take place only from the top, in the 
manner described on page 186. The management of the covering 
is, however, at first different. Since there is absolutely no danger of 
over-rapid combustion within the pit, the sides at the ground-level 
should be kept open for some time to allow the fire to spread freely 
downwards, and, in order to prevent the wood at the top from burn- 
ing too fast in the meanwhile, no vent-holes should be pierced there. 
It is only when the wood within the pit is in full combustion that 
the covering near the ground should be completed, but even then 
it should be lighter there than elsewhere, and a vent or two may 
have to be left on a level with the ground up to the very end of the 
carbonization. Some charcoal-burners, in order to introduce a 
draught into the pit, excavate a narrow oblique shaft in the sides of 
the pit at the two extremities of a diameter and opening into the 
bottom of the pit. Needless to say that the shafts are not closed 
at all until carbonization is complete. 

By stacking horizontally we secure the very signal advantage of 
being able to utilise pieces of all lengths and thicknesses, thus sav- 
ing the very heavy cost, imposed by the vertical method, of cutting 
up all the pieces to one length and of splitting them to more or 
less the same thickness, and also being able to build up a kiln with 
the produce of the few nearest trees. It is mainly on this account 
that the Indian charcoal-burner always lays his wood horizontally, 
and will have nothing to say to vertical stacking, even when the 
circumstances of the case render that method preferable. 


THE HILL-KILN, 217 


On the other hand, the packing i in horizontal laying is extremely 
irregular and requires infinite pains to do well, and also consumes 
much time. It is for this reason that the syotaronstd form, the 
burning in which is so much easier to conduct, is so often given up 
for the rather primitive pit-form here described, in which loose 
and careless packing has not the same serious consequences. Al- 
though no exact figures are available, there are sufficient data to 
prove that the yield in pit-kiln burning is very much less than in 
overground burning, the outturn of charcoal seldom exceeding 15 
per cent. of the wood used. It is, however, well adapted for char- 
coal manufacture on a small scale when skilful burners are not 
obtainable. The local name in the Dehra Dun for the pit-kiln is 
bhadi ka bhatta, literally, the carpenter’s kiln. 


ArticLe 3.—THE Hii1-Kiny. 


On hillsides the construction of any of the kilns hitherto des- 
cribed is out of the question ; a level site of even quality could be 
obtained there only at prohibitive expense, and the draught from 
the four sides can never be made equal, being always greatest from 
the side of the valley and almost totally wanting on the side of the 
hill. Hence the necessity of constructing a special kind of kiln. 

The terrace on which the kiln is to be built should be made to 
slope slightly outwards. The outer portion of the terrace, being 
necessarily made-ground and open towards the valley, is pretty 
freely penetrable to air. To neutralise this inequality, which is 
still further exaggerated by the absence of any draught from the 
side of the hill, the largest and hardest and greenest pieces should 
be packed at the valley end of the kiln, which should also be built 
up highest. Moreover, the kiln should, for obvious reasons, be 
made to lean up against the hill, and to this end the side of the 
hill should not be cut vertical but sloping at an angle of about 30° 
(see Fig. 69). 


Ce) 


ar 


Hill-Kiln, 
tt Tunnel for firing kiln. v Vent-hole, 


218 THE PRISMATIC CHARCGAL KILN. 


To secure a through draught, a tunnel (é¢) is left along the 
whole length of the kiln, and it is by this tunnel, which is after- 
wards filled with small combustible wood, that the kiln is fired. 
At v the covering is omitted, in order to draw the fire inwards and 
upwards. The fore end of the tunnel is left more or less open 
fcr several hours after combustion has begun. On its being closed, 
several holes are made both in the outer face and sides of the kiln 
end also one on each side of the vent-hole v, which itself is kept 
open until carbonization is nearly complete. 

The outer face and sides of the kiln are often rather steep, and 
the covering of earth must then be kept in place with the aid of 
struts, as explained in Fig. 67 above. 

In a report written by Mr. Heinig in 1880, whilst he was at the 
Forest School, he says that he found it an advantage to forma 
vertical chimney rising up from the inner extremity of the tunnel, 
and to fire the kiln through this chimney as well as through the 
tunnel. The chimney, no doubt, renders the firing very much 
easier, but its absolute utility has still to be proved by a larger 
number of experiments than he was able to try. The best way to 
secure the carbonization of the wood near the hill is to make the 
height of the kiln diminish towards the hill and to keep the vent- 
holes open on the top along the edge of the cutting. 

With skilful burning, the yield in this style of kiln should hard'y, 
if at all, fall short of that obtainable from any other kind of kiln. 


ARTICLE 4.—THE Prismatic Kin. 


The shape of the prismatic kiln resembles to a certain extent 
an ellipsoidal dome springing up from a rectangular base. If Zand 
b be respectively the length and breadth of its base, and A its dimen- 
sion where the height is greatest, then the stacked contents will 
be approximately = 3 7b A. 

Such kilns are most conveniently built up with straight long 
pieces, of more or less the same thickness, running through the 
entire length of the kiln ; but the prismatic shape is very frequent- 
ly adopted even in the absence of such pieces, because it is on the 
whole easier to form and requires the wood to be much less cut up 
than the paraboloidal form, although it is, on the other hand, more 
liable to breakages from irregular settling and more difficult to 
cover properly. There is no chimney, but a tunnel is left along 
the ground running through the entire length of the kiln and filled 
with combustible material, which is fired at both ends. In India 
prismatic kilns are usually made much larger than paraboloidal 
ones. The outturn of charcoal does not differ materially from that 


CARBONIZATION IN OPEN PITS=—YIELD OF OHARCOAL. 219 


obtained from the latter class of kilns when these are built up 
with horizontally-laid wood. 


Ssotion II].—CarponizaTION IN OPEN Pits. 


The pit is from 3 to 5 feet deep and 5 feet and upwards in 
diameter, the sides being made sufficiently sloping to support 
themselves. First of all, it is filled up with dry twigs and branch- 
lets, which are fired and allowed to burn down freely. When thee 
burning has progressed so far that the wood inside is all aglow 
and has ceased to give out any smoke, the first instalment of the 
wood to be carbonized is thrown in. This wood is allowed to 
burn on until, in its turn, it no longer emits any smoke, when a 
second instalment is thrown in. This process is repeated until the 
pit is full of glowing coal. The entire glowing mass is then 
covered up with a layer of moist earth, thick enough to exclude 
air. After two or three days the pit will be sufficiently cool to be 
opened and the charcoal taken out. 

This is an extremely wasteful way of making charcoal, but as it 
requires no skill at all and next to no supervision, it may be 
adopted where there is plenty of waste wood that has no other use 
and the demand for charcoal is relatively small. 


Section IV.—YIeEwD oF CHARCOAL. 


The yield will depend on various circumstances, the principal of 
which are— 

1. The nature of the wood used.—Dry wood yields more char- 
coal than moist wood ; resinous and oily woods more than other 
kinds (since both the resin and the oil contribute a large propor- 
tion of the heat necessary for the carbonization) ; and soft woods 
more than hard woods (since the volatile products of distillation 
are more easily expelled from the looser tissues of the latter). 
Branch-wood, as it contains more reserve materials and less 
ligneous matter, yields less charcoal than the wood of the stem. 

2. The nature of the site—On a site that is uniform throughout 
and is well-sheltered, and is also one that has been frequently used 
before, so that its peculiarities are thoroughly known, the yield will 
obviously be largest. 

3. The state of the weather.—Still weather is much more 
favourable than windy weather, especially if the wind constantly 
shifts or blows in gusts. Very dry weather is just as unfavourable 
as steady rainy weather. In dry weather the covering breaks 


220 YIELD OF CHARCOAL. 


open very frequently and requires to be constantly moistened ; on 
the other hand, in rainy weather the covering remains so moist 
that the steam and other vapours, which form in the interior, do 
not find sufficient vent, and carbonization is consequently retarded, 
and, if the rain is heavy enough, the covering may be washed away. 
When carbonization in wet weather cannot be avoided, a thatch 
roof should be put over the kiln. 

4. Proper control of the carbonization —The yield is largest 

« when the progress of the fire is uniform in every direction. In 
the contrary case, those portions which, having become carbonized 
earliest, are kept on burning until the carbonization of the rest is 
complete, lose a more or less considerable portion of their carbon. 
Gradual burning, and especially slow burning at the commence- 
ment, yields not only a larger outturn, but also heavier charcoal. 
The number of times the covering breaks open or has to be opened 
to fill up hollows, and slowness or awkwardness in restoring it or 
in filling up the hollows, result in a very appreciable loss of carbon. 
To avoid such loss, the wood should, in the first instance, be 
packed as carefully and as closely as possible, and once the kiln is 
in full combustion, the chimney and, if the kiln is lighted from 
below, also the tunnel along the ground should be filled up tight. 

5. Time occupied in carbonization—Ilt has already been said 
that rapid burning results in unnecessary loss of carbon and that 
moderately slow burning gives the largest yield. The length of 
time occupied in carbonization will vary between certain wide 
limits depending on the style and dimensions of the kiln, the size 
of the pieces of wood, the moisture they contain, the quality of the 
site, the nature of the weather, and the care with which the kiln 
has been built up. Small kilns, containing from 500 to 1,000 
cubic feet of moderately hard, fairly well-seasoned wood, will re- 
quire from 6.to 8 days. Large kilns, containing from 3,000 to 
8,000 cubic feet of similar wood, will require 4 weeks in favour~ 
able, and from 5 to 6 weeks in unfavourable weather. Green wood 
will, in every case, take half as much time again as dry wood. 

6. The method of carbonization adopted.—In the paraboloidal 
over-ground kiln the yield is generally increased by firing from 
below, as the wood in the chimney then takes fire more readily 
and completely, and the fire cone progresses more regularly and 
uniformly. When the chimney is lit from above, the fire does not 
often run down to the bottom quick enough to enable it to be re- 
filled with wood to be carbonized. The result is that, after a little 
time, the small wood in the chimney is consumed to ashes, a 
hollow is formed, and the kiln falls in at the top. When the wood 


YIELD OF CHARCOAL, “221 


is laid horizontally, it does not matter whether the chimney is fired 
from above or below, as the position of the pieces prevents them 
from falling in. 

The yield is largest if the carbonization is effected with special 
apparatus, and least in an open pit. 

7. Skill and zeal of charcoal-burners.—This is self-evident. 

General.—We may now enter into a few general considerations. 
Assuming that we have used fairly well-seasoned, non-resinous, 
and non-oily wood, we would still have roughly 20 per cent. of 
moisture, 50,per cent. of the balance being carbon ; so that if no 
carbon were lost in carbonization, the yield (a purely hypothetical 
one) would be 40 per cent. But actually, according to Boppe, 
the following losses occur :— 


1. To raise the kiln to red heat, ice 1 per cent.’ 
2. To expel the moisture, Sau ae 54 5 
8. By loss of heat radiated, ... lei 1-2), 
4, Carbon carried off in combination in the 
various products of distillation, ... 11 5 


Total loss, eee 183-194 55 


Thus the highest theoretical yield in carbon can never exceed 
about 21 per cent. of the weight of the wood. Adding up for 
mineral matter and the small quantity of oxygen and hydrogen 
contained in charcoal, the highest yield in charcoal we may expect 
is 23 per cent. This figure is completely justified by facts, for 
resinous or highly oily woods burnt in open kilns yield 25 per 
cent. by weight of charcoal, and other species only from 20 to 23 
per cent, 

The total shrinkage in volume may be put down at from 55 to 
60 per cent. for resinous and oily woods and from 40 to 50 per 
cent. for other kinds. 

The shrinkage in girth varies between 16 and 25 per cent., that 
in length amounting to only about 12 per cent. Hence the kiln 
will sink most when the wood is laid horizontally. The sinking 
will always be in excess of the figures given above, as a good deal 
of the charcoal breaks up, the broken pieces sliding in between 
those lower down. 

Weighing the charcoal soon after it has been taken out of the 
kiln or oven always gives the outturn more accurately than mea- 
suring it, as the density of the charcoal will be different according 
to the wood used and the quality of the charcoal. Nevertheless, as 
the weighing of a light bulky article is always a slow and tedious 


222 TESTING CHARCOAL. 


process, it is best to ascertain the quantity of the charcoal by 
measure. This is usually and most conveniently done with baskets 
of known capacity. If the weight also is required, it is easy enough 
to weigh a few basketfuls and strike a mean for the weight of one 
basketful. 


Srection V.—TeEsting CHARCOAL. 


Charcoal may be described in general terms as a black, more or 
less lustrous and porous, but fairly compact, substance, of low speci- 
fic gravity, and possessing neither smell nor taste. These properties 
are subject to some slight modifications according to the wood 
from which it is made. We have already seen that the specific 
weight is, for all practical purposes, directly proportional to the 
density of the wood ; the heavier the wood is, the heavier will be 
the charcoal. We know, too, that the weight of charcoal also 
depends on the dryness of the wood and the slowness of the car- 
bonisation. 

Good charcoal is black with a steel-blue metallic lustre, and has 
a conchoidal fracture. Ifthe kiln has been kept burning too long, 
that is to say, if the wood has been allowed to burn on for some 
time after it has become carbonised, the charcoal assumes a deep 
black colour, and loses its characteristic lustre; it also becomes 
porous and lighter. On the other hand, if the carbonisation is 
incomplete, the charcoal is of a foxy-red colour, and emits a heavy 
smoke in burning. Good charcoal gives out a clear metallic ring 
when struck or when thrown together or stirred about ; whereas 
overburnt charcoal returns a very dull clink and insufficiently burnt 
charcoal a deader sound even than wood. Both good charcoal and 
overburnt charcoal burn without smoke ; but the latter emits no 
flame at all, takes fire almost instantaneously, and is very quickly 
consumed. 

Charcoal possesses great power of absorbing gases ; from moist 
air it will take up watery vapour sufficient to increase its weight 
from 8 to 12 percent. It also absorbs water with avidity, taking 
up from 25 to 30 per cent. of its own weight in a few minutes, and 
from 60 to 120 per cent. in the course of only 8 hours. Hence 
the sale of charcoal by weight leaves much room for fraud and 
should never be employed. 


PREPARATION OF CUTCH AND KATTHA, 228 


CHAPTER II.—PREPARATION OF CUTCH AND 
KATTHA. 


THESE two substances, popularly regarded as more or less iden- 
tical, are really entirely distinct. The wood from which both 
extracts are obtained is principally the Acacia Catechu, although 
that of the very much less common Acacia Suma also yields them. 
These woods are impregnated with a mixture of catechu tannin and 
catechin, so that the extract contains both substances intimately 
mixed together, and it is cutch or kattha according to the respective 
proportions of these two substances present in it. Whether a tree 
will yield kattha or catechu is at once ascertained by cutting into 
the heartwood and noting the abundance or otherwise of white 
spots on the section ; these white spots are incrustations of cate- 
chin. If the proportion of white spots is very small, cutch is the 
produce obtained. 

The extract of both kinds is prepared in a similar manner. The 
heartwood is split up into thin chips with an adze. The chips are 
boiled for one or more hours in an earthen vessel, and the solution 
obtained is poured on to fresh chips and boiled over again. This 
process is repeated until the liquor acquires the consistency of a 
very thick syrup. for the preparation of kattha this syrup is 
boiled, still in earthen pots, until it becomes a thick paste, when 
it is cooled and poured off into moulds scooped out in fine dry 
sand. Asa result of the cooling, the catechin crystallises, while 
the tannin, still in a state of solution, is to a great extent absorbed 
by the sand. Thus what is left behind is catechin with a small 
proportion of tannin. In Burma, where itis cutch that is pre- 
pared, the syrup is poured into iron pans, in which it is boiled 
down to a thick paste, this paste solidifying on cooling. Iron has 
such a great affinity for catechin, that the boiling in the iron pans 
destroys most of the catechin in the extracts. 

Both the methods just-described are extremely clumsy and slov- 
enly, as the dried extract often contains more than 4 per cent. of 
wood, while in the kattha there may be further admixture of as 
much as 16 per cent. of sand. If the manufacture were taken in 
hand in a systematic manner on scientific principles, special appara- 
tus could be introduced, which would not only save labour, time, 


224 PREPARATION OF CUTCIT AND KATTIIA. 


and, therefore, money, but also give only the purest products in 
the largest quantity obtainable. Dr. Warth recommends the 
following process :—Shave the wood fine (about one-sixteenth of 
an inch thick) on a lathe, steam the shavings in special copper 
pans and boilers, cool the extract to precipitate the catechin, get rid 
of the liquid portion in a filter press, and finally dry, in vacuum 
pans, both the filtrate and what remains on the filter, the former 
yielding the tannin, the latter the catechin. 

Dr. Warth has proved that catechin is véry quickly decomposed 
when in a state of solution. Even pure catechin, dissolved in 
water and at once recrystallised, loses, on an average, 32 per 
cent. of its original weight. Dr. Warth has also shown that cate- 
chin is soluble only in hot water, whereas tannin is soluble at all 
temperatures ; and that whereas, when in solution by itself, cate- 
chin separates from the liquid without any delay if the solution is 
cooled down sufficiently, it takes days to be precipitated, under 
mere exposure to air, if tannin is also in solution with it. This 
demonstrates the necessity of shortening the process of manufac- 
ture as muchas possible. Hence the necessity of steaming instead 
of boiling, and of the filter press and vacuum pans instead of slow 
precipitation and evaporation in open vessels or moulds. Bazar 
kattha made in Oudh, analysed by Dr. Warth, yielded on recrystalli- 
sation an average of only 36 per cent. of catechin, whereas by Dr. 
Warth’s process the extract would be pure, or very nearly pure, 
catechin. 

Although catechin decomposes so easily in solution, yet in its 
crystallised form it will keep unchanged for years. Hence the 
practice of selling it in the bazars in a liquid form is a bad one. 

The market for both cutch and kattha being, in comparison with 
our forest resources, practically unlimited, there is no reason, with 
fairly high ruling prices, why in one and the same forest both 
cutch and kattha should not be made together, as suggested by 
Dr. Warth. By this means, all the khair trees of a coupe would 
be utilized, instead of, as at present in the case of kattha manufac- 
ture, only those which exhibit numerous white markings. In this 
way, the present enormous waste of khair trees would be stopped 
and the value of the khair forests at once increased two to ten-fold. 

In Dr. Warth’s experiments well-marked Oudh wood yielded 9 
per cent. of catechin and 15 per cent. of tannin, while wood re- 
jected by the kattha boilers contained 3°7 per cent. of catechin and 
12 per cent. of tannin; on the other hand, of the Burmese wood 
the unmarked variety gave only 2 per cent. of catechin and 14 per 
cent. of tannin, while the most conspicuously marked specimens 


PREPARATION OF CUTCH AND KATTHA, 225 


yielded from 5 to 6 per cent. of catechin and 14 per cent. of 
tannin. 

The figures just quoted prove that with improved methods of 
manufacture every khair tree, including those at present rejected 
by the kattha boilers, will furnish catechin in paying quantities, 
while the yield of tannin, so large a proportion of which is now 
deliberately sacrificed by absorption in the sand, will be all saved 
for export to Europe. 


226 DISTILLATION OF SANDALWOOD OIh, 


CHAPTER III.—DISTILLATION OF SANDAL- 
WOOD OIL. 


Tue distillation is effected by the wet process in temporary sheds 
erected in or near the forest. The still used is the ordinary Indian 
one consisting of three pots, viz., two large ones, doing duty 
respectively as boiler and condenser, and a third, a small copper 
one, which is inverted into the mouth of the boiler and is practically 
the cap of the still. Itis fitted with a copper or bamboo tube about 
4 feet long and having a bore of about 1 inch, which carries down 
the vapour into the condenser. The boiler, which may be of metal 
or ordinary earthenware, holds about 56 lbs. of sandalwood chips 
with about 6 gallons of water. The sides of the boiler and cap are 
carefully luted together to prevent the escape of steam. On one 
side of the boiler is a small opening which can be stopped and 
through which fresh water can be added as the water inside is 
evaporated. The condenser is made of copper and has a capacity 
of about 3 gallons. Its mouth is stopped with leaves and coarse 
grass, and it is suspended on a forked piece of wood by its con- 
tracted neck inside a wide earthenware trough filled with cold 
water, which is constantly renewed. Several such stills, usually 
twelve, are fixed in a row over a common furnace made of mud or 
‘unburnt bricks. The furnace is actually fed from the back under 
each boiler, but it would be better to stoke it at one end, the op- 
posite end serving as a chimney to draw a constant draught through. 

The wood is shred into fine chips with a small sharp adze. As 
the condenser gradually fills with water and oil, the latter is skim- 
med off (twice or thrice in the 24 hours) and emptied into a 
cistern or narrow tank kept in a corner of the shed. Only a 
small quantity of oil is obtained at each skimming. The fires burn 
night and day, and a single charge of wood takes about 21 days to 
part with all its oil. The working season lasts 10 months, during 
which, however, owing to constant holidays and slackness on the 
part of the men, the boilers are charged only about nine times. 

The wood of the root contains the largest quantity of oil, and is 
said to yield, according to its quality, from 14 to 4 per cent. of 
its weight of oil, although European distillers have never been able 
to get more than 2 percent. The sapwood is too poor in oil to be 
of any use. 


PRODUCTS DERIVED FROM TURPENTINES, 227 


CHAPTER IV.—MANUFACTURE OF THE Va- 
RIOUS PRODUCTS DERIVED FROM 
TURPENTINES. 


Every turpentine consists of an essential oil and of a solid sub- 
stance (colophony) in solution in the oil. By distilling the oil at 
a temperature of 158° C. (the boiling point of the oil), the colo- 
phony or resin is left as a residue. 

The mode of distillation followed by the natives is a very pri- 
mitive one. The apparatus employed is similar to that already 
described in the preceding chapter. Not unfrequently no water 
at all is used, so that the colophony gets more or Jess burnt, and 
some acetic acid, aleohol, naphtha, and other impurities are pro- 
duced and distil over with the oil. 

A great improvement on this rude mode of distillation is easily 
effected with apparatus of almost equal simplicity and of scarcely 
higher cost. The crude resin should first be raised to a tempera- 
ture just high enough to liquefy it, and passed through a sieve to 
free it from pieces of bark and other impurities. It should then 
be run into the boiler of a still, heat being applied, either by an 
ordinary furnace or a steam-jacket, until the mass attains a uni- 
form temperature of 100° to 158°. This temperature should be 
continued until the accidental water contained in the oleo-resin has 
been driven off, together with pyroligneous acid, ether, and methy- 
lic alcohol. A thin stream of water should now be admitted, so 
that the temperature may be kept at or below 158°. The distilla- 
tion will continue, water and turpentine oil passing over into a 
receiver fitted with two taps, one at the bottom, the other higher 
up; the water is drawn off from the former, the oil from the lat- 
ter. The progress of the distillation should be judged by means 
of samples taken at intervals in a graduated measure. When the 
distillate shows only a very small percentage of oil, the still-cap 
should be removed, and the hot liquid rosin or colophony drawn 
off by a tap near the bottom of the boiler and at once run’ through 


228 PRODUCTS DERIVKD FROM TURPENTINES. 


a fine sieve. Lastly the slight quantity of oil remaining may be 
driven off by heating the resin in an open pan. 

There are now many improved methods of distillation, which, 
however, require special elaborate apparatus. One of these is 
represented in Fig. 70. The first purification of the crude oleo- 


Fig. 70. 
= 
A st 
A ch 
¢ = 
CN \ \ &\ \ = 
. NSS INN 


» WS 


EL 


S 


ZG 
i ~ 
Bs 
i 
4 
ve 
e 
E3) 
G 
a3] 


Apparatus for distilling turpentine. 
B is a slightly enlarged section on SS in A. 


resin is effected in the boiler b, which has a moveable lid and 
through which runs.a steam-coil c. At o is an orifice with a grat- 


PRODUCTS DERIVED FROM TURPENTINES. 229 


ing. All the liquefied material which reaches above o, runs out 
into the receptacle r, so that there remains behind in the boiler 
only a small quantity of resin mixed with foreign matters, such as. 
chips of wood and bark, leaves, sand, &c. The filtered resin is 
transferred from r to a reservoir ch, called the charge, holding the 
exact quantity (about 66 gallons) for each operation. From this 
reservoir the resin is introduced into the still st. In the still a 
perforated worm permits of the introduction of steam when the 
resin, heated by the fire at /, has attained a temperature of 135°. 
Eiffervescence ensues and the oil separates completely from the 
colophony, passing over, with the steam, into the serpentine con- 
denser, whence it falls into the tub ¢. The tub is furnished with 
two taps, by means of which the oil and water are drawn off sepa- 
rately. At the bottom of the still is an opening op, which is closed 
with a bung and carefully luted. When the oil ceases to pass 
into the condenser, the distilling operation is stopped and the 
bung removed. The colophony, at a temperature of about 130°, 
escapes into a box bo, and thence into a revolving cylinder cy, 
formed of very fine metallic gauze. The colophony falls through 
into a receptacle, while an unimportant residue is left inside. The oil, 
on passing out, is cloudy, but after standing for four to five days in 
large earthenware jars or copper pots, clears up, the small quantity 
of impurities present becoming precipitated. To prevent the solid 
matters in the resin from burning, the boiler 6 may be fitted with 
an agitator. Moreover, steam alone may be employed throughout 
the operation, thus avoiding all risk of burning. 

There are different grades or qualities of colophony. The first 
exudations from new or recently freshened blazes give the best 
kinds, while the hard or semi-hardened concretions (thus, scrape, 
in French, galipot and barras, the latter being the scrapings con- 
taining débris of wood and bark) yield an inferior yellow resin. 
The lowest class is furnished by the distillation of the filtration 
residues left in the manufacture of the better kinds. If, while 
the rosin is still liquid, some water is added and the whole is briskly 
agitated, opaque rosin is obtained owing to the formation of abietic 


acid. 


The pitches are produced either by a further distillation of the 
tar obtained in the dry distillation of highly resinous wood or by 
the distillation of the filtration residues left in the various processes 
followed for separating the oil from the colophony. In the more 
primitive of these processes the filtration of the crude resin and 
colophony is effected through mats. The mats, with what is left 


230 PRODUCTS DERIVED FROM TURPENTINES. 


thereon, are placed in a brick furnace (ig. 71). Fire is kindled 
Fig. 71. at the top and the resinous matters 

escape into the cooler c, the ashes 

- being. removed through a passage 
. existing at a. What passes into the 
> cooler consists of two portions, one of 
~ them a nearly solid one, which sinks 
to the bottom and is black pitch. It 
- is an opaque, black substance, with 
conchoidal fracture, peculiar unplea- 
sant odour, scarcely perceptible fla- 
vour, dissolving in the same men- 
strua as tar, and capable of being 

Eile for womnsfactore of Uaak kneaded when softened by the heat 

pitch, of the hand. 

In works having the modern improvements, the only residues 
are those left in the boiler (Fig. 70, 6). These residues are filtered 
through mats and afford a little more crude turpentine. The mats, 
with all the impurities, are then placed in the apparatus shown in 
Fig. 72, which consists of a double-lined trough, with steam cir- 
culating in the intermediate 
space ss. The residues are 
put on the metallic gauze 
tray t, and the trough is co- 
vered to prevent evaporation 
of the essential oil. Under 
» the influence of the heat, 
’ } the turpentine falls into the 
space sp below. It is then 
distilled in the apparatus re- 
presented in Fig. 70, and 
yields a light-coloured pitch, 
with a little oil. The straw 
mats are finally treated as 
in the preceding case and 
afford black pitch. From 
the light-coloured pitches is 
manufactured the common 
yellow rosin, which is used 

Apparatus for clearing filtration residues for sizing the inferior kinds 

in making light-coloured pitches. of paper, in solderin g metals, 
and for.rendering chips of wood combustible for lighting fires. The 
pitch used for caulking is one of the light-coloured kinds, but may 


Fig. 72. 


PRODUCTS DERIVED FROM TUKPENTINES. 231 


be specially prepared by melting together, in certain proportions, 
colophony, black pitch, and tar. 

The better kinds of colophony are used principally in the manu- 
facture of paper, of soap, of sealing wax, of varnishes and of 
cements, and in the preparation of ointments. The different pur- 
poses served by oil of turpentine are too well known to need men- 
tion. The cleaner scrape (galipot) enters directly into the compo- 
sition of certain varnishes, and is largely employed in the dockyards 
for painting over masts and the sides of ships. 

Filtered crude turpentine is used in making varnishes, lithogra- 
phic ink, and sealing wax. In France this filtered turpentine is 
called pate de térébenthine, and is of three grades. The first is no- 
thing but the purest portion of the crude filtered oleo-resin before 
distillation ; the second is the filtrate obtained by exposing the 
crude oleo-resin to nothing stronger than the heat of the sun ; 
while in obtaining the third, or best kind, only the ordinary tem- 
perature of the air is employed. The price of this last kind is at 
least six times higher than that of the other two kinds ; but the 
yield of it is proportionately very small. 

All the refuse of manufacture of the preceding articles may be 
burnt in closed chambers to produce lampblack. Lastly, if the 
crude turpentine is obtainable in sufficient abundance and at low 
rates, gas for lighting purposes may be manufactured from it. 


232 IMPREGNATION OF TIMBER WITH ANTISEPTIC SUBSTANCES. 


CHAPTER V.—IMPREGNATION OF TIMBER WITH 
ANTISEPTIC SUBSTANCES. 


WuEN durable timber is not obtainable in adequate quantity and 
at sufficiently low rates, inferior kinds have of course to be used. 
In that case, their durability may be increased by impregnating 
them with an antiseptic substance, that is to say, with a substance 
that opposes decay and the attacks of insects. 


Section I.—THE VARIOUS ANTISEPTIC SUBSTANCES USED. 


A great many kinds have been tried, but those most generally 
in use are— 

(1). Sulphate of copper.—The cheapness and abundance of this 
substance and the ease with which wood can be impregnated with 
it are greatly in its favour ; but it makes the wood brittle and less 
resisting to strains, and as it never combines with the wood fibre, 
but is merely deposited in the interstices of the wood in the shape 
of crystals which are readily soluble, it ultimately gets washed out 
when the wood is placed in situations in which it is exposed to 
heavy rain or an overflow of water. Its employment can, there- 
fore, never become general, and actually its use is confined almost 
solely to a few railway lines in France, the country of its origin, 
where beech sleepers are often thus impregnated. 

(2). Creosote—This is the creosote of commerce, and is really 
tar oil containing a certain proportion of creosote. It is a sub- 
stance obtained in great abundance from coal, and is cheap enough 
in coal-producing countries. Immediately after impregnation the 
wood is quite soft, but it soon blackens and becomes harder, but 
rather more brittle, than it was before. The creosote is absorbed 
into the substance of the wood-fibres, of which it therefore becomes 
an integral part, and it can hence never be washed out. Its oily 
nature renders the wood more or less damp-proof, so that it dimi- 
nishes the tendency of the wood to warp and split. 


IMPREGNATION OF TIMBER WITH ANTISEPTIC SUBSTANCES. 233 


(3). Chloride of zinc.—This is a cheap substance and is very 
effective against decay, but does not come anywhere near creosote 
in practical utility. 

(4). Chloride of mercury (corrosive sublimate).—The use of 
this substance for impregnating wood was first made by an Eng- 
lishman named Kyan, whence the name of Kyanizing for the 
process invented by him. Corrosive sublimate is thoroughly 
effective against every kind of decay and insects, but its violent- 
ly-poisonous nature and its high cost are against its employ- 
ment. 

(5). Carbolie acid.—This is used either by itself or in mixture 


with other substances, but is too expensive for ordinary employ- 
ment. 


(6). Tar oil, paraffin, benzene, and other carbo-hydrates, derived 
from the dry distillation of coal and wood.—These substances are. 
injected in combination with steam, but their use has not yet be- 
come general. 

(7). Ferric tannate—This is a compound of iron and tannic 
acid. It is perfectly insoluble, and hence, when it once gets inside 
the wood, nothing will remove it. By closing the pores of the 
wood into which it is injected, it effectually keeps out moisture. 
As the salt is insoluble, the wood is first injected with tannic acid 
and then with ferrous oxide, or, which comes to the same thing and 
is very much cheaper, pyrolignite of iron. The two substances 
combine in the wood to form the ferric tannate. 


Section J].—Metuops or IMPREGNATION. 


Impregnation may be effected either (1) by hydrostatic pressure, 
or (2) by pneumatic pressure, or (3) by immersion, or (4) by 
painting the surface of the wood. 


Axgticte 1.—Tur Hyprostatic Mernop. 


By this method, which was the first one ever used and was 
invented by a Erench Doctor named Boucherie, wood can be 
impregnated only while it is still quite green. The sap of the green 
wood is driven out by the antiseptic liquid, which is placed at a 
sufficient height to exert a pressure of about one atmosphere. The 
wood to be impregnated must not be barked, otherwise much of 
the antiseptic fluid would escape at the sides and the entrance of air 
would interfere with the free run of the liquid. The pieces are 
generally placed with the thicker end slightly raised above the 

24H 


IMPREGNATION OF TIMBER WITH ANTISEPTIC SUBSTANCES. 


234 


Fig. 73 shows clearly how the impregnation is effected. 


other. 


Fig. 73. 


a 
ayes & vik 
VT ASS? 
Wes ~\ /j 
SNe VA . 
WX HIN i 


Shy 
y 


Boucherie’s apparatus for impregnating timber, 


IMPREGNATION OF TIMBER WITH ANTISEPTIC SUBSTANOES. 235 


The raised end of the log is sawn off with a clean section and 
covered with the cap (¢), which consists of a square board and a 
ring of tarred rope placed between it and the log. The cap is 
pressed up against the log by the dog-bolts dd, the free ends of 
which pass through the batten 6 and are fitted with screw nuts, 
An oblique hole (A) is bored, into which is inserted the nozzle of a 
gutta-percha tube connected with the elevated reservoir of antisep- 
tic liquid. The reservoir is placed about 30 feet above the ground 
in order to secure the required pressure of one atmosphere. Un- 
der this pressure the liquid drives before it the sap in the wood. 
At first, the pure sap runs out at the other end of the log in a con- 
tinuous trickling stream. Later on, the sap is mixed with the 
antiseptic substance, the proportion of which of course increases as 
the sap remaining in the log diminishes, until no more sap is left 
and only water containing the antiseptic substance oozes out. To 
ascertain whether the wood is sufficiently impregnated, chips are 
removed from it from time to time and examined. The impregna- 
tion is complete before the liquid that runs out of the log is of the 
same strength as the solution in the reservoir. 

The process is very considerably shortened by impregnating at 
once logs of double the required length. In this case the log is 
sawn through the middle for about three-quarters of its thickness. 
It is then raised in the middle so as to make the cut gape open and 
a piece of tarred rope is let in along the circumference. On letting 
go the log, the sides of the cut close tightly upon the rope, and 
form with it a completely water-tight chamber, A single oblique 
hole with inserted tube suffices to impregnate both halves of the 
long log. Fig. 74 renders the preceding explanation clear, 


Mode of impregnating two lengths of log in a single operation. 


To prevent waste of the antiseptic substance, the fluid that runs 
out from the free ends of the logs falls into gutters gy, whence it 
flows away into the cistern ci at the bottom of the platform. From 
this, the liquid, after being made up again to full strength and, if 
necessary, freed from organic matters, is pumped up into the. re- 


236 IMPREGNATION OF TIMBER WITH ANTISEPTIC SUBSTANCES. 


servoir above. The timber-yard is accordingly intersected with a 
well-devised system of masonry or asphalte gutters. 

The substances injected in this manuer are principally sulphate 
of copper and chloride of zinc. The strength of the-sulphate solu- 
tion is 1 of salt to 100 of water. 

One important advantage of the hydrostatic method is that it 
involves only a very small capital outlay and requires no special 
mechanical skill to work. On the other hand, it has two disadvan- 
tages, which are great enough to militate against its general adop- 
tion. In the first place, wood in the round has to be used, so that 
all the portions (at least 30 per cent.), which fall off in conversion, 
are wasted, and thus a very large proportion of the antiseptic sub- 
stance is lost. In the second place, as the wood must be green and 
also have its bark on, no conversion in the forest is possible, and 
thus cost of carriage is made a very heavy item. 


ARTIOLE 2.—Tqe Pneumatic Meruop. 


This method is of English origin, The wood, fully converted, 
and seasoned or unseasoned (the former the better), is placed in an 
air-tight chamber. This chamber is completely exhausted with an 
air-pump, an operation which draws off all the moisture from the 
wood. This result is aided either by heating the chamber or by 
filling it, previous to working the air-pump, with steam raised to 
a temperature of 1123° C. and then condensing the steam to form 
a vacuum. Into the exhausted chamber the antiseptic solution is 
allowed to flow in, and, with the aid of a forcing pump, the pres- 
sure of the liquid is raised to that of nearly seven atmospheres, At 
the end of from 45 to 75 minutes the impregnation is complete. 
The liquid filling the chamber is then drawn off through a pipe at 
the bottom, and the chamber is opened and the wood taken out. 

The substances injected in this way are creosote, chloride of 
zinc, sulphate of copper, tar, and ferric tannate. Clarbolic acid, 
added in small proportions, increases the effectiveness of chloride 
of zinc. Creosote is the substance most largely injected by the 
pneumatic method. In using it the temperature in the chamber 
is raised ta 130° C., and in order that the wood may become per- 
fectly dry, it is kept inside the chamber for about two days before 
the creosote is let in. The chamber is large enough to hold seve- 
ral tons of wood, and the wood is brought into it on trucks moved 
on rails. 

Another form of the pneumatic method, which is daily gaining 
on public favour, consists in injecting steam saturated with tho 


IMPREGNATION OF TIMBER WITH ANTISEPTIC SUBSTANCES, 237 


antiseptic substance, instead of using a liquid solution. The wood 
in the chamber remains exposed to the vapour during 6 to 20 hours, 

The pneumatic method possesses advantages which render it the 
most practical of all those yet invented. There is no waste of wood 
in it, and the wood may be in any condition of seasoning. On the 
other hand, it requires very expensive plant, which places its 
adoption beyond the reach of small capitalists. 


ARTICLE 3,—TuHE IMMERSION METHOD. 


This method is the simplest of all. The wood, after it has been 
thoroughly seasoned, is plunged into a bath containing the anti- 
septic substance. 

The more prolonged the immersion is, the more fully does the 
wood become impregnated, and hence the more durable does it 
become ; but it has been found that very long immersion has the 
effect of rendering the wood brittle, and 24 hours are considered 
sufficient. No portion of the wood should be allowed to remain 
outside the liquid, so that light wood must be sufficiently weighted 
to remain below the surface. The higher the temperature of the 
liquid is, the more rapid and effective is the impregnation. Small 
pieces of timber may be boiled in the bath. 

The substances experimented with in this method are chloride 
of zinc, sulphate of copper, creosote, sulphate of iron, and tar. 
The first three, being poisonous, cannot come into general use. 
The strength of the sulphate of iron solution employed is 15 parts 
of sulphate to 100 of water. Tar has to be maintained at a tem- 
perature of 143° C. during the immersion. Except in the case of 
thin pieces of timber, or when immersion is prolonged beyond the 
usual duration, the antiseptic substance seldom penetrates into every 
portion of the tissues, and at any rate does not penetrate equally 
everywhere. This is, however, not always a drawback, as impreg- 
nation of merely the outside tissues will generally suffice to pre- 
vent fungoid growth finding an entrance into the interior. 


ARTICLE 4,—PAINTING OVER THE SURFACE OF THE WOOD. 


Oily and resinous substances in a liquefied condition, if brushed 
thickly over the surface, enter into and fill up sufficiently the 
outer tissue to increase very considerably the durability of timber, 
provided cracks extending beyond the impregnated shell do not 
form. Timber used under complete exposure to atmospheric in- 
fluences is tarred with excellent results.