MANAGEMENT AND SALE OF TIMBER. 141 



by all of them, and none can do well without it. Young and vigo- 

 rous growing ash is most in request where strength and elasticity 

 combined are required, as by coach builders, coopers, and wheel 

 wrights. Ash well matured, and when strength and durability are 

 more essential than elasticity, is in request by ship builders, 

 carpenters, and mill-wrights ; while that which is of least value, 

 on account of the shortness of the grain of the wood, is highly 

 esteemed by joiners for furniture. 



Certain pieces of ash, grown in a way to show the grain of 

 the wood to great advantage, when used in veneering (and which 

 growth is termed burrel), can be sold in London for 6s. per foot. 

 This grain is considered more elegant in furniture than either 

 maple or mahogany, and is gradually coming more into fashion. 

 Ash, therefore, is a tree which proprietors cannot well plant 

 too extensively, provided the soil is suitable, and the planta- 

 tion within a reasonable distance of either a town, shipping port, 

 or railway station. 



Sweet Chestnut is a valuable tree if quite sound, which, how- 

 ever, is rarely the case, it being very frequently what is termed 

 ringshaken ; under such circumstances it is of little or no 

 value save only for gate posts or large scantling. When sound 

 it is used for purposes similar to oak except in ship building. 

 In Lloyd's Register of British and foreign shipping, where almost 

 every other sort of home grown timber is specified how and in 

 what manner it is to be used, the sweet chestnut is omitted. 

 This is said to be owing to its liability to split by a ball or con- 

 cussion. In Scotland comparatively little sweet chestnut is 

 either crown or sold, while in England it is grown extensivelv. 

 Though the timber in old trees is almost always ringshaken, 

 yet for posts, fencing of various kinds, and certain timbers in 

 buildings, it is a wood next in value and durability to that of oak. 



Alder in this part of the country is principally used for 

 turning purposes, toy manufactory, charcoal, and breaks for rail- 

 way carriages. For the latter purpose there is an increasing 

 demand, and one likely soon to consume all the available alder 

 for this purpose. 



The Lime is extensively used for carriage brakes, and is 

 also in considerable demand for charcoal, and the boards of 

 leather cutters, also for carving and turning purposes. 



Poplar and Willow having properties in many respects 

 alike, are used for purposes much the same, such as flooring 

 for bedrooms. Its recommendation being its incombustibi- 

 lity, and being a comparative non-conductor of sound, it is 

 suitable for packing boxes for furniture or other goods requir- 

 ing large packages, being light, tough, and strong in the grain. 

 The scarcity of the wood alone causes it to be used so little for 

 the purposes named. It is also an excellent paling wood, and 

 is very suitable for lining stone carts, for cutting boards, &c. 



