Spruce Timber. 



By W. McCORQUODALE, FORESTER AND WOOD SURVEYOR, 

 SCONE PALACE, PERTH, 



Some time ago Mr. C. Graham Smith read a very able paper before 

 the Liverpool Polytechnic Society, on the different varieties of pine 

 and fir timber, remarking on their respective qualifications for 

 engineering purposes, &c., extracts of which were published in the 

 Timber Trades Journal of the 3rd of March last. 



I am sorry to observe some of Mr. Smith's remarks on spruce 

 timber. He says : — 



" Spruce being strong, tough, and straight-grained, forms an excel- 

 lent material for temporary work. When exposed to the weather, 

 it cannot be depended upon to stand more than five or six years, 

 unless kept properly painted, or otherwise protected ; and when em- 

 ployed in the construction of houses it is extremely liable to rot if 

 in contact with warm damp atmosphere." 



Some of the foregoing remarks are diametrically opposite to my 

 own experience relative to the durability of spruce timber for 

 various purposes ; and I consider that such remarks expressed by a 

 gentleman of Mr. Smith's position and experience are apt to bring 

 spruce timber into disrepute. 



Thirty-two years ago an extensive farm steading was to be built upon 

 this estate, and it was then determined that the rooting of the byres 

 and stables was to be of spruce, being considered the best kind of 

 roofing to resist the hot damp atmosphere arising from the breath of 

 cattle and horses. 



I supplied the spruce roofing from sound timber perfectly free from 

 rot. Yesterday I examined carefully and minutely the state of 

 the roofing. Tlie byre is generally occupied with from forty to 

 forty-five milch cows, and the stable with eight horses. 



I found the roofing of these as fresh and hard as possible, and 

 judging from present appearance they may stand good till they arrive 

 at a hundred years of age. 



It is a well-known fact over my employer's estates, that spruce 

 timber is admirably adapted for roofing byres and stables. 



From the tops of the spruce trees that supplied the roofing for the 

 a bove steading I got bars cut for erecting an upright paling around 



