58 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



figures presented in the prospectus are advanced by a lumber company 

 whose chief product is Parana pine and furnished by the manager of 

 one of the large sawmills in the State of Parana, so there should be a 

 slight tendency to overestimate. 



In the first part of the prospectus a comparison is made between 

 Parana pine and Swedish red and white pine from figures obtained 

 by a number of tests on the physical qualities of Parana pine carried 

 on in the laboratories of the Belgian Government Railways under the 

 supervision of the Dyle Company of Louvain. The experiments were 

 made on several pieces of wood representative of the general character 

 of the timber, the size of the pieces being .10m x .10m, with a meter 

 span between the points of support. As a result of these tests, the fol- 

 lowing table is given in the prospectus as showing the superiority of 

 Parana pine over the European timber : 



Specific gravity Modulus of Elastic limit Breaking 



Wood per cu dm. rupture per per sq. cm. load per 



sq. cm. sq. cm. 



Kilos Kilos Kilos 



Parana pine 0.865 6.8 2.20 2.10 



Swedish red pine 0.586 4.6 3.50 1.75 



Swedish white pine.. 0.470 4.3 3.10 1.55 



Tapinhoa^ 0.946 8.7 7.00 3.50 



Imbuya - 1.029 6.3 5.30 2.65 



' Native Brazilian hardwoods. 



The promoters claim that the above figures establish the sviperiority 

 of Parana pine over "pitch pine" (undoubtedly our southern longleaf), 

 as well as over the European timber. Whether or not these figures 

 are strictly accurate, they at least provide some basis for judging a new 

 and potentially important wood. 



In order to secure original data to serve as a basis for comparison, 

 the writer made tests, under the direction of Professor S. J. Record, of 

 the Yale School of Forestry, on representative pieces of Parana pine. 

 The specimens used in the tests were taken from laboratory samples 

 which had been thoroughly air-dried. These samples were as follows: 



Specimen No. Description. 



I, la, II, and Ila. Sapwood. White, light and very like our white pine. 



III and Ilia Heartwood, near the sap. Generally brown with generous 



streakings of red. 



IV Heartwood. Generally reddish, with some brown. 



V and Va Center heartwood. All brown with no red. 



VI and Via. VII. Center heartwood. Mostly brown with slight tinges of red. 



