1138 
Only trees which possess a large quarter girth are available for the 
purpose, for a shovel made from a plank taken from the centre of a 
tree would split easily and be of no value, therefore each shovel is 
sawn from a radial section of a quarter of the girth of a tree. 
These sections are then shaped, partly by hand and partly by 
machinery, and placed in an airy building to season. Colour has a 
bearing on the sale, consequently the shovels are smoked to a 
brownish colour before being delivered to dealers. Other woods, 
particularly poplar, are used for shovel-making, but they are less 
esteemed than beech. When shaping shovel handles, a good sized 
piece of wood is taken from each side; these are all utilized, for 
they are cut up into toy spades, cheap cricket bats, handles for toy 
tennis rackets, &c. 
he manufacture of playthings from beech forms an extensive 
business. oops, and spades for the seaside, alone give employ- 
ment to large numbers of men for many months of the year. 
Wood for hoops is cut into long thin laths the width of two hoops. 
The laths are planed and then seasoned; afterwards they are 
steamed and, while hot, bent into the required shape and placed in 
a mould until dry. Two laths are nailed together and the circle of 
wood is afterwards sawn through the middle to form two hoops. 
Spades, bats, handles of various descriptions, small household 
necessaries, heels for boots and shoes, spoons and various other 
articles are cut out of wood which is too small for shovels and other 
large articles, the wood being worked up to the smallest possible 
piece. Refuse is also made use of, for it is used as fuel to generate 
steam for the engines. 
Boards cut from radial sections of the wood are used largely for 
panelling, either alone or asa base for veneer. Sections of large 
trees are brought into use in the manufacture of certain machines 
used in cloth mills, whilst spindles and shuttles required in the 
spinning of cotton are often made from beech. The same kind of 
wood is esteemed for butcher’s trays, the heads of golf clubs, lasts 
for boots and shoes, and many other articles. 
Beech is not used much by the builder but the handles of many 
of his smaller tools are made from it, an was informed by a 
master builder a short time ago, that for stone-mason’s mallets, 
no wood stands hard wear so well] as beech, providing it is eut 
correctly. 
Two kinds of beech wood have been described, “red” or “male 
beech” and “white” or “female beech.” The difference is, that 
wood of an ordinary tree. 
In addition to the towns referred to, there are others such as 
Berkhamsted and Watford which include wood-working among 
their industries, while in some of the larger villages throughout 
the Chiltern district, small factories and workshops are to be found, 
It is hoped that a series of articles representing the application 
of beech and other British grown timbers, will be obtained in the 
near future for the Forestry Museum at Kew. 
18721 Cc 
