318 



Hall is quite an exceptional case), which depends more upon the arched con- 

 struction of its ribs than upon their resistance to cross- strain. Roof principals 

 were usually framed in triangular form, held together by pins, and it is only 

 necessary to look at the way in which the medullary plates lie in respect of 

 the line of strain to see if they cannot, even if they are as weak as is supposed, 

 be of material disadvantage, while, if they are tolerably strong, they will ba 

 of great advantage to the wood. This latter seems to be the French view, 

 for the cross-grain is known as the maille, i.e., "the stitch," from the idea 

 that it holds and gives solidity to the other grain. When we are asked to 

 conclude that it weakens the wood by separating it into sections and pro- 

 moting cracking, thus facilitating its splitting into laths and park palings, we 

 should remember that many woods in which it is hardly visible split much 

 more readily than oak. The fracture, natural or artificial, does not indeed 

 take place always at the cross-grain, although it is in its general direction, 

 but it seems almost as if the cross-grain is harder in some respects, and by 

 refusing to permit the line of fracture to traverse, it gives a sort of guidance 

 to it. The natural cracks are reaUy the result of greater shrinkage of outer 

 rings over the inner rings, and they depend much upon the soil on which the 

 tree has grown and its more or less seasoning, for if not cut in one of the ways 

 which are known as "quartering," it may be expected to crack and twist. As 

 regards the question "of which is the ornamental and which the timber tree, 

 I think we should reverse the position assigned in the paper to these species, 

 for although straight-grown oak is valuable when otherwise of good quality, 

 yet teak may be substituted for it, while there is no substitute for the 

 curved oak, technically known as " compass " oak, which is used in ship- 

 building and in Gtothic roofs. The timber buyer looks out for strong curved 

 hedge-row timber, especially if grown upon a clay soiL Oak grown in planta- 

 tions, and such as is grown in Northamptonshire, Bucks, and Essex, all of 

 which produce clean timber, of quick growth, is often called bastard oak, and is 

 not valued for navy purposes. You must not mention the New Forest — the 

 home of the "Durmast," or sessiliflora oak,^to a purchaser of ship timber. 

 Surrey and Sussex especially, and parts of Hampshire and Kent are celebrated 

 for good slow-growing wood, twisted and full of "flower." I value these 

 practical opinions much more than any set of experiments I have seen in books, 

 for it would be easy to get aU the different results as to strength out of trees 

 of the same species, grown on different soils, or even from different parts of 

 the same log of timber. 



The Pkesident then rose and said that no one could fail to observe the 

 great difference between the two species in their marked characters when 

 growing luxuriantly. From the fineness of its growth, the elegance of its 

 branches, and the size and brighter green colour of its leaves, he thought 

 there could be no question that the sessiliflora was the more ornamental 

 tree. But if they visited situations in this county where oak trees grow in 

 their greatest perfection— if they went over the ridge of Holm Lacy, or the 



