160 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
ness. It is necessary to select large timber for planks, as they 
are generally required in long lengths, 12 feet and upwards, the 
thickness being from 1 inch up to 23 inches, and from 6 inches 
broad upwards. In cutting out long planks, the tapering nature 
of the tree necessarily produces heavy slabs, which are converted 
into fencing. Where odd or short lengths are not of much con- 
sideration, they are always available for pit-sleepers, the demand 
for which is continuous. Light railway waggon framing is some- 
times cut from larch instead of the oak, but it is necessarily of a 
light and small kind, as larch is unable to withstand the rough 
usage to which heavy waggons are subjected. Wheelwrights 
frequently use larch for cart shafts, and for cart lining it is highly 
popular. 
The most valuable wood is used for boat-building, and the 
slight bend generally found at the base of the larch adds to its 
value for this purpose, being found suitable for the general shape 
of fishing boats and the curves round their stems and sterns. The 
full tree is planked with the bend in various thicknesses, from 
three-eighths of an inch up to 2 inches, and is usually done by 
vertical saws. The tapering in the width of the tree is no loss 
or objection, so that more than the quarter girth measurement of 
the tree is produced by conversion. The larch is also in great 
request for purposes where the round wood is used whole, such as 
telegraph poles and pit-wood. 
In referring to Scotch fir and spruce, it is needless to say that 
their chief use is for boarding, and railway and pit sleepers, and 
the small wood for pit-props, so that little experience is necessary 
in the manufacture of any item connected with them, 
In referring to beech wood, the remarks made on sycamore 
apply very much to it. The large and clean butts are made into 
rollers for calico manufacturers. It is also much used in the tool- 
making trade, and engineers use a small quantity. The bulk of the 
rougher and smaller wood is utilised for bobbins, and brushmaking 
forms a large outlet for the same description. It is one of the 
most difficult woods to cut up, its clinging nature necessitating 
more than ordinary power on the saw to drive it through. 
Cabinet work takes a share of good timber for chairmaking. The 
grain of the beech when sawn on the quarter is very brilliant, and 
displays a pleasant picture in ornamental furniture. 
The alder and birch still maintain their old position in the clog 
trade, in which their wood is almost exclusively used. 
