42 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



difficulty always has been to get a continuous supply of Scots 

 timber. One can get it in small quantities, but one can never get 

 a continuous supply of either softwoods or hardwoods. The 

 point Mr Watson raised about the confusion in names is a very 

 important one, and I think that if Scots timber was put on the 

 market in a business-like way the confusion in regard to the 

 names would be cleared up. We really ought to know what 

 we are getting, and I think if some tests could be introduced 

 which would prove which of these timbers is really the best for 

 the purpose, it would be of great assistance. Another point 

 is that home timber could not be got in long lengths. My 

 experience in the use of Scots timber is principally for interior 

 work, and I have been interested in the question of Scots timber 

 since I started business. In connection with the Thistle Chapel 

 at St Giles I tried to get Scots oak. I found there was not a 

 sufficient quantity of Scots oak seasoned, and I had to use 

 English oak. The position is different now. I find that many 

 contractors have become greatly interested in the subject, and 

 a number of them have laid down very considerable stocks. 

 I know several contractors who have large stocks of Scots oak 

 because they now see the great beauty of it. For interior work 

 there is absolutely no comparison between Scots oak and Austrian 

 oak. In order to prove that I try to practise what I preach, 



I may say that I have recently restored a house for a Glasgow 

 gentleman, Mr W. S. Miller. It was a house of the year 1600, 

 and we had to gut it completely. I thought now here is a 

 typical Scots house, we ought to use Scots wood. I used Scots 

 oak for the floors throughout the entire house, and not in 

 3-inch widths but good wide boards varying from 8 inches to 



II inches. I have no doubt many will say such flooring will 

 never stand, but such floors will stand perfectly well if you get 

 the stuff properly seasoned and employ men who know how to 

 handle it. If you get the right stuff, floors made of wide 

 flooring of Scots oak will stand very well, and regarding 

 appearance there is nothing to touch it. In the servants' wing 

 I used larch, and Scots larch is most excellent. Regarding the 

 finishing of the various rooms, I used the following woods. 

 I panelled several rooms in Scots oak, two rooms in Scots pine, 

 one room in larch, one in elm, one in ash, two in plane tree, 

 one in beech, and one in Scots walnut. A number of Scots 

 woods are perfectly adaptable to panelling and finish to the very 



