90 DISPOSING OF HOME-GROWN TIMBER. 



be of 6-horse powei*, and under steam would weigh about 6 tons. 

 With an ordinary portable steam-engine, having a fly-wheel of 

 60 inches diameter, no intermediate motion is required. Two 

 saws can be driven direct from the wheel, and the other two from 

 a pulley on the shaft of the former two ; the pulleys should be 

 of good cast-iron, 14 inches diameter by 6 inches broad. None 

 of the saws should be under 42 inches diameter to begin with. 

 Slabbing saw and cross-cut, not thicker than No. 13 by the wire 

 gauge, and both the others 14 slack, or 15 tight; pitch of teeth 

 might be from 2l 2 to 2| inches. By using thin saws, there is a 

 great saving of power as well as of timber. The saving of timber 

 is great. In cutting 1000 superficial feet of inch boards with a 

 common saw gauge 11, 100 cubic feet of rough timber is required. 

 Saw the same measurement with a saw gauge 15, and there are 

 92 cubic feet required — a difference of 8 cubic feet, the value of 

 which would depend on the class of wood sawn. We shall sup- 

 pose it to be of larch, at Is. 3d. per cubic foot, and the difference 

 in favour of the thin saw on 1000 feet will be 10s. 2500 feet of 

 larch deals, 1 inch thick, is good sawing in one clay, on which the 

 gain is 25s. Carry this forward for 300 days, and we have the 

 incredible sum of £375. Timber merchants use very thin saws, 

 and save a great quantity of timber. In cutting up valuable 

 timber into planks, I use saws of gauge 16 tight. The objection to 

 these saws is, that they are worse to trim and keep in good work- 

 ing order than thick ones. I examined a saw-mill lately, and 

 found the thinnest saw to be 12 gauge, and the others 11 tight. 

 This seems a small matter, but is not so, and is one reason of many 

 failures in realising high profits. How to cut the timber into 

 profitable sizes is another important point. We shall suppose 

 a mixed plantation to be felled, the timber of which is of ordinary 

 dimensions. The first thing is to ask for specification and prices, 

 and then cut accordingly. Scotch fir, of about 1 inches diameter, 

 at 9 feet long, should be cut into railway sleepers. I may give 

 a full specification for timber usually manufactured in Scotland, 

 and which finds a ready sale at most English ports : 



Scotch Fir. — Sleepers, 9 feet by 10 inches by 5 inches, one-third 

 of which must have a flat surface of 4 inches on the back ; the 

 remaining two-thirds may be half round. Sleepers, 9 feet by 9 

 inches by 4| inches, slabbed or half round ; 8 feet by 8 inches by 

 4 inches, half round ; 7 feet by 7 inches by 3^ inches, half round ; 

 all free of bark and integument (this size is seldom ordered). 



