340 The Trees of Great Britain and Ij;eland 



when rent than when sawn ; but it will be found on examination of the back of old 

 panelling that it was usually rent, and as you can only cleave oak on the line of the 

 medullary rays, the figure shown by rent oak is much better and more abundant than 

 when sawn on the quarter, and though the practice is more wasteful and is only 

 possible in the case of straight-grained trees, yet it should certainly be tried by those 

 who admire finely figured oak. 



Strange to say, the importance of selecting and matching the figured pieces, and 

 of placing them in the most conspicuous positions, does not seem to be noticed, for I 

 have seen in modern houses, and in old castles on whose restoration no expense has 

 been spared, panelling in which new and plain pieces have been introduced amongst 

 splendid old panels, and finely figured new and old panels put in dark corners where 

 they were unseen. When one considers how small a proportion the cost of the wood 

 bears to the workmanship, it is extraordinary that this should be allowed, or that 

 American oak should be used, as I have seen sometimes done, in restoring ancient 

 houses, when infinitely better and more beautiful wood was growing, and often rotting 

 on its roots, within a very short distance. 



Experienced cleavers are not to be found in every county, but in Kent, Surrey, 

 Sussex, and Hants, and where rent oak palings are much used, as in the neighbour- 

 hood of London, such men may be found, who with a tool called a " break-axe " or 

 "flammer," will 'convert straight -grained oak into slabs of suitable dimensions for 

 panelling, which, when properly seasoned, show better figure than sawn timber. For 

 this purpose logs of not less than three feet diameter should be selected, as straight 

 as possible in the grain, and cut into the lengths of which the panels are required. 

 The slabs come out rather irregular in size, and are, of course, much thicker on the 

 outside. They should be carefully piled for about twelve months in a dry, airy 

 place, when they can be reduced by a thin circular saw and by planing to the 

 proper thickness, choosing whichever side shows the best figure for the face. 

 Longer and narrower pieces, either rent or sawn, must be selected for the stiles 

 and rails, and if put together by a competent joiner, I can say from experi- 

 ence that the effect will be much superior to work done by the best London 

 firms with foreign timber, especially when brown oak can be found fit for 

 rending. 



The diagram. Fig. i, on the following page shows the best method of rending 

 oak to show its fine figure. 



For quartering by the saw different methods are adopted, the best being that 

 shown on the following page. Figs. 2 and 3, taken, by permission of Messrs. Rider 

 and Son, from a very useful little book.^ By this method, which, though rather 

 wasteful, produces the best results, only the central boards of each cut are on 

 the true quarter, and the others are narrower, and more or less across the natural 

 line of cleavage. 



Of the different styles of oak panelling it is not my intention to speak, but it 

 seems to me that elaborate carving is out of place in such wood as this, which wants 

 no extraneous adornment. Many beautiful specimens of ancient panelling in various 



' English Timber and its Economical Conversion, London, 1904. 



