ff* 



SHISHAM OK SISSU 



00, 



DALBERGIA 



SI88OO 

 Sissu wood 



icultural implements, . ., for the vasea and othor ornamental 



I 'richinopoly, and for the linoly carved chairs, tables, etc., which 

 ito tin' well known l.lackwood furniture of Homhay. The art of making 

 'nil iii-e was introduced many years ago, and to this day it is mainly 

 d l>\ the Portuguese inhabitants. Of late, popular fancy has discarded 

 liliickwo.id and good specimens of the furniture are said to be scarcely procurable. 

 Hut most famous perhaps of all hlack woodwork is the Dravidian and Chalukyan 

 of Madra^ I 're-ideni-y and Mysore. If it is desired to darken the 

 this may be effected by rubbing the wood with oil until what is often 

 ken of as imitation ebony is produced. 



o,nnim. Trade, etc. The outturn of this wood in Madras, as recorded in Production. 

 Madras Forest Administration Reports, was 2,374 cubic feet in 1900-1 ; 6,366 

 i. i., i in 1901-2; 11,808 cubic feet in 1902-3; and 1(1, 1S2 cubic feet in 1903-4. 

 are the only available statistics of outturn, sale or export. In 1895 

 tiiry was made in London as to prices which might be obtainable for Indian 

 !. A report was subsequently issued by Mr. J. R. Royle, at that time 

 rotary of the Indian Section of the Imperial Institute. It was pointed out 



Mulish linns consulted that the wood suffered from several disabilities. Disabilities. 

 gritty and therefore much harder in the working than other cabinet timbers ; 

 its bright colour and goes almost black after being cut and exposed ; 

 somewhat porous, and therefore absorbs the polish to a large degree. 

 As a rosewood it is inferior to Brazilian, though superior to that of Madagascar Brazilian. 

 Honduras, but in England it has to compete with the cheap and usually 

 ,ble rosewoods sent from Jamaica. It would, however, prove specially useful Jamaican, 

 ere great width is required, as for example for table-tops, large carcase ends, 

 mouldings. Further it has to be remembered that rosewoods of all sorts, 

 th for furniture and decoration, are very largely subject to the caprice of 

 fashion, and at the time of the inquiry the European demand was very small. 

 Gamble says that the usual London rate for good timber is about 10 London Rates. 

 per ton, and that there would seem still to be scope for greater activity in 

 "ising the English market for the sale of at least the best pieces of Indian 

 wood. In the reports mentioned above, one of the firms consulted thought 

 ,t " the rate should not exceed lOrf. to Is. per superficial foot cut one inch," 

 but that quotation, allowing 58 Ib. to the cubic foot, would work out to about 

 r ton for picked, ready-sawn timber, a price thus considerably above the 

 7 10. per ton reported to have been paid for a fine piece sent to London in 

 8. On the other hand, some of the reports speak of Indian rosewoods as 

 hing an average of only from 5 to 8 per ton, but these low prices were for 

 lots not specially selected. Lastly, the quotations published by the trade 

 May 1905 were " Rosewood 5 to 12 per ton." " But it must be clearly 

 16 in mind that rosewood of all grades is not at present popular." " At the 

 time East Indian is in fair demand and stocks are not heavy." In the 

 n Forester (I.e. xx., app., 3) the selling prices, from the Madras forests, 

 given as from Rs. 20 to Rs. 75 per ton, according to distance from the coast, 

 in out-of-the-way places it could not be sold even at Rs. 10 per ton ; from 

 .vancore about Rs. 1-8-0 per cubic foot good quality (= about Rs. 58 per ton) ; 

 Bombay from Rs. 30 to 50 per ton. Logs for export should not be less than 

 inches in diameter, have the sapwood removed, and be exported in the round, 

 length should not, as a rule, be less than 15 feet, although shorter lengths 

 a market. 



D. Sissoo, Roxb. ; Notes on Changa Manga in Ind. For., 1895, xxi., Shisham. 

 3-8; Prain, I.e. 57-8, pi. 34; Eardley-Wilmot, Ind. For., 1898, xxv., 

 jp. The sissoo, shisham, sissu, shisu-kdt, tali safeda, shin, nelka-r, 

 zagar, tanach, yette, karra, biridi, sinsapd, etc. A deciduous tree 

 the Sub -Himalayan tracts from the Indus to Assam, ascending to 

 feet, but probably nowhere in India strictly speaking indigenous, 

 imble remarks that it is often, however, gregarious on the banks of 

 Eindy, stony, torrential rivers. On higher lands it may grow, and grow 

 well, though not gregariously unless planted. Cultivated and often 

 self-sown on the plains of India. But even when the trees are growing 

 close together the shade given is light, hence sissu is an important shade- 



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