IO4 



Trees, Stars, and Birds 



beautiful, but also less likely to shrink and warp (page 

 49). This kind of sawing requires more time and skill 



than plain sawing, but a 

 better product is obtained. 

 When a tree is sawed in 

 the ordinary manner a few 

 of the boards will be 

 " quartered," and there 

 are several methods of 

 sawing a large log so that 

 many of the boards will be 

 " quartered.'' 



Several kinds of wood 

 besides oak are also fre- 

 quently quartered and 

 thereby made more valu- 

 able for furniture and other 

 uses. Long-leaf pine for 

 flooring, spruce for violins and for sounding boards in 

 other musical instruments, and tulip wood for siding are 

 sawed in this way. All staves for oil and liquor barrels 

 and for kegs are quarter split or sawed ; they make a 

 better barrel because they shrink less than if cut the other 

 way. Quarter-sawed pine boards are better in a floor 

 than boards sawed in the ordinary manner, because the 

 annual rings are then exposed on their edges and the 

 floor is less inclined to splinter. Many woods are 

 stronger also when sawed in this way. 



U. S. Forest Service 



FIG. 67. Possibilities of cutting timber 

 from a log with reference to the grain. 

 The strength of a column or beam de- 

 pends to a considerable extent on the 

 way it is cut from the tree. 



