236 THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 



inches in width. It is yellowish-white with a green tint, generally with 

 more or less shade and mottle figure ; the grain is fine, close, and smooth. 

 The wood has an exceedingly bitter taste, but an agreeable scent. 



The pores are rather small and not very numerous. The medullary 

 raj^s are fine and somewhat indistinct. 



Quebracho. Source unknown. Weight, 77 lbs. (Baterden). The 

 Argentine. 

 This wood, which is very hard and heavy, has an exceedingly dense, 

 close grain, and is of a deep red colour. It is principally used for sleepers, 

 immense quantities of which are exported. 



Raspberry Jam-wood. Acacia acuminata, Benth. Weight (at 12 per 

 cent moisture), 62 lbs. Western Australia. 



This wood possesses a rich colour, varying from violet to crimson, 

 with a very hard, close, lustrous grain. It has also been called " violet- 

 wood," probably on account of its very pleasing and strongly persistent 

 scent of violets. From a billet of this wood I turned a small ornamental 

 box nearly forty years ago, and the scent is still apparent on opening the 

 lid. The fragrance also at times resembles that of crushed raspberries ; 

 this fact accounts for the name given above. It is probable that when 

 in a fresher condition the wood possesses a stronger and different scent. 



It is a valuable wood for turnery and inlay, and should be more gener- 

 ally known. According to some authorities it is very durable and has 

 been said to withstand seventy years in the ground as posts, though it is 

 to be regretted that a wood of such value should ever be used for such 

 a purpose. 



Rata. Metrosideros robusta, A. Cunn. Weight, 45 lbs. (Baterden). 

 New Zealand. 

 The New Zealand Board of Agriculture describes this wood as being red 

 in colour, straight in grain, hard, dense, heavy, and of great strength 

 and durability. It is procurable in long lengths and up to 48 inches in 

 width. Amongst its uses are mentioned wheelwrights' work, the frame- 

 work of railway waggons and carriages, and also machine beds and 

 bearings. 



Red Sanders. Pterocarpus santalimts, Linn., f. Weight, 75 lbs. 

 (Gamble). The East Indies, the South of India. 



This wood, also known as " red sandalwood " and " ruby wood," is 

 not so often seen now as formerly. Gamble says that the wood is 

 " extremely hard ; the sapwood white, heart-wood dark claret-red to 

 almost black, but always with a deep red tinge, orange-red when first 



