26o THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 



Spruce. Picea excelsa, Link. Weight, 36 lbs. 6 oz. Europe, Canada, 

 United States. 



This timber, if imported from the Baltic, is called " white fir," " white 

 deal," or " white," but if from Canada or the United States, the name 

 " spruce " is used. It would be preferable to use the correct term 

 " spruce " for the produce of all these countries. 



The wood is white, and straight and even in the grain ; it is tough, 

 elastic, and hght, and more difficult to work than pine, chiefly owing to 

 the excessive hardness of the small knots which are frequently found in 

 it. These are generally blackish, or they are surrounded by a black ring, 

 and often form the only means of distinguishing the wood from the 

 so-caUed " yellow deal " {Piniis sylvestris). The Baltic spruce is milder 

 and easier to work than the Canadian or American ; some of the latter is 

 exceedingly tough and hard to saw and plane. WTien cut into deals it 

 is somewhat disposed to warp, unless it is carefully stacked in the places 

 where it is stored during the process of seasoning. The shrinkage is 

 inconsiderable and the sap-wood, though generally only of moderate 

 thickness, is rarely noticeable, while if it is distinguishable, the reason 

 generally is that the timber has been allowed to get rain-wet before 

 drying. 



The trees are generally straight, and being strong, as well as elastic, 

 they are admirably suited for making the small spars required for ships 

 and boats. They are also in great request for ladders and scaffold poles. 

 The timber is useful for all kinds of interior joiners' work, and in the 

 simpler forms of furniture and articles of domestic offices, such as cup- 

 boards and tables. For these purposes the only objection is that, not- 

 withstanding the use of the best varnish or paint, the mark of the hand- 

 or machine-plane shows through more than in the yellow deal, or other 

 similar woods. For timbering work indoors its hfe is probably sUghtly 

 less than that of yellow deal. In this connection it may be remarked 

 that it is strange that whereas architects and engineers will not allow its 

 use for this work in London or the south of England, it is common to 

 specify and use it in Liverpool, the north-west districts, and in Scotland. 

 For constructive work out of doors, however, or where strength is re- 

 quired, it should not be used, as when exposed to the variations of the 

 weather it soon decays ; on one occasion the collapse of a large staging, 

 constructed in this wood, formed to seat people to witness a ceremony, 

 resulted in considerable casualties. 



Used as sleepers, spruce has proved to be quite satisfactory. A letter 

 from Mr. E. Trench, of the London & North Western Railway, dated 

 July 23, 1919, reads : "... the sleepers . . . were laid in the 

 Ingleton ^ Branch in 1886 and 1887, and the great majority of them are 



^ Yorkshire. 



