314 THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 



lighter in colour, otherwise it is difficult to name any difference, and 

 for description it will be well to refer to the section on eng. 



Yate. Eucalyptus cornuta, Labill. Weight, 71 lbs. (at 12 per cent 

 moisture) — Official Handbook. Western Australia. 



Lane-Poole, in his handbook Qiielques Aperfiis sur les Bois de I'Australie 

 Occidentale, writes of this wood : " This species )delds a hght-coloured 

 timber of exceptional strength. It is probably the strongest timber in 

 the world, and in one test for tensile strength the breaking load was 

 ij\ tons per square inch, 3^ tons less than that usually specified for 

 wrought iron of ordinary quality. It is used for wheelwrights' work gener- 

 ally, and is preferred where the strongest shafts for frames of carts are 

 required." 



Yellow-wood, African. Source unknown. Weight, 20 lbs. East Africa. 



This timber is also known as African pine. It has not yet been 

 imported commercially into the United Kingdom, but is likely to be so 

 in the near future. It is of a dirty yellowish -straw colour, with streaks of 

 darker brownish-black. It is straight-grained, very Ught in weight, is 

 close and compact, and capable of a smooth surface. 



On the transverse section even a sharp plane produces a broken fibre, 

 and it is difficult to distinguish either pores or medullary rays. 



Besides the above, the names of Natal yellow- wood and upright 

 yeUow-wood, both of w^hich are a species of Podocarpus, have been 

 used, but as there has been no commercial import, and the w'ood is 

 practically unknown in this country, the source of my specimen is 

 doubtful. 



Yew, British. Taxns haccata, Linn. Weight, 48 to 50 lbs. (Baterden). 

 Europe. 



This useful and highly decorative wood is now little known or 

 esteemed, although it possesses qualities w'hich deserve much better 

 recognition. If the economic use of domestic woods were practised in 

 this country as it has been in France and Germany, yew would have 

 undoubtedly been brought into prominence. The colour is a pale red, 

 somewiiat hke cherry-wood or pencil-cedar ; it has a beautiful, smooth 

 lustrous grain. It is sometimes handsomely figured, and occasionally 

 has a burr growth, the produce of which will compare favourably with 

 amboyna, and has indeed actually been mistaken for it. The strength 

 and elasticity of yew-wood has been known for centuries, particularly 

 on account of its use for bows in this country. It also makes a good 

 golf shaft, although its strength is not quite equal to sustaining the 

 sudden shock of the striking blow as does hickory, for example, so that 



