44 TIMBER 



ammonia, the effect of the fumes of which is to darken the 

 timber, and this can be done to any required tint ; half a 

 pint of ammonia is sufficient for the timber contained in 

 a chamber 9 ft. by 6 ft. by 3^ ft. A good useful colour 

 can be obtained in one night. The process does not raise 

 the grain, the wood keeping as smooth as at first ; any 

 depth of colour can be given with certainty, and the darker 

 shades will penetrate the thickness of a veneer; American 

 red oak does not take the colouring well, English and Eiga 

 oak do. The different pieces of wood must be kept 

 separate to allow the fumes to act all round and about 

 them. 



Common Yew (Taxus baccatft) is common in Spain and 

 Italy, often seen in English churchyards, and is indigenous 

 to Nottinghamshire. It attains a great age, some speci- 

 mens having a girth of over 50 ft., but it seldom attains 

 a greater height than 30 or 40 ft. The trunk of the yew- 

 is in striking contrast to most British trees, for instead of 

 one trunk there are what appear to be several, like a sheaf 

 of columns growing from the same root. The wood is of 

 pale yellowish red colour some of the older timber is 

 darker fine close grain, tough and elastic, susceptible of 

 fine polish, handsomely striped and often dotted like 

 Amboyna wood ; annual rings are very narrow and wavy. 

 From the yew were made the weapons of the celebrated 

 English bowmen of olden times, and it is still employed in 

 the manufacture of bows for archery, also of small articles 

 of furniture, and occasionally in chair-making, It is a 

 hard and exceedingly durable wood, and reckoned almost 

 equal to box for fine work. It is often stained black and 

 called German ebony. The Irish yew (T. fastigiata) is 

 preferred for bows. 



Weight 48 to 50 Ibs. per cubic foot. 



