EUROPEAN TIMBER 



tough, hard and elastic, easily worked, even and close in 

 grain, and is probably superior to any other British 

 timber for toughness and elasticity ; too flexible for use in 

 building work. It excels the oak in strength and tough- 

 ness. It is much used by wheelwrights, coachbuilders, 

 cabinet-makers, and turners, and for hammer shafts, oars, 

 horizontal bars for gymnasiums, golf clubs, and anything 

 requiring toughness combined with flexibility ; is easily 

 bent after steaming to any shape, valuable for barrel hoops 

 and motor wheels, not liable to split, and so is a good deal 

 used for butchers' chopping blocks and boards. Often 

 found irregular in the disposition of its fibres, sometimes 

 finely figured, it is 

 then much prized for (TTTTT 

 cabinet work and fur- 

 niture. Annual rings 

 are distinct, medul- 

 lary rays and pores 

 are very fine (Fig. 11). 

 The wood of the 

 young trees is almost 



oO 



flP 



! 





FlG. 11. Cross section of Ash, showing 

 pores and medullary rays. 



as valuable as the old ; indeed the value is greatest in trees of 

 which the growth has been rapid, for it then exhibits the 

 characteristic toughness of the timber in the highest degree. 



A considerable quantity of native-grown ash is used in 

 England, and Irish ash is unequalled in quality and fibre 

 by any in the world. It is, however, from America that we 

 get the larger proportion of the ash used in Britain. Ash 

 poles are used for sheep hurdles and crate-making, and 

 were at one time much used for trawl beams on fishing boats. 



Weight about 49 Ibs. per cubic foot. 



Rowan or Mountain Ash (Pyrus aucuparia), now common 

 in suburban gardens, is found up to 2,600 ft. above sea 



