TIMBER OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA 69 



ousting to a great extent the Memel timber formerly used 

 for that purpose, as it was stronger and could be obtained 

 in longer lengths. The colour is a reddish yellow ; when 

 dried it becomes lighter in colour, but the reddish tint shows 

 conspicuously when the timber is wet ; the annual rings are 

 strongly marked (Fig. 2), and it is full of resinous matter, 

 making the timber very durable, but difficult for joiners to 

 work. It is hard, dense, and strong, the best of it fairly free 

 from knots sometimes one may see a 40-ft. length without 

 one straight in the grain, fairly free from sap, and excellent 

 for interior work which is only intended to be varnished, 

 such as roofs or gallery timbers, seats in churches and public 

 buildings, door frames, panelling, etc., owing to its clearly 

 marked and handsome grain ; it is also now much used for 

 the framing of spring mattresses ; one of the best timbers 

 for heavy engineering structures where great strength, long 

 span, and durability are required, it has also been much 

 used for wharves and jetties, and also for ships' masts. It 

 has been stated as one of the defects of this timber that it 

 is subject to cup- and heart- shake (see Chap. XII.); although 

 one certainly finds a large proportion of logs with cupshake 

 at the butt end, the defect often goes but a short distance 

 in, and by cutting a foot or two off the end the rest of the 

 log is found quite sound ; moreover this defect, unless very 

 pronounced, does not detract from the usefulness of the 

 timber when used in the log or in large scantling, and it 

 is only when cut up into small sizes that it causes a loss in 

 conversion ; sometimes when sawn through the centre and 

 left to lie it will open out at the heart. So great has been 

 the run on this timber that it has degenerated in quality 

 and size ; twenty years ago it was quite easy to get logs 

 45 to 50 and even without much difficulty 60 ft. and over, 

 and 14 inches square, almost free from sap. These sizes are 

 now rare, and the average at present is more like 85 ft. by 



