182 TIMBEE 



period of years. There is probably no timber so unsatis- 

 factory in conversion as teak ; the heartwood is generally 

 rambling, i.e., not straight, very much shaken, and often 

 hollow and rotten for a considerable distance, and a large 

 insect called the "bee hole-borer "plays havoc with the outer 

 layers. This insect is really the larva of a moth (Duomitus 

 sp.) allied to the goat moth of Europe which is so 

 destructive to the willow. Damage is also caused to the 

 trees by parrots, woodpeckers, and wild animals which 

 make wounds forming centres of decay. In consequence 

 of these frequent defects it is not possible to run teak 

 through the mill in the same way as fir or pine, each log 

 having to be carefully examined by the sawyer in order 

 that it may be broken up with the least amount of waste. 



The ordinary market sizes are approximately as follows : 



Squares, 12 to 30 ft. long, 9 inches to 24 inches square. 



Slabs, 6 to 24 ft. long, 9 inches to 24 inches wide, 2 

 inches to 8 inches thick. 



Scantlings anything under the above. 



Teak, when fresh sawn, is light brown in colour and 

 smells rather like tan. After exposure to weather it turns 

 grey, but when kept under cover it turns a reddish brown 

 which gets richer with age ; the wood is of an oily texture, 

 and the annual rings are distinctly marked. It is mode- 

 rately hard, strong, clean and straight in grain, though rather 

 coarse and open, is fairly easily worked, but contains a 

 metallic substance like phosphate of lime, which blunts the 

 planes. It does not split, crack, shrink, or alter its shape 

 after being cut like so many other timbers, which is doubt- 

 less due to the careful seasoning which the timber receives 

 before it is put on to the market. Teak does not corrode 

 iron with which it comes in contact, being in this respect 

 superior to oak, and is much used as backing for armour 

 plate in ironclads, the oil contained in the timber probably 



