THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



Grain. Fine, smooth and exceptionally even. Surface rather 

 lustrous and frosted. 



Bark. Smooth, grey or yellowish when young : " later 

 changing to a light red " (106). 



Uses, etc. " Very durable " (106). " Durable in wet or dry 

 . . . beams, house-building, water-pipes, wheelwrights' work, 

 boats, mining timber, sleepers . . . tough : shrinks excessively 

 and warps " (60 and 113). " It is accepted as imputrescible " 

 (n). " Venice is reputed to be built on Larch piles " (60). 

 " Very good paving blocks when from high altitudes . . . does 

 not crack" (92). " The most valuable wood for all building 

 purposes " (113). With a knife this wood cuts like hard cheese. 



Authorities. Nordlinger (86), vol. iii. p. 10. Ditto (87). 

 Schwartz (106), p. 477. Stevenson (113). Boppe (n), p. 90. 

 Laslett (60), p. 344. Petsche (92), p. 107. Westermeier (129), 

 p. 46. Schlich (104). Mathieu (69); p. 560. Wiesner (131), 

 L. 6, p. 149. 



Larch is often confused with other Coniferous woods. 



Colour Heart- wood reddish-brown or purplish-red. "Brown- 

 ish-red even when fresh" (106). " Yellowish- white " (60 and 92). 

 Sap-wood denned from the heart, white to yellowish : " 6-20 

 rings wide " (106). 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : 



Pores or Resin-canals. Abundant : need lens : " visible to the 

 naked eye " (69). More often in pairs and threes than in the Pines : 

 size 4 : not infrequently attached to the Spring side of the 

 Autumn boundary : few, about 22 per inch of arc : chiefly in the 

 Autumn wood, but sometimes in the Spring : inconspicuous in 

 the solid : bleed when cut, and then appear as resin-globules 

 even upon a rough saw-cut surface. 



Rays. Need lens, size 5-6 : numerous, 7-10 per mm. : white : 

 difficult to see in the solid : taper considerably and seem to alter 

 in size at the ring-boundaries. 



Rings. Very clear, prominent and sharply contrasted between 

 the Spring, and the resinous and darker Autumn, wood : sharply 

 separated from each other in the same ring : contour gently un- 

 dulating. Horizontal resin-canals (see Rays). 



Pith. About ro mm. wide : red : angular. 



Radial Section. A trifle darker. Pores locally numerous : 

 difficult to see unless soiled. Rays visible, but inconspicuous, 

 brown lines. Rings very prominent, but not so much contrast 

 in colour as in the Pines. 



Tangential Section. As the Radial, but the rays appear as 

 minute lines about 03 mm. high, with a single round globule of 

 dark resin in the centre of each : these bleed and become dusky 

 specks. Rings appear as smooth-edged loops. 



268 



