Timbers 



301 



Hemlock. Two kinds of hemlock occur in North America. Western Hemlock (Tsuga 

 mertcnsiana), yielding a strong, coarse timber, and the Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), 

 a smaller tree. 



Birch. The common Birch, the most graceful of British trees, is our representative of a 

 group found all over Northern Europe and America, and interesting as growing farther north 

 and at higher elevations than any other trees in this region. The wood varies from white 

 to various shades of pale yellow or red, is of fine, close, even grain, soft but very durable. Its 

 uses include turnery, pit props, manufacture of barrels, ladders, sabots, etc. It is exten- 

 sively employed at High Wycombe and elsewhere for the cheaper class of chairs, and choice 

 pieces show a beautiful wavy figure, and are used as veneers for furniture-making. 



The Alder (Alnus glutinosa), usually found in damp places in Europe, North Africa,; and 

 the northern parts of Asia, gives a reddish yellow wood, very similar to birch in general character 

 and uses. Like birch, it is extraordinarily durable under water, and is much used for piles, 

 sluices, and pumps. Alternately wet and dry it rapidly decays. 



White Wood. This timber is obtained from a large tree (Liriodendran tulipifcra), which 

 under the name " Tulip 

 Tree," is not unfrequently 

 grown in this country. The 

 wood itself bears a great 

 variety of names, as, for 

 example, Canary wood, 

 Canadian or American 

 white wood, yellow poplar, 

 etc. 



The tree attains a large 

 size, and the wood is white, 

 canary yellow, or grey in 

 colour, light, soft, pliable, 

 and, of fine even grain. It 

 seasons well, although 

 shrinking considerably. In 

 England it is generally 

 used in joinery, but in its 

 native countries, Canada 

 and the United States, car 

 and ship-building, house- 

 finishing, panels of wagons 

 and carriages, pump logs, 

 furniture, and many other 

 uses are made of it. To 

 the carver white wood is 

 exceptionally suited. 



Bass Wood is the timber 

 of the American lime tree, 

 also known as the " bee 

 tree," American linden or 

 lin. The tree grows to a 

 height of eighty feet or so, 

 and is found in Canada and 

 all through the eastern 

 United States. 



By permission of the New Zealand Government 



FELLING A KAURI TREE 



