QUALITY OF BRITISH-GROWN CONIFEROUS TIMBERS. 169 



perfectly rotten and falling to pieces, and that after they had 

 not been in position more than about eighteen months. Every 

 board had to be removed, having become permeated with 

 dry-rot to such an extent that when let fall on the ground 

 they fell to pieces. This was all the more strange as the 

 boards had been allowed plenty of air, they being not nailed 

 down or carefully placed side by side, but simply laid down 

 with the double object of seasoning, and to form a temporary 

 wooden floor beneath the dry faggots. When we take into 

 consideration the size and age of the tree from which the 

 planks were cut, as well as the great quantity of resin present, 

 and which rendered the log so weighty in transit, the case 

 seems all the more remarkable. But it has long been known 

 that the timber of this pine is of no great value, and even for 

 firewood purposes it comes in about third-rate. 



P, ponderosa. Age 54 years ; cubic contents 44 

 feet ; soil good loam. Timber heavy and saturated with 

 resin, of a reddish colour, and not particularly durable. The 

 strong resinous smell of the wood is justly remarkable, and 

 the veining is much admired. 



P, rig'sda,. Age probably 40 years ; cubic contents 27 

 feet ; soil sandy. Timber light, coarse-grained, brittle, and of 

 no special value as produced in this country. 



P. Strobus. Age unknown ; cubic contents 93 feet ; 

 soil vegetable mould, or shaly rock. Timber of good quality, 

 clean, and easily worked, but much affected both by soil and 

 site. British-grown timber revealed but small difference 

 when compared with that sent to the late Colonial and Indian 

 Exhibition.^ I consider this a valuable forest tree for not too 

 exposed parts of these isles, but it does not succeed well on 

 too light or poor soils. 



P. tuberculata, Age unknown ; cubic contents 44 feet ; 

 soil rich loam. Timber very resinous, reddish-white, brittle, and 

 finely grained. Not tried out of doors, but it burns fiercely. 



1 Excellent opportunities were afforded me by Professor Macoun, of Ottawa, 

 Canada, for comparing many specimens of our home-grown coniferous woods 

 with those sent to the Colonial and Indian Exhibition. 



