84 TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [CHAP. 



hard, horny, tough, strong, less elastic and slightly 

 heavier than the English Oak, and is, on account of its 

 extreme hardness, more difficult to work. In seasoning 

 it is very apt to split and leave deep shakes on the 

 exterior of the log, which are detrimental to its value 

 for general purposes ; but, viewed as to its form and 

 properties, it is employed in preference to most other 

 Oaks for the frame of a ship. It may also be used in 

 any work of construction where strength and durability 

 are important, if care be taken to protect it, by planks 

 or otherwise, from exposure. 



Owing to its characteristic defect of shakes in season- 

 ing, the Italian Oak is unfit for conversion into planks, 

 or boards, or into almost any small scantlings ; and its 

 introduction into this country (about the year 1820) 

 was not with the view to its general employment, but 

 solely to supplement the supply of British Oak timber, 

 which was then scarce, and seemed likely to be in- 

 sufficient in quantity to meet the growing demands for 

 it, especially for the framing of our ships of war. For 

 this particular purpose, where it is generally used in bulk 

 to nearly the full growth of the tree, preference may even 

 be given to it over English Oak. 



Of the different kinds of Italian Oak supplied to the 

 royal dockyards, the Tuscan, Neapolitan, and Sicilian 

 are the hardest and most horny in texture, and, when 

 thoroughly seasoned, by far the most difficult to work ; 

 while the Modena, Roman, and Sardinian are what the 

 workmen call milder in character that is to say, they 

 are easier to work, and a little less hard than the former. 



The Modena and Sardinian also yield an easier 

 curved form of timber than the other kinds, and do not 

 split, to the same extent in seasoning ; they are all, 

 however, very much of the same strong character, and it 



