122 TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [CHAP. 



of the fibres of Moulmein Teak in a length of 3 feet 

 under certain strains. Three pieces, each 2 x 2 x 48 

 inches, were thus tested, at one of the royal dockyards, 

 and it was found that the mean elongation was nearly a 

 quarter of an inch. (See Table L.) 



The Teak tree is subject to a wasting away of the 

 early annual layers long before it reaches maturity ; and 

 the number of young trees found thus affected in the 

 rafts brought from the forests to the shipping port is 

 very remarkable. The surveyor judging only from the 

 deliveries of Teak in this country would hardly be aware 

 of this, as hollow trees would not be selected for the 

 European market 



Teak timber is also subject to heart-shake, as before 

 observed, and in many logs, especially if they are 

 procured from old trees, it is found to extend to one- 

 half, and sometimes to two-thirds the diameter of the 

 tree, and stretching along the entire length of it. If 

 this shake is in one plane throughout, the conversion of 

 the log involves no greater difficulty or loss than that 

 occasioned by dropping out a piece large enough to 

 include it. When, however, as in other instances, the 

 cleft or shake at the top is at right angles, or nearly so, 

 to that at the butt end, it is rather more serious, as the 

 log must either be used in its greatest bulk, or worked 

 up for small scantlings, such as could be obtained if it 

 were cut into two or more lengths. 



If the shake, extends only a few feet up from the 

 butt end, the most profitable way of converting the log 

 would be by cutting it into plank or board, taking care 

 to work from the outside instead of the centre, and thus 

 waste only a tapering or wedge-like piece, sufficient to 

 include the defect. 



Many Teak logs are worm-eaten ; holes from a 



