234 TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [CHAP. 



vary with the quality and average length ; and, at the 

 present time (1875) in the London market, they stand at 

 about seventy to ninety shillings per load for best, sixty 

 to eighty shillings per load for good, and fifty-two to 

 fifty-eight shillings per load for common middling. The 

 crown and the fifth class being special distinctions, are, 

 respectively, a little above and a little below these 

 prices. 



There are no reliable or recognised official brands by 

 which the several qualities of Dantzic Fir timber may be 

 known, there being no sworn Bracker to make the 

 sorting ; consequently, as each merchant acts for him- 

 self, he can give to it any particular distinguishing mark 

 he pleases, and of course this will be only known in 

 his own private circle, or, at most, to the trade of the 

 district. The result is, there are often as many marks 

 for each quality as there are merchants dealing in the 

 article, thus making it necessary to see the several kinds 

 in order to determine which would be most suitable for 

 the work to be done. The practice is not a very satis- 

 factory one, since it is not an uncommon thing to find 

 the best middling timber of one merchant 3 to 4 or 5 

 per cent, better in quality than that of another, and the 

 same with regard to each of the other classes brought 

 into the market. 



Dantzic Fir is employed more extensively in civil 

 architecture than, perhaps, any other description of wood 

 for joists, rafters, trusses, floors, scaffolding, &c. ; it also 

 enters largely into the construction of bridges and 

 railway works ; indeed, it is not too much to say that 

 few works in this country are ever carried on without 

 its capabilities being in some way turned to account. 

 In ship-building it is employed for beams to carry the 

 upper and lighter decks, occasionally for bottom plank- 



