OAK TIMBER. 145 



tifully speckled, and shrinking little (Fig. 39, middle). 

 Such wood is excellent for sculpture and carving, and 

 is very pretty ; it is also well adapted for cooperage. 



In deep soil of moderate quality, in hilly country, 

 and growing as coppice under standards, we have a 

 wood of irregular growth and not very valuable, but 

 useful in an all-round way for sawing and splitting (Fig. 

 39, bottom). 



Speaking generally, it is found that, other things 

 being equal, the most resistant, closest, and toughest 

 timber comes from isolated trees growing in the open : 

 straight and long timber, less marked for the above 

 qualities, comes, on the contrary, from trees grown in 

 close, high forest. This is the conclusion arrived at by 

 the naval authorities in France and England, and may 

 be accepted as according with the facts of structure, etc. 

 Some differences may be put down to the varieties, but 

 probably Boppe is right in concluding that rate of 

 growth, etc., due to differences in the soil and climate, 

 are the determining causes. 



The builder employs oak for sills, staircase treads, 



DESCRIPTION OF FIG. 39. The upper one is from a rapidly-grown 

 tree, in the open, and at a low altitude ; the wood is very strong, hard, 

 and heavy (density OS27), because there is a preponderance of fibers in 

 the broad rings. The middle specimen comes from a tree growing slowly 

 in a forest at a considerable altitude ; the narrow rings have too large a 

 proportion of vessels, whence the wood is soft (density O691), porous, 

 and weak. The lower section is from a tree which has grown very 

 irregularly on poor soil, as shown by the variable rings ; only the parts 

 with broad rings are good hence bad wood predominates (density 

 0-742). (Nanquette-Boppe.) 



