68 Timehrr. 
compelled to lock his shopdoor to keep in the wood the latter had sold him. 
The undaunted Yankee exporter, however, knew that wood was worth taking 
some trouble over. He made numerous trials and at last hit on just the right 
way of kiln drying it, and to-day its reputation is restored and it is a favourite 
wood with the maker of sewing machine stands, instrument cases and so forth. 
After all this, it gives one a sardonic joy to hear complaints of the splitting or 
warping tendencies of some commonly used colony woods, of a distinctly 
docile character when treated with even a modicum of knowledge of the 
idiosyncracies of timber. 
It is useful to remember in this connection that even the obedient pine has 
quite often a twisted growth amounting to a complete circle in the length of the 
trunk, and that it all depends on the seasoning whether you get straight-lying 
or warping lumber. If pine were generally handled in the brutally callous 
way in which colony lumber %s treated, there would not be an unwarped or 
unsplit board in a thousand. 
For the classification of unknown timbers, a little erudition on another side 
is desirable for the expert timber exporter. Three or four years in a wood- 
worker’s shop would do him good. A knowledge of the use of plane, saw, 
and turner’s tools will be very valuable. While, for many market purposes, 
the eye for grain, Knowledge of the moduli of rupture and elasticity, or judg- 
ment of the character of the silver grain is what is wanted, the placing of 
other timbers involves trial with various tools, and the trade name to be given 
will depend not only on the appearance of the wood, but also on the result of 
these trials. In ascertaining specific gravities, shrinkage, breaking strains 
and elasticities, the Government Department should take the burden off the 
traders’ shoulders. The necessary equipment for accurate determinations 
of that kind are not within the reach of most private’ concerns, and again, 
results of this sort, arrived at by a working exporter, are not likely to be made 
available to the trade, as he will keep his knowledge for his own profit. Some 
of the technical points of the timbers, such as suitability for turnery or for 
carving, also fall within the scope of a Government Forestry Office, but the 
appreciation of values dependent on grain, colour, and weight is the proper 
sphere of the trader. No Government department can give him much help 
in picking and valuation for the market. On the other hand, he can do a little 
for himself in testing the comparative strengths of timber with very simple 
apparatus. Two rigid supports 12 inches apart, pieces of the wood to be com- 
pared, say 1 inch section and 14 inches long, a bag of sand hung on the middle, 
load till the stick breaks, weigh the sand, note the nature of break, long or 
short, fibrous or otherwise and there you are, you know the comparative 
strength and some of the qualities. Oak, tested in this way, breaks at 431 
lbs., Teak at 403 lbs., Best pine at 224 lbs. Oak gives a long fibrous break, 
Teak a short sudden break, Pine a very short break. Ash breaks about 500 
lbs., and gives a long break. The modulus of elasticity of our colony wood 
Yaroura is double that of Ash, Greenheart nearly so, while Bullet-wood Barta- 
balli, Kakeralli, Mora, Wallaba and Locust come in the order given, all 
superior to the best Ash. As these timbers are fairly plentiful, over several 
