T. Kirk. — On Neiv Zealand Beeches. 803 



period as five or six years, even when the timber has been apparently sound 

 and good at the first. How far this may be due to its being cut during the 

 period of active growth, or to its having been used while in a green con- 

 dition, both practices being the rule rather than the exception, it is impossible 

 for me to say. Another possible cause of its early decay in certain cases 

 may be its having grown upon wet ground. It must be admitted at least 

 that its durability cannot have been fairly tested in the majority of cases. 

 But making all possible allowances on these points I am compelled to place 

 its good properties considerably below those of the tooth-leaved beech. 



In the Oxford Forest it is sparingly mixed with white pine, miro, and 

 matai, the last decidedly rare. A few fine trees run up to from 60 to 75 feet 

 in height, but the bulk do not exceed 40 feet in the clear trunk. The 

 manager of one of the largest sawmills informed me that "trunks capable 

 of giving 4-14 feet lengths were extremely rare." I learned that the tree 

 was termed "red birch," "brown birch," "white birch," "black birch," 

 and " yellow birch," at different stages of its growth, but the application of 

 these terms varied greatly: perhaps "black birch" was most generally 

 applied to the mature condition before decay commenced, and " white birch" 

 to the young state ; but there were too many exceptions to allow of the 

 names being other than misleading. 



Unripe trees of this kind never afford durable timber, however large 

 their dimensions ; unless the tree is allowed to stand for a few years after 

 attaining its full growth decay speedily commences. The time required for 

 ripening, at present undetermined, cannot be very long, and when once the 

 process is completed decay sets in very quickly, and progresses with greater 

 or less rapidity. Sometimes it commences at the heart before full growth 

 has been attained ; the trunk appears perfectly sound, but on being squared 

 or sawn its defective condition is exhibited at the expense of the woodman. 

 All our beeches are more or less subject to this peculiarity, but I am in- 

 clined to believe that the period between the ripening of the wood and the 

 commencement of decay is unusually short in the entire-leaved beech, and 

 as the timber is of but little value at any other period, we have here one 

 cause of its frequent early decay after conversion. 



In this species the medullary rays of fully ripened timber are more 

 durable than the wood formed by the fibro -vascular bundles of the annual 

 cylinder. Logs decaying in the forest often present a curious appearance 

 from this cause : after the sapwood has perished the outer surface of the 

 heart-wood appears to be divided into numerous short laminae running 

 longitudinally. These laminae project more or less beyond the general mass 

 owing to the early decay of the wood of the cylinder. If the log has been 

 kept from the ground, the appearance is still more remarkable, the medullary 



