54 Mr. Arthur Deane on 



Boards cut with the rays (i.e. radial or quartered) are stronger 

 and less liable to warp and split than those cut across the rays 

 (tangential) which form the ordinary boards, Tangential cuts 

 may, however, present a pleasing appearance as in Elms. It is 

 important to note, as the late Thomas Tjaslett has pointed out, 

 that in tangential boards there is an outside and inside to every 

 board, and especially should this be noted in floor l)oards with 

 the strain of traffic. These should be laid so as to expose the 

 youngest or outermost rings ; otherwise if laid with the older or 

 innermost rings exposed they will shell out, forming hollows in 

 the boards. In other words the convex side should be upper- 

 most. 



Timber versus Metal. 



From the earliest times wood has been used in construction, 

 and for making implements and utensils wherever it grew, at first 

 hj primitive stone tools ; but later, with metal tools, wood was 

 more extensively used, and to-day, with the advance of civilization, 

 it is the most widely used material in spite of its I'eplaccment to 

 some extent by iron and stone in buildings. 



Timber used in construction has many ad\'antages over inetal. 



Advantages : — 



1. One great feature is that wood, being an organic structure, 



can be reproduced. The cutting of forests has advanced 

 at a greater rate than they have been regenerated, yet, 

 under a well conducted forest management, forests could 

 be made to yield indefinitely. With inorganic materials 

 such as metal and stone, the more extensively they are 

 utilised, the quicker the supply becomes exhausted with 

 no opportunity to replace them. 



2. Timber is stronger than is generally supi»oscd. In tensile 



strength (resistance to a pull lengthwise of the grain) a 

 bar of hickory exceeds a similar bar of iron or steel of 

 the same weight and height. A 10 ft. bean^ of hard 



