CATALOGUE OF THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 27 



and obscure ; the medullary rays, which are sharply marked, are very 

 numerous and vary greatly in strength and size. They are very 

 pronounced on the radial section. 



Beech, Japanese. Fagus sylvatica, Linn., var. Sie&oWj, Maxim. Weight, 

 26 lbs. Japan. 



" Beech in Japan is used for making boats, ploughs, handles of tools, 

 rifle-stocks, clogs, spinning-wheels, lacquer ware, and various utensils. . . . 

 Oil from the seeds is used for lighting as well as for food . . . treated 

 with preservatives it is especially suitable for sleepers and foundations." 

 (Goto.) The wood is very similar to that grown in England, but it is of 

 a more uniform colour, a light yellow brown, not white, and is rather 

 softer and milder, and keeps its shape very well indeed. Although the 

 wood is very soft, the growth is slow and regular. 



The annual layers are very narrow and uniform. The pores are very 

 small and indistinct, and the medullary rays strong and prominent. 



Beech, Tasmanian, or Evergreen Beech. Fagus Cunninghamii, Hook. 

 Weight, 47 lbs. (Baterden). Tasmania. 



Tasmanian Timbers gives the following account of this timber : 

 " The wood varies from a greyish-brown to a brown-pink ; when planed 

 it takes a beautiful surface, and, like the European beech, always wears 

 smooth. It is a strong, close-grained timber, and, except for the colour, 

 resembles European beech, but is of considerably greater average strength. 

 If cut from a level of 800 feet above sea-level, and felled in the winter, 

 it is a very durable wood for outside work, but it is apt to ' go ' between 

 wind and water. It makes splendid felloes, staves, saddle-trees, gun- 

 stocks, and all kinds of turnery, floors, skirtings, and dados. The pinker 

 tints make handsome furniture. The seasoning and treatment of this 

 timber should be exactly that of European beech, and it must be feUed 

 in the winter to get the best results. Although there are such large 

 quantities of Cunninghamii in the Island yexy little of it has been exported 

 hitherto. The difference between the grey and the pink is hard to account 

 for, as they are botanically identical, and there is no apparent reason for 

 the difference." 



Beefwood. Mimusops globosa, Gaert. Weight, 59 lbs. 11 oz. British 

 and Dutch Guiana. 



This ^ wood is imported in the form of square hewn logs ranging from 

 15 to 40 feet in length, and from 10 to 18 inches square. That from 

 Surinam (Dutch Guiana) is of the better quality, the Demerara (British 



1 Other names of this wood, including "bullettre" (Buletre) and "bully-tree," 

 are doubtless perversions of the native name "balata," and lead to yet another 

 name, " buUet-wood." 



