36 THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 



considerable force. Of the different varieties used the British and African 

 (Buxus Macowani) have proved to be the strongest. The West Indian 

 has given fairly satisfactory results, but although less wasteful in con- 

 version, has not proved so strong. 



In some cases the trees exhibit loose growth, and the wood in drying 

 spUts spirally. Exposed to damp, it is very liable to deteriorate, under- 

 going discoloration and a form of decay. During seasoning it is very 

 apt to spUt. For this reason large logs are sometimes quartered, or the 

 square log is cut down the middle of its four faces. In France, according 

 to Beauverie {Les Bois industruelles ; Paris, 1910), special precautions 

 are taken to prevent splitting, the wood being either stored during season- 

 ing in a dark room or cellar until ready for use, or immersed for twenty- 

 four hours in cold water, in which it is afterwards boiled for some time. 

 It is then wiped and dried and protected from light and air by being kept 

 in sand or bran. 



About a hundred years ago, the workmen in Scottish factories where 

 shuttles were made, kept the wood stored for two years in dry pits 

 slightly below the level of the ground, and covered with dry straw or 

 hay. When they were ready to use it, it was steamed for about twenty- 

 four hours in a steam chest and was then roughed out to what was 

 approximately the size required, after which it was found to stand 

 perfectly. 



The result of these natural deficiencies is that the trade in boxwood is 

 very speculative. For instance, before the war, if a block of boxwood 

 was split it would sink in value from £60 to £4 per ton. 



Abasian boxwood for wood engraving purposes for the best work is 

 perhaps the sole kind for which a satisfactory substitute cannot be found. 

 Formerly pieces of boxwood found unsuitable for engraving were utilised 

 in the manufacture of various articles, including shutties, but the intro- 

 duction from the United States of persimmon and cornel wood, which are 

 adequate substitutes in the weaving trade, has caused a heavy decUne in 

 the demand for Abasian and Persian wood. The sawdust is used for 

 cleaning jewellery, and is much in request since the war, reaUsing as much 

 as £9 and more per ton. 



The transverse grain reveals with the aid of the lens very littie 

 structure. The tree grows very slowly, so that the annual rings are narrow 

 and more or less inclined to be sinuous, and though recognisable to the 

 naked eye, are not very sharply marked. The medullary rays arc so fine 

 as to be only just visible ; sometimes, indeed, they are invisible to the 

 naked eye in transverse section. The pores are so minute that even with 

 a lens the wood might be mistaken by a novice for a very hard, coniferous 

 wood. 



