CATALOGUE OF THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 193 



planks, and staves. The first shipment was in 1905, and, as is often the 

 case with fresh timber supphes, through lack of experience in dealing 

 with it, a great quantity was found to be very defective. By degrees, 

 however, producers have learnt the best methods of handling it, and 

 discounting the errors of those who have not yet learnt by experience, 

 the quality now obtainable is of a high class. 



The shipments to the Continent have now reached the enormous 

 total of 50,000 loads per annum. This timber comes from the North 

 Island of Hokkaido, and is shipped from the ports of Otaru, Muroran, 

 and Kushiro. The trees are felled between the months of November 

 and March by men who take their supplies and camp in the forests. 

 When the logs are hewn they are puUed by horses over the snow to the 

 nearest railway ; the frozen surface enables them to be transported 

 over the hUls and rough places. 



The product of virgin forests of great age, the timber is remarkable 

 for its extreme regularity of growth and freedom from faults. In 

 no other oak, with the exception of the " Spessart " oak, are the 

 yearly layers so uniform throughout the whole life of the tree from 

 heart to bark. As the annual rings are very narrow, growth being 

 exceedingly slow, any scantling sawn out represents a much greater age 

 for its size than in British or other commercial oaks. For instance, in 

 two pieces 4 inches wide, taken at random, the British showed 28 layers 

 or annual rings, whilst the Japanese showed 81. A further examination of 

 five more pieces of the same size gave a variation of from 62 to 93 years ; 

 it thus took 28 years to put on 4 inches of British growth in thickness, 

 against 81 years for the same size in the Japanese wood. Many specimens 

 of British, Continental, and American oak could be found, produced 

 in even less time, perhaps only five or six years for the same size, 

 whilst it would be very hard to find any of the imported Japanese 

 oak that varied very much. 



The wood is of uniformly good colour and texture, and is of slightly 

 milder quality than the European. The trees also yield a much greater 

 percentage of clean timber, free from knots and other defects, and the 

 hearts are extraordinarily straight and sound. These features constitute 

 its great commercial value. 



Notwithstanding its mild nature, the wood appears to be very durable 

 both for inside and outdoor work, either exposed to weather, as in half 

 timbers in buildings, or on the ground as sleepers. There has not yet 

 been sufficient time to test it thoroughly for durability out of doors, but 

 there is reason to believe that it will compare favourably with other oaks. 

 Used for posts, half timbers, weather boards, gates and joinery, in a 

 building that has been under observation for about seven years, all the 

 timber is in good condition, having indeed worn better than some other 



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