CATALOGUE OF THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 197 



It is stronger than any other known oak. My specimen is very hard • 

 it is of a nut-brown colour, and is close and smooth-grained. Gibson 

 refers to the former great use of this oak in the American navy, and 

 says further : " In strength and stiffness it rates higher than the white 

 oak. ... It takes a smooth polish. When the wood is worked into 

 spindles and small articles and brightly polished, its appearance suggests 

 dark polished granite. ... Its value as a cabinet material has not been 

 appreciated in the past, nor have its possibilities been suspected." 



The pores are not numerous ; they are very smooth and clear-cut. 

 The medullary rays are clearly defined, showing with beautiful marking 

 on the radial section. 



Oak, Russian. Quercus pedunculata, Ehrh., and Q. sessiliflora, Sm. 



Russian oak is very similar to British and Austrian oak. In strength 

 it compares rather with the former than the latter, but the detailed tests 

 so far made give no really reliable basis on which to compare the strengths 

 of British and Russian oak, while as a constructional timber Austrian 

 oak does not come into question in Great Britain. Russian wainscot 

 oak on the whole may show sUghtly less bold silver grain than Austrian, 

 yet the best qualities of the former vie with those of the latter in decorative 

 effect. 



Russian oak is exported from Danzig, Libau, Memel, Odessa, Riga, 

 and Stettin. 



[a) Danzig Oak. Weight, 47 lbs. 7 oz. — A large quantity is imported 

 in the form of 



(i) Logs hewn nearly square, from 8 to 30 feet long and from 10 to 

 20 inches square. 



(2) Plan9ons — hewn logs with very large wanes. 



(3) Planks of various lengths. 



(4) " Deck-deals," which are planks varying in length from 24 feet 

 upwards (but averaging about 32 feet), in breadth from 9 to 15 inches, 

 and in thickness from 2 to 6 inches. 



(5) Staves, which are imported only in comparatively small quantities, 

 and are used for making casks and barrels. The wood is rather brownish 

 in colour, and is slightly harder and heavier than other Continental 

 European oak. 



(6) Wainscots. The import of wainscots from Danzig, at one time 

 considerable, has now almost ceased, and the quality of the few ship- 

 ments which have been made has much deteriorated. 



In earlier times there is little doubt that a large trade was carried 

 on in oak brought from Danzig. Mr. E. Haynes quotes from the sub- 

 sidy rolls of the second year of King Henry Fourth a.d. 1400, 519 years 

 ago (1919), an early reference to the import of " wainscots, clapholtz 



