CATALOGUE OF THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 213 



The list of timber imports at the beginning of the last century is of 

 interest. 



To-day the supply, though not illimitable, is still assured, largely 

 through the economic forestry systems of these countries. 



The quality of all timber from the Baltic has, however, gradually 

 deteriorated, a state which, it is considered, is bound to continue. 

 Twenty-five years ago it was possible to obtain from the Baltic 75 per cent 

 of sizes 3 ins. x 9 ins. and 3 ins. x 11 ins., the remaining 25 per cent only 

 being of the smaller sizes, while in 1919 the produce of the forests was not 

 of sufficiently large size to jdeld more than 25 per cent of the 3x9 and 

 3x11 size, and 75 per cent of the smaller. There is now hardly any 

 3x11 from the Swedish forests. With regard to the question of the 

 size produced, it must be remembered that shippers would always 

 cut the largest possible sizes from the trees, as the price increases in 

 proportion to the dimensions. 



The trade in Swedish and Finnish timber has gradually developed 

 during the last fifty years, so that now practically every port in the Baltic 

 Sea and the Gulf of Finland round to Gothenburg in the North Sea 

 exports all manner of timbering, floorings, joinery, and general woodwork. 

 The trade is so varied, and the quahties and descriptions of the wood range 

 through such a wide field, that to attempt to describe it would require 

 a whole book ; only a brief reference to it can here be made. As has 

 been stated elsewhere, every district produces wood containing its own 

 peculiar characteristics. For instance, supplies from one port will excel 

 in respect to freedom from shakes, while those from another, in the absence 

 of sap, and the best quality from one port will hardly equal the worst 

 from another. Generally speaking, the highest standard of quality is 

 obtained from Bjorneborg and Kemi on the Finnish coast, and from Gefle 

 to Sundswall on the Swedish. The wood exported from North Russia, 

 particularly that from Archangel, Onega, Kem, and Petrograd, and 

 latterly from Siberia, excels aU other supplies both in quality and size. 



The imports from Archangel and Petrograd generally have a hammer 

 stamp on the butt ends of the planks, deals, battens, and boards ; those 

 from the Finnish ports are stencilled. It is customary to brand with a 

 coloured stencil mark the produce from Sweden and Norway, while various 

 other methods are adopted at the remaining sources of supply. Unless, 



