THE CONIFEROUS TIMBERS OF CANADA, ETC. 41 
‘n the Southern States of America. Formerly, unsur- 
passed forests existed, a belt of country stretching some 
150 miles parallel with the coast of the Southern parts 
of North America. Ruthless destruction has, however, 
laid waste much of this primitive forest, the damage 
not being due to the need for timber supplies, but to 
the exploitation of the turpentine industry. A large 
part of the turpentine of commerce is obtained from 
the resin extracted from the trees of these forests 
British imports alone of this commodity amount in 
value to something like one million pounds sterling per 
annum. The trees are highly resinous, but under the 
severe tapping they are subjected to are quickly 
exhausted and fall to the woodman’s axe; and at such 
a pace are clearances made that it is predicted that a 
total extinction of these vast forests is within measur- 
able distance. The timber is principally shipped from 
ports in the Gulf of Mexico, Galveston, Mobile, Pensa- 
cola or New Orleans, and arrives in the shape of hewn 
and sawn-sided logs—mostly the latter, besides planks 
and boards. 
It is largely used for any constructional work requir- 
ing strength, and for any purpose where a timber 
adaptable for use under entirely wet conditions, or 
alternating wet anddry, isrequired. It is not, however, 
a good material for entirely dry situations, becoming 
brittle in time. Having a handsome appearance when 
varnished it was commonly in use in former years for 
furniture, the fitments of offices and other joiner’s work, 
but it was not an ideal wood for the purpose, being 
subject to shrinkage and expansion with alternations of 
the atmosphere. Formerly squared logs of 14 in. or more, 
and ranging up to 80 ft. or more in length, were common, 
but the specifications have largely declined of late 
years, and logs of even 60 ft. in length are not common. 
