CARRIAGB AND WAflON MAKrNO, 55 



Hs much as possible in the same plane as the ^heel. The best 

 •woods for felloes are teak, babnl, sissn, sal, nim and oaks. In 

 many parts of India, where the ground is flat and the soil sandy, 

 no tires are put on the wheels, and in that case hard, tough 

 woods, like babul and sissu, answer best. In some parts of Europe 

 " bent rims " are used as felloes for the wheels of light carriages, 

 and occasionally the entire circumference of a wheel is formed of 

 a single bent piece. 



In teak-growing countries solid wheels for wagons are made, 

 consisting of three pieces joined laterally, and held together by the 

 tire and by a pair of iron disks, one on either face, strongly rivetted 

 together. The axle passes through the middle of the centre, piece. 

 Such wheels are extremely strong and durable. 



In almost every part of India the axles of numerous carts are 

 entirely of wood. To resist the enormous transverse strains due 

 to the weight of the body and load and the heavy jolts on a rough 

 couutry road, and constant severe friction, the wood should be very 

 strong, hard, tough and elastic. The best axles are furnished by 

 Anogeissus latifolia, s41, sundri, babul and Olea ferruginea. When 

 the ends, on which the wheels revolve, are of ii'on, almost any strong 

 hard wood will answer for the intermediate portion of the axle. 



The poles and shafts of carts and wagons drawn by oxen should 

 be very strong and elastic, the best woods to use are Ougeinia dal- 

 bergioides, Diospyros Melanoxylon and sal. The poles and shafts of 

 carriages have to be light, and therefore thin and extremely strong 

 and elastic. The best Indian wood for the purpose is sundri ; 

 but Diospyros Melcmoasylon, Anogeissus latifolia, various species of 

 Greivia, and well-selected and seasoned bamboo are also found to 

 be excellent and are used on a large scale. 



The framing of carts and wagons must be made of very strong 

 wood that holds well at all joints without splitting or breaking off. 

 The wood in the frame-work of carriages must also be strong, and 

 for some kinds of carriages, such as phaetons, it should also be 

 naturally curved. The rest of the body of every kind of vehicle 

 may be made of any light wood that is strong enough for the 

 part where it is used. For carriages every bit of it should be 

 thoroughly seasoned and not liable to split or warp, or to shrink or 

 expand in an excessive degree. Teak answers excellently all re- 

 quirements. Those portions which are not painted must possess a 

 handsome grain and colour. 



What has . been said with regard to carts and wagons apply, 

 with obvious modifications, to wheel-barrows, hand carts, &c. 

 As regards railway carriages and wagons, the wheels, axles and 



