XX.] INDIAN TEAK. 



191 



It is also characteristic of the Rangoon or Irrawaddy 

 Teak to be shaky at the centre, there being, besides the 

 heart-shake, which is common more or less to Teak, 

 timber, a close, fine star-shake, radiating from the pith, 

 which is seriously detrimental to its value. Many of 

 the logs cannot, therefore, on this account be converted 

 into planks and boards without incurring a very con- 

 siderable loss. If, however, it is used in bulk, or in 

 stout scantlings, as for backing to armour-plates on 

 ships, or in batteries, or any similar works, it answers 

 equally well with the Moulmein Teak, the risk being in 

 attempting to reduce it into thin planks. The Rangoon 

 Teak is straight, and yields a better average length of 

 log than is to be found in those of the Moulmein 

 district; the dimensions of the squares are, however, 

 nearly alike. 



In Malabar, the largest forests of Teak trees are to 

 be found upon the Annamallay hills, at an elevation of 

 about 1,500 to 3,000 feet above the level of the sea. 

 They consist, however, for the most part, of saplings and 

 trees past their prime, the most useful having been 

 felled and removed long since, a few trees of excessively 

 large growth only being left available for the purposes 

 of commerce. 



The Teak grown on the Annamallay hills is subject 

 to extensive heart and other shakes about the centre of 

 the tree, and this involves great waste of timber, as only 

 the flitches taken from the outside part are available for 

 use. Attempts have been made to produce " squares " 

 and " planks " by the use of the saw upon pits, and by 

 machinery, but it was found not to answer ; the logs 

 were, therefore, cleaved by wedges along the run of the 



used a coarse cross-cut saw for butting and topping the logs, in place of an 

 ordinary fine-toothed one, that would be better fitted for it. 



