XXXV.] FIRS. 377 



The White Spruce are the only deals shipped to 

 this country from Canada as a clearly-defined class, all 

 others being simply known here as Canadian, St. John's, 

 &c. Spruce. 



The London market was supplied with about 1,100,000 

 Spruce deals in 1871, 1,080,000 in 1872, 2,000,000 in 



1873, 3-"cl the immense quantity of 2,300,000 pieces in 



1874, prepared generally in dimensions of 3 inches thick, 

 9 inches broad, and 12 to 21 feet in length. The bulk 

 of these were sorted by brackers previous to shipment 

 into first, second, and third qualities. Those of the first 

 quality are perfectly clean, sound, and free from knots, 

 sap, and defects; the second quality is also sound, 

 and tolerably clean, but includes deals with a few 

 knots and some sap upon the edges ; while the third 

 quality includes and admits all the faulty and coarser 

 descriptions of deals, and some of them are very rough 

 indeed. 



As a rule, there is no brand other than a red chalk 

 mark drawn once, twice, or thrice across the deal, to 

 distinguish between the several qualities, and it is neces- 

 sary that a careful inspection should be made before 

 purchasing them. The relative values of the Canadian 

 and New Brunswick Spruce deals in the London market 

 are about as follows, viz., the 1st quality Canadian is to 

 1st quality New Brunswick Spruce as I'o : "82 ; the 2nd 

 and 3rd quality Canadian is to 2nd and 3rd New 

 Brunswick Spruce as I'o : "90 ; and these figures indicate 

 approximately the difference in their respective qualities. 

 All these deals are employed extensively in carpentry, 

 ship, and engineering works. 



