TIMBER. 



ig will cover it three fingers deep ; diftil it to a drynefs, 

 and let it have two or three reftificatious. 



Lay the fulphur remaining at bottom on a marble, or 

 in a glafs, and, with the oil it dilTolves into, anoint the 

 timber. 



Tliis, he adds, not only infallibly prevents or cures the 

 worminefs, but prcferves all kinds of woods, and even many 

 other things, as ropes, nets, and mafts, from putrefadlion, 

 either in air, water, or fnow. 



For fuch as would go a fhorter way to work, two or 

 three anointings with linfeed-oil may do very well. 



As to the chaps, or clefts, green timber is liable to after 

 working, and which is a very great defcft in many fine 

 buildings, they are clofed by anointing, fuppling, and 

 foaking it with the fat of beef-broth, twice or thrice 

 repeated. — Some carpenters ufe greafe and faw-duft 

 mingled for tlie fame purpofe. But the former method 

 ii excellent. Mortimer's Hufbandry, vol. ii. p. 104. 



Timber, Strength of. See Strength of Materiah, and 

 Beam. 



Timber, CrooieJ, Growth of, the means of raifing and pro- 

 viding bent or twilled timber of different forts for the pur- 

 pofe of fliip-building and many other ufes. It has been 

 noticed by Mr. Loudon, that the form of the larch tim- 

 ber-tree is unfuitable for fome of the purpofes of naval ar- 

 chitettui-e ; and that to render it more proper and fuitable 

 for fuch ufes, cutting or pruning it has been advifed by 

 fome ; and, what is ftill lefs prafticable, fhading it, by 

 others : but that when its mode of growth is weU confidered, 

 it will be found that neither of thefe methods would prove 

 eSe£lual. The former could not fucceed, it is fuppofed, 

 becaufe in the larch and fir-tribe one ftem conftantly takes 

 the lead ; and that in this ftem alone is contained the timber. 

 The latter, or fliade, might, it is thought, produce a crooked 

 enough ftem ; but that in regard to ftrength, or timber 

 produce, it would evidently be fs deficient, as to be totally 

 unfit for naval architefture. In confequence of which, he 

 has recommended the plan of bending the young trees as 

 preferable to every other praftice ; and as this mode may, at 

 fome future period, perhaps be deemed of public importance, 

 he has given a few remarks concerning the method that 

 fliould be adopted and employed in the bufinels. 



It is faid that, in the firft place, fuppofing a timber plant- 

 ation or wood to be planted in regular rows, fifteen feet 

 apart, and the fame diftance in the row ; and grown from 

 fifteen to twenty years ; in bending or rendering the trees 

 crooked, begin with the firft row, and let every other tree 

 be bent down in different degrees, and tied to the interme- 

 diate ones which remain creft, or be faftened to the ground. 

 After the trees have had the growth of feven or eight years 

 longer in that fituation or pofition, they may be bent back- 

 wards, fo fts to have fomewhat the form of the letter S, 

 the tops or leading (hoots rifing direftly upwards again from 

 the upper bends, and the bent trees be either tied to them- 

 felres between the bent parts, to keep them in their proper 

 bent pofitions, or to the trees on the fides, or to any 

 of the trees which furround them, as may be found to be 

 »oft convenient and neceffary. When the ropes have held 

 the trees in thefe fituations or pofitions for a few more 

 years, they will have received, and retained, in fome mea- 

 fure, the above crooked appearance ; which is a form that 

 will afford knee and other pieces, which are of great ufe in 

 (hip-building, and which alv\'tiys, it is faid, bear a higher 

 price than any other form of even oak-timber. Some tree* 

 need, however, it is thought, only be bent gently on one 

 fide, and others a little more fo. This variation in the in- 

 clination of the trees, with thofe which fhould be left eieSt, 



Vol. XXXV. 



would, it is fuppofed, ferve to produce and afford proper 

 fhelter for the whole timber plantations to which they might 

 belong, according to t'r.e ufes or purpofes for which they 

 are intended, or to the form which is moft in demand. This 

 plan is certainly thought worthy of a trial ; and there is no 

 great reafon to doubt its fuccefs ; for the praftice of bend- 

 ing trees is not new ; as it was advifed by Evelyn, and prac- 

 tifed by the Romans in Virgil's time. 



It is probable, too, that fome other forts of timber-tree* 

 may be grown in this way with advantage. 



It is fuggefted, that in planting the larch for this, or any 

 other purpofe, a careful attention (liould be had to the 

 choice of a proper foil, as when the tree is in one which is 

 not too rich, it reaches a large fize, and foon arrives at ma- 

 turity ; and that it is obvious, that if the above method were 

 adopted, the timber would be fit for building the largeft 

 fliips fifty years after it was planted, and for building fmaller 

 veiTels much fooner. And that there is abundant evidence, 

 that it would grow to a fufiicient fize for this ufe in all the 

 mountainous parts of the idand ; moreover, that the experi- 

 ments which have been made by Mr. Knight, on the fap and 

 wood of trees, as well as common obfervation, prove, that 

 the circumftance of bending, efpecially in an open expofure, 

 would produce a much thicker trunk and a larger quantity 

 of timber, in a given time, than a ftraight tree. Thefe cir- 

 cumftances, in conneftion with the valuable qualities of this 

 tree as fiiip-timber, and the growing fcarcity of that article 

 in this countr)', lead the writer to iuggeft the propriety of 

 devoting fome extent of the national forefts to the cultiva- 

 tion and raifing of the larch as timber, either bent in dif- 

 ferent ways, or even allowed to take its natural form ; as the 

 firft coft of planting and fencing in, even for five hundred 

 acres, would not exceed looo/., and the yearly expence$ 

 afterwards would be but a mere trifle. The culture of the 

 oak, and perhaps fome other timber-trees, fhould not, 

 however, be neglefted in the fmalleft degree : but when it 

 is confidei-ed that this tree takes two or three hundred year* 

 to come to perfeftion, and the larch not above half a cen- 

 tury, reflefting at the fame time on the approaching fcarcity 

 of oak-timber fit for the navy, thefe hints and remarks may 

 not, it is thought, be unworthy of the attention of the le- 

 giflature, or from other quarters. See Timber and Tree. 



The excellent properties of larch-timber, for the ufe of 

 the navy, have been noticed by many, as thofe of refitting 

 different dangerous effefts. Anderfon, in his Catalogue of 

 Trees, afferts, it is faid, that it does not fly in fplinters by the 

 impulfe of a ball in an engagement ; that no force of heat 

 makes it flame ; but that when thrown into a ftrong fire it 

 confumes imperceptibly. How many accidents then, it is 

 aflced, might be prevented by a greater ufe of this timber, 

 if applied in ftiips ? Many lives are loft by the fphnters of 

 oak in naval warfare : all thefe would be faved to the ftate 

 by having the planks of war-ftiips made of it. Decks of 

 the fame materials would refift fire, either accidental or de- 

 figned ; for although burning materials in time will force 

 their way through a plank of larch, yet it never would 

 ^read to the adjoining plank. To be in a (hip on fire at 

 fca, is certainly, it is faid, the moft dreadful fituation in 

 which any perfon can be placed ; every exertion, therefore, 

 to prevent fuch calamity, is the duty of all welUwifliers of 

 their country. Befide thefe advantages arifing from the ufe 

 of the larch as timber, there is another of no fmall im- 

 portance to a warhke and commercial nation, the faving of 

 expence in Ihip-building ; as by experience it is found that 

 it lafts longer than oak under water, ajid wornis wiU not 

 touch it. Sailors are faid indeed tp put larch chips among 

 their clothes ; which are found by experience to prevent 



4 R Terjtun, 



