80 OF WOOD IN GENERAL 



Submerged structures. — ^Passing next to timbers used for piles 

 or other submerged structures, such as locks and water-wheels, 

 Elm, Larch, Chestnut (Oastdnea), Live Oak {Quercus virens), Sal 

 {Shorea robllsta), Totara {Podocdrfus Totara), Eucalyptus globulus, 

 E. rostrdta, and Rassak {Vdtica Edssah) of Borneo, may be 

 specially mentioned. Greenheart, Jarrah, Pynkado, Chow, Kapor 

 {Dryohdlanofs aromdtica), another Bornean timber. Alder, and 

 Beech are also used for these purposes. For the strouds of water- 

 wheels and for paddle-boards Willow is employed ; and for water- 

 conduits, Pine. 



Strength timbers. — For such engineering purposes as require 

 considerable strength, and resistance to definitely calculable strain, 

 for bridges, piers, or baulks of timber, Teak, Jarul, Sal, Sissoo 

 {Dalhergia Sissoo) and Anan {Fagrcea frdgrans) among Indian 

 timbers, the Locust of Trinidad {Hymencea Co^A/rbaril), Oak, and 

 the superior kinds of Pine may be mentioned. 



Sleepers. — Railway sleepers absorb enormous quantities of 

 timber, which requires to be durable when in contact with the 

 earth and with metal.^ Creosoted Red Deal {Pinus sylvistris) is 

 the chief wood employed for this purpose in Britain ; but treated Oak 

 and Beech are largely used in France. Deodar {Oidrus Deoddra), 

 Sal, Blackwood {Dalhergia latifolia), Poon (Galophyllum Inoph^lum), 

 Nagesar or Ironwood (Mesua ferrea), and Chilauni [ScMma WalUchii) 

 among Indian timbers ; the Box of New South Wales [Eucalyptus 

 hemifhloia) ; Puriri [Vitex Uttordlis), Hinau (Elceocdrpus dentdtus) 

 and Totara [Podocdrpus Totara) in New Zealand ; when creosoted, 

 the Upright or Real Yellow- wood, Geel Hout, or Umceya (Podo- 

 carpus latifoUus or P. Thunhirgii) in Cape Colony ; and the Chilian 

 " Roble " [Fdgus ohliqua) in Argentina, are employed for this pur- 

 pose ; and one of the most important industries of the future in 

 the colony last mentioned is the cultivation of the European Cluster 

 Pine [Pinus Pinaster) and of Eucalyptus for the same use. 



Mining timber. — ^Less care is exercised in the selection of pit- 

 props for mines. Larch and pine, both home-grown and of Baltic 

 origin, are largely used in English mines, and Pinus Pindster is 

 imported from Bordeaux to the Welsh collieries and Cornish tin- 

 mines. In French mines the order of durabihty has been found to 

 be Spanish Chestnut, Oak, Scots Fir, Alder, Ash, Pinu^ Pindster, 

 Acacia. It has been said that for every ton of coal taken out of a 

 mine we should put back a cubic foot of timber. 



^ " As yet no substitute has ibeeu devised for wood ties that is economical or 

 desirable. They maintain the alignment of the railroad, so essential to safety, better 

 than any metal substitute, and give an elasticity to the road-bed most important for 

 the preservation and maintenance of the rolling-stock.''— C. F. Manderson in What 

 Forestry Means to Representative Men: U.S. Bureau of Forestry, Circular 33. 



