TEAK 287 



known to us for shipbuilding, especially for the backing of armour- 

 plates, deck-planks, etc., Teak is also considerably used in England 

 in the building of railway-waggons, greenhouses, etc., but is com- 

 paratively little used in foreign dockyards. In the London market 

 it is sorted into A, B, and C classes, according to size, and has varied 

 in price from £10 per load of 50 cubic feet, in 1859, to £14 — £20 at the 

 present time. Whilst prime Moulmein Teak planks now fetch £20 

 a load, Java Teak, which is shorter in length and inferior in quahty, 

 ranges in value from £14 to £15 per load. 



Teak, African {OldfieUia africdna, Benth. and Hook. : Order 

 Euphorbidcece), Western Tropical Africa ; but only foimd recently 

 in Sherbro', Sierra Leone. In no way related to the true Teak. 

 Height upwards of 30 or 40 ft. ; girth 7—8 ft. S.G. 934—1,086. 

 W 58—68. c 7,052. fc 4-9. c' -931. v' 1-341. p 15,000. R 

 855 lbs. Dark red, very hard, strong, rigid, fine, close, and straight 

 in grain, free from shakes, shrinking and warping Httle, very durable ; 

 but difficult to work. It was shipped from Sierra Leone in logs so 

 badly hewn as to yield little more than 50 per cent, of well-squared 

 timber. It was used in ship-building for keelsons, beams, etc., and 

 classed in the second line in Lloyd's Register ; but has ceased to 

 be imported since the general use of iron in ship-building. Beams 

 that have been fifty years in old warships have been satisfactorily 

 used up in artillery waggons and the spokes of motor-car wheels. 

 The Forestry Department of South Nigeria reports that the wood 

 cannot now be obtained, which, considering its valuable charac- 

 teristics, is much to be regretted. 



Teak, Bastard {Pterocdrpus Marsupium Roxb. : Order Legu- 

 minosce). Central and Southern India. Hind. " Bibla." Beng. 

 " Bija," " Bija S^l." A large tree, yielding timber 18 — 30 ft. 

 long, and 1—2 ft. in diam. S.G. 820. R 518—378 lbs. Sapwood 

 narrow, white, soft, heart reddish-brown, handsomely streaked with 

 a darker shade, very hard, requiring thorough seasoning, susceptible 

 of a fine pohsh, and very durable. Darker-coloured and harder 

 than the allied Padouk, it is heavier than most Teak, equally strong, 

 and less liable to spHt, but more expensive to work, and not durable 

 if exposed to wet. It is largely used for door- and window-frames, 

 posts, beams, agricultural implements, cart- and boat-building, 

 and furniture. 



Teak, Johore {Parindrium oblongifolium Hook. fil. : Order 

 Bosdce(B). Malay " Balau.'* Height 60—100 ft. W 65. Yellow, 

 becoming orange and dark-brown with age, very heavy, close- 

 grained, termite-proof. Formerly largely exported, used for beams, 

 and employed for the Colombo breakwater ; but now rare. 



Teak, New Zealand. See Puriri. 



