Sas. 1907.1 



27 



Timbers. 



GROWTH OF SATIN. 



Satin wood grows toia large tree except in wind-swept areas near the sea 

 where it attains only small dimensions, such as are to be found along the coast 

 between Trincomalie and Mullaittivu. The crown is large. The bole, though it 

 attains a girth of 8 or 9 feet, is usually comparatively short, rarely over 25 feet in 

 height. This is probably due to the requirements of light by the tree which early 

 forms branches, in order to develop a large crown. No reliable data is available as 

 to the rate of growth of this tree, but girth measurements are taken yearly in 

 certain sample plots, and in a few more years it will be possible to form some idea 

 of the rate of growth from this information. 



Mr. Broun estimated, from what information he could procure, the following 

 figures as the probable rate of growth of a satin tree :— 



Age of tree 18 inches in girth 20 years, 



do 3 feet do 45 ,, 



do 4'-6" do 75 ,, 



do 5'-0" do 125 ,, 



From these figures it would thus take 50 years for a tree 4"-6" in girth to 

 reach a circumference of 6 feet. 



ENEMIES TO THE SATIN TREE. 



Satinwood is very liable to attacks from insects. A large number of trees 

 die from the attacks of larvae of a beetle, probably a longicorn, which makes 

 galleries between the bark and the wood that not infrequently girdle the trees 

 The young saplings are very liable to injury from stags, since these prefer them to 

 any other trees for rubbing off the velvet from their horns. They are also very fond 

 of the young coppice shoots from satin stumps. Satinwood does not appear to 

 resist fire well, and after a fire has been through a satin forest, one xisually finds 

 the tree commencing to decay at the bottom of the bole. This is a very common 

 occurrence in the Tamankaduwa district of the North-Central Province, where 

 the fires are started by collectors of deer horns, who fire the grass so as to find the 

 horns more easily, and also because the stags come out into these areas to eat the 

 young grass and shed their horns there. 



THE TIMBER. 



The average weight is about 56 lbs. to a cubic foot for seasoned wood. It is 

 therefore lighter than water. The wood is hard and strong and takes a beautiful 

 polish and is extremely durable. The most valuable wood is that which is known 

 in Ceylon as "Flowered Satin." Some flowered satinwood logs sent down to 

 Colombo from Vavoniya last year fetched Rs. 22 a cubic foot. It has not yet been 

 ascertained what the figure in the wood, which is merely curly fibre is due to, and 

 whether it is hereditary. It was found in some abundance in one of the forests 

 of the Puttalam District;, which was exposed to the full blast of the monsoons, — and 

 wind may have something to do with it, —but again I find it is qui(; j plentiful around 

 Anuradhapura, which is noC exposed to strong winds, and this looks as if ib may 

 be due more to the character of the soil than to exterior causes. There are two 

 kinds of flower. One is streaky and the other curly flower. The latter is much 

 the most beautiful and fetches a much higher price than the wood which contains 

 only a streaky flower. The ordinary satinwood logs of 6 feet girth and over with 

 straight boles, fetch from Rs. 3 to Rs. 4 a cubic foot in Colombo. 



The flowered wood is used a lot for veneering purposes, and I once saw a 

 steamer which called in at Trincomalie from Calcutta with the whole of the dining 

 saloon panelled with flowered satin veneer. 



