APPEITDIX. 



389 



into two, the halves are broad and flat, and a considerable 

 loss of timber takes place; besides, the two branches af- 

 ford a thicker wing than the flat half of the stem does when 

 squared. When the tree separates into three branches, 

 the stem does not saw out conveniently; and when di- 

 vided, the cleft part is angular, and much loss of tim- 

 ber also takes place in the squaring. When the stem di- 

 vides into four branches, each of these branches coincides 

 in thickness with the quartered stem, and the knees are 

 obtained equally thick throughout, without any loss of 

 timber. The four branches, at six or eight feet above the 

 di\dsion, may with a little attention be thrown into a 

 rectangular bend, and thus give eight knees from each 

 tree. Knees are generally required of about eight inches 

 in diameter, and three and a half feet in length of wing; 

 but when they are to be had thicker and longer, a foot or 

 more in thickness, and from four to ten feet in length of 

 wing, they are equally in request, suiting for high rising 

 floors or heel-knees. 



The directions for forming larch roots into knees after 

 the tree is grubbed, are also not very explicit. The stem 

 of the tree is cut over nearly the same distance from the 

 bulb as the length of the root spurs; this quartered 

 through the heart (in the same manner as above), forms 

 one wing of the knee, and the four spurs form the other 

 wings. The same advantage results from having four 

 regular root-spurs in larch, as in having four regular 

 branches in oak : the two processes are quite similar, 

 only the roots in the one case, and the branches in the 

 other, form one wing of the knees. 



