94 
TIMBEE 
There is no doubt that close gram, durabihty, and power of 
abrasion, the qualities necessary for good paving blocks, are 
to be found in the red gum if only the timber can be so 
seasoned as to prevent warping and twisting. In some 
tests made by Mr. W. Kendrick Hatt, Ph.D., of the United 
States Forest Service, joists of 16 ft. span, 4 inches by 8 
inches to 6 inches by 8 inches, gave an average fibre stress 
at elastic limit of 2,608 lbs., a modulus of rupture of 4,570 
lbs., and a modulus of elasticity of 1,075,000 lbs. per square 
inch ; the average crushing strength parallel to grain was 
2,620 lbs. and at right angles to grain 639 lbs. per square 
inch. 
Tupeloe Gum or Tupeloe {Nyssa aquatica), another of the 
three important gums of the southern United States, is found 
over the same district as the red gum, but the chief district 
from which the supplies come is near Mobile and Southern 
and Central Louisiana, where the country is very swampy 
and where the tree during the rainy season stands in from 
6 to 20 ft. of water. 
The heartwood varies in colour from a dull grey to a 
dull brown, the sap, which is considerable, is white or 
light yellow, like that of poplar, and after seasoning it is 
difficult to distinguish the better grades of the sapwood from 
poplar. It is sold in the American market as bay poplar, 
as it was substituted for a grade of yellow poplar found 
near Baltimore which is now getting scarce. In the 
furniture trade it is sometimes called Circassian walnut, 
and some manufacturers call the wood nyssa, a subterfuge 
again, owing to the feeling against these gums. Tupeloe 
is about the same weight and strength as red gum, but 
much tougher, and there is the same difficulty in seasoning, 
so it is cut into boards of one inch thick or less. It is 
used for furniture drawers and backs, for panel work and 
