TIMBER OF THE UNITED STATICS AND CANADA lOo 
Beech {Fagus ferruginea) , of which there are several 
varieties, is found in great quantity both in Canada and 
the States, where it is most abundant in the Ohio and the 
Mississippi basin. 
Lumber men distinguish them as red and white beech 
and say that the former is harder, with a redder and thicker 
heartwood. The red beech, whicli in some places forms 
extensive forests, is the most esteemed. The wood of 
American beech is used for the same purposes as English 
beech ; it is hard, heavy, stiff and strong, coarse in texture, 
can be easily split, and is rather liable to warp ; like the 
English beech, the American timber has broad and numerous 
medullary rays, very small and almost indistinct pores, and 
when cut on the quarter it is very beautiful. It is chiefly 
used for tool handles, carpenters' planes, shoe lasts, mallets, 
and to a certain extent in the chair-making and furniture 
trades. The larger quantity of beech used in Great Britain 
comes from America, although there is probably more 
English-grown beech used than any other class of native 
timber. 
Rock Elm or Cork Elm (Ulmus racemosa), a timber which 
has largely taken the place of English elm although it is 
not so good, grows in Quebec and as far south as Kentucky, 
but the supplies come chiefly from Ontario. It is a clean, 
straight timber, sometimes cross grained, very uniform in 
texture, and can be had in roughly- squared logs 35 to 40 ft. 
long and 10 to 15 inches square ; whitey brown in colour, 
hard, tough and flexible, fairly free from knots, it has 
only a small quantity of sapwood ; generally difficult to 
split. It is a tree of rapid growth. 
The White Elm {U. americmia) is a noble tree of 80 
to 100 ft. in height. Other varieties are the Cedar Elm 
