166 
TIMBER 
beautifully veined, and takes a high polish. It is a good 
deal used for making tea chests, and in Assam good boats 
are made of it. It is not attacked by ants, but is troubled 
by a borer. Formerly known as Moulmein cedar. 
Weight about 31 to 35 lbs. per cubic foot. 
C. serrata, a large evergreen, produces the same kind 
of wood of rather lighter weight. 
C. microcarpa, another of the species, is a larger tree 
than C. toona ; the timber has the annual rings distinctly 
marked ; all are used for the same purposes. 
Deodar {Cedrus deodara), or Himalayan cedar (Fig. 28), 
is one of the most beautiful trees in India and grows in 
great quantities in the Himalayan forests at heights of 
4,000 to 10,000 ft. above sea level, and the timber is brought 
down the Eavi, Jhelum, and Chenab rivers in logs 20 to 
60 ft. long and 2 to 12 ft. girth. The tree sometimes 
attains a height of 150 ft. and a diameter of 8 ft. It is a 
variety of the cedar of Lebanon. The wood is Kght 
yellowish brown in colour, of great strength, stiffness, 
hardness, and durability, and is thus well adapted for 
engineering purposes and for general constructional work ; 
it is the chief timber of Northern India. The annual rings 
are uniform, and the medullary rays line ; it has a distinct 
fragrance, takes a long while to season — it is never well 
enough seasoned for joinery work under eight or ten 
years, but for engineering purposes where large beams 
are used is sufficiently seasoned in three years — takes 
a high poHsh but does not take paint or varnish well, 
and is rather brittle to work ; laths from it burn like 
candles. It is extensively used for sleepers, especially 
in Northern India, where its life is about fourteen years. 
It is rather liable to attack from white ants. A coarse 
turpentine much used in the East for medicinal purposes. 
