294 
TIMBER 
as little as possible allowed, but it is not much use, and 
scarcely fair, to put into a specification for large-sized 
timber that it is to be " free from sap," unless the engineer 
or architect is prepared to pay a much larger price than 
for ordinary timber, because, to attain this object, larger- 
sized timber must be bought in the first instance so as to 
allow of the timber standing the required size after the 
sap has been cut off. This adds considerably to the cost, 
for not only has the larger- sized timber to be paid for, 
but the cost of sawing has to be added. 
As a rule for heavy work three 4-inch or four 3-inch tim- 
bers are cut out of a 12- inch log, and there will be a certain 
amount of sap on the outer sides and corners of two pieces 
and possibly on the edges of the others. 
It would be much more satisfactory to define the amount 
of sap allowable, as, for instance, " Sap is not to exceed 
2 inches or 2 J inches at the corners of timbers " in an 11 
or 12-inch plank, thus : 
I?" 
Fig. 50. 
On no account should sap be allowed all over one side. 
Smaller scantlings can by selection be got quite clear of sap, 
and this is very desirable. The clause " the timber shall be 
properly seasoned " would prevent the admission of objec- 
tionable sap, for some kinds are worse than others. The 
author does not agree with a distinguished engineering 
expert who, in giving evidence some time ago, stated that 
timber seasons in its transit from the Baltic, because, unless 
the timber be partly seasoned lief ore being put on board, as 
