240 
Indian Forest Records. 
[VoL. I. 
about 48 lbs. to the cubic foot. It is very durable, exceedingly strong 
and seasons easily and well either immersed in sea water or in the dry. 
Sawn timber is practically immune from the attacks of insects, including 
the white ant, but is bored by the marine worm. 
It works well, does not warp or crack and takes a fine polish. 
The red wood darkens on exposure to light, becoming ultimately dark 
brown. This alteration in colour is confined to the immediate surface. 
There is a distinct sapwood varying from 1 to 3 inches in thickness, 
which is yellowish white in colour and rots rapidly. 
The timber, owing to its durability, strength and seasoning properties, 
is admirably suited for construction, but owing to the high price commanded 
by the red- coloured wood it is chiefly used for decorative purposes, 
such as panelling, billiard tables, etc., and also in America in the con. 
struction of Pullman Cars. 
Planks 30 inches and even occasionally 40 inches wide are obtainable 
from large logs, but the finest broad slabs are yielded by the buttresses 
which not unfrequently disfigure the lower portions of the stem. Some 
of these buttresses are very large and the wood they contain is 
generally of excellent colour and fine grain. 
One such buttress recently yielded an oval table, now in the pos- 
session of Lord Kitchener, measuring 12 feet 9 inches by 7 feet. 
4. Conditions of Growth. — Padouk is not gregarious, but is found 
scattered throughout the mixed deciduous and semi-deciduous forests 
from near the level of the sea up to about 300 feet in elevation. 
It is found at its best on the well-drained lower slopes of the hills 
and in the broader valleys, where it may often be seen grovang along- 
side the tidal creeks just above the Mangrove belt. 
It occurs mixed with various species, including Lagerstrcemia hypo- 
leuca, Tcrminalia bialata and T. procera, Alhizzia Lehbek, Myristica 
Irya, Calophyllum spectabile, Bombax insignis, Artocarpus Chaplasha, 
various Sterculice and many species of less importance. 
None of these species are found in any large numbers on any given 
area, so that it not unfrequently happens that Padouk is the prevailing 
species in spite of the fact that, even in the richest Padouk forest, not 
more than three or four trees of this species wiU be found to the acre. 
5. Distribution of the Age Classes. — A very large proportion of the 
stock of Padouk in aU forests consists of mature or over- mature trees, 
the younger age classes being either very inadequately represented or 
not represented at all. 
