15 
Twist in Australian Timber. 
The subject of twist in standing trees and felled logs is especially familiar to 
Australians resident in the country, for the felling and utilisation of timber is 
brought home to every dweller “ on the land.” To the professional timber-getter 
and saw-mill hand the matter is also well knowm; but it does not appear that 
anything has been written in Australia on the subject. To elicit data on what is a 
really important matter, I publish a letter received from Canada from Dr. Bell, and 
also some correspondence from friends who answered my letters. 
I want, particularly, references to definite kinds of trees. 
With further data, we shall be in a position to reconcile conflicting 
statements. 
Dr. Robert Bell, Chief Geologist, Geological Survey of Canada, wrote to me, 
early in 1908, as follows :— 
In Canada, a large proportion of the forest trees have a more or less pronounced twist in the grain 
of the wood, which in, say, 90 per cent, is to the left— i.e., if you look either up or down the trunk, the 
twist is in the opposite direction to the movement of the hands of a watch. It is supposed to be due to 
the prevailing wind. It has occurred to me that any theory as to the cause would be helped if we knew 
if a similar phenomenon occurs in Australia. 
May I therefore ask how this is—to which direction the grain of the wood turns, and what you 
consider to be the cause ? In what species of trees is it most marked ! 
It will be seen that in Canada the twist is stated to he right to left, and the 
cause has been attributed to the wind. 
The following is a reference in a standard work :— 
Trees with twisted fibre are specially hard to split, and it is found that those twisting from left to 
right (against the sun’s apparent course) are harder to split than those twisting in the opposite direction.— 
( Schlich’8 Manual of Forestry, Vol. V, by W. It. Fisher (1896),/?. 39.) 
I have arranged the following replies, according to direction of twist and 
attributed cause:— 
1. Right to Left .— The Sun. 
W. H. Birrell, near Carinda, April, 1908:— 
I have had much to do in the line of splitting different timbers for fencing, and have noticed the 
curl is more to be found in Pine ( Callitris) than in any other tree, although it is usually believed to be a 
very free splitting tree. On a Pine the branches will be found to be the heaviest on the north side. In 
a Pine the curl will be found to run from East to West round by North, and naturally the West side will 
be the higher side of the grain. No matter how curly a tree is in the grain the knots go straight to the 
heart; they do not work in—“ or is it out ?”—with the grain. Fencing on Connaparia one year I came 
across what I considered would be a lovely tree, and after putting a man to cut it down and saw it in 
lengths it had to be left, as it was an impossibility to get a decent post out of it. Now that tree had two 
seams running full length, and as straight as possible from the ground to the top, and fully an inch deep. 
If the curl is caused by the wind, how did it happen that, for 2 inches in, the grain was perfectly straight, 
and when the shell was knocked off that tree was useless for splitting! I have also found the denser the 
forest the more even the growth of the trees, and the better they will split. Again, stripping bark, it will 
be found the north side will come off when you cannot shift the south side. Some will claim the wind as 
the cause of the curl. But I am afraid the bush geologists will find in favour of the sun. The first piece 
of warped timber you see follow the grain with your eye, and if it does not run as Dr. Bell says, keep that 
wood as it will be a curio. 
C 
