8 4 
TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [chap. 
hard, horny, tough, strong, less elastic and slightly 
heavier than the English Oak, and is, on account of its 
extreme hardness, more difficult to work. In seasoning 
it is very apt to split and leave deep shakes on the 
exterior of the log, which are detrimental to its value 
for general purposes ; but, viewed as to its form and 
properties, it is employed in preference to most other 
Oaks for the frame of a ship. It may also be used in 
any work of construction where strength and durability 
are important, if care be taken to protect it, by planks 
or otherwise, from exposure. 
Owing to its characteristic defect of shakes in season¬ 
ing, the Italian Oak is unfit for conversion into planks, 
or boards, or into almost any small scantlings ; and its 
introduction into this country (about the year 1820) 
was not with the view to its general employment, but 
solely to supplement the supply of British Oak timber, 
which was then scarce, and seemed likely to be in¬ 
sufficient in quantity to meet the growing demands for 
it, especially for the framing of our ships of war. For 
this particular purpose, where it is generally used in bulk 
to nearly the full growth of the tree, preference may even 
be given to it over English Oak. 
Of the different kinds of Italian Oak supplied to the 
royal dockyards, the Tuscan, Neapolitan, and Sicilian 
are the hardest and most horny in texture, and, when 
thoroughly seasoned, by far the most difficult to work ; 
while the Modena, Roman, and Sardinian are what the 
workmen call milder in character—that is to say, they 
are easier to work, and a little less hard than the former. 
The Modena and Sardinian also yield an easier 
curved form of timber than the other kinds, and do not 
split to the same extent in seasoning; they are all, 
however, very much of the same strong character, and it 
