252 
TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [chap. 
In consideration of the defects mentioned, there is 
little to recommend the Swedish Fir to favourable 
notice, beyond the fact of its being cheap and suitable 
for the coarser purposes in carpentry. 
About 3,500,000 Swedish deals, 7,000 loads of 
timber, and 18,000 fathoms of firewood, were imported 
into London in 1874, besides a large quantity of boards 
for flooring, &c., &c. 
THE NORWAY FIR TREE 
is of straight growth and small dimensions, and balks 
of about 8 or 9 inches square only are produced from 
it, but even these are not now shipped in any con¬ 
siderable quantity for the English market. 
The Norwegians appear to find it most advantageous 
to convert their Fir timber (which is generally of a 
coarse description and inferior in quality) into battens 
of 6 to 7 inches in breadth, by less than 3 inches in 
thickness, and into prepared flooring and match-boards, 
which are sold by the “square” of 100 superficial feet of 
1 inch thick. They also produce a few deals of 3 x 9 
inches, varying in length, for exportation ; and, as the 
whole of these are manufactured and sold at a very 
cheap rate, they pass readily into consumption for the 
building of the lowest and poorest class of houses. 
Norway supplies, in addition to the timber, deals, 
and battens, considerable quantities of small spars, and 
Fir for firewood, to the London market. 
THE SPRUCE FIR TREE (Abies excelsd) 
is very abundant upon the mountain slopes in Norway, 
and prefers generally a damp clayey soil to bring it to 
the greatest perfection. In such situations, it frequently 
