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TIMBER PROBLEMS OF THE EMPIRE

NEED OF CO-ORDINATING STUDY

OF PRODUCTION

RELATIVE VALUE OF DIFFERENT TREES

..Professor Percy Groom, M.A., D.Sc, interviewed recently in London upon the question of the timber, industry, a question looming large at die present time, explained that Australia was l.lio centre of the world for llie eucalyptus limber, that is j.arrnli, ■ kfirrl, talknnvood, and a variety of others. "One of the great uses of jarraii for a time, was in pnving the streets. It has been found flint [» Sydney the jainili-paved streets will ast for 12 jears. On tlio other hand, I arts jarrali-iraved streets will begin to Hhow signs of wear in two years. Vn London the same tiling occurs, and, not uimntuhtllj, Hit unestion will be asked. )\hy? In Paris, aild even in London, it is usually not the wood that goes, but the foundation. On the other liana, certainly in London, it is sqmetimes the. wood thai goes itself. It is very probable that fait of the destruction'of tiie wood itself is due to the fact that pool>10; arc not aware that) (hey should box , (an Australian term) the timber. ■I hat is to say, the central part of tlie ivood, which is softer, should be cut out and.not used, The reason for Hie exclusion or replacement of jarrah in the streets of London by Scots pine is nartly that it is,not so resilient. Secondly, -Kcots pine is creojoted, and does not readily absorb water; whereas :,iii t:ie case -of. jarrah, rnlii, or any other water supply alternating with dryness makes the wood swell and" contract. Jarrah dees actually decay in some cases, ]t is used in certain roads over which there is particularly heavy traffic. I hopo.u. see a jarrah pavamenb, constructed, if possible, so that it might be as resilient asJScots pine. "A consideralilfe number of Australian woods are not only heavy, they are triiiy cross-grained, i.e., with interlacing grain (ascending •in alternating right-handed and left-handed spirals). Such woods are very apt to twist,. and this- tendency is accentuated if the wood is a very heavy oue and difficult to try. The. result is that a number ol ! Australian woods have got into bad repute in .this country for twisting. This difficult}- can be alleviated or avoided in'two ways, bv cutting tjie wood on the quarter (radially or rut-sawn), and second by making" sure that the wood when it is being finally used is "really thoroughly .seasoned. Seasoning these heavy woods is very much slower in the llnited Kingdom than in Australia. To illustrate the importance of thoroughly seasoning, one may mention that walnut used for gunstocks is a wood that shrinks very much, but, wheii ouce '.fully a'tusoheil, stands so etnciehtly that there is no risk of its swelling or shrinking, and of thus causing the gun to jam. It lakes a very long time to -season" in log-form, and'sometimes after twelve, years is still spaking wet in the centre. There are processus allied to 111e artih'uial seasoning of wood -prolonged <lrastic seasoii)ng-(stewing) under the influence of/ which woods used for furniture will often.be improved in colour and lose their bad warping qualities. Beech is a wood that warps greatly. After steaming in a particular manner for several days it looks like innnoga'riy ~nnd stands like niiiliogitii). There, fore, Australian w'oods can be" utilised and made , from' inferior into' valuable woods; ■• ' ■ .

"Another difficulty. In the. free use or Australian' woods is that their' 'nnmenclntnve is bad.. Tn the diflerent Stntcs of Australia tnere are different'names t_qr the same woods, and in the different States there are the same iiame /for different -woods. This causes much ; cbn'iueibii.and' I'ommerria.lly is liios't unsatisfactory. In luldition'to that you sometimes get the names ot' woods illegitimately employed. ■ For example, some of tne Australian woods, lieivy and warping badly, ■ are called mahogany. ' Hometimes jarrah is sold under the name of mahogiiny.. 'J'p illustrate the wrong application ...of •: names, . 1 will "instance Sautalum acuminatum,' which is given to,.a;- true- Australian sandalwood, but if is also- wrongly given to an entirely different wood, Jsmiila Eiemophila Jliiclielli. . Prom this, continued Professor (jlroom,. it will be seen that re-search iiu'o the .structure of limbers ; is also necessary as a means' of rendering i'oseible the .critical identification. Sut'li identification, is needed ia ,order that a person shall seem &■ exactly the kind of wowj he- requires. • ... "There are some very valuable Anslralian woods,.but little known in England'; for instance, (Queensland silkwood. 'J'lr.s has been locally, employed for giinskicks, it makes a good decorative wood that stands magnilicently. There is also Australian rosewood, exquisitely scented, black bean, it is regretted, warps.badly in tills country: It '.was utilised in the KoyaJ Automobile Club, London, but shrunk ; «htl. twisted. Australian white lie.ecli has been.tried for lmporaint war purposes,' biit ' apparently failed' to take ;he glue by 41io ordinary methods. "In. Ausunlia,- particularly yueenslanii,.iuicl.if.one includes in-lhescope of Aqscrnlia, .Papua, there is. n .wealth nf .very; littlfc'knowii; .timbers that-.'can :be utilised, if proper treatment is only-ap-plied, Timbers in Papua will be toiitid t»ue.,generally allied and similar to thosa of jAlulaya, including Horneo, which are known to nave, woods , articularly valuable, as furniture wupds,. but some of' tliem undouirtcdly vill iiav.e a iniioh wider tipplicatiqn. in ajrcrnffaiid shipbuilding. Investigations conducteri during thopresenc war ; have. de'nionstfate'd the sui'tuuility for use in aeroplanes of 'uWiii mahoganies and other harcUvjods fioni British West Africa, rapua.QneensliiiHl, British hast Africa, jiihl India, and or certain softwoods from .\ T ew Zealand and British East Africa. • These considerations fc.'til once more to tlie 's'turlv of the smicture-of timber whose significance in ahordiiii; guidance in the finalities and u-es ot woods has already been indicated.". . ■ ■ . .

. lroiessor Groom was asked whether in his opinion it; would he passible fur Uip iSrilieh JOnipire generally ilo , suimlv' hor own needs. "We can,"' he reniiod, ""I'Ply practically everything exceptingUui cheapest cornier woods: in the first place these are found in the nort-iicn. lorisaU and sub-arctic regions. They peenr in forests that „« pilro 0 ,. ,'f. IMS cmitain large nwubew of (he «.i kind of tree crowded logedhci' , Tli'pv jut' also held. |, y culmtl . it ; s mt f on«tr,- i ,lop ß rHi,e.ita 1 con,'la,,tl re! \ v ! o e ns ' ; h S " l,plloS , b ' Y p,H,llin « °: )era - Si, Ao . distant -country can ever, tiom the cheap sotlwuou iwmf of View conipeu - ,ritli the Aillic in supplying Ureal; Britiiiii. , Softwoods of large' ,\i-mwisioiLs-JJouglns also to be found in British Columbia and the ari-joining-regions.-of (be United States of America; also rcimmiils of pilch nini! mi tbo Uniled State, and large Scots pine in part.-) ol Unsisiii. H'htn l!>vn urge conifer softwooil ttinhcrn • are exhausted, thn world will probably never 6CB any more. '■It would-not lib easy to four' , , outeulu JMiyland. ■ an -institute for timber research for the British Empire capable of dealing with the many varied problems. SuoU, mi iusliUiU: run only bo supported in a country |a>ssos.sing sVicntiln: specialists of (he highest class dii various brandies of chemistry, T'h.Yflk , *, pngiiiupring, and botany, acting in 'dos 6 touch with manufiictiircrs and professional nion who employ wood as a maleriiil. , There are two (,'reati nrolTicinsTidfore us—l ho best utilisation of the wood and the preservation of the wood. There should be ,i cei.lrs) mstirnU in GrJH Britain lo collaborate wilh all parts of the Kmpirc. All (Uscotctr's hi,H praclical infonnation should be convoyed (o the central office, whose chief function would be to make all discoveries about Hie best utilisation of Hie woods available. They should be in close touch lvidh the men wiio Know the forests, the users, exporters, and all concerned in anyway villi timbers. If a shortage occurred of eny particular wood for any purpose, they should be able to obtain information direct from any one place as to whether 'any otliur wood suitable was available; Investigations should also bo made in the country of supply. The solo comprehensive modern research on Hie mechanical properties of wood conducted in .Hie Dritish Ivmpire emanate from Australia." '

Professor Urooui conclmleil his observations by saying that there are signs

ol' aii awakening 'is regards research. The awakening is Jinnvrial, rot merely national; and this is of vital imiiorcuicc because this country, and the remainder of till! British ' Kmpire, should bo linked together in policy as regards the great timber problem of the. future, and therefore linked togclhcr in jttacking file problems whose solutions will dictate that policy and will indicate tin , be.-t method of' utilising our common limber rcsflurers. In (.irput Ifrilain and in Ausiraliu de|iiirtmoiils of scientific mid industrial respsiri'li have firi-mi, and it is to be hoped lli.it the great trndttj, will also take ])urt in this forward movenip.nl,. for the greiitcsl advances can be achieved solely by the co-oppralion of tlie j Slate, the .trade, and the technical specialist— and this is especially true of llie gruit timber industry. .' .

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19181123.2.82

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 50, 23 November 1918, Page 9

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,468

TIMBER PROBLEMS OF THE EMPIRE Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 50, 23 November 1918, Page 9

TIMBER PROBLEMS OF THE EMPIRE Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 50, 23 November 1918, Page 9

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