Page:Timber and Timber Trees, Native and Foreign.djvu/119

XVII. The star-shake defect is common to it, and, taken altogether, it is of very inferior quality. The Spanish Oak did not meet with approval in either the royal or private ship-building yards, and consequently the shipments of it to this country have declined for some time past. It is remarkable that this Oak is of very slow growth (vide Table II, p. 17); and perhaps this in some measure accounts for its inferior quality, our theory being that the trees of the same species which mature their wood most rapidly are generally the best of their kind.

—Each piece broke short; in no instance was there more than 3 to 4 inches of fracture.

There are, besides the Oaks already mentioned, several others which have not yet been brought sufficiently into use for their capabilities to be fairly tested; and among these are the Oaks of Turkey. In