Page:Timber and Timber Trees, Native and Foreign.djvu/136

116 But, as the evidence of its utility goes no farther than to show the advantage gained in being able to float the timber immediately it is felled, it seems probable that before long it will be given up entirely. Experiments have been made in Burmah in felling green Teak, but, as out of 100 trees so felled, twenty-seven in number had extensive heart-shake, and ten others were less seriously affected, it was thought desirable to carry the experiments farther before determining the matter in question.

Although imported and known under the general name of Teak, there are many varieties, if not distinct species of it, the Burmese naming those found in their country after the districts in which they grow; thus, in the Moulmein district there are the Thoungyeen, the Salween, the Karanee, the Attaran, and the Laingbooe Teak; and in the Rangoon district, the Irrawaddy Teak, all differing slightly in colour, grain, texture, and specific gravity.

The Thoungyeen and the Salween Teak timber are of a yellowish-brown colour, smooth and uniform in their texture, with a fine long grain. The Karanee Teak has alternate shades of dull brown and yellow colour, the grain being close and long, with occasionally a rowiness, or figure, in it, and is also very free from defects. The Attaran Teak is rather stunted in growth compared with the varieties just mentioned, but is of fully the same circumference. The wood is brownish in colour, dense, hard, and resembles very much the Malabar Teak. It is heavier than either the Thoungyeen or Karanee, and is also coarser and more knotty, owing to the branches occurring lower down the stem. Some of these, from accident or otherwise, get broken off, and defects, arising