Page:Timber and Timber Trees, Native and Foreign.djvu/252

232 the small and medium size trees. Very great care is therefore necessary in the conversion of this wood, to ensure the production of the deals and other scantlings of the required dimensions free from sap, the difficulty being often enhanced by the fact that in working on fresh logs, the sap can scarcely be distinguished from the heart-wood, although, if exposed a short time only to the atmosphere, the difference soon becomes visible, the moisture of the latter drying up more rapidly, and leaving it lighter in colour. The Dantzic converter is, however, by dint of practice, generally so correct in his judgment, that he seldom fails to obtain all that he requires, even from logs which have a very unpromising appearance.

Previous to shipment at Dantzic, the whole of the timber in the rafts is carefully sorted over, and the best of the round wood, i.e., the longest, straightest, and finest pieces, and those most free from knots, are selected for exportation, under the name of "hand masts," very little being required to be done to them beyond topping them, off to the established length, which is proportioned to their diameter. A few trees, perhaps, which are not perfectly fair and straight in their growth, being trimmed or dressed as may be necessary to make them appear so.

"Hand mast" is a technical term applied by the mast-maker to a round spar, holding at the least 24, and not exceeding 72, inches in circumference. They are measured by the hand of 4 inches, there being also a fixed proportion between the number of hands in the length of the mast and those contained in the circumference, taken at one-third of the length from the butt-end. All the round pieces which measure less than 24 inches in circumference at the base are simply called spars or poles, while those which measure more than 72 inches in circumference are generally dressed to the