Page:Timber and Timber Trees, Native and Foreign.djvu/317

XXXVII.] the Kauri Pine timber from competing with the Fir timber brought to this country from the Baltic, for ordinary building purposes.

Kauri Pine, when used for masts, yards, &c., is unrivalled in excellence, as it not only possesses the requisite dimensions, lightness, elasticity and strength, but is much more durable than any other Pine, and will stand a very large amount of work before it is thoroughly worn out.

All the thriving and healthy trees have from 3 to 5 inches of alburnum or sap-wood very distinctly marked in them, even when fresh cut. The duramen or heartwood is of a yellowish-white or straw colour, moderately hard for Pine, strong, clean, fine, close, and straight in the grain. It has a very pleasant and agreeable odour when worked, planes up well, and leaves a beautiful silky lustre upon the surface, resembling, in some degree, the plainest Satinwood. It shrinks very little, and stands well after seasoning; further, it takes a good polish. It is, therefore, valuable for conversion into planks and boards, and is very suitable for cabin and other fitments in ships, for joiners' work generally, or for ornamental purposes.

It is also employed for the decks of yachts, as, from the regularity of its grain and the absence of knots, it looks much better than the Dantzic Fir that is commonly used. It wears, besides, more evenly, and does not require the reconciling or planing over, which is frequently found necessary if other woods are worked.

The Kauri Pine is generally sound, and free from the defects common to many other descriptions of timber; it very rarely has more than a slight heart-shake, even in old trees; the star and the cup shake are also rare; it is, therefore, a remarkably solid timber, and may be