Page:Timber and Timber Trees, Native and Foreign.djvu/274

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254
TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES.
[CHAP.

Table CXXXIV.
Specification.
No. Description. Length. Diameter. From the
butt.
Diameter. From the
top.
    Feet. Inches.   Ft. ins. Inches.   Ft. ins.
5 Cants 34 to 36 7 to 6 ½ at 3 4 4   at 3 8
4 Barlings 31 to 33 6 to 5 ½   2 8 3 ¼   3 4
3 Booms 28 to 30 5 to 4 ½   2 0 2 ½   3 0
2 Middlings... 23 to 26 4 to 3 ½   1 4 1   2 8
1 Smalls 19 to 22 3 to 2     0 8 1     2 4

These spars are usually bought for the navy at a price each, but for the private trade they are not unfrequently sold at per foot run.

Nothing is done to these trees after they are felled, beyond removing the small branches, cutting off the top, and making the ends even, to prepare them for the market. They are, therefore, brought to us with the bark on, and are measured over all. It is well, however, to take the bark off if they are not required for immediate use, otherwise they will suffer injury from the attack of a small worm which after a few months appears between the bark and the alburnum.

The Spruce Fir has a further intrinsic value in yielding a resinous fluid which constitutes the foundation for the manufacture of pitch. The Spruce Firs are all of very slow growth, and not so durable as Pine. There are at least three kinds of Spruce in North America, namely, the Hemlock (Abies Canadensis), which has small, pointed, pendulous terminal cones, and thin, flat leaves; the Black or Double Spruce (Abies nigra), with dependant, egg-shaped cones, the scales being waved and jagged at the edges; and the White or Single Spruce