Provinces of Canada. 31. Canada must therefore be looked to for any large increase From in the supplies of Empire softwoods to the United Kingdom Eastern market. Her forests lie in both the Eastern and Western Provinces. The trade with the United Kingdom in the products from the forests of Eastern Canada is of long standing. Those forests, however, consist chiefly of Spruce which is being increasingly used for the paper and pulp trade. The amount exported as timber has been declining for some years. Spruce is a useful wood for general construction purposes, but the high prices paid by pulp manufacturers are a deterrent to its extensive use in the United Kingdom, though a little of the better quality still comes into the country. Similarly White Pine from Canada has to some extent gone out of use in the United Kingdom on account of its increasing price, caused largely by the depletion of the forests in the neighbourhood of the rivers, the natural highways from the lumber camps to the ports. There are, however, supplies of Red Pine and Jack Pine which are widely used locally in place of these woods. Eastern Canada exports timber to a large ard ready market in the thickly populated and highly industrialised areas in the Eastern portions of the United States and therefore has less to send to the United Kingdom. 32. The opening of the Panama Canal has brought the re- From sources of the Western Canadian forests more readily within Western reach of the United Kingdom. British Columbia, with her Provinces of vast forests of fine softwoods, is the chief lumber producing Province of Canada. The chief varieties are Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock and Douglas Fir. Sitka Spruce possesses strength combined with lightness, qualities which render it peculiarly suitable for aeroplane construction. Western Hemlock is useful for joinery purposes and interior construction work. The most important timber in British Columbia is, however, the Douglas Fir-known also as Oregon Pine-which grows along the Pacific Coast on both sides of the international boundary. This timber occupies a prominent place amongst the soft woods of commerce; in fact, it is reputed to supply a larger share of the world requirements of timber than any other single species. The Douglas Fir is one of the most magnificient trees in the world. It sometimes attains a height of 300 feet with a diameter at the base of from 8 to 10 feet, though the average tree is from 80 to 100 feet high and 2 to 4 feet in diameter. Canada. 33. The size of the Douglas Fir, with its uniform growth and Characterfreedom from boughs to a considerable height from the base, istics of Douglas fir enables timber of large sectional dimensions and of considerable length to be cut clear of knots, sapwood and other natural defects. Baulks 100 feet and over in length and 2 feet square in section can be obtained and this makes the wood peculiarly valuable for structural purposes where timber of large dimensions is required. Method of production on the Pacific coast. Sizes usually Pacific coast. Owing to its durability and its resistence to decay it is useful for such purposes as railway sleepers, for piles and bridge building and for general building and construction work. The wood possesses a well-marked grain which renders it attractive for joinery and internal work. It is, in fact, a wood of wide general utility, for which an extensive market in the United Kingdom should be assured. 34. The method of production of timber on the Pacific Coast differs in material respects from the method in European countries, in that in the latter the saw millers guided by experience of past demands cut each log to the best advantage, whereas on the Pacific Coast the chief consideration in timber conversion is speed of output. Owing to the vast wealth of timber which up to the present has always been available in British Columbia, economy in cutting has not been practised and we are informed that enormous quantities of material are cut to waste and destroyed. The result of this high rate of output, which is dependent on large saws working at high speed, is a tendency to irregular cutting which militates against the acceptance of the wood in the United Kingdom for use in better class work. The grading rules in operation on the Pacific Coast permit a certain variation in the dimensions of the sawn timber, but United Kingdom consumers are accustomed to the exact dimensions which result from the more careful cutting in the European mills and are not disposed to accept variations from their specifications. In cutting for the United Kingdom market, therefore, the timber should be of uniform size from end to end and should be cut" plump" that is, its size should be such as to allow a margin for shrinkage, so that after seasoning the dimensions are not less than those required by the specification. 35. The saw mills of British Columbia produce primarily for the North American market and many of the usual sizes to which timber is sawn are not those in common use in the United Kingdom. It has been suggested that by arrangement, architects and engineers might be prepared to adapt their specifications to enable the usual Canadian sizes to be utilized. If progress is to be made in this direction information regarding stock sizes should be readily available. In the case where certain sizes are indispensable, these would require to be specially cut by the Canadian mills for the United Kingdom market. Though this might increase the cost of production, it might be well worth while if a larger market were thereby created. The mechanical and physical properties of Douglas Fir have been the subject of careful investigations carried out at the Forest Products Research Laboratories of Canada and the published results might be used for the preparation of tables for use in Great Britain showing the strengths of the various dimensions. of Douglas Fir in comparison with those of other softwood constructional timbers there in use. Before changing his specification of dimensions an architect or engineer would require to be assured that he is using material of equal strength to that with which he is familiar. 36. The timbers with which Douglas Fir is in competition are Need for not only sawn to the requirements of the United Kingdom careful market, but are also carefully sorted, graded and finished. They preparation. thus present a good appearance. Timber, like other commodities, is to some extent sold on appearance and the acceptance of Douglas Fir by users would be encouraged by greater care in preparation. These fir. 37. Doubts have been entertained in the United Kingdom Creosoting regarding the possibility of creosoting Douglas Fir satisfactorily of Douglas for use on the ground, as, for instance, as sleepers. doubts, however, appear to have arisen from applying to Douglas Fir the standard treatment applicable to Baltic softwoods. Douglas Fir is very widely used for sleepers in America and has also been used for the same purpose in South Africa and India. Most of the sleepers used by the Egyptian and Sudan railways are of Douglas Fir. Thus prima facie grounds exist for believing that this timber should be suitable for use as sleepers in the United Kingdom. The Southern Railway Company in England have now made arrangements to test Douglas Fir sleepers creosoted in Canada with a view to determining whether the objections which have been taken to the use of Douglas Fir for this purpose arise from unsuitable treatment. These trials, combined with periodical examinations which will be made over a period of five years by the Forest Products Research Laboratory at Princes Risborough, should go far towards ascertaining the proper manner of creosoting Douglas Fir for use in the United Kingdom. 38. Certain softwoods possess particular properties rendering Pencil cedar them suitable for particular purposes. An interesting example of of East this is Pencil Cedar, of which the United States is at present the Africa. chief source of supply to the world. That source is now being severely taxed to meet the world demand. The Empire, however, possesses in East Africa a timber of the same genus-the African pencil cedar-which in colour, odour and whittling properties is similar to the pencil cedar of the United States. It grows abundantly throughout the higher regions of Kenya and is also found in certain parts of Uganda and Tanganyika. VII.—LIGHTER HARDWOODS. hardwoods 39. Thus we are in the presence of two new facts in regard to Possibilities softwoods; on the one hand the growing demand in the great of substitumarket of the United States and, on the other hand, the avail- ting lighter ability in the United Kingdom, via the Panama Canal, of timbers for softfrom British Columbia whose properties are well known but with woods. which consumers in the United Kingdom are not yet fully familiar. There is, however, yet another source from which timber may be drawn to serve some of the purposes for which Advisability of greater use of lighter hardwoods in countries of growth. Sources of imports. Oak. softwoods are now used; certain kinds of hardwoods possess some of the qualities of softwoods. 40. The line of distinction between softwoods and the lighter hardwoods is not a rigid one. The uses to which softwoods are now put in the United Kingdom are varied and it is probable that for many of them, lighter hardwoods of Empire growth— light both in weight and colour-may be found to be suitable. Investigations which are being carried out in India already show that certain of these lighter hardwoods can be seasoned to be similar in colour and working properties to the recognised softwoods. It is also believed that several of the little known woods of Nigeria possess similar properties. This is a problem worth careful examination, for if these lighter hardwoods can be used in place of softwoods and supplied at competitive rates a large market in the United Kingdom will have been opened for many species of Empire woods at present unmarketed. 41. Although the supply of overseas markets of the Empire is not within the scope of this report we feel it apposite to call attention to the fact than many parts of the Empire, which at present import softwoods, have in their own forests many species of these lighter hardwoods. We have been informed that in Malaya and elsewhere special attention is being directed to the wider utilization of locally grown timbers in place of imported softwoods. The pressure on the main sources of supply of softwoods would obviously be relieved by such a policy and to the extent to which local resources were developed the Empire as a whole would be less dependent on foreign countries. We trust therefore that the Forestry Departments in the parts of the Empire into which softwoods are imported will pursue their search for local woods capable of replacing them. VIII.-HARDWOODS. 42. Hardwoods are imported into the United Kingdom in great variety and from many countries. The imports of hardwoods for 1926 showing the countries of export are given in Appendix II. 43. The hardwoods in commonest use are Oak, Mahogany, Teak and Walnut. Of these Oak is imported in the largest quantities and has the widest range of uses. It may, in fact, be described as the general utility wood amongst the hardwood classes of timber. It is used in place of softwoods in much high-class contructional work; its qualities of durability and resilience render it peculiary suitable where strength and resistance to hard usage are required; whilst for decorative purposes, oak holds a sentimental place in public esteem which no other wood enjoys. Oak to the value of over two million pounds is imported into the United Kingdom every year of which less than 1 per cent. is supplied from within the Empire. It is not generally realized that three-quarters of the oak imported into the United Kingdom is grown in the United States. 44. A still more remarkable fact is that three-quarters of the Mahogany. imports of sawn mahogany into the United Kingdom in 1926 came from the United States where the tree does not grow. The chief sources of supply are Central America-British Honduras and Nicaragua-and West Africa-both British and French. The British West African Mahogany is exported to the United Kingdom mostly in the form of logs; the British Honduras mahogany reaches the United Kingdom mostly as timber sawn and converted in the United States. It has been suggested to us that sawmills should be established in British Honduras. The supply of mahogany from Cuba is small but has a special value. It is the true Spanish mahogany of which the supplies in the world are now very short. This tree also grows in Jamaica and it appears to us that a valuable contribution might be made to the Empire resources of hardwoods if measures were taken to encourage the growth of this species of mahogany in that island. We have been informed that this question is receiving the attention of the Authorities in Jamaica. 45. Teak, of which over one million pounds worth is imported Teak. into the United Kingdom each year, is obtained entirely from the countries of the East. India, particularly Burma, is the most important source of supply. Siam is at present a competitor, but we are informed that on account of overcutting in the past, supplies from that country are likely to be restricted. It is evident therefore that the Empire enjoys something approaching a monopoly in the supply of this valuable wood. In Burma there are two orders of forest, the reserved and the unclassed. The general tendency during the past twenty or thirty years has been to work the unclassed forests without restriction with the result that production from these areas is becoming exhausted. In the reserved forests extraction is controlled by working plans and the output of teak is at present restricted to. 300,000 tons a year. Future supplies are thus ensured, though any large increase in production within the next thirty years is not to be expected. There is a wide and steady market for teak in India, where it is especially esteemed on account of its immunity from the attacks of the white ant, and only some 10 per cent. of the output is shipped for use in other countries. The limitation of the supply of teak makes an opportunity for other varieties of timbers drawn from within the Empire. Thus Douglas Fir from Canada and Kauri Pine from Australia are being tried for decks of ships, whilst Pyinkado from Burma. and Greenheart from British Guiana have proved successful for under-water work such as piling and bridge construction. 46. The imports of walnut into the United Kingdom are less Walnut. than those of oak, mahogany, or teak, but are nevertheless considerable. They are derived chiefly from the United States |