Part 12 (1/2)

PHYSICAL QUALITIES: Heavy (7th in this list); 39 lbs. per cu. ft.; sp.

gr. 0.7504; very strong (6th in this list); very elastic (3d in this list); hard (24th in this list); shrinkage, 4 per cent.; warps little; quite durable; troublesome to work; splits along annual rings in nailing.

COMMON USES: Heavy construction, s.h.i.+p building, railroad ties, docks, bridges, house trim.

REMARKS: Similar to and often sold as Long-leaf Pine.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Radial Section, life size.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cross-section, magnified 37-1/2 diameters.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Tangential Section, life size.]

10

TAMARACK. LARCH. HACKMATACK.

_Larix laricina_ (Du Roi) Koch. _Larix americana_ Michaux.

_Larix_, the cla.s.sical Latin name.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Habitat.]

HABITAT: (See map); prefers swamps, ”Tamarack swamps.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: Leaf.]

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TREE: Height, 50'-60' and even 90', diameter 1'-3'; intolerant; tall, slender trunk; bark, cinnamon brown, no ridges, breaking into flakes; leaves, deciduous, pea-green, in tufts; cone, 1/2”-3/4”, bright brown.

APPEARANCE OF WOOD: Color, light brown, sapwood hardly distinguishable; non-porous; rings, summer wood, thin but distinct, dark colored; grain, straight, coa.r.s.e; rays, numerous, hardly distinguishable; very resinous, but ducts few and small.

PHYSICAL QUALITIES: Weight, medium (29th in this list); 39 lbs. per cu. ft.; sp. gr. 0.6236; strong (24th in this list); elastic (11th in this list); medium hard (40th in this list); shrinkage, 3 per cent.; warps .........; very durable; easy to work; splits easily.

COMMON USES: s.h.i.+p building, electric wire poles, and railroad ties; used for boat ribs because of its naturally crooked knees; slenderness prevents common use as lumber.

REMARKS: Tree desolate looking in winter.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Radial Section, life size.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cross-section, magnified 37-1/2 diameters.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Tangential Section, life size.]

11

WESTERN LARCH. TAMARACK.

_Larix occidentalis_ Nuttall.

_Larix_, the cla.s.sical Latin name; _occidentalis_ means western.