TIMBER

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28370, 31 August 1957, Page 3

TIMBER

Timber. A Historical Survey of its Development and Distribution. By Brian Latham. Harrap. 285 pp.

The family business of James Latham and Company, of which the author is a member, has been serving the English timber market since 1757. This survey of the trade tends therefore to’ be confined to the English scene. Nevertheless, Mr Latham’s interests are widespread and his book has a contribution to make to New Zealand’s growing timber industry, even if it is only by recounting parallel developments in the northern hemisphere. Mr Latham’s survey begins with early exploration in the twelfth century. At this time timber was used mainly as a building material and as a fuel. By medieval times, specialisation produced the timber merchant, who supplied the craftsman of his day with woods to make the splendid monuments to skill and patience which exist in England to this day. Some of the timber came from Baltic ports, but the majority was frojn English forests. A large trade in firewood also existed within the City of London. Mr Latham goes on to outline the discovery of colonial timbers and the development of the timber trade across the Atlantic. The Napoleonic wars spurred this trade which has since reached such extraordinary proportions. Timber for the Royal Navy, later, for sleepers for railways, for telegraph poles and for newsprint was to create a huge demand. Mr Latham traces the effect of this demand on sawmilling techniques. The hand-operated whip saw soon gave place to waterdriven saws, gang saws, band saws and band mills. These developments, together with the use of ball bearings, and higher speeds for all woodworking machinery greatly hastened exploitation. Legislation was introduced in most countries to try to conserve the fast dwindling forests and forestry, the practice and science of a child of necessity, was born. Out of the conception of a timber crop, with a close relationship between trees and soil, grew the modern techniques of harvesting and renewal. As early as 1770 the first course in forestry Was given at a German university. Mr Latham devotes his last three chapters to the carpenter, to timber houses and halls, and to wooden ships. His survey covers the use of timber by craftsmen rather than by engineers. It was not Until 1678, when Hooke’s Law established the relationship between stress and strain, that any adequate theory was available to guide designers. For another 250 years little precise knowledge was available to aid timber users. It remained a material for the craftsman until the period between the two world wars when the position changed and an immense volume of data was accumulated. Modern industrial development implies research to improve products and to expand markets. In this connexion the use of our own softwoods has been and will be increased considerably through the findings of wood technology. But many will regret the passing. of the days outlined in the last chapters of Mr Latham’s book. The photographs show some splendid examples of English craftsmanship in wood, and strengthen the impression that the survey belongs to a passing age.