CRICKET-BAT MAKING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20889, 3 June 1931, Page 17

CRICKET-BAT MAKING.

INDUSTRY IN ENGLAND. / VARIETY of willow used. i PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE. In view of the recent announcement cf i shortage of willow in England suitable for the manufacture of cricket bats arid the prospects of New Zealand supplyjug (lie wants, the following article, appealing in an/ English publication, the Cricketer, is of interest. There are many types of willow found growing throughout the British Isles, but one willow alone produces the particular tjpc of wood from which first-class bats aio turned out, the article states. Up tb some years ago the Huntingdon willow (Salix alba) was largely used in the making of bats, but it has been found that a cross between this, which is hard, mid the crack willow (Sali.x fragilis), which is soft, produces by far the best wood for the manufacture of high grade bats. This is generally known as the true cricket bat willow (Salix coo rulea), and is popularly designated as the closebarked willow, in order to distinguish it from the open bark, or crack willow. The bavk of the cricket bat willow is a dark grey /with long narrow fissures closely arranged, from which the term " dose burked" is derived. The area suitable for growing these trees is practically confineil to the Eastern Counties; of England, especially Essex. / Planting of Trees.

The trees are planted in sets or cuttings, preferably as cuttings from pollards about three years old. These cuttings are about 12ft. high and 3i». in circumference and are planted at least 20it. apart, to allow for growth, and close to water. The cricket bat willow is a quick-growing tree and may be felled after about 12 years' growth, but better at. 17 or 18 years, when the maximum circumference of tho trunk would be about 60in. The trunk, that is, from the. ground to where tho branches commence, is the only suitable part of tho tree for making bats. After the tree is felled it is sawn into bat. lengths, and then tho wood is split into what is known as clefts. From a good tree as many as 30 or 40 clefts suitable tc be made into bats may ho obtained. It is interesting to note th.it cricket-bat willow is the most, valuable timber grown in Britain and is at least »ix times more expensive than oak. Of the two original species of willow that together form the true cricket-bat willow, the Huntingdon is tough and hard and is very often stained, whereas -the crack, which is soft, is very often white, so that a complete blend of tho two, which, as mentioned above, makes the finest driving and wearing timber, very often produces a slightly stained wood. Unfoitunatcly, in order to meet this somewhn* fallacious demand, there are to-day bats on the market bleached a pure white. '1 his is done by treating the face chemically. While this is not considered actually harmful, it is certainly entirely unnecessary and may cover up A multitude of sins. The Best Bats.

Tho very finest-wearing bats are gonerally those with a yellow stain in tho shapo of a butterfly across the face. We now conic to the actual making process, 'flic clefts arc chopped out roughly and then stacked, preferably in tho open, where they arc subject to the vagaries of the weather, and left to season for eighteen months. These clefts arc now ready to work on. It is first of all drawn out, that is, made nearer the shape of a finished bat, by means of a draw-knife. Jt is now classified into different grades and is ready for preparing. This process is to harden the face by pressing and also to harden the edges by hammering. Tho "V" is then sawn out to tako the handle. These handles are cut from the best Sarawak cane, planed out and glued together in ieclions with cork and rubber strips inserted, which gives tho resilience and Spring to the handle. This, which is known as a " built-up handle, is fitted to all the best bats, and there arc actually about 12 separate pieces of cane to rach handle. The handle is then turned down on a lathe and made ready for fitting into the. blade. In this latter process the fit must be so close that- even without the glue it is impossible to get the handle out without it being hammered; also the handle has to be in exact line with the blade and in its dead centre. As soon as the handle is fitted and glued the bat is shaped to its exact dimensions, and a further pressing is given to tho face. " The bat is now sandpapered, the handle shaped and bound, and the necessary stamping, etc., is done. Ihe final process of boning now takes place. '} I,s is done simply by rubbing the face with an old meat * bone, which gives a gloss U, the blade-that no other known process can do.

BLIGHT ON WILLOW TREES. THREAT TO THE INDUSTRY. A correspondent of the limes recently TV rote: — . Thousands of willow trees in the main centres of ths bat-making industry have been destroyed by a mysterious bacterium which is baffling the 'mycologists of the Forestry Commission and of the Imperial Forestry Institute, Oxford. Tho willow-growing country lies between the Lea valley in Hertfordshire and the North Sea. taking in the Chelmsford fontre in North Essex arid the valley of the (lipping, Suffolk. 'J he trouble has been known as the watermark disease. The first, signs are seen in the. tops of the trees: the leaves wither, the bacteiia sink into the trunks, and the frees die. The withering of the willow trees is regarded as disastrous to the national batmaking industry. The trees, owing to Ihe short time they take to arrive at maturity, are among the more valuable grown, fetching from £lO to £ls each. Growers, who have suffered enormous losses, arc making representations to the Minister of Agriculture on the .subject through Sir John Stirling-Max well, chairman of Ihe Forestry Commission. It has been suggested that, if found necessary, the Board of Agriculture should make an order that all trees attacked by the bacterium be immediately cut down /ind that a penalty be imposed upon those who disobey the order.