CRICKET-BAT MAKING

Taranaki Daily News, 10 June 1931, Page 7

CRICKET-BAT MAKING

INDUSTRY IN ENGLAND. VARIETY OF WILLOW USED. In view of the recent announcement of a shortage of willow in England suitable for the manufacture of cricket bats and the prospects of New Zealand supplying the wants, the following article appearing 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' type of wood from which firetclass bats are turned out, the article states. Up to 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, and the crack willow (Salix 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 coe rulea), and is popularly designated as the close-barked willow, in order to distinguish it from the open bark, or crack willow. The bark of the cricket willow is a dark grey with 1» j narrow fissures closely arranged, from which the terip ‘‘close barked” is derived. The area suitable for growing these trees is practically confined to the eastern counties of England, especially Essex. The trees are planted in sets or cuttings, preferably as cuttings from pollards about three years old. These cuttings are about 12ft high and 3in in circumference and are planted at least 20ft apart, to allow for growth, and close to water. The cricket bat willow is a quick-growing tree and may be felled after Ibout 12 years’ growth, but better at 17 or 18 years, when the maximum circumference of the trunk would be about OOin. The trunk, that is, from the ground to where the branches commence, is the only suitable part of the tree for making bats. After the tree is felled it is sawn into bat lengths, and then the wood is split into what is known as clefts. From a good tree as many as 30 or 40 clefts suitable to be made into bats may be obtained. It is interesting to note that cricket-bat willow is the most valuable timber grown in Britain and is at least six 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 hal'd and is very often stained, whereas the crack, which is soft, is very often white, so that a complete blend of the two. which, as mentioned above, makes the finest driving and wearing timber, very often produces a slightly stained wood. Unfortunately, iri order to meet this somewhat fallacious demand, there are to-day bats on the market bleached a pure white. This is done by treating the faoe chemically. While this is not considered actually harmful, it is certainly entirely unnecessary and may cover up a multitude of sins. The very finest-wearing ba£s are generally those with a yellow stain in the shape of a butterfly across the face. We now come to the actual making process. The clefts are chopped out roughly and then stacked, preferably in the open, where they are subject to the vagaries of the weather, and left to season for eighteen months. These clefts are 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. It 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. The “V” is then sawn out to take the handle. These handies are cut from the best Sarawak cane, planed out and glued together I .in sections with cork and rubber strips inserted, which gives the resilence and spring to the handle. This, which is known as a “built-up” handle, is fitted to all the best bats, and there are actually about 12 separate pieces, of cane to each 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 tin glue it is impossible io 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 the face. Tne bat is now sandpapered, the handle shaped and bound, and the necessary stamping, etc., is done. The final process of boning now takes pla.ee. This is done simply by rubbing the face with an old meat bone, which "ires h "• I ri=s to the blade that no other known process can do.

A correspondent of the Times recently wrote: — Thousands of willow trees in the main centres of the bat-making industry have been destroyed by a mysterious bacterium which is baffling the mycologists 01 the Forestry Commission and of the Imperial Forestry Institute, Oxford. The willow-growing country lies between the Lea Valley in Hertfordshire and the North Sea, taking in the Chelmsford centre in North Essex and the valley of tho Gipping, Suffolk. The trouble has been known as the watermark disease. The first signs are seen in the lops of the trees; the leaves wither, the bacteria sink into the trunks, and the trees die. Tiie withering of the willow trees is regarded as disastrous to the national bat-making industry. Tho, trees, owing to the short time they take to arrive at maturity, are among the more valuable grown, fetching from £lO to £l5 each. Growers, who have suffered enormous losses, are making representations to the Minister of Agriculture on the subject through Sir John StirlingMaxwell, chairman of the 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 and that a penalty be imposed upon those who disobey the order.