TIMBER RESEARCH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 283, 3 December 1935, Page 9

TIMBER RESEARCH

THE BOARD’S REPORT WORK OF THE PAST YEAR LONDON, Oct. 26. The annual report of the Forest Products Research Board for the year 1934, issued by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, describes the work carried out at the Forest Products Research Laboratory, Princes Risborough, aiming at the better utilisation of timber, whether home grown or imported. The growing appreciation of the timber-using industries of the work of the laboratory is reflected in the large increase in the number of inquiries on timber problems dealt with during the year. These have risen from 903 in 1932 to 1336 in 1933 and 1739 in 1934. Over 70 per cent, of the inquiries came from brokers, timber merchants, architects, builders, etc., the remainder being from Government (Departments, public, services, educational and research institutions, and private individuals. Tho “working” of over 5'J species of timber, i.e., the shrinkage and swelling with varying atmospheric conditions which leads to sticking drawers and badly-fitting windows and doors has been studied. Specimens have been exposed in offices and bedrooms and in Ihe form of panels in new buildings, central heated and air-condi-tion buildings, to discover the degree of seasoning (i.e., drying) most suitable for timber to be used in various situations. Work of considerable economic importance, the report states, has been carried out to* determine the suitability of various home-grown timbers for use as railway sleepers and to explore the possibility of reducing the cost of preservative treatment or of extending the useful life of the sleepers in service by modifications in the methods of treatment. By arrangement with the railway companies the behaviour of 4400 sleepers laid in the tracks in eight different situations will be watched. The tests include sleepers treated with mixtures of fuel oil. creosote, and lowtemperature carbonisation creosote, while the species to be tested include home-grown IScots pine, Douglas fir, and beech. Cricket Bat Willow, It was reported last year that tin investigation had been commenced with the object, of determining the properties of willow relative to use as cricket bats, in order to enable the most suitable types of willow for this purpose to be evaluated. A number of bats manufactured from, the willow which was collected in 1933 and air seasoned at the laboratory have been tested and reported on by professional cricketers. Mechanical tests will now be carried out on specimens cut from clefts matched with those from which the bats were made, and the results of the tests will be compared with the reports of the playing qualities of the bats. In addition, the rebound of a cricket ball from these bats is to be measured and compared with the players’ reports, in order to explore the possibility of employing a. test of this nature for the assessment of the placing qualities of clefts previous to being made into bats. Death Watch Beetle. The death watch beetle has continued to occupy the attention of the board. It is pointed out that satisfactory methods for eradicating the beetle and preventing the infestation of new buildings require a knowledge of the beetle itself, its life cycle, habits, and food requirements. The results of experiments, carried out over the past four years in incubators and in the. experimental house at the laboratoix, lead to the general conclusion that in a suitable timber, such as oak or willow, the length of life-cycle of Xestobium (death watch beetle) depends upon (a) condition of the timber with reference to fungal decay; (b) moisture content of the timber; and (c) temperature conditions, and lend valuable support to the view that the development of Xestobium in buildings is extremely slow, unless conditions unusually favourable for rapid decay of the timber are present. Now that the insect can be reared in the laboratory, further work has been planned with the object of investigating the type and extent oi fungal decay in timber in relation to the development of the insect. Moreover, with the increased possibility of rearing large numbers of insects, investigations of various methods of control now become more feasible.