Dietrich Brandis

“ In the natural forests of Burmah and India teak timber with a diameter of 24 inches is never less than 100 and often more than 200 years old. In future, the timber grown in plantations and in forests under regular management may be expected to grow much faster; and there is no ground for anticipating that rapidly grown timber will be less valuable than that of slow growth, which is at present brought to market. ”

“ Apart from the manner in which the tree had grown up in the forest, soil, elevation, and climate have a great influence upon the grain and the mechanical qualities of teak as of other timbers. Most of the larger logs brought to market have an irregular crack or hollow in the centre, which commences at the butt and often runs up a long way. ”

“ Moreover, most teak seedlings which come up naturally are cut down to the ground by the fires of the hot season; some are killed, but many sprout again during the rains, and this is generally repeated year after year, until a sapling is produced strong enough to outlive the fire. ”

“ On a transverse section the wood is marked by large pores, which are more numerous and larger in the spring wood, or the inner belt of each annual ring, while they are less numerous and smaller in the autumn wood or outer belt. In this manner the growth of each successive year is marked in the wood, and the age of a tree may be determined by counting the annual rings. ”

“ Timber of that size is marketable, but the timber of the natural forests which is at present brought to market in Burmah has grown much more slowly, the chief reason being the annual forest fires, which harden and impoverish the soil. ”

“ In its youth the tree grows with extreme rapidity. Two-year-old seedlings on good soil are 5 to 10 feet high, and instances of more rapid growth are not uncommon. In the plantations which have been made since 1856 in Burmah, the teak has on good soil attained an average height of 60 feet in 16 years, with a girth, breast high, of 19 inches. ”

“ In Burmah oil is extracted from the timber on a small scale, for medicinal purposes, by filling an earthen pot, which is placed inverted upon another, with chips of wood, and putting fire round it, upon which the oil runs down into the lower vessel. ”