Oregon Pine.
The scarcity of silver spruce has led to the adoption of the wood known as Oregon pine for most of the components for which the former wood has hitherto been used. The term “Oregon pine” is applied to the Douglas fir, one of the largest of the fir species, a length of 200 ft. being an average. It is altogether heavier than silver spruce, weighing about 34 lbs. per cubic foot, and also differs greatly in appearance, possessing a reddish-brown grain, with very distinct annual rings. Its strength to weight ratios are practically equal to those of silver spruce, although in the writer’s experience it has a tendency towards brittleness, and is not so suitable as Sitka spruce for components of small scantling. With some specimens of this wood it is noticeable that the effect of drying on freshly sawn lengths for longerons, etc., is the appearance of “shakes” or cracks, not previously discernible. Its appearance generally is reminiscent of pitch pine, for which wood it is sometimes substituted in connection with building.