Seasons Greeting to all our members.
One of the consequences of being a wood enthusiast (more than just a wood collector) is that it makes it easy for family to find appropriate Christmas presents. This year I received a book by Roland Ennos, “The Wood Age – How wood shaped the whole of human history”. In just the opening few pages he explained an enduring mystery for me. When I am attempting to reduce my garden prunings so they fit in the green waste bin, I try to break them by bending the twig back on itself, hoping to snap them in two. Commonly, only the outside snaps and the inside just bends, leading to a protracted arm wrestle and many scratches and bruises.
Ennos explains this in terms of tension and compression responses in the wood. The outside of the bend experiences stretching beyond the breaking strain of the fibres or tracheids and snaps. The inside experiences compression of those same cells which they are able to withstand and frustratingly are left intact.
Ennos wasn’t setting out to help with the gardening. He was addressing tool making amongst Orangutans of Borneo whereby they make secure beds high up in the rainforest by bending small branches. Snapped outsides allow the twigs to be intertwined and intact insides keep them securely attached to the tree. Ennos goes on to say wood has been our constant evolutionary companion and has shaped how we turned out.
This reflection brings me to address the future we want to create. Our Society has a strong legacy in publishing. To many people, our journal and our books are the only contact they have with the Society. I hope to embark upon a series of publications that build on those foundations. We have plenty of money in reserve in our Endowment Fund and it would be good to put it to work to reach a new and broader audience, by publishing in either hardcopy or electronic format.
Our Secretary/Treasurer, Eric Krum, is keen to restart “Wood of the Month” as an item in World of Wood. This series originally commenced in 1976 and subsequently was combined to produce the two-volume set “Useful Woods of the World” and “More Useful Woods of the World”. Eric would welcome contributions from members. I know Geoff Holloway from Queensland has been submitting such items for the Australian newsletter, “Downunder” and so I think they can get us off to a flying start. Please give it a go by sending contributions to Eric. Perhaps we could aim for “Even More Useful Woods of the World”.
Thanking you in advance, and with best wishes for the new year,
John Lyons #9737