It is customary in England to speak of all timber obtained from coniferous trees as " soft wood." Pitch pine is, of course, much harder than a number of the so-called "hard woods," but it would nevertheless be classified as a " soft wood." Much better is the system adopted in some parts of America, where four grades of hardness or softness are recognised -namely: " Very hard woods," " hard woods," " middling hard woods," and "soft woods." The names of a few familiar woods will illustrate its application: -

V. II. Woods.

Hard Woods.

M. H. Woods.

Soft Woods.

Hickory.

Ash.

Pitch pine.

Pine and fir.

Hard maple.

Black walnut.

Douglas fir.

Redwood.

Locust.

Beech.

Larch.

Poplar.

Best oak and elm.

Oak and elm.

Sweet gum.

Whitewood.

Persimmon.

Lacewood.

Light birch.

Cypress.

The classification is arrived at by the amount of power required to indent a square inch of the surface of the wood to a given depth.