[Illustration: _Quebracho Colorado Tree._]
The word "quebracho" (pronounced KAYBRATSHO) signifies axe-breaking, and
even modern tools do not retain their edge long when working on this
wood.
The wonderful durability of the wood renders it a perfect material for
railway sleepers, and this has been appreciated by the Government of
Argentina to such an extent that they have decreed that the laying of
new railways is to be upon sleepers made of the hard woods of the
Country.
[Illustration: _Sleepers awaiting Transport at Vera._]
The forests of the Santa Fe Land Company have produced in the last
twelve years over a million Quebracho Colorado sleepers.
One drawback to the wood is that it has the peculiarity of splitting
around the heart of the tree. This is caused by the accumulation of
resin at certain periods, and is probably connected in some way with the
excessive moisture or dryness of a particular year's growth.
The tree is often attacked by a boring grub, which enters by making a
very small pin prick opening, and during its existence in the tree grows
and bores an ever enlarging hole until often it becomes half an inch in
diameter. It would seem almost incredible that a grub could live either
on the resins in the tree or be able to bore through what is one of the
hardest woods in the world.
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