I read an artical in Scientific American about how Stradivarious wood travelled down rivers from northern Germany to Italy, and that by the time it got there, microbes had eaten away the pulp. This results in hollow tubes of cell walls, and is also what happens with age. The pulp shrinks untill there are hollow tubes. A physisist, Joseph Nyagivari patented a substance that would accelerate this process, and last I know of, the technology was purchased by Yamaha Corp. Of similar interest is some spruce that Lance McCollum has that was salvaged from the mast of a 17th century tall masted sailing vessel, and another builder who aquired a piece of spruce that was 2,000 years old, and had fallen over a river gully and was preserved from rotting by hanging in the air. Enjoy!