Mike Knight, age 13, of Haggerstown, Md., for his question:

WHERE DO WE GET TEAK?

Teak is a deciduous timber tree that grows to be about 100 feet tail in its native India and the Malay Archipelago. It is also now widely cultivated throughout the Philippine Islands and Java.

Teakwood is especially hard and very pretty. It is used throughout the world as lumber in shipbuilding. Also, because of its great durability and strength, teakwood is used for the construction of furniture.

Teakwood is known to resist the attacks of insects and the corrosive effects of weather for hundreds of years.

Various substitutes for teak, which have been under extensive cultivation because of the increasing demand for hardwoods, are loosely termed teaks. African teak, or Africa oak, is a hardwood tree belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. Other substitutes include the Australia teak, or Hills teak, and two South African