Of extreme importance in the game of billiards are the balls. Time was when billiard balls were only made from ivory. Now there are composition balls, but there are many players who still think that there is "nothing like ivory," especially if it be of the right kind and if the sphericity of the balls be perfect and their density as equally balanced as possible.
A billiard ball that is of unequal density can never run true, whilst a set that is not identical in weight and size cannot yield uniform results. When ivory balls are purchased from the best houses and a reasonable price is paid for them, thoroughly tested and seasoned balls are supplied and their owner rarely finds reason to repent of his investment.
There is nothing quite like good ivory for billiard balls. It has qualities that are all its own, coupled with an appearance as regards its grain and colour and a restraint mellowness in its click which no substitute, however excellent in its way, has yet been able to rival for the more refined developments of the game.
In common with the ash wood of the billiard cue, the ivory of the billiard ball carries the mind to places where the trees of the field wave and where the forests stand.
Ivory is obtainable from the tusks of animals other than the elephant, but it is from the African equatorial elephant that the ivory used in the manufacture of the best billiard balls comes. This ivory is closer in the grain and has less tendency to become yellow by exposure than the so-called Indian ivory. During the drying and seasoning process the tusks shrink, especially in their width, and for this reason the best billiard balls are turned from tusks which do not greatly exceed two inches in diameter when ready for the turner. By the selection of such tusks the ivory on the opposite sides of the ball is found to correspond in density and form, and the shrinkage about the centre is uniform.
After being roughly turned to shape the balls are further seasoned by being kept in a warm room, and the additional precaution is sometimes adopted of sending them out in their finished state up to full size, so that, after the lapse of some time, they may be subjected to micrometrical test and, if necessary, fractionally reduced to perfect sphericity once more. In the case of ivory balls for the warmer climates precautions of this kind are, of course, especially needed, and sometimes the plan is adopted of giving the balls a preliminary seasoning in the rough in the actual room in which they are intended to be ultimately used.
Even in the temperate climate of Great Britain the fortunate possessor of a set of good ivory balls should take at least as much care of such set as he does of his special cues, or of his table. To leave valuable ivory balls in the pockets of a table or to place them in a box over the fireplace is sufficient to disorganize any set, however judiciously they may have been originally selected. A method to be recommended for the storage of balls when not in use is to place them in a box filled with sawdust and put them away in a cupboard or drawer. If this be done they will suffer neither injury nor deterioration.
As regards the treatment of the balls when on the table and in actual play, some few words may, perhaps, be added.
To begin with, an expert billiard player comparatively rarely strikes a ball with any degree of force, and when he does so he has a definite intention in his mind. It may occasionally be necessary to use force in order to make the cue ball take a wider angle or the object ball travel in and out of baulk and resume position. But for the most part the competent cueist adopts the method of the wise pedagogue in dealing with the child and "never takes the harsher way when ' gentleness ' will do the deed."
Sometimes, when ordinary amateurs are playing, a ball is struck with so much force and so unwisely that it leaps from the table, rattles along the floor, and is finally brought to with a shock against an iron fender. A ball that is struck violently, especially with "top," and which reaches a cushion obliquely at short range, will always leave the table, and a disagreeable eventuality of this kind should be foreseen and guarded against.
The three golden rules in ball treatment and control on the billiard table are: (1) Use them gently; (2) allocate the line of direction to be taken both by object and cue ball; and (3) estimate and adapt "strength" to the required length of travel. Probably the two greatest secrets to be learnt in connection with break-making are the playing of a losing hazard in such a way as to guide the object ball to a desirable location and the potting of the object ball in such a manner as to leave the cue ball favourably situated. Each of these processes is much less difficult than is generally imagined and is sometimes as easy as simply making the immediate stroke.