PART IV.—NOTICES OF AUTHORS WHO TREAT OF ARBORICULTURE.

Utility of a general review of these authors, . . . 138

I.—FORESTER’S GUIDE, BY MR MONTEATH, . . . 140

Advantage of converting our coppice oak into forest, and of saving

our home oak in time of peace, . . . 140

Plan, by Mr Monteath, of preparing peat soils for planting, . . . 142

————— of covering bare rocky ground with timber, . . . 143

————— of raising oak-forest or copse by layers, . . . 144

Influence of our vernal eastern breeze on vegetation, . . . 146

Cause why the trees of narrow belts seldom grow to large timber,

. . . 148

Observations on pruning and thinning, . . . 150

Observations on the age at which the valuable part of oak bark is

thickest, . . . 154

Observations on the prevention of dry-rot, . . . 157

II.—NICOL’S PLANTER’S CALENDAR, . . . 163

Different influence of transplanting on herbaceous and woody

vegetables, . . . 164

Cutting the roots close in, injurious to some trees and not to

others, . . . 165

Mr Sang’s plan of raising forest from the seed _in situ_, . . . 167

Reasons which render the planting of young trees preferable to

sowing _in situ_, . . . 168

Mr Sang’s directions for nursery practice; sowing the different

kinds of forest trees in the seed-bed; removing the seedlings to the

nursery line, and from thence to the field, . . . 170

Remarks on transplanting, . . . 178

III.—BILLINGTON ON PLANTING, . . . 181

An account of the management of the Royal Forests, . . . ib.

Reasons why government should rather purchase than raise timber, and

that they should sell off the Royal Forests, . . . 182

The Billingtonian system of pruning, . . . 185

Remarks on planting soils not easily permeable by water, . . . 187

Mr Billington’s directions for planting these soils, . . . 188

————— ————— for clearing away weeds, and for cutting in or

pruning the points of the branches, . . . 189

IV.—FORSYTH ON FRUIT AND FOREST TREES, . . . 192

Mr Forsyth’s surgery of trees, and the value of his

composition-salve, . . . ib.

Manner in which a tree can be transformed from disease and

rottenness to health and soundness, . . . 193

V.—MR WITHERS, . . . 198

Discomfiture of our Scottish Knights by Mr Withers, . . . ib.

Account of a number of facts and experiments by the writer, on

the comparative strength of quick and slow grown timber—on the

influence of circumstance and age in modifying the quality of the

timber—on the difference in the quality of different varieties of

the same species, and of different parts of the same tree, . . . 199

Oak timber, moderately fast grown, so that it may be of sufficient

size, and still retain the toughness of youth, best suited for naval

use, . . . 214

Mr Withers, his literary friends and Sir Henry Steuart equally

imperfectly acquainted with the subject in dispute between them,

. . . 215

The Withers’ system neither necessary nor economically suited for

the greater part of Scotland, . . . 217

Fallacy of experiments on the strength of timber, from not taking

into account the difference of tension of the different annual

layers, and their position, whether flat, perpendicular, &c.,

. . . 221

VI.—STEUART’S PLANTER’S GUIDE AND SIR WALTER SCOTT’S

CRITIQUE, . . . 226

Importance of whatever may serve to amuse the second childhood of

the wealthy, . . . 227

The subject—the art of moving about large trees in general, merely

a pandering to our wilfulness and impatience, . . . 227

Intolerable dulness of the park and smooth lawn, . . . 228

Delightful sympathies with the objects and varied scenery of our

_peopled_ subalpine country, . . . 229

Sir Walter Scott’s curious effort to give consequence to the art of

moving about large trees, . . . 231

Paroxysm of admiration of Sir Walter, at Sir Henry’s discoveries,

with his hyperbolic figures of comparison, . . . 233

Account of the writer’s practice in moving trees of considerable

size, . . . 235

Taste of Sir Walter Scott for “home-keeping squires,” practisers of

the Allanton system, . . . 245

What a British gentleman should be, . . . 246

The Allanton practice described, . . . 249

Quotation from Sir Henry Steuart’s volume, in which the philosophy

of his practice is described, . . . 254

Summary of Sir Henry’s discoveries, . . . 264

Consideration of the accuracy of some of Sir Henry’s assertions

regarding the desiccated epidermis of trees, and the elongation of

the shoots of plants, . . . 265

Sir Henry’s assertion that quick-grown timber is inferior to

slow-grown, and that culture necessarily renders it softer, less

solid, and less durable, not correct, . . . 282

The present climate of Scotland, and of the Orkneys and Shetlands,

inferior to a former, . . . 287

That this may have been owing to these islands having once been a

portion of the continent, . . . 288

The recent advance and recession of the German Ocean, render a

former junction with the continent not improbable, . . . 289

Mr Loudon’s statement, of the effect produced by pruning on the

quality and quantity of the timber, that trees produce the best

timber in their natural locality, not supported by facts, . . . 305

The apparent use of the infinite seedling varieties of plants,

. . . 307

VII.—CRUICKSHANK’S PRACTICAL PLANTER, . . . 309

Advantages of laying ground under timber, stated rather too high by

Mr Cruickshank, . . . ib.

Mr Cruickshank’s account of the superior fertilizing influence of

forest upon the soil, . . . 310

Facts which in many cases lead to an opposite conclusion, . . . 316

An examination into the causes which promote or retard the

formation, or which tend to dissipate the earth’s covering of

vegetable mould, . . . 316

Account of an uncommon system of fallowing once practised in the

Carse of Gowrie, . . . 324

High manuring quality of old clay walls, . . . 325

Formation of nitre the probable cause of the fertilizing quality of

these walls, . . . ib.

The fertilizing influence of summer fallow may in part be owing to

the formation of nitre and other salts, . . . ib.

That there is a deficiency of these salts in some places of the

world, and an excess in others, . . . 326

Ignorance of Mr Cruickshank regarding the location of certain kinds

of trees, . . . 327

Mr Cruickshank’s reprehension of the practice of covering fir seeds

half an inch deep in England, and of _forcing_ suitable earth

for nurseries where awanting, . . . 330

Best method of transplanting seedlings in the nursery row, . . . 331

Quotation worthy the attention of planters, . . . ib.

Error of authors on the location of trees, in inculcating a

determinate character of soil as generally necessary for each kind

of tree, . . . 334

Further errors of Mr Cruickshank on the location of trees, . . . 335

Adaptation of Scots fir to moist soils, even to peat-moss, . . . 338

An account by Mr Cruickshank of the most economical and successful

mode of planting moors and bleak mountains, . . . 340

Method of planting by the flat dibble or single notch, . . . 343

————— ————— by the double notch or cross-slitting, . . . 344

Expense and comparative merits of each, . . . 345

These methods of planting best adapted for a sterile country, where

the weeds are small, . . . 346

Practice by the writer of cultivating young plantation by the

plough, suited for rich soil, . . . 347

Best season for planting moist soils, . . . 348

Manner in which frost throws up the young plant from the soil,

. . . 349

Mr Cruickshank’s plan of raising oak forest _in situ_ from the seed,

. . . 351

That although the bare plan given by our author, of sowing _in

situ_, under the shelter of nurses, is good, his directions for

executing it are not very judicious, . . . 352

Advantages of this plan which Mr Cruickshank has not noticed,

. . . 353

That the power of ripening seed is not increased by shelter in

proportion to the power of growing, . . . 356

That the line of seed ripening, and not the line of growing,

regulates the natural distribution of plants in respect to climate,

. . . 357

That oaks, under this plan of sowing _in situ_ under shelter, can be

extended to a climate inferior to the natural, . . . ib.

That oaks grown in the low country, and best climate of Scotland,

appear not to ripen the seed sufficiently. Thence the probability

that oak now would not even keep its present locality in the low

country of Scotland, although it may “be taught to rise in our”

alpine country, . . . 358

APPENDIX.

NOTE A.—That universal empire is practicable only under

naval power, . . . 363

NOTE B. On hereditary nobility and entail, . . . 364

NOTE C. Instinct or habit of breed, . . . 369

Nautical and roving disposition of the superior breed which has

spread westward over the maritime provinces of Britain, and over

nearly the whole continent of North America, . . . 370

Influence of change of place, . . . 371

Influence of civilization and confinement upon the complexion,

. . . 372

Difference of character between the population of the northern and

southern maritime provinces of Britain, . . . 373

That the middle and southern portion of the North Temperate Zone

is not so favourable to human existence as the northern portion,

. . . 375

NOTE D. Use of the selfish passions, . . . 376

NOTE E. Injudicious measurement law of the tonnage of

vessels, rendering our mercantile marine of defective proportions,

. . . 377

NOTE F. On the mud depositions or alluvium on the eastern

coast of Britain, . . . 378

Probability that a delta of this alluvium, a continuation of

Holland, had at one time occupied the entire German Ocean, . . . 379

Accommodation of organized life to circumstance, by diverging

ramifications, . . . 381

Retrospective glance at our pages, . . . 388

{1} INTRODUCTION.

NAVIGATION is of the first importance to the improvement and perfecting

of the species, in spreading, by emigration, the superior varieties of

man, and diffusing the arts and sciences over the world; in promoting

industry, by facilitating the transfer of commodity through numberless

channels from where it is not, to where it is required; and in healing

the products of those most fertile but unwholesome portions of the

earth, to others more congenial to the existence of the varieties of

man susceptible of high improvement: Water being the general medium

of action,—fluidity or conveyance by water, almost as necessary to

civilized life as it is to organic life, in bearing the molecules

forward in their vital courses, and in floating the pabulum (the raw

material) from the soil through the living canals to the manufactories

of assimilized matter, and thence to the points of adaptation. {2}

As civilization progresses under the influence of navigation, and

the earth exchanges her straggling hordes of savages for enlightened

densely-peopled nations, every climate and country will be more set

apart to its appropriate production, and the utility of the _great

conduit, the_ OCEAN, will more and more be developed, and become the

grand theatre of contested dominion—superiority there being almost

synonymous with _Universal Empire_—dry land only the footstool of the

_Mistress of the Seas_[1].

In the still hour which has followed the cannon roar of our victories,

we seem disposed to sleep secure, almost in forgetfulness, that we

possess this superiority, that we stand forth the Champion of the

World, and must give battle to every aspirant to the possession of the

_trident sceptre_.

As soon as the recent principles of naval motion and new projectiles,

conjoined to shot-proof vessels, shall have been brought to use

in naval warfare, marine will have acquired a great comparative

preponderance over land batteries, and every shore be still more at the

mercy of the Lords of Ocean.

When we consider the tendency of luxurious peace, the effeminacy thence

flowing in upon many of our wealthier population,—when we view, on

the {3} one hand, an entailed aristocracy[2], whose founders had been

gradually thrown uppermost in more stirring times, the boldest and

the wisest, but whose progeny, “in a calm world” entailed to listless

satiety, have little left of hope or fear to awaken in them the dormant

energies of their ancestors, or even to preserve these energies from

entirely sinking; and, on the other hand, an overflowing population,

chained, from the state of society, to incessant toil, the scope of

their mental energies narrowed to a few objects from the division of

labour, all tending to that mechanical order and tameness incompatible

with liberty; thus, perhaps, equally in danger of deteriorating and

sinking into _caste_, both classes yielding to the natural law of

restricted adaptation to condition:—when we reflect on this, the

conclusion is irresistibly _forced_ upon us, that the periodical

return of war is indispensable to the heroic chivalrous character and

love of freedom which we have so long maintained, and which (Britain

being the first in name and power in the family of nations) must be

so influential on the _morale_ of the civilized world. It is by the

jar and struggle of the conflict that the baser alloy and rust of our

manners and institutions must be removed and rubbed away: it is by the

{4} ennobling excitement of danger and of hardship that our generous

passions must be cherished, and our youth led to emulate the Roman in

patriotic thirst for glory—the Spartan in devotion—their own ancestor,

the more daring Scandinavian sea-king or rover[3], in adventurous

valour. Without, however, seeking the fight, yet in preparation for

the perhaps not distant time, when we shall face another foe, it

behoves us, without any sickly sentimentality, to cherish our warlike

virtues—above all things to attend to what must constitute “the field

of our fame,” _Our_ MARINE, and the material of its construction,

_Naval Timber_.

ENDNOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION.

[1] See App. A.

[2] See App. B.

[3] See App. C.

{5} PART I.

STRUCTURE OF VESSELS.

Vessels are constructed of wood under two forms, _Plank_ and _Timbers_;

Plank, the out and inside skin of the vessel—Timbers, the ribs or frame

which support the plank.

SECTION I. PLANK.

Trees intended for plank ought to be reared in close forest, or

protected situation, drawn tall and straight, or what is preferable

for a part, with a gentle regular bend, technically _sny_, Figs. v

and x, (next page). It requires to be of clean solid texture, from 12

to 40 feet in length, and at least 8 inches in diameter at small end,

or any greater thickness. For the conveniency of transport, oak plank

timber is generally squared or planked where grown, and is cut out from

2 1/2 to 7 inches in thickness, and from 6 to 18 inches in breadth.

Plank is needed of such various dimensions, that any oak tree of clean

timber, nearly straight one way, and straight, or with a gentle regular

bending, the other, may safely be cut into plank, the section to be

in the plane of the {6} curve. Figs. v, x, y, z, represent the most

advantageous forms of logs for cutting into plank. The dotted lines

shew the section of the saw in planking: the straighter the log is

in the plane of the saw, it is the more suitable, as the planks bend

sufficiently _side_-way by steaming; Fig. v, of considerable bend and

taper, where the planks, when cut, have a bend _edge_-way, is the most

valuable: this form requires to be very free of knots. In straight

planks, Fig. z, cleanness from knots is not such a desideratum.

[Illustration: Figs. z, y, of any length—best long; x, from 25 to 35

feet; v, v, from 12 to 24 feet.

In the above cut, for distinctness, the saw is drawn entering the butt.

In practice it enters the top.]

When planks are cut out where grown, they are sawn from the round

log immediately after it is {7} felled and barked, which not only

prevents injury from drought-cracks, but produces also a considerable

saving of timber and labour, as the wood is softer when green; and

the centre planks can thus be had much broader than after squaring

the log. The outer part of the matured or red wood, which is partly

cut away in squaring, is also the cleanest for bending. The sap or

not sufficiently matured wood, when left on the side of the plank

in the vessel, wherever it is not always soaking in water, is only

useful to the shipwright, as it decays in two or three years, and

demands an expensive repair. When plank timber is squared, it is for

the conveniency of carriage and stowage, and where timber is of little

value.

Of British trees suited for plank, the most valuable are oak, Spanish

chesnut, larch, red wood pine, and sometimes beech[4], elm, plane

(_Acer pseudo-platanus_) under water. As no timber decays under water

for a considerable length of time, when put in fresh, unless it be

devoured by the sea-worm, beech or any other hard tough wood is nearly

equally good as oak for outside plank under light water-mark, provided

the timber be hastened out of the bush into the vessel, or be kept in

pools, either in log or {8} plank, till used, or be planked, and the

plank kept dry under cover. One summer on the ground will generally

render a beech log in the bark useless.

DIRECTIONS[5] FOR TRAINING PLANK TIMBER.

[Illustration]

Divide all branches into leaders and feeders; leaders, the main or

superior shoots which tend to become stems, A, _a_, _a_; feeders, the

inferior branches, B, _b_, _b_, _b_. {9}

Should more than one leader appear from the time of planting the tree

till it attain the required height for the plank, shorten all but the

most promising one down to the condition of feeders, making the section

immediately above a twig, preferring one which takes a lateral or

horizontal direction. Vide dotted line crossing _a_, _a_.

Should any feeder, below the required height, become enlarged beyond

its compeers, such as B, reduce it to equality (_vide_ dotted line), or

prune it close off, if this should be necessary to the symmetry of the

tree.

Cut off, close by the trunk, all shoots which rise at a very acute

angle with the main stem, such as C. There is a triple reason for this:

they rise up and interfere with the more regular horizontal feeders,

tending also to become leaders; they do not form a proper junction with

the stem, by reason of the wood, as it swells, not being able to throw

up the bark out of the narrow angle; thence the bark of both stem and

branch is enclosed in the confined breek, and the wood never unites[6],

thence disease is {10} liable to be generated between them, or the

branches are subject to be torn down by the wind; and should they

ultimately come to be removed, being then of considerable size, and

the section from their perpendicular position being partly horizontal,

as the sides of the wound swell up, the rain lodges in the centre, and

generates rot. These nearly perpendicular branches generally originate

from improper pruning, springing out where a large branch has been cut

away.

Lop off all branches, which, by taking an irregular direction, incline

to rub upon the more regular; also remove all splintered, twisted, and

diseased branches.

Do not cut away any of the lower branches (feeders) till they become

sickly or dead. By pruning these prematurely, you destroy the fine

balance of nature, and throw too much vigour into the top, which in

consequence puts forth a number of leaders. You also diminish the

growth of the tree by the loss of healthy feeders; the timber of the

tree increasing in proportion to the quantity of healthy branches

and foliage (the foliage being the stomach and lungs {11} of the

plant). You also, by diminishing the number of feeders, increase the

comparative size of those remaining, which throws the upper part of

the stem into large knots, improper for plank, and renders then future

excision dangerous, as large feeders, when circumstance or decay

require their removal, or, when they are rifted off by winds or snow,

leave wounds which often carry corruption into the core of the tree.

After the tree has acquired a sufficient height of bole for plank, say

from 20 to 60 feet, according to circumstance of exposure, climate,

&c., and also as many branches above this height as may be thought

necessary to carry on advantageously the vital functions, as the

superior head will now sustain small injury by being thrown out into

large branches and plurality of leaders, (if it be oak it will become

more valuable by affording a number of small crooks and knees); it

will then be proper, in order to have timber as clean as possible, and

regularly flexible, to lop clean off all the branches on the stem as

far up as this required height. From the early attention to procure

very numerous feeders, and to prevent any from attaining large size,

the wounds will very soon be closed over, leaving no external scar, and

as little as possible of internal knot or breaking off of {12} fibre.

There are many salves, panaceæ, and pigments in use for covering over

the section of removed branches, which in ordinary cases may occasion

no injury, but they are unsightly. In wounds of beech trees where the

cut tubes are so prone to die downward a considerable way into the stem

and to generate rot, an antiseptic quickly-drying pigment might be

beneficial. This and the time of the season for pruning, at which the

cut tubes or fibres are least liable to die inward, deserve attention.

We consider the spring the least dangerous time. Should a number of

small shoots spring out in consequence of this last pruning, they may

be swept down if good plank be desired; if not, they may remain, as

their presence will not greatly injure the plank, and they occasion the

stem to thicken considerably faster where they grow: yet it is probable

that, in doing this, by obstructing the flow of the sap downwards, they

may interfere with the natural enlargement of the roots, and ultimately

be injurious. Some varieties, or rather some individuals of oak, are

much more prone to this sprouting upon the bole after pruning than

others; where the disposition exists in a great degree it ought to be

encouraged, and the tree set apart for the construction of cabinet

work. {13}

This system of pruning—encouraging numerous feeders and one leader

while the tree is young, and of allowing or rather inducing the

branches, after the tree has acquired sufficient height, to spread

out into a horizontal top, is in harmony with, and only humouring the

natural disposition of trees, and is therefore both seemly and of easy

practice[7]. The perfection of naval forest economy would consist in

superadding (according to instructions to be given on training of

timbers) a top of which every branch is a valuable bend or knee, though

in consequence of the situation the timber will be fragile, and of

light porous texture.

_In pruning and educating for plank timber, the whole art consists

in training the tree as much as possible, and with as little loss of

branch as possible, to one leader and numerous feeders, and to the

regular cone figure which the pine tribe naturally assumes._ This can

be best and most easily performed by timely attention—checking every

over-luxuriant, overshadowing branch and wayward shoot on its first

appearance; so that none of the feeders which spring forth at first

may be smothered, till {14} they in turn become lowermost; and by the

influence of rather close plantation, which of itself will perform in a

natural manner all that we have been teaching by art, and will perform

it well. This closeness must, however, be very guardedly employed, and

timeously prevented from proceeding too far, otherwise the complete

ruin of the forest, by premature decay or winds, may ensue, especially

when it consists of pines. Of course all kinds of pines require no

other attention than this (well-timed thinning), and to have their

sickly moss covered under branches swept clean down.

SECTION II. TIMBERS.

Timbers, as before stated, are the ribs of the vessel, spreading out

and upward (excepting at the bow and stern) at right angles to the

keel and keelson, two large straight logs which form a double spinal

support or backbone. The ribs or compass timbers in great public

building establishments are sometimes bent by machinery, after being

softened by steam or hot liquids[8]; and for this purpose the {15}

cleanest straightest wood is requisite. We, however, do not believe

that pieces of great diameter, bent artificially, can have equal

strength and resilience as when grown bent—the fibre must in some

degree be crippled. We admit that timbers and frames may be built of

separate bended pieces of no great thickness, and have all the strength

and resilience of natural bend: the strongest and most elastic mode of

forming vessels would be to compose them of different layers of plank

over each other in diagonal fashion, or at an angle 60°, but the labour

and inconveniency of these modes would be great. We will not admit that

an experiment between the strength of a piece of coarse cross-grained

timber, half naturally bent, half cut out of the solid, and that of a

piece of clean timber artificially bent, is any proof on the subject.

Let us produce a clean natural bend, exactly fitted to its place,

without any section of fibre, and make experiment with it. But at any

rate, as this plan (bending of timbers) has never been adopted to any

extent in our private building-yards, we must doubt its economy,—either

{16} that the practice is of no considerable advantage, or that the

requisite machinery is too expensive for private establishments, and

conclude that fine bent timber still continues a necessary in the

formation of at least our mercantile marine.

Of the very ingenious innovations in the structure of vessels contrived

by Sir R. SEPPINGS, by which knees and crooked timber might nearly

be superseded, we can only say, the practice is not followed, and,

at least in private building-yards, not likely to be so;—that the

demand for fine crooked timber, comparatively, is, and will continue

to be, as great as ever. Should our war navy, from the introduction

of steam impulse and bomb cannon, be reduced to fleets of strong

gun-boats, the demand for crooked timber, instead of lessening, will

greatly increase,—the building of frames of straight timber being more

expensive, and less suitable, in small than in large vessels; and

should war occur, in the hurry of the formation of a new war navy under

a different principle, the speediest and simplest mode of construction

will be followed.

Nearly two-thirds of the timbers of a vessel consist of the curves and

bends _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_, _e_, _f_; the other third is of straighter

timber, and easily obtained. {17} All timbers require to be straight

in one way—in the plane of their side, and the sides generally to be

square. The under measures embrace timbers of appropriate size for

vessels from 50 to 500 tons register; it is seldom that merchantmen are

required under or above this size. Of course, large war-vessels require

timbers of larger dimension. The corresponding timbers of vessels of

different size are nearly similar figures, and the length of their

respective lines not far from being in the ratio of the cube root of

the tonnage—a little deeper and thicker in the smaller vessels. When

timbers are formed of larch or pine, they require to be a little more

in diameter than when of oak. {18}

[Illustration:

Fig. _a_, Flat floor, from 9 1/2 to 18 feet long (that is, 9 1/2

for a vessel of 50 tons, and 18 for one of 500), and from 9 to 16

inches deep at middle; thickness 1/4th less than depth, the diameter

increasing in proportion to the length. When fillings such as _s_ are

used, flat floors are cut from straight logs.

_b_, Rising floor shorter, and same depth and thickness as former.

_c_, _c_, High rising floors, from 4 to 8 feet in length of wing, and

a little deeper, and same thickness as former. From the difficulty

of procuring this bend, the wings are often used of unequal length,

according as the timber turns out, the shorter wing to exceed 3 feet,

and more when of considerable diameter. Floors are of every rise from

_a_ to _c_, being flattest at midships, and rising gradually as they

approach the bow and stern. In all timbers, it is necessary, for

strength, that the fibre of the wood extend from one end to the other

without much cross grain. See lines on high rising floor, _c_.

_d_, First foot-hook, from 7 to 13 feet long, and from 7 to 14 inches

deep; thickness 1/5th less than depth.

_e_, Second foot-hook, from 6 to 10 feet long, and from 6 to 13

inches deep, thickness 1/6th less than depth. This curve, when of

great size, is valuable as, breast-hooks—curved timbers stretching

horizontally within and at right angles to the bow-timbers, to support

the bow.

_f_, _f_, _f_, Knees, the one wing nearly at right angles to the

other; from 2 to 9 feet in length of wing; depth at middle as much

as possible; thickness from 4 to 12 inches,—generally required about

3 1/2 feet in length of wing, and from 6 to 8 inches thick. Knees,

when large, suit for high rising floors.

Fig. _h_ is a valuable piece, and easily procured by bending the young

plant; when cut, it forms two second foot-hooks.

Figs. _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_, _e_, are suitable, though the part cut off

by the dotted line be awanting. In good work, this plan is often

followed, and a cross-chock put on. (Vid. _s_, left side of the

cross-section of a vessel thus timbered, page 20). By this {19} mode

of building, vessels can be constructed from much straighter timber,

and the vessels are superior, from being more elastic; but from the

nicety and expense of the work and waste of timber, the practice is

not much in use. {20}]

[Illustration: Cross-section of a Vessel at midships—knees not

inserted.]

A first foot-hook alternates with each floor, and second foot-hook,

alongside, extending from _o_ to _q_; and a top-timber, or third

foot-hook, alternates alongside of each second foot-hook, and chock

extending from _q_ to _a_. These timbers are bolted together, and

constitute a frame or double rib; and the skeleton is composed of a

series of double ribs (several inches separate, of course wider above

than lower down, as the timbers decrease in thickness), to within a

little of the bow and stern, where the timbers are usually placed

singly, without framing. {21} In large vessels a fourth futtock is

used; thence straighter timber is suitable.

The knees occupy the position at _x_, stretching horizontally along the

inside of the vessel and end of the beams.

Of British trees, timbers are formed of oak, Spanish chestnut,

larch, red-wood pine, red-wood willow (the stags-head ozier, _Salix

fragilis_), and sometimes the broad-leafed elm (_Ulmus montana_) under

water.

In Britain, crooked oak for timbers is found chiefly in hedge-rows and

open forests, where the winds, casual injury, or overhanging superior

branches, have thrown the tree, while young, from its natural balance;

or, by the tree, from open situation, or excision of lower branches,

parting early into several leaders, which, in receding from each other,

form curves and angular bends. On the Continent of Europe, in the

natural forest, it is chiefly the tops of old lofty trees which afford

the crooks; in consequence, those we import are, for the most part, of

a free, light, insufficient quality[9]. {22}

To procure a sufficiency of excellent crooks, every person who has

the charge of young plantations of timber intended for naval purposes,

ought, in the more exposed situations not favourable to the growth of

plank timber, or timber for bending, when the plants are from 3 to

15 feet high, to mark out the most healthy, suitably formed plants,

sufficiently close to fill the ground when of the proper size, say 6

yards apart, and to bend these, as the under figures will illustrate.

The dotted portion is the growth after being bent. {23}

[Illustration: Fig. _f._]

The bend of floors requiring to be at the middle, and of angular bend,

see Fig. _f_, young trees of one-half the required length, should have

the earth removed from the bulb of the root, from one or both sides,

according to circumstances, and the tree and stool partially upset to

windward, that is, generally south-west; (the operator, in effecting

this, may be assisted by a strong pronged instrument); then fixed in

this inclined position, and the earth filled in. This inclination may

be given at planting, when the plants are tall.

The best mode of securing the larger plants in their bent position,

is by rods, forked or hooked at one end, the other end nailed to a

ground-stake;—the upper end, if forked, firmly tied to the bent plant

by mat or straw rope. Smaller plants may be secured to the notched

tops of stakes by ligatures; and the smallest, particularly larch,

pinned down by small stakes with hooked tops. Advantage may also be

taken of an adjacent tree of small value, and which would ultimately

be required to be thinned out, to tie the bended standard down to the

most convenient part of its top or stem, lopping off all above the

ligature, if it interfere with the standard, and barking it near the

ground, to prevent much future growth. When the workmen comprehend {24}

the required bends, they will fall upon methods of fixing the plants

in the most suitable position, better adapted to the locality than

any directions can teach. The plants will require to be fixed down at

least two years, and bent a little more than what is requisite, as in

their after-growth they have generally a tendency to become straighter,

from depositing the thickest layers in the hollow of the bend. A

fine regular curve may be obtained by bending the plant for several

successive years, a little lower every year; this gradual lowering

does not so much check the growth of the leader, nor tend so much to

cause the feeders upon the upper side to push as leaders. When oaks are

bent, great attention must be paid to cut away any ground-shoots, and

to cut off or twist down any strong feeders that stand perpendicular

on the upper side of the tree; and also for several years afterwards,

to look over the trees twice a-year, correcting any exuberant feeder,

and destroying root-shoots. The forester ought to keep in mind that his

pupils are proverbially pliant, and that, should his growing timber

not be of the most valuable and most appropriate figure, he must rank

either with the negligent or the incapable.

Ship timbers being generally required of greater depth than thickness,

that is, broadest in the plane {25} of the curve, hedge-row is better

adapted to growing them than the forest, especially when the trees are

close in the row. The bend generally takes place across the row; and

the bole of the tree acquires a greater diameter in that direction than

in the line of the row. If the figure of the top of a tree be very

elliptical in the horizontal plane, the cross section of the bole,

instead of being circular, will also be elliptical (cake-grown). The

lateral spread of the roots in thick planted rows being greater than

the longitudinal, also tends to give elliptic bole, the stem swelling

most on the sides where the strongest roots enter, which, of course,

always occurs on the sides affording most nourishment. Forests intended

for ship timbers might be planted and kept in rows a considerable

distance apart, with the plants close in the row, and thus acquire the

elliptic bole. This would also facilitate the bending; by being turned

a little right and left alternately, they would spontaneously, from the

weight of the top, and their inclination to avoid the shade of each

other, increase the original bias. Were forests planted in close double

rows, the plants thick in the row, with wide avenues or glades between,

many of the trees would acquire crooked boles, and the crooked might be

retained when thinning. Avenues of this description {26} would form

agreeable diversity from the monotonous irregularity of the forest, and

be highly picturesque.

Were close triple rows planted with wide glades between, having spruce,

larch, birch, or other trees of more rapid growth than the oak in the

mid row, and oak in the side rows, the greater part of the oak would be

thrown out into fine curves by the overshadowing top of the superior

tree. After the oak had received a sufficient side bias, the central

row, which of those kinds comes soon to be of value, might be removed.

The easiest way to procure good oak knees is to look out in hedge-row

and open forest for plants which divide into two or four leaders,

from 3 to 10 feet above ground; and should the leaders not diverge

sufficiently, to train them as horizontally as possible for several

feet, by rods stretching across the top, or by fixing them down by

stakes; see following figures. Figs. _a_, _b_, _f_, are drawn to a

smaller scale than _c_, _d_; of course, a stem, after dividing, never

extends in length below the division. {27}

[Illustration]

When grown, the main stem, either used whole, sawn in two, or

quartered, will form one wing of the knee, and the bent branch the

other; see figs. _c_, _d_. The dotted lines shew the saw section.

Particular attention must be paid to prevent oaks from separating

into more than four leaders, and also to train up these leaders a

considerable height, without allowing them to divide again, retaining

always numerous feeders; thus, when the tree acquires size, {28} many

valuable crooks _g_, _h_, _i_, will be formed above the knees. It is

necessary, however, to guard against training the branches to too great

a height, as, when so, they run much risk of being twisted and torn by

high winds.

Knees may also be obtained by cropping the top from plants that have

side branches similar to _f_, and training these branches for leaders

as above directed. In this case, the section, where the top is cut

off, must not be too large, and the branches, either two or four,

well knotted to the trunk, or the situation sheltered, otherwise the

trunk at the section may be split down by the strain of the wind on

the new leaders. Also, in healthy growing trees of considerable size,

which have spreading tops, and which are not to be cut down for a

considerable time, the forester, if he have a good eye, may, by lopping

off a few branches here and there throughout the top, throw the greater

part of the boughs into condition to become knees, or valuable crooks,

when of size. This is of most material consequence to the ultimate

value of half-grown oak trees, in open situations, and ought to be

particularly studied by the superintendent, as, when allowed to run

into very numerous _stemmy_ branches, without direction or curtailment,

the top, instead of being ultimately of {29} considerable value

as timber, is of none. Directions in writing will scarcely suffice

to teach a forester this part of his business; he must consider

attentively the knee figures and bends we have furnished, fix them in

his memory, and use every eligible means to obtain them. Knees, of all

descriptions of oak timber are in the greatest request. We have known

them purchased at 7s. per computed solid foot, which, from the plan

of measuring, is as much as 10s. per real solid foot. The prevailing

inattention to judicious training will continue to occasion the supply

of knees to be short of the demand, and thence the price high, provided

some change does not take place in the structure of vessels, or iron

knees be adopted, which are now sometimes used, or vessels, with the

exception of the deck and rigging, be formed of iron altogether, which

we have seen do very well in inland navigation.

As crooked round oak timber of the natural length is extremely

unmanageable, and its distant transport very expensive, it is desirable

that it be squared and cut in lengths suited to its ultimate use, where

grown. This requires a thorough knowledge of the necessary curves, to

which the figs. p. 19, will afford considerable assistance. However,

the superintendent of any extensive fall of naval timber either should

be {30} a shipwright who has had practice in lining off timbers, or

should have passed several months in a dock-yard during the timbering

of vessels, observing every piece that is put to use.

As most part of the timbers of a vessel have their sides squared, the

cutter cannot err much in hewing away the sides in the plane of, and at

right angles to, the curves, at least as deep as the sap-wood reaches,

thus leaving only a little sap-wood on the angles; the sap-wood, in

all cases (except in those small craft used in carrying lime, which

preserves from rot), being worse than useless; by its decay not only

weakening the vessel from the want of entireness of the timbers, but

also acting as a ferment to further corruption.

In our directions for obtaining curved and angular bent timbers, we

may be thought to have been a little too minute with the dimensions

and figures: under the hand of the shipwright, or person of skill, a

tree of almost any possible bend cuts out to valuable purpose: what

is wanted is crooked timber, free of large knots;—first and second

foot-hooks and knees are, however, most in demand.

ENDNOTES TO PART I.

[4] Beech, suited for plank, is sometimes of more value when straight

and of considerable length for the purposes of keel-pieces; for this

the log requires to be from 30 to 70 feet in length, and at least of

sufficient thickness at the small end to square a foot.

[5] These directions are generally applicable—as well for what may be

required for being bent for compass-timbers, and for what may be used

for land purposes, as for plank.

[6] There are several valuable varieties of apple-trees of acute branch

angle, which do not throw up the hark of the breeks; this either

occasions the branches to split down when loaded with fruit, or, if

they escape this for a few years, the confined bark becomes putrid,

and produces canker, which generally ruins the tree. We have remedied

this by a little attention in assisting the rising of the bark with

the knife. Nature must not be charged with the malformation of these

varieties; at least, had she formed them, as soon as she saw her error

she would have blotted out her work.

[7] Commencing by times, the greater part of training and pruning for

plank, excepting in the case of dead branches, fractures, and last

pruning, may be performed by a small knife.

[8] We are not in possession of sufficient facts to judge of the effect

to hasten or deter decay occasioned by the timber having been softened

in hot liquids of 212° or upwards, and not raised so high as to

generate pyrolignous acid; but we think it must impair the elasticity.

[9] As excellent plank can be obtained by importation, the grower

of naval timber ought to regard the production of crooks as a more

patriotic occupation than the production of plank. _It will generally

pay better._

{31} PART II.

BRITISH FOREST TREES USED AS NAVAL TIMBER.

OAK—_Quercus_.

Oak appears to be the most prevalent tree about the middle of the

north temperate zone, growing, naturally, upon almost every soil,

excepting some of the sterile sandy hats. With the exception of the

pines, it is by far the most useful kind of tree, almost balancing

the accommodating figure of stem, and manageable quality of the pine

timber, by its greater strength and durability, and excelling the

pines in value of bark. It is not easy to determine whether there be

distinct British species in the genus _Quercus_; but, at least, there

are several breeds, or families, or grouped resemblances, which,

though the individuals may slightly vary, and though a gradation, or

connection, may be traced among these families themselves, yet possess

general character sufficiently marked to support names. Botanists, who

are so prompt and so well prepared with their classes, {32} orders,

genera, species, varieties, long before they acquire much knowledge

of what they are so ready to classify, or be able to distinguish

between species and variety, or know if species and variety be really

distinct, divide the oak of this country into two species, _Quercus

Robur_ and _Q. sessiliflora_, the former with long fruit-stalks,

and hard, strong, durable timber, the late leafing old kind once so

prevalent in the island: the latter an earlier leafing, faster growing

kind, timber inferior, leaves petiolate, fruit sessile, not common,

but supposed native. We consider there is no foundation for this

specific distinction; we have met with oaks with various lengths of

fruit-stalks: Besides, short and long fruit-stalks is a very common

difference among seedling varieties. The families or breeds which we

have observed in the indigenous oak resemble what are found among

almost every kind of vegetable, and graduate into each other,—those

farthest removed in appearance, no doubt having power to commix by the

pollen. The most remarkable distinction we have observed is in the

colour of the bark, whether inclining to white or black. The variety

or breed with grey white bark, often very smooth and shining, and

sometimes beautifully clouded with green, has also a different form

of leaf and figure of top from those with {33} blackish bark, and we

have no doubt will also afford a different quality of timber. Those

with blackish dingy bark vary considerably from each other, some being

of very luxuriant growth and heavy foliage, with thick fleshy bark,

affording much tannin; others, though in favourable situation, of

stunted growth, thin dry bark, and delicate constitution, often being

nipped in the twigs by the frost: some having a round easy figure of

top, even with pendulous branching, others extremely stiff and angular

in the branching; some with the most elegant foliage, deeply sinuated

and finely waved, others with the clumsiest, most misshapen foliage,

almost as if opposite principles had presided at their forming. We have

observed the earlier kinds, with the dark bark, to have generally the

easiest figure of top; the angular branching and stiffness of figure

of top being greatest in those sooty-barked late kinds, most disposed

to take two growths in the season, the spring and autumnal, which,

from the proneness of these kinds to be affected in the terminal bud

by monstrosities, and sometimes also to be nipped in the point of

the unripened autumn shoot by the frost, are generally thrown out in

different directions, the tree, from these causes, growing awkwardly

and irregularly, and by fits and starts.

Besides the indigenous _Quercus Robur_, we have {34} a number of

kinds, termed distinct species, growing in Britain, of foreign

derivation—the Turkish oak, _Quercus Cerris_; the Lucombe oak, _Q.

sempervirens_; the scarlet-leaved American, _Q. coccinea_; the

evergreen, _Q. Ilex_, and several others. The Turkish and Lucombe

resemble each other, but the latter generally continues green till the

spring, when the old leaves wither, a little before the young appear:

Botanists make them varieties. We consider the Turkish oak the most

valuable and elegant of these foreign kinds. The leaves are generally

very long and slender, deeply and widely sinuated, and the teeth

or salient angles sometimes undulated, having a curled appearance;

yet there are some individuals with broad, short, flat leaves, not

differing in figure from those of the common oak, but the tree in other

respects not different from the Turkish, being easily distinguished

from the common oak by the reddish hairy appearance of the developing

shoot, the scales of the bud having a hair-like extension, visible in

each leaf axilla. The acorns are also bristled like echini, with this

scaly prolongation. The timber is tough and clean, resembling the white

American, and suitable for staves. The stem and branches are generally

very straight, as the terminal bud seldom fails, and the growing

proceeds steadily, without much autumnal shoot. {35}

As oaks run more hazard in transplanting than most other kinds of

trees, the greater care is necessary in procuring well-rooted,

short, vigorous plants; in having the soil free of stagnating water,

in timing and executing the work in a proper manner, and in hoeing

around the plant, keeping the ground clean and friable on the surface

during the first two or three seasons. As young oaks grow much more

vigorously under considerable closeness and shelter, and as the plants

are expensive, it is proper to plant, along with them, a mixture of

cheaper plants, larches or other pines, which also sooner come to be

of a little value, to be removed gradually as the young wood thickens

up. In bleak exposed situations, it is well to plant the ground first

with pines, and when these attain a height of 6 or 8 feet, to cut out

a number, not in lines, but irregularly, and plant the oaks in their

stead, gradually pruning and thinning away the remaining firs as the

oaks rise. In general, pitting is preferable to slitting; but when

the plants are very small, and the ground wet-bottomed (with close

subsoil), liable to become _honeycomby_ with frost, slitting secures

the plant better from being thrown out.

Oak is by far the best adapted tree for hedge-row, or for being grown

by the sides of arable fields, both {36} with respect to its own

qualities, and to the growth of the adjacent crops or hedge. The bark

is much thicker, and more valuable in proportion to its bulk here, than

in close forest, and the timber more crooked, which is desiderated in

oak, but which unfits most other trees for much else than firewood. The

oak is, besides, as generally suited for the variety of soils which

lines crossing a country in all directions must embrace: this is matter

of consideration, as few planters have skill to locate a number of

kinds properly. It will also be thought, by reason of British feeling,

the most interesting and ornamental; nor is it to be overlooked, that,

by the roots taking a more downward direction than other trees, the

plough has greater liberty to proceed around, and the moisture and

pabulum necessary to evaporation and growth are not drawn from the

ground so superficially; thence the minor plants adjacent do not suffer

so much. We have observed, too, that, when all cause of injury by

root suction was cut off by a deep ditch, the undergrowth seemed less

injured by shade of oak than of some other trees. The apple and the

pear only, appear to be as little detrimental to the surrounding crop

as the oak. The ash, the elm, the beech, in Scotland the most general

hedge-row trees, are the most improperly located; the ash and the {37}

elm as being the most pernicious to the crops, and the beech as being

of little or no value grown in hedge-row. In clays, most kinds of

trees, particularly those whose roots spread superficially, are more

detrimental to the crop around than in the more friable earths, owing

to the roots in clays foraging at less depth, and to the clay being

a worse conductor of moisture than other earths. The disadvantages

attending the planting of hedge-row with oaks are, that their removal

is not in general so successful as that of other trees, especially

to this exposed dry situation, and that the progress of the plant,

for a number of years, is but slow; and thus for a longer time liable

to injury from cattle. Fair success may, however, be commanded, by

previously preparing the roots, should the plants be of good size;

transplanting them when the ground is neither too moist nor too dry,

and in autumn, as soon as the leaves have dropped or become brown,

particularly in dry ground; performing the operation with the utmost

care not to fracture the roots, and to retain a considerable ball;

opening pits of considerable size for their reception, much deeper than

the roots, and should a little water lurk in the bottom of the pit, it

will be highly beneficial, provided none stagnate so high as the roots;

firming the earth well around the roots {38} after it is carefully

shaken in among the fibres; and, especially, keeping the surface of the

ground, within four feet of the plant, friable and free from weeds,

by repeated hoeings during the first two or three summers. Of course,

if you suffer the plant to waver with the wind, or to be rubbed and

bruised by cattle, or by the appendages of the plough, it is folly

to expect success. On this account, stout plants, from 8 to 12 feet

high, the branches more out of the way of injury, may, in sheltered

situations, under careful management, be the most proper size. Much

also depends on procuring sturdy plants from exposed situations. We

have experienced better success with hardy plants from the exposed side

of a hill, having unfibred _carrot_ roots much injured by removal,

than with others from a sheltered morass, having the most numerously

fibred, well extricated roots. In cases, where, from the moistness and

coldness of the ground in early summer, there was a torpor of root

suction, and, in consequence, the developing leaves withering up under

an arid atmosphere, we have attempted to stimulate the root action by

application of warm water, covering up the surface of the ground with

dry litter to confine the heat; we have also endeavoured to encourage

the root action by increasing the temperature of cold light-coloured

soils, by strewing soot {39} on the surface for a yard or two around

the plant, and by nearly covering a like distance by pieces of black

trap rock, from three to six inches in diameter. The success from the

pieces of trap appeared greatest; they diminished the evaporation from

the ground, thence less loss of heat and of necessary moisture; and

being at once very receptive of radiant caloric, and a good conductor,

they quickly raised the temperature of the soil in the first half of

the summer, when bodies, from the increasing power of the sun, are

receiving much more heat by radiation than they are giving out by

radiation.

The oak should never be pruned severely, and this rule should be

particularly observed when the tree is young. We have known several

of the most intelligent gardener-foresters in Scotland err greatly in

this; and, by exclusively pruning the oak plants, from misdirected

care, throw them far behind the other kinds of timber with which they

were mixed in planting. There is no other broad-leaved tree which we

have seen suffer so much injury in its growth, by severe pruning, as

the oak. The cause of this may be something of nervous susceptibility,

or connected life, all the parts participating when one is injured; it

may be owing to the tendency to putrescency of the sap-wood, or rather

of the sap, the part around the section often decaying, especially

{40} when the plant is not vigorous; or it may arise from some torpor

or restricted connection of the roots, which, when robbed of their

affiliated branch, do not readily forage or give their foraging to the

support of the nearest remaining branch, or to the general top of the

tree, but throw out a brush of twigs near the section.

Although the oak often lingers in the growth while young, yet, after it

attains to six inches or a foot in diameter, its progress is generally

faster than most other kinds of hard wood, not appearing to suffer so

much as others from excessive fruit-bearing. The value of the timber,

and also of the bark, and the slight comparative injury occasioned to

the under crop, whether of copse, grass, corn, or roots, independently

of any patriotic motives, or religious reverence lingering in our

sensorium from the time of the Druids, should give a preference to this

tree for planting, wherever the soil and climate are suitable, over

every other kind, with the exception of larch and willow, which, in

particular soils, will pay better.

The planter of oak should throw in a considerable proportion of Turkish

oak into the more favourable soils and situations. The beautiful

clustered, fretted foliage of this species gives a richness, and, in

winter, when it retains the withered leaf, a warmth of colouring to

our young plantations beyond any other {41} of our hardy trees and

shrubs. We have had this kind, eighteen years old, equal in size to

larches of the same age in the same ground. We cut down several of

these oaks of about 8 inches in diameter, and compared the timber and

bark with those of common oak of the same age. The timber was clean,

very tough and flexible, with much _flash_, and we should suppose might

suit for plank when matured; at any rate, from the splendid shew of the

laminæ (_flash_), it would form beautiful pannelling and furniture. It

shrunk, however, extremely while drying, which must have been partly

owing to the quick growing and youngness, it thence consisting almost

entirely of sap-wood, and this sap-wood almost entirely of sap; and,

when left in the sun in the round state, after peeling, rent nearly to

splinters,—much more than the common oak under the same exposure. The

bark was about double the thickness and weight of that of the common

oak of equal size, and, in proportion to its weight, consisted much

more of that cellular or granular substance most productive of tannin.

The varieties of common oak with thick bark are generally of inferior

quality of timber; but they are by far the finest, most luxuriant

growing trees, with rich heavy foliage, and appear as giants standing

in the same row with {42} the thin barked varieties, though planted at

the same time.

To the naturalist the oak is an object of peculiar interest, from the

curious phenomena connected with the economy of numerous insects who

depend upon it for existence. It would be tedious to describe the

different apples, galls, excrescences, tufts, and other monstrosities

which appear upon the oak. It is something like enchantment! These

insects, merely by a puncture and the deposition of an egg, or drop of

fluid, turning Nature from her law, and compelling the Genius of the

Oak to construct of living organized oak matter, instead of leaves and

twigs, fairy domes and temples, in which their embryo young may lie for

a time enshrined.

SPANISH CHESTNUT—_Castanea vulgaris_, (_Fagus Castanea, L._)

Spanish or sweet Chestnut, sometimes named Chestnut Oak, sometimes

included in the genus Fagus, seems at least a connecting link between

Quercus and Fagus. This valuable timber tree, the largest growing, and,

in many places, also the most common in the south of Europe, and which

was once so {43} abundant in England that many of the largest of our

ancient piles are wooded of it, has been for several ages much on the

decrease in this country; owing, probably, to a slight refrigeration

of climate, which, during this period, appears to have taken place,

preventing the ripening of the seed, or, in more rigorous winters,

following damp, cold summers, destroying all the young plants (at

least the part above ground), whose succulent unripened shoots and

more delicate general constitution, from immatured annual round of

life, or imperfect concoction of juices, have not power to withstand

the severe cold sometimes occurring near the surface of the earth. A

very general destruction of the young plants of this kind of tree has

occurred more than once within our memory from severe frost; but as the

climate, a few years back, rather improved, and the spirit of planting

became more general, a considerable number of plants of this tree have

attained height and hardihood to withstand the cold, excepting in the

points of the annual shoot, which we notice are again nipped (year

1830). This may give encouragement to more extended planting, as the

tree is handsome, and, in most places, where water does not abound nor

stagnate, acquires great size in comparatively short time. It is said

to prefer a gravelly or stone {44} rubble subsoil, but we have seen it

in rich clay, in row with large beeches, even exceed them in size. We

should prefer for it any deep friable dry soil.

There is one circumstance connected with this timber in this country,

at least in Scotland, which must prevent its general use in ship plank,

and be of material injury to it for ship timbers; this is, that few

trees of it of size are found without the timber being shaky or split,

some to such a degree that the annual rings or concentric growths have

separated from each other. This appears to be owing to our climate

being colder than what is suitable to the nature of the plant; the

sap in the stem possibly freezing in severe weather and splitting, or

severing the growths of the timber, but more probably occasioned by

the season being too short, and too moist and cold, to ripen or fill

up with dense matter, sufficiently, the frame of the annual growths;

thence, as each ring of sap-wood, prematurely hastened by the torpor

of moisture and cold, turns to red or matured wood, and, in so doing,

dries considerably within the other rings of moist sap-wood, the

contractile force may be sufficient to separate this growth from the

next external sap growth, the cohesion existing between the tissue or

fabric of the growth being much stronger than the cohesion between one

{45} growth and another. The uncommon dryness of the matured wood, and

moistness of the sap-wood of this tree, and smallness of the number of

sap-wood rings, commonly only from 2 to 6 in this country, incline us

to believe that this is the cause of the insufficiency or defect; and

that, in a milder, drier climate, the sap-wood rings will be found to

be more numerous, and thus, independent of a better first ripening,

affording a longer time for their cells to be more filled up with an

unctuous matter (which prevents the shrinking) gradually deposited

while they convey the sap, the sap-wood rings being the part of the

timber through which the sap circulates. As proof of this unctuous

deposit or filling up, we observe that dry sap-wood imbibes moisture

much quicker, and in greater quantity, than dry mature. We think this

premature maturity (if we may so term it) of timber in cold countries,

a general law. Our larch, originally from the Apennine, has not more

than one-third of the number of sap-rings of our Scots fir, indigenous

in Mar and Rannoch mountains; and our narrow-leafed, or English

elm, said to have been introduced from the Holy Land in time of the

Crusades, has not more than one-half of the number of our indigenous

broad-leafed, or Scots elm. From the sap-growths of Laburnum, {46}

scarcely exceeding in number those of the Spanish chestnut, we should

suppose that it has been moved northward, or that the proper climate

has left it. We have observed that moist, or water-soaked ground, has

influence, as well as climate, to deprive the alburnum vessels sooner

of their living functions, inducing that torpor of tubes, or semi-vital

condition, in which they only serve to support the more active parts,

and constitute what is called Mature Timber.

It is a general opinion that Spanish chestnut soon takes rot in

situations where the roots come in contact with water. This appears

to result from moist soil inducing the too early maturing of the

timber already alluded to, and occasioning shaky insufficient fabric,

which soon corrupts. We have observed oaks which had fewer layers of

sap-wood, from growing in damp situations, have the timber of inferior

quality, and sometimes of a shaky, brownish description, when cut

across, throwing out a dirty brownish liquid or stain.

From the use of the Spanish chestnut in the Spanish navy, both in

planking and timbering, and from the roofing beams and ornamental

work of Westminster Hall being also of this wood, we should suppose

it was not so liable to this defect of rents in {47} the timber in

milder climates. Chestnut timber is a good deal similar to oak, though

not quite so reedy and elastic, but is destitute of the large laminæ

or plates (_flash_), which, radiating from the pith to the outside,

become so prominent to view in the oak when the longitudinal section

is perpendicular to the outside, in the plane of the laminæ. It is, we

should think, as capable of supporting weight, when stretching as a

beam, as the oak, and is equally, if not more durable, many beams of

it existing in very old buildings undecayed: it is said even to have

been taken out fresh where it had stood 600 years as lintels. Earth

stakes of it are also very durable. It possesses one advantage over

oak, which must recommend it for ship-building, that is, having much

less proportion of sap-wood; and, from the matured wood containing much

less sap or moisture, we should suppose it not so liable to dry rot, or

that more simple means, or shorter period, would suffice for seasoning

it, so as to be proof against this evil. Spanish chestnut is as yet

little known among British shipwrights; but were a quantity of it in

the market free of the unsoundness we have alluded to, its merits would

soon become known. The bark is used by tanners, but is said not to

equal that of oak.

{48} BEECH-TREE—_Fagus sylvatica_.

This hardy tree occupies fully as wide a range, both of soil and

climate, as the oak, and is generally the fastest growing, most

vigorous of all our hard-wood kinds, prospering on all soils, on the

dry and moist, the aluminous, the calcareous, the siliceous, provided

water does not stagnate. It combines magnificence with beauty, being

at once the Hercules and Adonis of our Sylva. The timber of our beech,

while green, is by far the hardest of our large growing trees, and, in

the American forest, the members of the beechen family match better

than those of any other, with the perseverance of the ruthless Yankee;

the roots retaining the hardness deeper in the earth than those of any

other tree, and being so plaited and netted throughout the ground for

a considerable space around the bulb, that it is next to impossible to

trench or dig over the soil till they have decayed.

As we have before stated, the timber of the beech-tree soon corrupts if

it is not speedily dried, or kept in water after being cut down, and

is equally liable to corruption in the tree when deprived of life by

wounds or other injury. Beech has a matured and sap wood, although they

are not very distinguishable, being nearly of one colour. The former

has {49} considerable durability when kept dry, the latter is speedily

consumed by worming.

The planter of beech should procure the kind[10] with yellow-coloured

wood, termed by joiners Yellow Beech, in opposition to the kind with

white wood, called White Beech. The yellow grows faster and straighter,

and is cleaner and freer of black knots, and also more pleasantly

worked than the white, but it corrupts much sooner in the bark when

cut down. This variety of beech, when properly trained, is probably

the most profitable hard-wood that we can raise; when planked, it

bends pleasantly under the shipwright to the curvature of the vessel’s

side. The tree is also much superior in size and grace of outline to

the white. There are few planters who need be put in mind that beech

of small size, or of short or crooked stem, is the least valuable of

all timber. Whoever plants with a view to profit will, therefore,

throw in only as many beech plants as may ultimately be required for

standards, and these in the bosom of plantations; as it is seldom that

beech attains to much value in hedge-row or on the outskirts of woods,

{50} from its proneness when so situated to ramify and grow crooked.

It is, however, quite possible, with a little early attention, to rear

beech as straight and clean as to be valuable, on the outskirts, where

it forms a beautiful fringe to the plantation, and affords excellent

shelter.

ELM—_Ulmus._—BROAD-LEAVED, OR SCOTCH, or WYCH ELM—_Ulmus montana._

This beautiful and most graceful tree, whose favourite locality is the

damp, deep, accumulated soil, free of stagnant water, at the bottom of

declivities, is, together with its sister, the small-leaved kind, the

English elm, when so situated, the fastest growing of our hard-wood

trees. Both delight in easy or gravelly soils, though the small-leaved

will also prosper in the more adhesive, the alluvial and diluvial clays.

There are a number of kinds of elm growing in this country, differing

rather more from the common run of _U. montana_ and _U. campestris_,

than what occurs among seedling varieties of untamed plants; but as

these have very probably a power of mingling by the pollen, thence not

specifically different, we leave to {51} botanists to explain their

nice peculiarities, and think it sufficient to rank the whole under

_montana_ and _campestris_, especially as the timber seems to range

into two kinds—_Montana_, with large leaves, heavy annual shoots,

somewhat zig-zag, thick towards the point, thence drooping a little

from gravity; having much sap-wood, and timber of great longitudinal

toughness, but, from the great quantity of sap-wood, and want of

lateral adhesion, it splits considerably in drying;—_Campestris_, with

smaller leaves, more numerous straight annual shoots, which are small

towards the point, thence more erect, has but little sap-wood, and the

timber also possessing greater lateral adhesion, and less longitudinal,

it does not crack much in drying. We have noticed one broad leaved

kind or variety, whose annual twigs often spring out in tufts or knots

from one point; this seems to arise from the shoot of the preceding

year sometimes dying, probably nipped by frost, and the tuft of shoots

springing out from the knot at the lower extremity of the dead twig.

From this cause, it has not the graceful easy spread of branches of the

_U. montana_, but assumes a more angular, stiff, upright figure. We

have heard this named Dutch Elm, but it does not quite correspond with

the elm in the parks at London said to be Dutch. We consider it a kind

{52} not very nearly allied to _U. montana_, yet the above peculiarity

of appearance may only arise from individual tenderness, and may not be

accompanied by other difference of character.

The elm, more especially the broad-leaved Scotch elm, has a peculiar

fan-like sloping-to-one-side spread of branches, most perceptible

while young; hence the tree when grown up, has generally a slight

bending in the stem, which renders it very fitting for floor-timbers of

vessels, the only part of a ship, excepting bottom plank, to which it

is applicable, as it soon decays above water. Its great toughness and

strength, however, render it good floors.

There are some kinds of foreign elm which deserve attention. Some time

ago we planted several of these, and lately cut down one of about

six inches diameter, which we found a great deal harder and stronger

timber than our _U. montana_. We had this kind under the name of the

Broad-leaved American. The bark was rather lighter in colour, and

smoother, than _U. montana_; the leaves were rough and large, and the

annual shoots extremely luxuriant; but, probably owing to climate,

or difference of circumstance, the exposed situation where we had it

growing being very unlike the close American forest, it did not carry

up its vigour of growing into {53} the top, although the top was

healthy, but continued throwing out numerous annual shoots, five or

six feet long, from the bulb and side of stem, which disposition we

did not succeed in correcting by pruning. This did not seem to arise

from grafting, as some of the shoots broke out higher up than the graft

must have been, and there was no difference between the lower and upper

shoots.

_U. montana_, when come to some size, on the primary branches being

lopped off, like the oak, often throws out a brush of twigs from the

stem, and these twigs impeding the transit of the sap, the brush

increases, and the stem thickens considerably, in consequence of a

warty-like deposit of wood forming at the root of the twigs. This

excrescence, when of size, after being carefully seasoned in some cool

moist place, such as the north re-entering angle of a building, exposed

to the chipping from the roof, forms a richer veneer for cabinet-work

than any other timber. This disposition to form brush and excrescence

might be given by art to almost any kind of tree, excepting the

coniferæ and beech, and might be made a source of considerable profit.

This could easily be effected by slitting, pricking, and bruising the

bark at certain periods of the season. A very beautiful waved timber

might also be formed by {54} twisting the stems of trees tight up

with round ropes, the screw circles of the rope not being quite close

to each other; the ropes to remain several seasons, then to be kept

off for a season or two, and again applied. The practice of forming

warty excrescences might be combined with that of forming wavy fibres,

with the finest effect. Of course, those trees with timber of rich

colour, and susceptible of high polish, would be the most suitable

for undergoing this process. _U. campestris_ also throws out a brush,

but from the great inferiority of the timber in beauty, and from its

unfitness for cabinet-work, it would be useless to encourage it by

art. Some plants of _montana_, not covered with brush, have a curious

unevenness (laced appearance) of the timber in the stem, which renders

it a beautiful cabinet plank.

NARROW-LEAVED OR ENGLISH ELM—_Ulmus campestris_.

There are few Scotchmen, as they migrate southward, who have failed to

remark the tame subdued appearance of the landscape of the middle and

south of England, where a number of straggling tufted-headed poles,

along with windmill towers, occupy {55} the horizon. These straggling,

tall, tufted poles, stuck in, perpendicular to the flat surface, are

composed of living narrow-leaved elm-trees, which the perseverance of

the peasantry in quest of billets, has reduced to this condition. Some

varieties of this elm, however, when uncurtailed in lateral expansion,

attain the grandest development, stretching forth a hundred giant arms

aloft, supporting masses of foliage, fantastically magnificent.

In the neighbourhood of London, this tree is attacked by an insect,

which, running along the outside of the timber, within the bark,

in a few seasons deprives the individual of life, the bark peeling

off in large girdles, threatening to bereave this capital of the

finest ornaments of its parks. We have observed, in different kinds

of growing trees, such as the apple and oak, the roads of insects

traversing between the rhind and wood, although the individual thus

affected appeared to suffer little or no injury; and we consider the

agency of the insect in the destruction of the English elm around

London to be merely sequent to disease—perhaps a taint of corruption,

or slight putrescency of the sap, occasioned by the _impurities of

the London air_, assisted by the hard beaten state of the ground[11]

above the roots. Should {56} any one examine the inside of the bark

of a cut tree, when corruption has just begun with the bark, and see

how thoroughly it is undermined by insects, he will, we think, admit

the strong probability, that the insect is only subordinate in the

destruction of those fine old elms around London. We do not wonder at

the condition of the trees—it would not surprise us if the human race

in London were swept off by some similar secondary cause.

The small-leaved elm has great disposition to spread by suckers from

the roots, and thus extended has become very prevalent throughout

most parts of England, in the broad wastes (termed fences), which,

from the indolent husbandry, consequent to tithes and the want of

leases, generally surround the pasture and corn fields, but which are

so necessary to these unvaried plains, as some prominent object, or

characteristic land-mark, on which the _amor patriæ_ of the population

may perch; the finest remembrances and associations of youth being

mixed up with these bushy flower-covered enclosures.

It is with country as with society, strong lasting {57} attachment

occurs only where there is individuality of character to give

distinctness of image.

“Oh! how should I my true love know,

From many other one?”

There is design and utility in this fascination of peculiarity. If

individual distinction be but strongly marked, it signifies little

of what character. Love of country often hangs upon features of the

harshest and most fearful description, with which the associations

and feelings become entwisted, as attachment to individual is often

rivetted by fierce, austere, or even morose qualities.

The narrow-leaved elm is valuable for forming the blocks and

dead-eyes[12], and other wooden furniture of rigging, being

particularly suitable for these purposes, from its hard and adhesive

nature, and indisposition to crack or split, when exposed to sun and

weather.

We have observed many minor distinctions, perhaps individual, in the

above kinds of elm, in figure, size and smoothness of leaf, in colour

and roughness {58} of bark, &c. Some varieties or individuals of the

English elm have the bark of the young twigs and branches covered with

corky ridges: others want this excrescence.

REDWOOD WILLOW, _or_ STAG’S HEAD OZIER,—_Salix fragilis_[13].

This kind of willow, once very common in the alluvial parts of

Scotland, before the introduction of _Salix alba_, _S. Russelliana_,

&c., is probably the most profitable timber that can be planted in such

soils. It was our district’s maxim, that “the willow will purchase the

horse before any other timber purchase the saddle,” on account of its

very quick growth, and the value of its timber. It delights in {59}

the rich easy clay by the sides of our _pows_ (the old Scottish term

for those sluggish natural drains of our alluvial districts), throwing

out its fibril roots in matted-like abundance under the water: it also

flourishes in the more sandy and gravelly alluvion, by the sides of

rivers and streams, which does not become too dry in summer.

This tree, similar to some others which, like it, are continued

by cuttings or layers, is, in certain seasons, especially when of

considerable size, subject to a derangement in the sap-concoction,

which leads to the death of some of its more recent parts, particularly

the uppermost branches; whence its withered top sometimes assumes the

appearance of a stag’s head of horns, which, from the indestructibility

of these dead branches, it retains for many years; new branches

springing out from the sides, of much luxuriance. This disease, similar

to canker in the genus Pyrus, is generally concentrated to certain

places of the bark and alburnum, the portion of branch above these

places thence withering, the connection with the root being cut off;

though sometimes the points of the twigs appear to be nipped, without

any previous disease. From these affections, and also on account of

the branches and stem being often rifted by the winds, the tree is

frequently found with rot {60} in the stem, when it has stood long. It

agrees in this with the larch, that, though its timber, when cut down,

or withered and dried, as on the top of the tree, is little liable to

corruption, yet it is very subject to it, as part of the stem of the

living tree, perhaps under certain circumstances of semi-vitality.

To determine whether this tree, raised from seed, would be liable to

these disorders, the same as when continued by slips, would be an

interesting, though tedious, experiment. We never have seen any young

seed-plants rise around old trees.

The use of the red wood willow, as timbers of vessels, has been of

long standing in this part of Scotland, and has proved its long

endurance, and excellent adaptation. By reason of its lightness,

pliancy, elasticity, and toughness, it is, we think, the best, without

exception, for the formation of small fast-sailing war-vessels. We

are pretty certain that our Navy Board would not have cause to regret

trial of it in a long, low, sharp schooner, of sufficient breadth to

stand up under great press of sail, moulded as much as possible to

combine great stability with small resistance from the water, and when

in quick motion to be buoyant—especially not to dip forward,—provided

it could be procured not too old, and free from rot, large knots, and

cross-grain; a very {61} little attention in the cultivation would

afford it of the finest bends, and clean and fresh. Our Navy Board

have received some slight teaching from our transatlantic brethren, of

the superior sailing of fir-constructed vessels, to those of oak, the

result of their superior lightness, pliancy, and elasticity.

The writer of this has also had experience of two vessels, one of oak,

and the other of larch, on the same voyages, at the same time, and has

found the latter superior in sailing to the former, in a degree greater

than the difference of build could account for. From the superior

elasticity and lightness of the willow, even to larch, the lightest

and most elastic of the fir-tribe, we should expect that vessels of it

would outstrip those of fir, at least of Scots or red pine, as much

as the latter do those of oak; and that, from this greater elasticity

and lightness, they would move through the water, yielding to the

resistance and percussions of the waves, compared to those of oak, as a

thing of life to a dead block. For vessel-timbers, this wood requires

to be used alone; as, when mixed with other kinds less pliant or

elastic, the latter have to withstand nearly all the impetus or strain,

and are thence liable to be broken, or from the vessel yielding more at

one place than another, she is apt to strain and become leaky. {62}

Some years ago, when demolishing an old building which had stood fully

a century, the writer found the large frames of the building, or ground

_couples_, which, from their situation, could not have been renewed, to

consist of this timber; and, with the exception of the outside, which

was so much decayed, for about half an inch in depth, as the finger

could pick it away, the body of the wood was as fresh as at first,

still fit for any purpose, and of a beautiful pink or salmon colour.

When we observed the mouldering exterior of these pieces, we laid one

of the smallest hollow over a log, and struck it with a large wooden

mallet, not doubting that it would go to fragments; such, however, was

the _resilience_, that the mallet rebounded so greatly as almost to

leap from our hands.

For country purposes, red-wood willow is employed in the construction

of mill water-wheels, of the body or hoarding of carts, especially of

lining of carts employed in the carriage of stones, or of any utensil

requiring strong, tough, light, durable boarding. Formerly, before

the introduction of iron-hoops for cart-wheels, the external rim or

felloe was made of willow; when new, the cart or wain was driven along

a road covered with hard small gravel (in preference, gravel somewhat

angular), by which means {63} the felloe shod itself with stone,

and thus became capable of enduring the friction of the road for a

long time, the toughness and elasticity of the willow retaining the

gravel till the stone was worn away. Under much exposure to blows and

friction, this willow outlasts every other home timber. When recently

cut, the matured wood is slightly reddish, and the sap-wood white. When

exposed to the air and gradually dried, both are of salmon colour,

and scarcely distinguishable from each other. Willow-bark is used in

tanning; it also contains a bitter, said to be febrifuge.

RED-WOOD PINE—_Pinus_.

This tribe of the order Coniferæ, at once the most useful, and the most

plentifully and widely extended over the North temperate zone—that

portion of the earth more congenial to man, and which contains about

four-fifths of his numbers, has a similitude of character and qualities

more distinguishable by one glance of the eye than by laboured

description. It consists of a number of kinds, which again divide into

families and individuals perceptibly different from each other. The

following are those whose timber is best known to us: {64}

Scots fir, or Norway pine, _Pinus sylvestris_.

Pinaster, _Pinus Pinaster_.

Canadian red Pine[14] (foreign), *  *  *  *

Pitch pine (foreign), *  *  *  *

And, though a little more distinct,

Yellow American, or Weymouth Pine, _Pinus Strobus_.

Very little observation will distinguish these from the next useful

great tribe of the Coniferæ with white wood, the Spruces and Silver

Firs—Abies.

There are a number of foreign kinds of pine, some of great promise,

recently introduced into Britain, but of whose adaptation for

ship-building we cannot speak. Samples of the timber of _P. laricio_,

_P. tæda_, _P. cembra_, _P. maritima_, _P. rigida_, &c. of British

growth, may, however, soon be had of sufficient size for experiment.

The common Scots fir is the only pine of British growth which has been

employed as a naval timber; for which purpose, however, since the last

peace, and the introduction of our larch, it is in very little demand.

An acute botanist, Mr G. Don of Forfar, a number of years ago, gave a

description of the varieties of cultivated Scots fir which had come

under his notice. The following is an abstract of his observations:

{65}

“_Varieties of Pinus sylvestris._

“Var. 1st. The common variety, well known by its branches forming

a pyramidal head, the leaves marginated, of dark-green colour, but

little glaucous underneath, the cones being considerably elongated and

tapering to the point, and the bark of the trunk very rugged. This

variety seems short-lived, becoming soon stunted in appearance.

“Var. 2d, Distinguishable from the former by disposition of branches,

which are remarkable for horizontal disposition and tendency to

bend downwards close to the trunk. The leaves are broader than var.

1st, and serrulated, not marginated; leaves are distinguishable at

a distance by their much lighter and beautiful glaucous colour, the

bark not so rugged as var. 1st, and the cones thicker and not so much

pointed, and also smoother. This tree seems a hardy plant, growing

freely in many soils: this variety may be named Pinus horizontalis.

Var. 1st, much more general than var. 2d, and also sooner comes to

seed, which is also easier gathered from the position of the branches.

“Var. 3d, Is of a still lighter colour than var. 2d, being of a light

glaucous hue, approaching to a silvery tint; its branches form, like

var. 1st, a pyramidal head, but it differs remarkably in its cones

from {66} both the former varieties; the cones of this seem beset

with blunt prickles bent backwards, the leaves serrulated. This

variety is rather more common than var. 2d; like it, it is a good tree.

“Var. 4th, The leaves somewhat curled or rather twisted, and much

shorter than the others: this variety is very rare.”

Our observation does not go to confirm these subdivisions. We think

they are little more distinct than the fair, the red[15], the black

haired, the fair, the sallow, the brown complexioned, the tall,

the short, of the same community or even family of men. There is

variation and individuality more or less strongly marked in all kinds

of organized beings: at least those vegetables which have exposed

fructification possess it; many whose fructification is secluded also

possess it; and the others of more constant character, such as some

of the Gramineæ, with a little art (removing their anthers before the

pollen bursts forth, and applying the pollen of others as near to them

in the chain of life as can be found to be different, or changing the

circumstances by culture), can also be rendered equally {67} variable.

These minor distinctions or individualities of vegetables become more

perceptible as our observation closes in upon the object. We have never

yet found one individual apple plant, raised from seed, to be the

counterpart of another; but differing even in every part and habit,

in bud, leaf, flower, fruit, seed, bark, wood, root; in luxuriance of

growth; in hardihood; in being suited for different soils and climates,

some thriving in the very moist, others only in the dry; in the

disposition of the branches, erect, pendulous, horizontal; in earliness

and comparative earliness of leaf, of flower, of fruit.

We hope the above remarks will not be lost on those who have the

management of the sowing, planting, and thinning of woods, and that

they will always have selection in view. Although numerous varieties

are derived from the seed of one tree, yet if that tree be of a good

_breed_, the chances are greatly in favour of this progeny being also

good. Scots fir of good variety will thrive and reach considerable size

and age, in almost any soil which is not very moist, or very arid and

barren (such as our sand and gravel flats much impregnated with iron

or other deleterious mineral), provided the plants from their earliest

years have room to throw out and retain a sufficiency of side branches.

This is especially necessary to their health where the soil is {68}

ungenial, the resulting vigour often overcoming the disadvantages.

From the pine being found chiefly in the light sandy districts on the

continent of Europe, and in the sandy pine barrens of America, an idea

has gone abroad that these barren districts are more congenial to it

than the more clayey, the more rocky, or the richer vegetable mould;

but its natural location in the barren sandy districts results from its

being more powerful in this soil than any other plant of the country,

not from preference of this soil. Should any one doubt of this, let him

take a summer excursion to Mar Forest, where no other tree having been

in competition with Pinus sylvestris, and where it is spread over the

hill and the dale, he will observe that it prospers best in good timber

soil, and though comparatively preferring an easy soil, and having

superior adaptation to thin or rocky ground, that its taste does not

differ very materially from that of the plane or the elm, the oak or

the ash.

In Mar Forest he will also observe (if they be not now all cut down)

several well marked individuals of the _splatch_ pine, esteemed a very

valuable and hardy kind; and with the right which a botanist has in a

plant sown by nature, he may bear off some of the seeds, and endeavour

to spread this rare indigenous kind throughout the island. Should he be

unsuccessful in finding these at Mar, he may return {69} by Kenmore,

where, on the side of the hill on the right bank of the Tay, near the

confluence of the Lyon, he will find several trees, we think five,

of this kind of pine, of considerable size, growing at one place,

apparently planted: we were told the plants had been brought down from

the natural forest farther up on the mountains. These are sufficiently

distinct in character from the common Scots fir growing around, having

a horizontal, straggling disposition of branches, the leaves being of

a much lighter, different shade of green, and more tufted, and the

bark of a yellower red, so as to merit a distinct name; and we should

consider Pinus horizontalis as descriptive as any other, if it shall

not appear to be only a sub-species of P. sylvestris. The descriptive

name _splatch_ fir, is from the prominences of the rugged bark not

being in longitudinal ridges or flutes, but in detached flat oblong

lumps, such as soft clay or mud takes when cast with force upon a wall.

We, however, do not think this the same as Mr DON’s var. 2d, at least

we have noticed in our lowland woods raised by planting, such as Mr DON

examined, individuals here and there having less or more resemblance to

his described varieties, but none of them approaching the distinctness

of this alpine Scots fir. The proprietors of this kind of pine will

confer a benefit on the public by causing the timber {70} be examined

and compared with that of trees of equal size of the common Scots fir

growing near, and making a public report of the number and size of

annual growths, the number of these of matured and of sap wood, the

comparative strength, density, quantity of resinous deposit, hardness,

&c.

The Pinaster is a valuable kind of red-wood pine, with strong resinous

timber, and from not having one-half the number of sap-wood layers of

the common Scots fir, we should consider it deserving attention as a

naval timber; but perhaps the small number of sap-layers is from want

of climate: owing to the branches being larger, and, in proportion to

their size, being joined to the stem with a larger swell than those of

P. sylvestris, the timber is rougher with larger knots. In the very

barren sand and gravel district near Christchurch, scarcely affording

sustenance to lichens, and where even heaths will not grow, we have

observed this tree make considerable progress, and outstrip the Scots

fir in growth.

The Canadian Red Pine has been employed to a considerable extent in

this country, both as planking and spars. It is inferior in strength

and durability to the Baltic red pine, and would seldom make its

appearance on this side the Atlantic while the Baltic was open to us,

did not a very ill advised {71} duty obstruct the supply of the better

article. This timber is sometimes supplied with a good character by the

shipwright, as it is soft, pliant, and easily worked. The Canadian red

pine has a greater number of layers of sap-wood than any other red pine

we are acquainted with; we have repeatedly counted 100 sap-wood layers.

We have never seen this kind of pine growing in Britain.