March i, 1886.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



629 



AVhen au ouk feuce is built up with iron uails the 

 black streaks rau be seeu ruuuing ilowu from the 

 nails, owing to a kiuil of iuk being foimeil from the 

 iron ami the tannic acid of tlie wood. The oak which 

 has stalked acorns furuishes the best timber, which 

 possesses great strength, tenacity, and durability. 

 The white or American oak, Qmrciis alha. has a 

 reddish timber, which, though more elastic than the 

 English kind, is not so durable. Ked oak, ijuerru.-^ 

 riihrii, furuishes a ileep-coloured timber, which, being 

 coarser in texture, is not so useful. 



i'ear, from I'l/rn.i en,ii„iii,iis, Rosace.v.— The variety 

 furnishing the "hard or baking pears has a very hard 

 wood, which is u.sed chietly for musical iutsrumeuts, 

 tool-handlct kc. 



riue-trees belong to a genus called /•!« «.<, t'oniterw. — 

 The trees can be told from fir-trees by being more 

 or less flat at the top, where nearly all the branches 

 congregate. 



.Vpo<i-/( Fh; Piniis sp/vestris, yielils the timber known 

 as D^tntzic or Riga fir, and Russian deal. It grows 

 from 00 to 100 feet high, and is fit for timber at the 

 age of fifty or si.\ty years. The best cjuality timber 

 is from trees that have grown in cold situations, such 

 timber equalling the oak in duration. J'iiins sti-nlnis 

 furnishes the white pine or deal of the United States ; 

 it is called the '• Weymouth I'ine." The wood is 

 used for bowsprits aud yards of men-of-war. riiimi 

 mitii and I'in'tf iia/ii.~tns furnish yellow pine or deal. 

 The latter pine will grow in very sterile soils, yet 

 yields a wood which is more compact, stronger, and 

 durable than that obtained from the other species. 

 The least valuable of the pines is T'iniis tifda. or 

 " loblolly piue," the timber of which decays on e.'sposure 

 to air. The uses of pine-trees are similar to those 

 of fir-trees. 



Plane, from Platanus occulentalis, PlatanaceK". — The 

 wood is a fiue-graiued one, and becomes of a dull red 

 colour in the sea.soning; it is occasionally used by 

 cabinet-makers, but quickly decajs it exposed to tha 

 weather. The leaves of this plant are u.sed by the 

 Grecian lovers to ensure constancy; on their parting. 

 a leaf is torn in halves, one half being retained by 

 each : on meeting again the two halves are fitted 

 together. 



Poplar, from Prpulus alba, Salicacese. — Wood is 

 white, light in weight, and soft; it is not used for 

 any purpose iu particular, though that of the Canadian 

 poplar, P<ypi>h/s moinlifertf, is largely used for flooring. 

 One poplar, namely, the balsam poplar, Poimim hal- 

 saiiiiftia, in the form of timber, is quickly rotted by 

 water, like the wood of the horse-chestnut, hence, 

 to protect the young buds of these trees from moist- 

 ure, as rain. &c., we find a thick covering of resin 

 present during winter aud spring. 



Santffiftrooil, fron) Snntohon ollnin, Sautalacese.— 

 This wood is sent from Malabar and the East Indian 

 Islands. It is used for making small articles of cabinet- 

 furniture, and its order prevents insects or wornis 

 attacking it. 



f^phidle-tief, from Ehoiii/mux Enropiri/n, Celas- 

 traceae — This wood is hard, white, and finely-grained 

 it is used for musical iusrruments, netting-needles, 

 spindles Chence the name of the tree), aud skewers. 

 In France gunpowder-charcoal is obtained from it. 

 and the yotnig shoots when charred form a rough 

 drawing-pencil. 



T''^^k. or Indian oak, from 7Vc/oii« ///unr/if, Verben- 

 aceav — This wood is light aud easily worked, being 

 at the same time very strong and tlurable. It is 

 largely ns^-d in ship-building. 



Tf)rtoi<e'VOoil, so called from the resemblance of the 

 wood to tortoiseshell. is "Iitai'iid from (itwttiiriht 

 .tp'^ri'is'i., Kuhiace:i*. aTid tli.- sa!u*' plant is by snme 

 authorities said to yield I In- .stripetl or zebra wood 

 used by cabinet-makers. 



Wahitif, from Jiiyljin.i »';)it,, .IuglandacP:e. — Tl'is is 

 now largely in nse for furniture, in whi-.h its rich 

 deep brown and beautifully-marked wood cun be seen 

 to a^lvantage. liefore the introducti.m of mahogany 

 this was almo.st exclusively used for furniture-making. 

 It is also used for gun-»t<ieks. lut it is lighter in 



proportion to its strength and elasticity than any 

 other wood. Black walimt, from Jnultins nit/ra, furn- 

 ishes a strong and tenacious wood, ^and when well 

 seasoned is not liable to warp or split; it is also 

 seciu'e from the attacks of insects. It is commonly 

 believeil in the country that high winds swaying the 

 branches of the walnut or whipping the walnut-tree 

 improves both the yield aud the quality of the fruit 

 hence the saying: — 



A woman, a spaniel, and a walnut tree. 

 The more you whip them the better they be. 

 Williin-s. — The (Joat Willow, or Sallow, Halixrapnrn, 

 furnishes the best willow- timber ; when growing as a 

 coppice-plant it furnishes hoops, iioles, mui] rods for 

 crates. The timber of the willow is white, soft, aud 

 light, the best-stasoned kinds being very durable. The 

 dwarf-willows, ^ul'tx vuiiindlis and Sniix tuhiit., are 

 propagated by cuttings for f irnishing osiers or willow- 

 shoots, from which hampers, baskets, &c. , are made. 

 Yiic, from I'oxuft baceata, Taxaceie. — The wood is 

 peculiaily hard, smooth, anil tough, and was formerly 

 used for making bows; it is beautifully veined auil 

 will take a high polish, heuce is used by cabinet-makers 

 for veneering purposes ; being very hard aud durable 

 it is used for cogs for mill-wheels, axles, aud also 

 floodgates of rivers, which scarcely every decay. 

 — Clumist and Dniggist. 



♦ 



fxORSE AS FOOD FOR CATTLE. 

 In reply to A. C. H. O., judging from the area for 

 which we supply seed every year, we should say that 

 gorse is still prized as food for cattle; indeed, there 

 is no doubt that it is good for stock of all kinds. 

 The time, too, when it can be used (from November 

 to April I renders it additionally valuable. In feeding 

 horses, Youatt gives, as the equivalent of 20 lb. of gorse, 

 5 lb. of straw, the ordinary ration of beans, and H lb. 

 of oats. It is excellent for milch cows, causing them 

 to yield au abundance of rich milk, the butter being 

 of superior flavour. As far as we can ascertain, the 

 best machine for bruising it is the (Jorse JIasticator, 

 by T. Mckenzie it Sons, 212, Great Brunswick-.street, 

 Dublin. — Tames Oartkr & Co. (237 and 238, High 

 Holborn, London, Jan. 4.) 



In answer to A. C. 11. O., I can say that I have 

 found gorse first-class food for young cattle, calves of 

 three mouths old doing well on it if mixed with pulped 

 carrots, swedes, cabbages, or even turnip leaves, when 

 they are to be had. The gorse must be grown on fair 

 land aud on soft shale rock ; that on poor clay and 

 certain sorts of rock is not worth gathering. I should 

 be glad to hear of a good crusher or masticator ; all I 

 have .seen are either too heavy or too tedious for a 

 one-horse turning gear. Water and steam power I 

 have not.— 0. F. V.—Fiehl. 



[As gorse grows freely at Nuwara Eliya when milk 

 in the sea.son is in good demand, the above ought to 

 afford a hint to the owners of milch cows. — En.] 



ROOT FUNGI AND TREE ROOTS. 

 You have done well to give on p. 80 an abstract of 

 the startling idea recently advocated by Dr. Frank and 

 Dr. Worouni, and .iccepted as correct by I'rof. De 

 liary. The iilea is, as you point out, that certain fungi 

 fuuuil on the roots of Oaks, Beeches, Sweet Chest- 

 nuts, Hornbeams, Hazels, and Willows, together with 

 the root-fungi of Conifers, are the agents by which 

 the tree obtains its ".soil food," the fungi in tiu-u 

 being fed by the juices of the tree. Tree and fungus 



, riiulujiy help each other to live; so say fho thrive 

 Doctors! It is well that the daidriiers' Ckroiiirb do«>» 



' !H)t sav the case has been '■ pruv.-.l," but counsels '"an 

 attitudi; of inti-iligent expectancy, on the part of those 

 who are not in a position to add either proof or dis- 

 proof." It is not neces.-ary to ask what the opini<m 

 of horticulturists, foresters, and gardeners is as regards 

 this matter. Their opinion is perfectly well known 

 and generally accepted as correct and reasonable, viz , 

 that root fungi of all sorts eau.se the death of trees, 

 that when young trees are planted in positions where 

 root fungi iilniiuid the trees cannot live, luid that 



