618 BOXWOOD AND IT;S SUBSTITUTES. [Feb. 



and then scarifying the bark on the under-side, may be tried to 

 overcome the difficulty. The point of the branch operated upon 

 must then be brought in contact witli tlie earth, and held there 

 with a peg or pegs according to the strength of the branch, but 

 there should be no risk of its drawing the I3egs, and setting 

 itself fi'^e after it is placed in position. If the check is effected by 

 incision as first described, be careful in pegging the branch down 

 to keep the tongue or heel formed on the under-side from return- 

 ing to its position and closing with the upper half again, other- 

 wise there may be a failure iu the operation. When the pegging 

 is satisfactorily done, the point of the layer may be brought as 

 near per^^endicular as possible, and the base covered with three or 

 four inches of sharp sandy soil. It is perhaps necessary to add 

 that if the natural soil is heavy and wet, it should be rendered 

 light and dry before the ojDeration of layering is attempted, and 

 that the soil in which the layers are placed should also be deeply 

 stirred. 



BOXWOOD AND ITS SUBSTITUTES* 



BY JOHN I?. JACKSOX, A.L.S., 

 CUKATOR OF THE MUSEUM, EOYAL GARDENS, KEW. 



rilHE importance of the discovery of a hard, compact, and even- 

 JL grained wood, having all the characteristics of boxwood, and 

 for which it would form an efficient substitute, cannot be over- 

 estimated, and if such a discovery should be one of the results of the 

 present Forestry Exhibition, one of its aims will have been fulfilled. 

 For several years past the gradual diminution in the supplies of 

 boxwood, and the deterioration in its quality, have occupied the 

 attention of hardwood merchants, of engravers, and of scientific men. 

 Of merchants, because of the difficulties in obtaining supplies to 

 meet the ever-increasing demand ; of engravers, because of the 

 higher prices asked for the wood, and the difficulty of securing wood 

 of good size and firm texture, so that the artistic excellence of the 

 engraving might be maintained ; and of the man of science, who 

 was specially interested in the preservation of the indigenous box- 

 wood forests, and in the utilization of other woods, natives, it might 

 be, of far distant countries, whose adaptation would open up not only 



* This essay was awarded a silver medal at the Tuternational Forestiy 

 Exhibition, Edinburgh, aaid is rejorinted from the Journal of the Society of Arts. 



