G60 



CHIPS. 



[Feb. 188G. 



Chips. 



Forest trees of immense proportions 

 are found in Aroostook County, Me. 

 A spruce was cut in Caribou last week, 

 wliich at a distance of 105 feet from 

 the ground measured fourteen inches in 

 diameter. 



CoNNECTicCT gives a State bounty of 

 ten cents for any ])erson planting, 

 protecting, and cultivating elm, ma[)le, 

 tulip, ash, basswood, oak, black walnut, 

 hickory, apple, ])ear or cherry trees, 

 not more than sixty feet apart, for or 

 on any public highway. 



Paper is made in France from the 

 stems of the hop {Huiimhis Ivpuhis), 

 and it is claimed that the fibre it yields 

 is the best substitute for rags yet 

 obtained, as it possesses great length, 

 strength, flexibility, and delicacy. Are 

 our gi'eat hop-growers aware of this ? 



A Boston furniture manufacturer 

 has invested 1200 dollars in a lot of 

 English oak imported into New York, 

 at, it is said, twenty cents a foot. A 

 dealer has a lot of American oak which 

 had been Englished, or " doctored,'' 

 and it would puzzle an expert to tell 

 the two woods apart. 



The old idea that slow-grown timl^er 

 was stronger than that grown quickly, 

 is disproved by recent tests, so far at 

 least as oak is concerned. Second- 

 growth hickory is usually more valuable 

 for handles of axes and hammers, and 

 the annual rings show it to be of 

 swifter growth than the first stock. 



The revei'ence for the mistletoe 

 among the ancient Britons appears to 

 have been limited to what grew upon 

 the oak ; whereas the common mistletoe 

 —the site of whose pearly berries 

 brings the flush into the cheek of the 

 maiden of modern days — may be 

 gatliered besides from the apple tree, 

 the hawthorn, the lime tree, or the 

 Scotch or the silver fir. 



A GUMWOOD pavement is being tried 

 in St. Louis. A layer of concrete is 

 put down and coated with sand. This 

 is glazed with coal-tar, on which five- 

 inch gumwood blocks are set uin-ight 

 with an ordinary lath between the 

 rows at the bottom to separate them. 

 This space is filled part way up with 

 coal-tar, and the remainder with .*and 

 and gravel, which is rammed in con.- 

 pactly. 



Eegarding the manurial value of 

 freshly fallen tree-leaves, it has been 

 ascertained through the researches of 

 Pi'of. Emmerling, Dr. Loges, and Herr 

 Emeis, that beech, oak, and birch leaves 

 contain only two to two and one-third 

 per cent, of utilizable matter, plane up 

 to four, the j^oplar and willow five to 

 five and one-seventh per cent. 



Legislating against Thistles. — 

 The recent Indiana Legislature enacted 

 that any person knowingly allowing 

 Canada thistles to grow and mature 

 upon his land, or land under his 

 charge, shall be fined not less than five 

 nor moi'e than twenty dollars ; and for 

 the second and each subsequent offence, 

 double the amount of the first fine. 

 Supervisors of the highways of the 

 State who allow thistles to grow on 

 any road in their districts are subject 

 to like penalties ; as are also road- 

 masters of railway lines who allow the 

 ])ests to grow about stations or along 

 the right of way under their supervision. 



There are charcoal works at Grand 

 Eapids, Mich., which consume 40,000 

 cords of wood yearly, and at wliich 

 even the smoke is utilized and manu- 

 factured into chemicals by being 

 blown by immense fans into a purifier, 

 from which it eventually comes in the 

 form of an acid that is clear as amber. 

 From the acid are produced acetate of 

 lime, alcohol, tar, and gas. Each cord 

 of wood contains some 28,000 cubic 

 feet of smoke, and 2,800,000 feet of 

 smoke handled every twenty-four hours 

 produce 12,000 pounds of acetate of 

 lime, 200 gallons of alcohol, etc. 



A Large Tree. — The other day a 

 plane (Sj'camore) tree was cut down on 

 the estate of Woodend, Madderty, of 

 remarkable size and quality, and is 

 said to be the finest tree of the kind 

 in Perthshire. The bole measured 30 

 feet to the first branch, and the full 

 length of the trunk when dressed was 

 38 feet. It was 9 feet in circumference 

 5 feet from the ground, and averaged 

 S\ feet in circumference. It contained 

 about 164 feet of timber, and is 

 supposed to be upwards of 300 years 

 old. It was sent to a timber merchant 

 in England for shipment to India, to 

 make rollers for manufacturing pur- 

 pose?. 



