374 The jfoiirnal of Forestry. 



farmer discovered many years ago that wrod could be made to last longer than 

 iron in the ground. Time and weather, he says, seem to have no effect on it. 

 The posts can be prepared for less than two cents apiece. This is the recipe : 

 Take boiled linseed oil and stir it in pulverized charcoal to the consistency of 

 paint. Put a coat of this over the timber, and, he adds, there is not a man 

 "who will live to see it rot. 



Trees and Electricity. — We gave an account the other day of some of 

 M. de Moncel's observations on the electric conductivity of trees. In a 

 further note to the French Academy he gives a table of the comparative 

 resistances of a large number of trees. The method of experiment was to 

 apply two platinum electrodes of square surface, one at the upper part and the 

 other at the base of the tree ; they were 6'44 m. apait, and the lower electrode 

 placed slightly above the ground. Such an arrangement with a galvanometer 

 itself gives a current from above downwards through the galvanometer ; and 

 this had to be allowed for before the battery (of thr(;e Daniell elements) was 

 connected. The table shows that soft woods of spongy tissue and vigorous 

 vegetation, such as elm, chestnut, lime, poplar, &c., are the best conductors, 

 while the hard woods of slow vegetation are the most resistant. Birch seems 

 to form an exception. The order of conductivity is pretty much the same as 

 that of the same woods when dry and exposed to moisture. — English Mechanic. 



Sale of Dumfeiessuire Estates. — At Messrs. Lyon & TurnbuU's Rooms, 

 Edinburgh, the lauds and estates of Hoddam, Dumfriesshire, which belonged 

 to the late W. J. Sharpe, of Hoddam, were exposed for sale on the 1st iilt. 

 There was a large attendance of landed proprietors and professional gentle- 

 men, and after some spirited bidding" the lots were sold as follows : — The 

 main estate of Hoddam, lying in the parishes of Annan, Cummertrces 

 Hoddam, and St. Mungo, and extending to 4,200 acres, was put up at the 

 upset price £180,000, and knocked down to Mr. Edward Brook, of Meltham 

 Hall, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, for £200,500. The lands of Middlebie, in the 

 parish of Middlebie, extending to 770 acres, were purchased by Mr. Aixhibald 

 Stewart, W.S., for a client, at the cost of £24,500, being an advance of £2,000 

 on the upset price. The farm of Hallidayhill, in the parish of Dalton, extend- 

 ing to 3oO acres, was bought by Mi\ C. R. Bedford, of Knockhill, Ecclefechan, 

 for £8,050, the upset price being £7,500. The farm of Cowthat, in the parish 

 of Hoddam, was put up for £5,250, and sold for £6,125 to Dr. Arnott, of Kirk- 

 connel, Ecclefechan. The farm of Burnswarklees, in the parish of Hoddam, 

 was sold for £1,720, being an advance of £120 on the upset price, to Mr. 

 Archibald Stewart, W.S., for a client. 



The estate of Rosebank, near Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire, extending to about 

 2C0 acres, was lately sold, at Lockerbie,to Mr. William Sanders, Westwood, 

 Lockerbie, for £1G,450. 



Trees in London. — The plane trees in the City of London are at the present 

 time in the most perfect state of leafage and colour. The limes have lost their 

 brightness, the elms are of a deep sombre green hue, but the planes are golden 

 green and glorious in the sunshine. An amusing study of town trees may 

 be pursued in a walk through the gardens of the Temple, and thence along 

 the Thames Embankment. The well-known Fountain Court is now exquisitely 

 beautiful, and we recommend any one interested in City trees to visitthe spot 

 while it is at its best— on one side delicately garlanded with greenery, and the 

 fountain thi'owing its simple column of water beside one of the finest plane 



