6o8 The yotirna I of Forestry. 



best and most beautifully figured wainscot from the slow-growing 

 oaks found in the north of Europe, Austria, Asia Minor, and in some 

 districts of North America." 



" It might be supposed that the innermost or earliest layers being 

 the most matured would be the strongest ; but experience teaches us 

 that this is only true up to a certain period of growth, and that in 

 the majority of cases the maximum of strength and toughness lies 

 nearer the more recently formed outer heart wood or duramen. For this 

 reason it becomes a matter of great importance in selecting timber 

 for use — especially if it be intended for works of any magnitude — 

 that logs should not be taken of dimensions much in excess of the 

 specification given, but corresponding as nearly as possible in size to 

 it, as the removal of more than a few of the outer layers of heartwood 

 is likely to involve a serious loss of strength." 



TuE " Milk " Tbee. — What most interested us (says a South American 

 traveller) were several large logs of the masseranduba, or milk tree. On our 

 way we had seen some trunks much notched by persons who had been 

 extracting the milk. It is one of the noblest ti-ees of the forest, rising with a 

 straight stem to an enormous height. The timber is very hard, fine grained 

 and durable, and is valuable for works which are much exposed to the weather. 

 The fruit is eatable and very good, the size of a small apple, and full of a rich 

 juicy pulp. But strangest of all is the vegetable milk, which exudes in 

 abundance when the bark is cut. It has about the consistence of thick cream, 

 and but for a slightly peculiar taste could scarcely be distinguished from the 

 genuine product of the cow. A man was ordered to tap some logs that had 

 lain nearly a month in the yard. He cut several notches in the bark with an 

 axe, and in a minute the the rich sap was running out in great quantities. It 

 was collected in a basin, diluted with water, strained, and brought up at tea- 

 time and breakfast next morning. The peculiar flavour of the milk seemed 

 rather to improve the quality of the tea, and gave it as good a colour as rich 

 cream. In coffee it is equally as good. The milk is also used for glue, and is 

 said to be as durable as that used by carpenters. As a specimen of its 

 capabilities in this line we were shown a violin that had been made, the belly - 

 board of which, formed of two pieces, had been glued together with it, applied 

 fresh from the tree, without any preparation. It had been done two years. 

 The instrument had been in constant use, and the joint was now j)erfectly good 

 and sound throughout its whole length. As the milk hardens with exposure 

 to the air, it becomes a very tough, slightly elastic substance, much resembling 

 gutta-percha; but not having the property of being softened by hot water, is 

 not likely to be so extensively useful as that article. — N. W. Lumberman^ U.S.A. 



