1878.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



211 



Cherry Timber. — The English Furniture 

 Dealer has this to say of Clierry timber : ''The 

 bark of the Cherry tree is so peculiar, as to 

 render it distinguishable at first sight. The 

 trunk is regularly shaped, but the bark is black- 

 ish and rough, and detaches itself semi-circu- 

 larly, in thick narrow plates, which are renewed 

 after a considerable lapse of time. The perfect 

 wood of the American wild Cherry tree, is of a 

 dull, light-red tint, which deepens with age. It 

 is compact, fine-grained, and brilliant, and not 

 liable to warp when perfectly seasoned. It is 

 extensively employed for ever}' species of furni- 

 ture, and wlien chosen near the ramification of 

 the trunk, it rivals Mahogany in beauty. Its 

 wood is generally preferred to the Black Walnut, 

 whose dun complexion with time becomes 

 nearly black. Among trees that grow east of 

 the Mississippi, it is the best substitute for 

 Mahogany, and it is also useful for ship-building, 

 and for the felloes of wheels. 



"The Wild Orange tree, which is a species of 

 Cherry tree, appears in North America to be 

 nearly confined to the islands on the coast of the 

 Carolinas, of Georgia, and of the Floridas. 

 Except the margin of the sea, it is rarely found 

 on the main land, even at the distance of eight 

 or ten miles from the shore where the tempera- 

 ture is five or six degrees colder in Winter, and 

 proportionately milder in the Summer. The 

 wood is rose-colored, and very fine grained, but, 

 as this species is not extensively multiplied, it 

 does not appear to be appropriated to any use, 

 as other wood, in no respect inferior, can readily 

 be obtained. The Red Cherry tree is common 

 only in the Northern States, and in Canada. 

 Its size places it among trees of the third order. 

 It rarely exceeds, and often does not equal 25 or 

 .30 feet in height, and 6 or 8 inches in diameter. 

 The trunk is covered with a smooth brown bark, 

 which detaches itself laterally ; the wood is fine- 

 grained, and of a reddish hue; but the inferior 

 size of the tree forbids its use in the mechanical 

 arts. This species of Cherry tree offers the same 

 remarkable peculiarity as the Canoe Birch, of 

 producing itself spontaneously in cleared 

 grounds, and in such parts of the forest as have 

 been burnt." 



Timber in California. — The Rural Press 

 tells us that so far as the tree question is con- 

 cerned, there is no cause for alarm ; the State is 

 gaining more trees every year than it lose*. 

 The destruction of old trees is rapid in Mendo- 

 cino, Humboldt, Santa Cruz, Western Sonoma, 



and the shores of Lake Tahoe, but the young 

 trees are growing up, and the forests are in no 

 danger of decreasing in area, unless in Santa 

 Cruz, and we believe not there ; while in the 

 valleys the planting of fruit, timber, and orna- 

 mental trees is making gratifying progress. The 

 ii'rigation ditches and reclamation dykes are ex- 

 tending every year, and trees will go with them ; 

 and we expect that in fifty years the economy of 

 water will have made such advances that the 

 Sacramento, San Joaquin and Salinas valleys 

 will be as thickly settled with dwellings em- 

 bowered among trees as are Napa, Sonoma, and 

 Petaluma n©w, and the changes made for the 

 better there within the last quarter of a century 

 are little short of the marvelous. 



Yellow and Black Locust. Recently a 

 correspondent inquired whether there was any 

 difterence between these two, and a correspond- 

 ent we have gives further information. It is singu- 

 lar that lumbermen often find differences, though 

 botanists fail to see distinctions. We are often 

 told of yellow and white Poplar among the Liri- 

 odendrons, but botanists see no differences. Some- 

 thing similar exists among some English timber 

 ti-ees. At a recent meeting of the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society Dr. Hogg showed a very inter- 

 esting series of varieties of Hornbeam, Birch and 

 Hazel, known to the woodmen of Sussex, but ap- 

 parently overlooked by botanists. The color of 

 the bark was different, the habit also, while for 

 *'actical purposes the distinctions were even 

 more important as variation in the degree of 

 brittleness, toughness, &c., accompany the dif- 

 ferences in color. The specimens exhibited were 

 white and red Hazel, white and red Birch, white 

 and red Hornbeam. The Hornbeam is called in 

 the Weald of Sussex the Beech, and the red va- 

 riety the Husbeech. The true Beech (Fagus) is 

 distinguished as the "Timber Beech." The labor- 

 ers never use the red Hornbeam or Husbeech for 

 withes because of its brittleness. Dr. Hogg also 

 showed twigs of Willow with galls produced by 

 a species of cecidomyia. 



The Eucalyptus. — Some time since a Con- 

 necticut correspondent wrote to us about his 

 prospects in planting in Connecticut,coolly asking 

 us to "send him a copy of our magazine contain- 

 ing our reply." We answered his communication 

 in the magazine, but did not "send the copy." 

 We suppose that the gentleman did not profit 

 by our advice, for we hear that some one is ar- 

 ranging to plant it there extensively the coming 

 Spring. We should hardly believe this, onl}' we 



