1879.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



51 



year without its Christmas tree. The fact excit- 

 ed unusual attention this year, and brought out 

 numerous articles in the city papers about the 

 "awful destruction of our forests, by the sense- 

 less practice, and the necessity of some legislative 

 restrictions in reference thereto," that we were 

 led to look into the matter more closely than 

 .usual. 



The first lot of trees came in from the hills of 

 IN orthern Pennsylvania, about the 12th of Dec- 1 

 ember, and were almost wholly of the Black j 

 Spruce. Between this and the 24th, large quan- j 

 titles came in from Maine, and the Eastern j 

 ■States. These were chiefly of Black Spruce, a 

 few White Spruce and Balsam Fir. From New 

 Jersey were a few scattering lots of Red Cedar, 

 Scrub Pine, and now and then a few Pitch Pine. 

 Fi'om old nurseries within fifty or a hundred 

 miles of Philadelphia were "surplus" Norway 

 Spruces, and rather more of this class than we 

 have ever known before. It will be seen from 

 this, that there is little relation between the 

 •Christmas tree business and the Forestry ques- 

 tion, as the great bulk of the 100,000 trees used 

 ivi'e such as are nearly worthless or not in use 

 for timber purposes, and the little children when 

 they grow up to the adult stage, however much 

 they may feel that their childish pleasure con- 

 tributed to make the "arid waste" to which our 

 •country is to come to during the next half cen- 

 tury, did little at least to lessen the timber 

 •supply. 



In regard to the prices which the trees brought, 

 they seemed to run all the way from say fifty 

 ■cents to a dollar and a half each. Extra large 

 or ultra poor of course going above or below as 

 the case might be. The wholesale prices varied 

 from about $20 to slOO per hundred. The last 

 were very large, say ten to twelve feet high, 

 and were mostly Balm of Gilead; about S25 to 

 So5 per hundred for an average room tree, were 

 the prevailing prices. This for trees delivered 

 free in Philadelphia. 



Boxwood. — For some years past the supply 

 ■of this important wood has diminished in quan- 

 tity and risen in price. It is derived from the 

 forests of the Caucasus, Armenia, and the Cas- 

 pian shores. The wood of best quality comes 

 from the Black Sea forests, and is principally 

 shipped from the port of Poti. The produce of 

 the Caspian forests, known in the trade as "Per- 

 sian" Avood, until last year was also exported 

 through the Black Sea from Taganrog. This found 

 its way after the commencement of the war via 



the Volga Canal to St. Petersburg. The produce 

 of the Caspian forests is softer and inferior in 

 quality to that of the Black Sea. It is a matter 

 of interest to know whether one result of the war 

 will be to open those Black Sea forests which the 

 Russian (Government has hitherto kept rigorously 

 closed. The falling-off of the supply has led 

 meanwhile to various attempts to find substitutes 

 for boxwood for many purposes. Messrs. Joseph 

 Gardner & Sons of Liverpool have introduced 

 with some success Cornel (Cornus florida) and 

 Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) for shuttle- 

 making, for which purpose hitherto box has been 

 in great demand. 



The diminished supply has also drawn atten- 

 tion to the Himalayas as a source of supply. Dr. 

 Brandis, the Inspector General of forests in India, 

 has corresponded with Messrs. Gardner on the 

 subject. I am informed, however, by Mr. God- 

 frey Saunders of this firm that "the difficulty of 

 transit from the mountains to the seaboard ap- 

 pears to be the great obstacle, and in addition the 

 possible supply appears to be much smaller than 

 is furnished from existing sources." 



Mr. Robson J. Scott has presented to our mu- 

 seums blocks prepared for wood engraving of 

 Hawthorn, which he states " is by far the best 

 wood, after box, that I have had the opportunity 

 of testing." — Keio Report. 



The Big Trees or California. — There is 

 much nonsense afloat about the big trees of Cal- 

 ifornia, and Prof. Brewer writes to the Neic Eng- 

 laudJoiirnal of Edncafion to enlighten some peo- 

 ple as to the real facts. He says : — 



"The first error relates to their height, the second 

 to their age. 



If only the truth be told, they still remain the 

 grandest trees on earth, and one of the wonders 

 of the world. Some of the Australian Eucalyptus 

 trees exceed them in the matter of heigth, yet, 

 take them all in all and as they are, the giant 

 Sequoias are the greater. Your correspondent 

 tells of "The Father of the Forest" being "about 

 four hundred and fifty feet high when in his glory,' ' 

 as if this was a proved fact rather than a vague 

 guess. The fact is that no one knows how high 

 it was, for, when the grove was first discovered 

 by white men, the prostrate tree was already 

 partly rotten and the whole top burned away ; 

 and accounts published twenty-four years ago 

 speak of the tree as perhaps over four hundred 

 feet high when living. 



The State Geological Survey carefully mea- 

 sured all the higher standing trees in thfs grove, 



